Looking at the Vivre Card in his hand.
Roy leaned back slightly in his office chair, the plaque behind him that read 'Justice Above the Stars' hanging high.
A look of contemplation appeared on his face.
Just as the Vivre Card stated—this Vivre Card belonged to that 'Red-Haired' Shanks.
And to explain the source of this Vivre Card, it was actually quite simple.
Half a month ago, when the battle on Instein Island ended.
Serpent had returned to Dream Island with Kuma, and with them was also Hawkeye.
Roy had no grudges with this strongest swordsman, and besides, the other party was no longer a Warlord of the Sea, but a 'pirate' at odds with the World Government.
Logically speaking, Roy had no reason to let the other party wait for death on Instan Island.
And the coincidence was that after Hawkeye woke up, this great swordsman chose to leave immediately.
"I owe you a life."
"After my injuries heal, I will come find you—in the future, I can do one thing for your Twelve Zodiacs."
He wasn't awkward about Serpent's life-saving grace.
Of course, Hawkeye's sharp eyes when he spoke made Serpent very suspicious—the other party simply wanted to find a reason to duel.
And in addition, Hawkeye gave him this Vivre Card before leaving.
"This is something I asked Red Hair for help with, and he gave it to me in exchange."
Hawkeye's words were casual.
"He asked me—if I can see the Twelve Zodiacs in the future, to give this to him."
And after hearing these words, Serpent wasn't surprised.
After the main body returned to the Navy Headquarters, Roy had naturally already heard—the reason why Hawkeye was able to go to Instan Island to participate in the sword fight was because 'Red Hair' intercepted Aokiji on the way.
But Serpent didn't expect that as an exchange for intercepting Aokiji, Red Hair would actually make such a request to Hawkeye.
"He said... if you have time, he hopes you can meet him, he has something to say to you."
These were the words Hawkeye conveyed, and also the origin of Roy's thoughts at this moment.
"Shanks..."
He murmured this name in a low voice.
A former Celestial Dragon and God's Knight, the guide of the modern Nika, the adopted son of the Pirate King, suspected of knowing many secrets of the World Government—to be honest, Roy was indeed very curious about him.
And the other party's 'invitation' this time also gave Roy a sense of déjà vu.
Including Whitebeard, this was the second Emperor who had issued a 'meeting invitation' to him.
However...
"I don't mind meeting him, but he probably doesn't have much time recently."
Roy muttered in his heart.
As far as he knew, the intensity of this battle between Aokiji and the Red Hair Pirates was quite high, and the sea area was devastated.
Aokiji was even injured in this battle, and even Kizaru, who was originally stationed in Marineford, was dispatched.
And although Red Hair chose to evacuate before Kizaru arrived, it was said that many of his subordinates were also injured.
In this situation, Roy estimated that Red Hair wouldn't have time to meet him in the short term.
This made him feel a little regretful.
After all...
"Red Hair was a God's Knight before, maybe he knows where to get a sufficient amount of Lineage Factor Source Energy..."
This was the thing that truly annoyed Roy at the moment.
Yes.
[Current Lineage Factor Source Energy: 450 points / 1 point can be exchanged for every 1 billion Berries]
At this moment, such information could be seen within the Fruit Encyclopedia in Roy's eyes.
"I have a lot of Berries on hand, exchanging them all should still be able to make about four more Star Fruits... but it's still not enough."
Roy muttered like this.
Yes.
After the battle on Instan Island, he had confirmed the path he needed to take next.
He only needed to collect wishes, and the 'Star Fruit' made with Lineage Factor Source Energy was a creation that transcended the shackles of the world—theoretically, as long as he had enough Star Fruits on hand, then he could grow to the point of standing alongside Imu.
And with Serpent as a lesson, Roy already had a plan for how to collect wishes.
Now the key problem was the Lineage Factor Source Energy!
"Whether it's using the ability of the Star Contract or making Star Fruits... every part of the next plan requires Lineage Factor Source Energy."
"Even if we don't consider the problems of other people, making a Star Fruit for all twelve Zodiacs requires at least more than 2000 points of Lineage Factor Source Energy."
"If you want to truly confront Imu and the World Government, you need countless Lineage Factor Source Energy."
"If you exchange it all with Berries... it's almost an astronomical number."
This was the key to the problem.
Even for the current Roy, this amount of Berries was almost impossible to obtain in a short period of time.
Of course, Roy originally had a backup plan.
That was the 'God's Knights' and the 'Elders of the World Government.'
After the battles in Dressrosa and Instan Island, Roy had regarded these contract holders of Imu as the best way to obtain Lineage Factor Source Energy.
"Currently, it seems that a Deep Sea Contract contains at least about 200 units of Lineage Factor Source Energy."
"The Abyssal Sea Contract, on the other hand, has more than 400 units."
"The key is that the God's Knights and the Elders of the World Government are incredibly weak after removing their 'immortality,' they are simply the best wild monsters."
But unfortunately.
Roy had also smelled a hint of the World Government's recent actions—Imu had obviously discovered this, and had already responded.
He planned to use the 'Star Hunt Squad' to directly face the Twelve Zodiacs, and the God's Knights seemed to have been 'snowed.'
Of course, if it was a normal situation, Roy wouldn't be in a hurry.
With the power he had on hand, he could naturally collect enough Lineage Factor Source Energy by slowly collecting Berries over a few years.
After all, according to the original story, the era in which Luffy was located was undoubtedly the 'promised day' that Joy Boy and Davy Jones were waiting for.
There should be about four years left until now.
By that era, the sea would engulf everything in the world, and the final battle would begin.
But precisely, Roy was very clear.
"The original plot is no longer credible."
"Due to my appearance, the situation in the world has changed greatly—Imu will not just sit back and watch me 'catch up to Him'."
"He will definitely find a way, either to kill me, or to let himself get rid of the shackles early."
Because he understood this, Roy didn't plan to wait.
Therefore...
"While maintaining the acquisition of Berries, I have to find other ways to obtain a large amount of Lineage Factor Source Energy to ensure that the Zodiacs obtain the 'Star Fruit' as soon as possible."
While clarifying this goal, Roy naturally had ideas in his mind.
"I have the Fruit Encyclopedia, which can convert Berries into Lineage Factor Source Energy—this is an abnormal situation."
"Normally, all the Lineage Factor Source Energy in this world should come from the 'World's Spire'."
"So... what I'm looking for now are clues and information related to the 'World's Spire'."
Without a doubt.
Regarding that ancient tree of creation, not much was circulating throughout the world.
But coincidentally, Roy really knew about two places that were closely related to the 'World's Spire.'
However...
Before going to those two places, he had a pre-arranged meeting.