Chapter 365: The Deadly Omen Star
Marine Headquarters · Fleet Admiral's Office
Outside the window, the heavy banner of Justice whipped violently in the gale.
Inside the room, there were only five people, yet their collective presence felt as if it outweighed the entirety of Marineford. Sengoku, Garp, Zephyr, and Tsuru—the four titans of the Marines—sat opposite Roy. The air was so heavy it felt like molten lead.
Zephyr sat with his arms crossed, his gaze as sharp as a falcon's. "Roy... the moment you return, you tear Totto Land apart, force back two Emperors alone, and move a Poneglyph into the heart of Headquarters. Are you truly prepared for what comes next?"
Roy picked up his teacup and took a slow, deliberate sip. "Rest easy, Instructor Zephyr—this is only the beginning."
Vice Admiral Tsuru flipped through a thick file of intelligence reports, her voice calm and analytical. "The results are certainly undeniable. In the days since the news broke, the number of rookie pirates has plummeted by 92%, and maritime crime rates have dropped by 78%. Pirate crews are disbanding at an unprecedented rate."
Garp, chewing loudly on a rice cracker, let out a booming laugh that made the tea sets on the table rattle. "Bwahahaha! That drop in crime is probably thanks to Sakazuki and Enel! Those two lunatics are more efficient than News Coos. Everywhere they go, they leave nothing behind but charred corpses and craters of lava!"
Zephyr let out a cold snort. "The methods of Justice have always varied."
Sengoku, however, remained unsmiling. His brow was knitted into a deep scowl as his fingertips tapped rhythmically against the desk—a heavy, oppressive sound.
"Roy, you and I both know the truth... pirates are merely a symptom of the world's disease. If piracy is suppressed to the absolute extreme and member nations no longer feel the need for protection, the very foundation of the World Government's rule will be shaken. When that happens..."
The room fell into a sudden, chilling silence.
Roy set his teacup down, his expression serene yet his eyes deep as the void. "Don't worry, Fleet Admiral. Regarding that, I have already reached an agreement with the 'Higher-Ups'."
At those words, the four elders looked up simultaneously, their faces changing color.
"The Higher-Ups?!"
Roy's voice was measured, yet it fell like a thunderbolt. "The one upon the Void Throne... requires me to find and eliminate a certain 'Forbidden Existence'."
"In exchange—the Marines will be granted an unprecedented level of autonomy."
The documents in Sengoku's hand slipped and hit the floor. For a rare moment, he lost all composure, whispering in disbelief, "To think such a thing was even possible..."
Zephyr's fists clenched, veins bulging on his forearms. "Roy... do you have any idea what level of secrets you are touching?"
A sharp light flashed in Tsuru's eyes. "You're going to help that person find and solve 'It'? What exactly is this existence?!"
Roy lifted a hand, his finger tapping the desk. "According to the timeline—"
"The 'Vessel' has already set sail."
"A... Rubber-Rubber Fruit user."
"PFFFT—!!!!"
The tea and rice crackers Garp had just put in his mouth sprayed across the room. He looked on in utter disbelief.
"Rubber?! Are you kidding me?! A piece of junk like that... can actually become a threat?!"
Zephyr frowned deeply, questioning Roy's claim. "A mere Rubber-Rubber Fruit can become a 'Forbidden Threat' to the World Government?"
Sengoku remained silent, his eyes fixed on Roy as if trying to read the deeper truth hidden in his gaze.
Tsuru closed the file, her gaze as sharp as a blade. "The Rubber-Rubber Fruit..."
"I will investigate this personally."
Roy gave a slight nod, his gaze tranquil. "I appreciate it, Vice Admiral Tsuru. However, before that—"
"I have a few matters of my own to settle."
Punk Hazard · Vegapunk's Laboratory
Space rippled slightly as the air was torn open like a mirror. Roy materialized with Ace, Zoro, and Kuina, appearing directly in the center of the laboratory.
