What caught Roy off guard wasn't the summons itself, but the timing.
He had just finished lugging his precious "source of life" back to the safety of his dorm when the notification arrived, exactly as Hina had warned. Vice Admiral Biros wanted him in his office. Immediately.
When Roy stepped through the heavy oak doors, he found the Vice Admiral in a state he'd rarely seen.
Usually, Biros was the picture of relaxed, unkempt indifference, but today he was upright, his brow furrowed as he stared intensely at a single document on his desk.
"Back already, kid?" Biros asked without looking up.
"Just walked through the gates, sir. I haven't even had a chance to file my report yet," Roy replied with a crisp nod. He kept his voice steady as he continued to speak. "My apologies, Vice Admiral, I didn't find a single trace of the attacker back at Master Port."
He said it with the practiced ease of a man stating a simple fact. After all, he had been the one leading the search for "Youji," so finding anything at all would have been nothing short of a miracle.
Biros waved a dismissive hand. "Forget it. Under the circumstances, finding nothing might actually be a blessing. This situation is far more complicated than we initially estimated."
"Sir?" Roy tilted his head, playing the part of the curious junior officer. "Did something change?"
"Sit down first. This is also one of the reasons I called you here," Vice Admiral Biros said solemnly. "You and your unit were on the front lines of this mess. You're involved parties now, which means you're cleared to hear what the investigators have pulled out of the wreckage."
"Oh?" Roy pulled up a chair, leaning forward, and asked with an even more curious expression on his face. "I'm listening."
"First," Biros began, picking up the paper he had been brooding over and sliding it across the desk. "Meet the man who walked off with the Heavenly Tribute."
Roy looked down.
"A bounty poster?"
It was a fresh Marine notice, the ink practically still wet. In the center, where a photograph usually sat, was a high-quality hand-drawn sketch. It depicted a towering figure with distinct dragon scales creeping up his neck, his face obscured by a glaring rooster mask.
And emblazoned clearly on the poster were the words:
[WANTED]
[DEAD OR ALIVE]
[Youji]
[Beli 170,000,000]
"One hundred and seventy million Beli?"
The shock in Roy's voice wasn't feigned. That number was staggering.
Because this was a first bounty.
And for a starting bounty, it was almost unheard of. Even the monsters who now ruled the New World, the likes of Big Mom or Kaido had started their careers with tags of 50 and 70 Million.
To debut at nearly 200 Million was a declaration of war by the World Government, and it was an astonishing figure.
"There wasn't much of a choice," Biros sighed, leaning back until his chair creaked. "The man stole Heavenly Tribute. The pressure coming down from the Nismail Kingdom and Mariejois is enough to crack the floorboards. They want his head, and they're willing to pay for it."
He rubbed his temples as he continued to speak. "Besides, Lanli is awake. He gave a full testimony. He claims that the attacker possessed overwhelming strength and the traits of an Ancient Zoan, specifically, a massive winged dragon."
Biros paused, his eyes narrowing. "Actually, Lanli thinks it's rarer than that. He's convinced it's a Mythical Zoan. During the fight, the target apparently exhibited abilities similar to Logia elementalization."
"Fortunately, the opponent seemed to underestimate him. Although he pierced Lanli's abdomen with a powerful attack, he failed to kill him. That's how we obtained a great deal of information, including the name 'Youji'."
He carefully pronounced the somewhat awkward name.
"Headquarters is scrubbing the archives and investigating anything, but so far, no Devil Fruit on record matches that exact description. But if Lanli is right, if we're dealing with a Mythical Zoan, then that bounty is more than justified based on the threat level alone."
Hearing this, Roy found it much more reasonable.
However, he then asked with some hesitation, "A Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit? Isn't that the rarest and most powerful type of Devil Fruit? And 'Youji' doesn't sound like a real name."
"It isn't." Vice Admiral Biros's expression grew even heavier as he spoke. "And that brings me to the second piece of information I wanted to tell you."
"The prisoner you brought back from Master Port confessed to many shocking things after being interrogated by headquarters."
"One of them involves an organization."
At these words, a flicker of surprise flashed through Roy's eyes.
