The next day.
Grand Line, Marineford.
Marine Detention Unit… Dormitories.
"♪ Deliver Binks' Sake, right to you~"
"♪ Like the sea wind, free and wild, riding the waves~"
"♪ Beyond the sea, the sunset is noisy too, the birds' singing—hic!"
Hans and Fal were, as usual, huddled in a corner whispering to each other while watching a certain mysteriously cheerful man drink cola and hum to himself.
"Hey, doesn't the boss seem to be in a really good mood lately?" Fal muttered in a low voice.
Hans didn't care much. He tugged at his collar and said, "Well, obviously, he just got promoted to Lieutenant Commander. It'd be strange if he weren't happy, wouldn't it?"
"…But that doesn't quite add up either." Fal frowned. "A few days ago, I heard that Vice Admiral Biros wanted to throw him a promotion banquet, but he turned it down. Instead, he's been holed up in his room every day."
Hans still didn't think much of it and tugged at his collar again.
"What's so strange about that? Our boss has always been like this. Besides, not everyone likes to show off over a promotion."
Then he was kicked flying by Fal.
"You asshole! I've put up with you for a long time!" Fal angrily pulled his leg back. "Just because you joined the Marines a few years before me and the boss promoted you to Petty Officer First Class doesn't mean you can parade it in front of me every day!"
After getting kicked, Hans didn't get angry at all.
He simply continued tugging at his collar, deliberately making the badge that read [Petty Officer First Class -- Hans Tor] stand out even more.
"Sigh, Fal Chan, if you're mad at me, I don't blame you. Jealousy doesn't feel good, does it?" He said gently.
Fal was grinding his teeth in anger.
He was desperate to go out on a mission and get promoted to Petty Officer First Class himself.
Unfortunately, however, because Roy's official appointment as Lieutenant Commander hadn't been finalized yet, they hadn't had any missions lately.
"Jealousy, huh? I'll show you my fist of rage!"
Thankfully… even if reasoning didn't work, Fal did know a bit of kicking!
Meanwhile...
"Huu... hic. What a nice day."
Ignoring his brawling subordinates nearby, Roy took a sip of his ice-cold cola and sighed contentedly at the sunny weather.
Yes, his mood had really been quite good lately.
The reason needed no explanation. His plan in Alabasta had gone extremely smoothly. Using his knowledge of the storyline, he had specially designed the Slice Clone known as 'Shinryu'.
The Magma Magma and Ice-Ice Fruits-- Devil Fruits that originally belonged to the Marine Admirals Akainu and Aokiji, were absolute top-tier Logia fruits.
And he had spent a full 4 Billion Beli to strengthen both of them to LV.3.
Add to that the Slice-Slice Fruit, upgraded to LV.2, along with several other commonly used fruits that he had enhanced, and the enormous sum of Beli that he had once had on hand was now completely exhausted.
But without a doubt, the enormous investment had been worth it.
"That so-called rain is nothing more than water vapor condensing. The cold air and frost produced by the Ice-Ice Fruit, combined with the intense heat generated by the Magma-Magma Fruit, can create rainfall!"
This was Roy's long-considered method of 'artificial rain'.
After all, Nami had demonstrated partial rainfall using her Clima-Tact in the original manga, based on similar principles.
He had merely expanded the scale.
As always...
The combined use of Devil Fruits could give rise to endless possibilities. The success of that experiment was precisely what made Roy's deal with Alabasta possible.
"Even if I just make it rain once across all of Alabasta right now, plus the commission King Cobra is offering, that's already more than 5 Billion Beli. Now all that's left is to deal with Crocodile."
"I've also obtained the enhancement abilities of Alabasta's two vice-captains of the royal guard: the Bird-Bird Fruit, Falcon Model, and the Dog-Dog Fruit, Jackal Model."
With gains this enormous, how could Roy not be happy?
Lately, everything he ate tasted better than ever, even his fizzy happiness drink seemed sweeter than usual.
Of course, it wasn't that he had no worries at all.
"Right now, there's really only one problem for me, although I've enhanced quite a few Devil Fruits... When I'm at Headquarters, I can only use the humanoid form of Zoan fruits. I can't use the beast or hybrid forms."
"And Logia fruits can't be elementalized either. Otherwise, my identity as a Devil Fruit user would be exposed."
Thinking about this still irritated Roy.
He had clearly enhanced many powerful Devil Fruits, yet because of his identity, he couldn't utilize their full strength. The feeling of coming up just short was extremely frustrating.
"If only there were a Devil Fruit ability that could solve this problem…"
And just as Roy was muttering to himself...
"Hey!"
A familiar deep voice rang out, and the cola in Roy's mouth instantly sprayed out.
"Hmm!?"
He turned his head sharply and immediately saw Smoker's sour-looking face.
"Smoker!" Roy instantly went on the defensive. "Aren't you supposed to be in confinement? Why are you here?... Let me tell you first, I'm already a Lieutenant Commander now. There's no way I'm your subordinate."
He only remembered halfway through that Smoker's confinement might have been partly his fault, so he hurriedly changed his tone.
"..."
Smoker's expression visibly darkened.
It looked like he had to suppress the urge to punch Roy in the face before he could speak, and he did so stiffly: "You asked Vice Admiral Biros to arrange special training for you?"
As he said this, his tone eased slightly.
Clearly, seeing Roy, someone talented but usually lazy, finally make an effort was something Smoker genuinely approved of.
As a friend, he truly believed that Roy deserved a higher position from which to administer justice.
"…Y-yeah! Yes!"
Roy didn't have the nerve to say that this wasn't his own request, so he could only nod awkwardly.
"The person assigned to train you has some history with me, so he asked me to bring you over." Smoker glanced at Roy while speaking. "If you're free, come with me."
Roy froze for a moment, then followed him without hesitation. After greeting Hans and Fal, he followed Smoker out of the Marine Detention Unit's compound.
As they walked, however, Roy thought to himself: 'As expected.'
He had already guessed the identity of the 'old friend' that Vice Admiral Biros had mentioned.
Now it seemed that not only did this person know Smoker, but they were clearly on good terms with him, otherwise that sharp-tongued, chain-smoking troublemaker wouldn't be delivering messages so cooperatively.
So in Roy's mind, the other party's identity had already become quite clear.
"You're also going to take part in this "Three-Forces Martial Exercise", right?" Smoker suddenly asked while Roy was thinking.
"Huh? What?" Roy nodded subconsciously, then quickly realised something was off.
"Wait... what? What's the Three-Forces Martial Exercise?"
Wasn't it supposed to be an All-Forces Drill?
"You don't know yet?"
Smoker took the cigar from his mouth and exhaled.
Through the drifting smoke, his voice carried a hint of excitement.
"Because of the robbery incident involving the Heavenly Tribute, the World Government's higher-ups are furious. They believe that the Marines' poor management has caused a serious decline in internal combat strength, which is why something like this could happen."
"So, after discussing it, Fleet Admiral Sengoku and Chief Commander Kong decided to change the rules of this Grand Military Drill."
"This time, it won't just be the Marines... every military force and directly affiliated organisation under the World Government will send participants."
"And its name is... The Three-Forces Martial Exercise!"
(End of Chapter)
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