Countless massive cultivation tanks lined the walls, filled with bizarre biological organs soaking in fluid. High-tech instruments emitted a rhythmic tick-tock mechanical sound under the sterile lights.
Vegapunk was buried in his work, operating a complex piece of machinery. Hearing the sound, he spoke without looking up. "Yo~ so you've finally returned."
He instinctively reached out to adjust a surveillance Den Den Mushi, but Roy stopped him with a casual wave of his hand.
VROOM—
An invisible spatial force expanded, enveloping the entire lab. The Den Den Mushi continued to blink and blow bubbles, maintaining the illusion of "normal operation," but their vision and perception now completely ignored the presence of Roy's group.
Vegapunk snapped his head up, his breath hitching. "Your ability... can already interfere with a living being's 'cognition' level?!"
"You can even mask yourselves from a semi-biological communication entity like a Den Den Mushi?!"
Ace, Zoro, and Kuina exchanged looks of pure shock.
Roy merely chuckled, his tone casual. "Don't sweat the details, Doctor. More importantly, the item I requested... it should be finished by now, right?"
At the mention of his work, Vegapunk's demeanor shifted instantly into that of a mad scientist. A near-fanatical light burned in his eyes as he waved them over eagerly.
"Follow me! This is a masterpiece capable of rewriting the very rules of combat!"
The heavy doors of the innermost isolation chamber slowly slid open. Cold air billowed out like mist, carrying the biting scent of chilled metal.
On a central platform lay a gargantuan sniper rifle, over two meters in length. Dark red veins pulsed across the pitch-black frame of the gun, looking as if they were blood vessels that were actually breathing. The barrel was jagged and fierce, with a dragon-spine-like ridge extending its entire length, shimmering with an eerie, lethal luster.
The sheer pressure radiating from the weapon made Ace's heart tighten; Zoro and Kuina's hands instinctively flew to the hilts of their swords.
Vegapunk threw his arms wide, looking like a religious zealot. "This is my first successful result of perfectly fusing a Paramecia-type Devil Fruit with a physical object!"
"Its core is the Mato Mato no Mi (Target-Target Fruit)—giving it the trait of 'Absolute Hitting'! As long as the first bullet strikes the mark, every subsequent attack—"
"Whether it be gunfire, artillery, the slashes of a cold blade, or even the shockwave of a fist—will automatically track the target until they are utterly annihilated!!!"
"I have named it—The Deadly Omen Star!!!"
As the name left his lips, the lights in the laboratory seemed to dim for a heartbeat.
Ace sucked in a sharp breath. "A Paramecia fruit... can actually be used like that?!"
Kuina's voice trembled slightly. "Absolute Hitting... that's a power more terrifying than Haki foresight..."
Zoro added lowly, "If you get locked on by that thing... there's nowhere in the world left to hide."
Roy gripped the Deadly Omen Star with one hand and lifted it effortlessly. The massive weight, which would have been unbearable for an ordinary man, felt like a feather in his grasp. A strange resonance hummed between the gun and his palm, as if the weapon had been born for him.
He smirked. "Doctor, this isn't limited to just bullets, is it?"
Scanning the muzzle, Roy continued, "If I warp over and so much as touch the target with my finger, then warp back... every subsequent attack will also automatically seek them out?"
Vegapunk's eyes flashed with a manic light as he gave a heavy nod. "Exactly! That is its most terrifying aspect! Once the first 'Mark' is completed—even by a simple touch—from that moment on, no one in this world can escape the hunt of the Deadly Omen Star!"
Ace's throat bobbed, cold sweat breaking out on his back. "If Big Brother Roy combines this with Seastone bullets and his top-tier Armament Haki... it's an absolute, guaranteed kill."
Zoro and Kuina fell silent, the same mental image flashing through their minds, causing them both to shiver. Only now did they realize that Vegapunk's claim of a "world-changing weapon" was no exaggeration.
Roy toyed with the Deadly Omen Star, his lips curling into a dangerous, predatory smile.
"Now... who should I use as my first test subject?~"
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