Five days later.
Marine Headquarters, Marineford.
"Hey! Fal, did you hear?"
Fal, who had been lifting a pair of dumbbells while training, heard the shout.
He turned his head and saw Hans approaching excitedly, holding a cup of coffee.
"Keep your voice down!"
Fal lowered his voice and pointed into the distance. "The boss just got back from Master Port yesterday and is catching up on sleep—you know how he is if he gets disturbed while sleeping…"
"So what if he gets disturbed?"
Hans snorted coldly. "That Roy bastard relies on his skills and acts however he wants. This time he took on an extra mission without even bringing us along—if you ask me, we should band together and sooner or later take his position."
Even as he said that, his voice honestly dropped in volume.
"…"
Fal shot him a helpless look, thinking to himself: Who was it that cried their eyes out on the warship when Roy volunteered for that dangerous mission at Master Port? And who was it that rushed to greet him first thing last night when Roy returned to Marineford?
"What is it? Just spit it out."
Fal didn't expose him, only said impatiently.
"It's that big incident with the Kingdom of Nismael—I dug up some more information!"
Hans muttered. "I heard that the guy who stole the Celestial Tribute and left Commodore Lanley gravely wounded was wearing one of those 'Sea Beast Head Masks' unique to our South Blue."
There was even a hint of excitement in his voice.
"That means there's a good chance the guy came from the South Blue."
"…That's not really something to be excited about."
Fal's expression turned serious upon hearing this.
That's right.
If there was one event recently that had shocked the entire world, the incident on Arasite Island was undoubtedly at the top of the list.
This year's Celestial Tribute from the Kingdom of Nismael—treasure worth a full five billion—had been stolen.
The attacker outright destroyed four Marine bases and a watchtower on Arasite Island, and even defeated Commodore "Lanley," hailed as a Marine supernova, in a direct confrontation with overwhelming force.
There were countless mysteries surrounding the incident.
For example, the attacker's identity was still unknown, and how they managed to move such an enormous amount of treasure in such a short time was also a mystery—no suspicious ships had been spotted in nearby waters after the attack.
But one thing was certain—this incident carried impact far beyond imagination.
After all, stealing the Celestial Tribute was equivalent to directly robbing the Celestial Dragons and the World Government.
"Also, watch what you say—haven't you heard? Orders came down from above forbidding us from privately discussing anything related to it." Fal warned cautiously.
"What's the point of a gag order? The news has already spread through the World Economy News Paper." Hans was unconcerned.
Fal could only shake his head helplessly.
Still, he knew Hans wasn't wrong about that.
Although the upper echelons of the government were furious over the matter—and it was said that even Fleet Admiral Sengoku had been reprimanded—trying to suppress the news was clearly impossible.
"I heard that Headquarters is already discussing that guy's bounty. His first bounty might exceed a hundred million. A dangerous guy like that… thank goodness we missed him back at Master Port."
Hans said with a sigh.
Fal felt a chill of fear as well.
That's right.
For members of the Detention Unit who had returned from Master Port, this incident felt even more terrifying.
Because it wasn't hard to guess that the attacker on Arasite Island and the one who assaulted the G-51 Branch were likely the same person—or at least from the same group.
If they had encountered such a powerhouse, the consequences were too terrifying to even imagine.
"Hey, do you think the boss might know more? He investigated at Master Port for several days, after all."
Hans suddenly said, struck by a thought.
"…What are you thinking?"
Fal was even more speechless after hearing that.
But Hans argued confidently, "Why not? With the boss's strength, escaping in a panic from the guy is definitely something he could manage, right?"
"Ahem!"
In the middle of their heated discussion, a light cough from behind interrupted them.
Both of them stiffened and slowly turned around, only to see Roy walking out of the room with a gloomy expression on his face.
"B-Boss!?"
Hans tensed up instantly. "You're awake."
"Yeah. My source of life is gone."
Roy said darkly. "I'm heading into town to restock."
"Th-then please take care!"
Hans bowed repeatedly, smiling apologetically, as if granted a reprieve.
"Mm."
Roy waved his hand and started walking away.
But before Hans could relax, Roy's voice drifted back to his ears:
"By the way—'escaping in a panic' isn't a good choice of words. I don't like it."
"Come to the training grounds tonight. I want to see whether you've been training hard enough to 'take my position.'"
Hans's face instantly twisted in misery.
Meanwhile, Roy—already having prepared a sandbag for the evening—made his way smoothly into the town on Marineford known as "Peace City."
This was the town where the families of Marines lived.
Roy, very familiar with the place, headed straight to a shop called Fresh & Plenty General Store.
