Without much effort, Roy soon smoothly arrived inside G-51 Headquarters.
As he approached the office with the nameplate reading 'Branch Commander - Colonel Astor,' the enhanced hearing from the Snow Rabbit Fruit let him catch the conversation inside.
"Colonel, sir, you've been such a tremendous help!"
One voice said.
The other responded with a hearty laugh: "Manager Mantar, you're too kind! Our G-51 branch has always benefited from your kingdom's patronage—helping you resolve troubles is only natural!"
"That's different—the support for your branch comes from His Majesty the King. I'm expressing my personal gratitude, especially since this cargo represents part of the 'Heavenly Tribute' to be presented to the World Government..."
"I heard about it—you made quite a killing at Sabaody this time, even acquired a rare Devil Fruit?"
"Indeed—which is why your help catching that pirate, allowing us to temporarily store our treasures at the branch, and escorting us in a few days... these are all tremendous favors. You absolutely must accept this!"
"Oh my, I couldn't possibly—how could I accept..."
Roy: "..."
I mean, seriously, could you at least keep it down when taking bribes?
In broad daylight... absolutely shameless!
However, the conversation's content definitely caught Roy's attention.
"Part of the Heavenly Tribute, and... a Devil Fruit?"
Muttering to himself, Roy pushed open the office door.
Then, just as expected, he saw a corpulent, lavishly dressed fat man trying to stuff what was clearly an expensive gemstone ring into the pocket of the Marine before him.
The burly, muscular Marine was making a show of refusing, but ultimately seemed about to succumb to the other's insistence.
However, Roy's entrance clearly interrupted this little performance.
"Who are you!?"
The G-51 branch commander, Colonel Astor, immediately looked at Roy with alarm and suspicion.
"Marine Headquarters Detention Force Lieutenant Roy Amos, here on HQ orders to receive the prisoner!"
Roy reported his credentials with an unchanged expression.
"Detention force?"
Colonel Astor quickly straightened up. "I'm Astor. This is Manager Mantar of the Nismael Kingdom, the victim whose merchant vessel was attacked!"
As he made introductions, the fat man smiled and nodded at Roy.
"Lieutenant Roy, as you may have heard—I'm hosting a banquet at the branch tonight. Perhaps you'd do us the honor..."
He spoke invitingly, but Roy didn't even glance at him, directly ignoring him to address Colonel Astor: "Colonel, I'm here for the prisoner transfer—I'm on a tight schedule, so please lead the way."
"..."
At Roy's clearly cold and harsh attitude, both Colonel Astor and Manager Mantar frowned, obviously displeased.
After a moment, Colonel Astor nodded coldly. "Since Lieutenant Roy is in such a hurry... let's go then."
He snorted, then led Roy to the branch prison.
Inside the prison, Roy indeed successfully met the 'pirate' who had allegedly threatened to attack the Nismael Kingdom's merchant vessel.
It was a young man covered in blood.
He appeared to be under twenty, extremely thin, with bandages wrapped around his limbs and torso. He looked utterly wretched, clearly having endured quite brutal interrogation.
But when Roy and Colonel Astor entered the cell, his eyes remained sharp, teeth clenched, saying nothing.
"That's the guy."
Colonel Astor glanced at him dismissively.
"Already investigated him. Couldn't find any bounty—probably some rookie pirate from who-knows-what backwater island. But his mouth's pretty tough—refuses to say his name no matter what."
"His strength's pathetic too. No idea where he got the guts to target a World Government member nation's merchant vessel."
He spat contemptuously.
In this world, naturally there were no household registration systems or ID cards.
Except in some major or prosperous nations, most ordinary countries or islands' lower-class citizens were essentially off the books.
So investigating pirates' identities had always been a persistent problem. Aside from famous pirates who'd made names for themselves at sea, ordinary small-time pirates' backgrounds were rarely investigated.
But clearly, Colonel Astor didn't particularly care anyway.
"The transfer paperwork's all done—you can take him whenever."
