"Thud!"
As Captain Aster's body fell heavily to the ground.
Roy slowly retracted his right leg and adjusted the mask on his face. "It's been a while since I've used it, but thankfully... I'm not rusty."
Yes—as mentioned before, the Six Powers were not really a secret among the Marines.
Any officer at the rank of Lieutenant or above who had been at headquarters for a few years could find a way to learn them, either through other Marine generals or at the training grounds.
The real limitation to learning the Six Powers was the extremely high physical strength requirement.
Once the physical strength standard was met, many could even comprehend one of the six forms on their own.
And it was obvious that this physical strength limitation was not a limitation for Roy.
Although the two Zoan-type Devil Fruits he possessed were only at LV1, the physical enhancement they provided was already sufficient for him to practice the Six Powers.
So, in fact, Roy had already learned four of the six forms: 'Moonwalk', 'Tempest Kick', 'Shave', and 'Iron Body'.
While he couldn't be called a master, he was proficient in their use.
"Shave is standard for strong fighters, Iron Body is a defensive measure, Moonwalk is a rare flight ability, and Tempest Kick is a long-range attack ability. One must have a taste."
Muttering, Roy slowly walked over to Steward Mantar's corpse.
Looking at the man's grotesquely folded body, Roy reached into his pockets.
And then, as expected, he pulled out a few things.
A few high-quality gems and several stacks of ten-thousand-Belly notes were not enough to intoxicate Roy.
"Slurp... cough cough, what's this?"
What really caught his attention were the two other items besides the treasure.
The first was a ring of keys, each key having a number on it.
The second was a neatly folded piece of paper.
"The keys are obviously for these treasures—but for this paper to be stored with the keys..."
Roy curiously unfolded the paper, and then...
"This is..."
His expression suddenly froze.
Then, his breathing became a bit rapid.
Because the paper in front of him, now unfolded, was clearly a sea chart, with a clear route marked on it.
So, to be precise, it was a 'navigation chart'.
The starting point of the route was the Sabaody Archipelago.
So it was not hard to guess that this must be the return route chart for Steward Mantar after selling those slaves at the Sabaody Archipelago.
But that was the problem.
Because as the steward of a royal merchant ship, Mantar's return destination should have been the capital of the Nismael Kingdom.
But the endpoint of this navigation chart was not the capital of the Nismael Kingdom, but another island named 'Arashit Island'.
That island was a considerable distance from the capital, even very close to the Calm Belt.
So why was that?
Roy almost instinctively recalled a piece of information he had heard Steward Mantar mention earlier—this batch of treasure was to be part of this year's 'Heavenly Gold' for the Nismael Kingdom, and the time for submitting the Heavenly Gold was very near.
Therefore, the answer was self-evident.
"Arashit Island, this island... is the port for storing and transporting the 'Heavenly Gold'!"
But just as Roy was shocked in his heart.
His keen hearing also picked up movement from the Marine branch above—it was clear that those drunken marines were gradually waking up.
So, he stuffed the paper back into Steward Mantar's pocket, took the ring of keys, and decisively turned to start opening the chests.
As the treasure chests piled up in the storage room were opened one by one, each chest was, as expected, filled with glittering treasures or stacks of Belly.
So, Roy unhesitatingly placed his hand on them.
As the system operated, the treasures and Belly continuously disappeared, replaced by a continuous sound in Roy's ears.
[Current Belly Held: 45,230,000 → 75,300,000]
[Current Belly Held: 75,300,000 → 110,000,000]
[Current...]
"As expected, all the ways to make money are written in the World Government's constitution."
Looking at the frantically increasing numbers, Roy couldn't help but sigh.
"No wonder everyone is willing to go out to sea as pirates—what's the point of working this job!?"
And just as Roy was sighing for the working class...
His movements suddenly paused.
Because at this moment, he had noticed a treasure chest in front of him.
"Seastone?"
Looking at the gray, seemingly stone-made treasure chest, Roy immediately determined—this thing was probably made of Seastone.
And among the treasures here, something that needed to be stored in a Seastone treasure chest with such fanfare.
"The Devil Fruit those two guys mentioned earlier is in here!"
So, Roy immediately realized this—he had previously heard Steward Mantar and Captain Aster mention that the former had obtained a precious Devil Fruit at the Sabaody Archipelago.
So Roy immediately went to that treasure chest, took out the corresponding numbered key, and opened it.
And then, Roy saw a dark blue fruit, as expected.
On the fruit, the unique spiral pattern of the sea's secret treasures was clearly wrapped around it.
And in Roy's ear, the voice of the Fruit Encyclopedia sounded at the right time.
[Unowned Devil Fruit discovered]
[Devil Fruit confirmed as 'Zoan-type, Ancient Zoan: Dragon-Dragon Fruit, Model: Pteranodon', now analyzing and storing in 'Fruit Encyclopedia']
[Please touch the fruit to begin analysis. Current analysis progress: 0%]
Along with the system's voice, Roy's expression was stunned.
Not only because this was the first time he had obtained a real Devil Fruit.
But more importantly...
"Ancient Zoan?"
Roy had never expected that the fruit he obtained this time would be a precious 'Zoan-type, Ancient Zoan' Devil Fruit.
It is said that Ancient Zoan Devil Fruits give their users far greater vitality and physical constitution than normal Zoan fruits.
Across the entire sea, although not comparable to Mythical Zoan or Logia Devil Fruits, they were definitely a rare type of Devil Fruit.
To obtain such a fruit was naturally a pleasant surprise for Roy.
So, Roy naturally placed his hand on the fruit without hesitation.
The next moment, he saw the fruit begin to dissolve continuously.
At the same time, the 'analysis progress' on the screen of light in front of him began to jump continuously.
In just a few breaths, he saw the fruit disappear into thin air.
In its place...
[Fruit analysis complete. Current ability level is LV.3]
[LV3: Gained full fruit effect, can transform into the ancient creature 'Pteranodon'. Recovery ability and vitality are greatly enhanced. Can freely switch between 'Human Form', 'Beast Form', and 'Human-Beast Form'. Can flap wings to create strong winds]
[LV4: Deep fruit development, can create gales that turn into slashes, can use gales for ultra-high-speed movement. Recovery ability and vitality are further enhanced. Requires 1,500,000,000 / 500,000,000 Belly to unlock permanently/temporarily]
[LV5: Fruit Awakening - Ancient Regression. Undergoes the unique awakening transformation of Zoan Devil Fruit users, will be shrouded in clouds of flame, vitality and recovery ability reach their peak. Can cause catastrophic gales. Requires 7,500,000,000 / 2,500,000,000 Belly to unlock permanently/temporarily]