"Granny Kara, I'm here to restock!" Roy called out loudly into the shop.
"Coming."
A moment later, a kindly old woman walked out from inside.
"Oh, it's Roy. Still three crates of cola?"
She looked at him and asked cheerfully.
"That's right."
Roy replied with a serious face. "And please open a bottle of ice-cold one for me right now, thank you."
Before long, Roy was leaning against the counter, holding a bottle of cola and gulping it down.
"Ha!"
After chugging a third of the bottle in one go, Roy let out a satisfied breath of carbon dioxide. "That hits the spot."
"You're just as carefree as ever, Roy—Hina is very disappointed."
The voice coming from behind almost made Roy spit out his cola.
He didn't even need to turn around to know who it was, given that distinctive way of speaking.
"Hina?!"
He immediately spun around and, sure enough, saw Captain Hina with her pink hair walking into the shop.
"Why are you here—don't tell me!?"
Roy instantly became alert, scanning his surroundings for a suspicious, cigar-smoking man shrouded in smoke.
Seeing his reaction, Hina rolled her eyes at him.
"Stop looking. Smoker is still in confinement—you forgot?"
"…"
Only then did Roy remember that was indeed the case.
Still, he said cautiously, "I don't know what you're talking about. That incident involving damage to Headquarters' public facilities has nothing to do with me. Ahem—I mean, I only heard about it."
Seeing Roy's guilty expression, Hina could only shake her head helplessly.
"Hina is speechless."
As she spoke, she walked up to the counter. "Granny Kara, I'll take some 'Source of Life.'"
"Got it, got it—Phil-brand ladies' cigarettes. I'll go get them right away."
Granny Kara replied with a warm smile.
After Granny Kara left, Hina and Roy began talking.
"Don't worry. Smoker has already given up on making you his deputy—he's chosen the girl you recommended instead. Her name is Tashigi." Hina said this calmly.
"Oh?"
Hearing that, Roy's expression brightened. "That's great news—so that stubborn guy finally came around? I told you, thick-headed people only start thinking straight after being locked in confinement, right?"
After hearing his words, Hina gave him a strange look.
"Hina is surprised. It seems you still don't know?"
"…Know what?"
Roy looked completely confused.
"It's nothing. I only heard about it myself—but if it's true, Vice Admiral Bilos should be notifying you soon."
Hina shook her head and didn't pursue the matter further.
She then looked at Roy seriously.
"But when it comes to you, Hina thinks Smoker is right."
"Someone like you really shouldn't stay in the Detention Unit."
Roy didn't seem surprised at all. He simply took another sip of cola. "Burp. Why do you say that?"
"The sea is becoming more and more chaotic. It needs the power of justice."
Hina said calmly. "What happened on Arasite Island is proof of that."
Roy, as always, gave his standard reply: "The Detention Unit is also justice."
"But Hina believes that with your strength, you would want to change more things." She spoke softly.
"For example, five years ago—if you hadn't joined the Detention Unit and had instead followed the original plan and entered the 35th Action Division, then Vince wouldn't have died."
Roy fell silent.
Vince Sita—he had been a Marine from the same generation as Roy and Hina, and also the son of Granny Kara, the owner of this very shop.
After graduating from the training camp, both Vince and Roy were originally assigned to the 35th Action Division. But Roy had voluntarily transferred to the Detention Unit.
And Vince had died during a mission five years ago.
Of course, no one blamed Roy for that—Hina included.
Roy understood that Hina was merely stating her own thoughts.
"Hina believes that people who have both ability and virtue should hold high positions, so they can change everything."
As Hina said this, Granny Kara happened to come out holding the cigarettes.
"Let's get together sometime."
So Hina said no more. She waved at Roy, paid the bill, and took the cigarettes as she left the shop.
Roy watched Hina's departing figure and silently took another sip of cola.
Yet in his heart, there was no wavering at all.
Change the world? Change everything?
At least for now, he didn't have such grand ambitions or desires.
What he wanted was strength and freedom—the freedom to live the life he wanted.
He wanted to see the strange and wonderful sights of the world he had once longed for, unbound and unrestrained.
But without a doubt—
Whether it was strength or freedom, the correct path to achieving them was not the one Hina had described.
"Join the Marines, sincerely capture criminals, and give everything for one's justice?"
"Even if you rise smoothly all the way to the top—to Admiral or even Fleet Admiral—you'd still just be a dog of the World Government."
Promotion and a pay raise were nice enough, and he didn't particularly dislike them, but they would never be the foundation of his path.
Because they could not grant freedom, nor could they change anything.
Thinking this, Roy drained the last of his cola in one gulp.
"I have my own path."
"And I'm already on it."