After saying this, he shot Roy another glance, then turned and left directly.
Before leaving, Roy's enhanced hearing caught what sounded like Colonel Astor muttering complaints about 'doesn't know what's good for him,' 'stubborn bastard,' 'just a Lieutenant,' 'detention force,' and similar grumbles.
However, Roy no longer had any spare attention for Colonel Astor's complaints.
At this moment, he was staring intently at the young criminal in the cell, a flash of intense excitement in his eyes.
But then he forcibly suppressed his inner joy, turning to the Marine at the cell door: "Let's complete the transfer immediately."
Soon after, Roy brought the young pirate who stubbornly refused to give his name back to his warship.
"Hans, Farr—notify HQ that we've received the prisoner and are returning. Same as always... I'll take first watch over this one myself."
After giving these instructions to Hans and Farr, Roy brought the criminal alone into the warship's temporary holding cell.
After settling onto the familiar sofa, Roy casually pulled out an hourglass and placed it on the table.
His gaze remained fixed on the young man in the cell, saying nothing.
"..."
That stare made the young man uneasy.
"What are you looking at?"
He growled, like a wounded beast.
But he didn't expect that upon hearing his words, Roy wouldn't beat him like the previous Marines had. Instead, he smiled.
"What's your relationship with those slaves on the merchant vessel?"
Roy's first question made the young man's entire body tremble.
"Wh-what are you talking about? I don't understand!"
After a moment, he finally recovered and responded.
Roy clearly didn't care about the young man's answer, simply continuing on his own: "Let me piece this together."
"You sent an advance warning letter threatening to rob them, to make them scared enough to dock at Branch G-51?"
"Then you deliberately got yourself caught, so they'd let their guard down—and they did indeed relax. Tonight's banquet is proof of that."
"The merchant vessel's treasures have been moved to the branch, so nobody would suspect your real target is those leftover slaves on the ship—the ones with no value who couldn't be sold."
As Roy said this, he saw the young man's entire body begin trembling.
"Y-you're talking nonsense..."
He still tried denying what Roy said, but his voice had already grown hoarse.
At this moment, the shock in his heart was unprecedented.
He couldn't understand.
Why could this Marine articulate his entire plan? He didn't understand where he'd been exposed.
"I-I'm locked up right here. How could I possibly rescue any slaves—Marine, kill me or torture me as you please, but stop saying things I don't understand!"
His voice was almost stuttering.
But hearing this, the smile on Roy's face only grew wider.
"You're right—you're right here, loaded onto my warship in plain sight... nobody would suspect you."
"That's the most brilliant and useful part."
Roy said this.
His gaze still fixed on the young pirate.
But in his vision, the translucent screen silently revealed the entire truth.
[Devil Fruit user 'Alan (Slice Clone)' detected]
[Confirmed as 'Paramecia-type: Slice-Slice Fruit', analyzing and storing in 'Fruit Encyclopedia']
[Fruit Ability - Can create 'Slice Clones' identical to current state, but clones cannot create further slices]
[Note: Slice clones share consciousness and memories with the original. Clone death is irreversible and causes some damage to the original]
[Original can recover or refresh clone status through touch]
[If original dies, all clones simultaneously disappear]
[Effects by Level]
[LV1: Minimal fruit effects, can create one Slice Clone]
[LV2: Partial fruit effects, can create three Slice Clones. Requires 500,000,000 berries to unlock]
[LV3: Complete fruit effects, can create seven Slice Clones. Requires 3,000,000,000 berries to unlock]
[LV4: Deep fruit development, can create twelve Slice Clones. Original can swap positions with any Slice Clone at will. Can recover and resummon Slice Clones regardless of distance. Requires 6,000,000,000 berries to unlock]
[LV5: Fruit Awakening - Endless Slicing. Beyond twelve base clones, can create unlimited weakened Slice Clones, though each possesses only a fraction of the original's power. Requires 12,000,000,000 berries to unlock]
[Analysis Progress: 21%]