"An organization?"
"Yes. According to his testimony, he belongs to an organization, but only as an outer member. So he doesn't know much about its inner workings. All he knows is the organization's name."
Vice Admiral Biros enunciated each word slowly: "The Twelve Zodiac."
"According to the interrogation," Biros continued, his voice dropping an octave, "this isn't just a crew. It's a hierarchy. They have twelve high-ranking officers and one supreme leader pulling the strings."
"And 'Youji' is the codename of one of those twelve major officers."
Roy surged to his feet, his chair skidding across the floorboards. "What?!" he barked, his eyes wide with a perfectly calibrated mix of shock and disbelief. "Something like that exists under our noses? An organization with that kind of firepower?"
However, even as he delivered this Oscar-worthy performance, Roy was thinking to himself: 'Alan, you beautiful, reliable bastard. You nailed it.'
That's right.
Everything Vice Admiral Biros was saying at that moment came as no surprise to Roy.
And the reason for that was simple. He had arranged all of this himself.
He had given Alan two very specific tasks:
Firstly, to have a clone pilot the royal merchant ship of the Nismail Kingdom and depart from the G-51 branch harbor.
Secondly, he was to inform the Marines exactly the kind of "intelligence" Biros was now reciting like gospel.
As for why, that was also very simple.
Roy knew that, in order to obtain enough Beli, he would inevitably have to use the power of the 'Slice-Slice Fruit' to split into Slice Clones and earn money in various ways.
The robbery of the Heavenly Tribute was only the beginning.
It would definitely not be the last.
But in the world of the Grand Line, if you leave a trail, the Marines eventually find the beast at the end of it. To stay safe, Roy needed to muddy the waters so thoroughly that the World Government wouldn't even know what color the pond was.
Thus, he had already formed a plan.
He would fabricate a non-existent organization that was destined to become famous in the future: a 'Powerful Organization.'
He would divert the attention of the Marines and even the World Government entirely towards that organization, thereby concealing his own existence.
Compared to powerful Devil Fruit users of unknown origin appearing one after another, a "Mysterious Organisation' that had long existed in the shadows and was supposedly plotting a grand conspiracy would clearly demand far more of the World Government's attention.
The Heavenly Tribute heist was his first experiment.
Allowing the Lieutenant Colonel to escape on Alashit Island and deliberately sparing Rear Admiral Lanli's life were all meant to convey this information to the Marines.
And judging by the bounty amount and Vice Admiral Biros's current attitude...his plan had clearly been a great success.
At that moment, Vice Admiral Biros continued speaking.
"The Criminal Investigation Department is collecting information related to that organization, but so far they've come up empty-handed," He said gravely.
"So they want you to submit a detailed report on your search operations at Master Port. And I'm also required to remind you...'
He looked Roy straight in the eye as he spoke.
"That man called Alan will be imprisoned on the fifth level of Impel Down. From now on, you must not discuss any information related to him in private."
"Until the existence of the organisation known as "The Twelve Zodiac" is confirmed, all information related to this matter will remain classified."
"Understood, sir!"
Roy raised no objections.
He wasn't surprised by the Marines' judgment.
Relying on just one 'Youji' was clearly not enough to convince the Marines of the existence of an organisation called 'The Twelve Zodiac'.
And as for that...
Roy had already prepared his next step.
But what he didn't expect was that just when he thought everything had been settled, Vice Admiral Biros suddenly changed the subject.
"Besides that, there are two more things I need to tell you."
"The first concerns this mission of yours. I've already reported your merits to Sengoku."
As he spoke, he took something out from his coat. At a glance, Roy recognized it as a shoulder insignia reserved for field-grade officers.
"The higher-ups believe that your initiative in serving as the temporary commanding officer at Master Port was extremely brave. The intelligence provided by the criminal you escorted back is also highly valuable, so, starting today…"
"You are now… Lieutenant Commander Roy."
(End of Chapter)
You can read ahead up to 15 chapters on my Patreon: https://www.p*treon.com/darkshadow6395
PS-"For every 100 power stones, I'll release one bonus chapter! (Resets Every Week on Monday)"