Promoted to Major!
17: Chapter 17: The Twelve Zodiacs!
Promoted to Major!
To Roy’s surprise, after lugging his precious “source of life” back to his dormitory, he actually received word that Vice Admiral Bilos wanted to see him, just as Hina had said.
When Roy arrived at Vice Admiral Bilos’s office with curiosity, he saw the usually improper vice admiral looking unusually serious at something on his desk.
“Ah, back already, kid?” “Yes, sir.
I haven’t had a chance to debrief you yet.” Roy nodded.
“My apologies for failing to find any trace of the attacker in Master Port.” He spoke as matter-of-factly as if it were natural—since he had been the one leading the search for “Rooster” in Master Port, it would have been a miracle if they actually found anything.
“It’s fine.
Not finding anything might actually be a good thing.” Vice Admiral Bilos waved his hand.
“This whole situation is far more complicated than we estimated.” “Oh?” Roy feigned curiosity.
“What happened?” “Have a seat first.
That’s one of the reasons I called you over.” Vice Admiral Bilos said solemnly, “You and your subordinates are directly involved in this matter, so I need to brief you on what we’ve discovered so far.” “Oh?” Roy acted even more “curious.” “Do tell.” “First, regarding the attacker who stole the Heavenly Tribute.” Vice Admiral Bilos spoke in a low voice as he picked up something from his desk and showed it to Roy.
Roy looked at it.
“A bounty poster?” It was indeed a bounty poster.
Unusually, there was no photo in the center.
Instead, it was an artist’s rendition depicting a tall figure with dragon scales on his neck, wearing a rooster mask.
And on the poster, it clearly read: [WANTED] [DEAD OR ALIVE] [Rooster] [170,000,000 Berries] “One hundred and seventy million Berries?” The number genuinely surprised Roy.
Because after all, this was an initial bounty.
For a first bounty, even two of the current Four Emperors—BIG MOM and Kaido—had only received initial bounties of 50,000,000 Berries and 70,000,000 Berries, respectively.
A figure of 170,000,000 was truly astonishing.
“It couldn’t be helped.” Vice Admiral Bilos shook his head.
“After all, this guy stole a massive amount of Heavenly Tribute.
The pressure from both the World Government and the Kingdom of Nismail is immense.” He let out a sigh.
“Furthermore, according to Ranri, who has now regained consciousness, the opponent possessed overwhelming power and exhibited traits of a Zoan Devil Fruit, capable of transforming into a colossal ancient pterosaur.
On top of that, he believes the enemy is likely a Mythical Type user—because during the battle, the attacker utilized an ability akin to elemental intangibility.
“Fortunately, the enemy seemed to have underestimated him.
Although a powerful attack pierced Ranri’s abdomen, it failed to kill him.
That’s how we managed to obtain so much information, including the attacker’s code name, ‘Rooster.'” He read out the code name carefully.
“Marine Headquarters is conducting an investigation, but we haven’t found any records of a similar Devil Fruit yet.
However, if things are truly as Ranri described and the attacker is a Mythical Type Devil Fruit user, then on the strength of that fruit ability alone, he is well worth this bounty.” Hearing this, Roy felt it sounded considerably more reasonable.
But then, he asked with feigned hesitation, “A Mythical Type Devil Fruit!
Aren’t those the rarest and most powerful fruits?
And ‘Rooster’…
that doesn’t sound like a real name, does it?” “It certainly isn’t!” Vice Admiral Bilos’s expression grew even heavier.
“That brings me to the second piece of information I need to share with you.
The prisoner you brought back from Master Port—after interrogation by Headquarters, he confessed to some shocking things.
Including the existence of an organization.” As Bilos spoke, a look of “shock and confusion” flickered across Roy’s eyes.
“An organization?” “Yes.
According to him, he belongs to an organization and is merely an outer member.
So he doesn’t know many specifics, only that the organization is called…
the Twelve Zodiacs.” Vice Admiral Bilos enunciated each word clearly.
“According to him, this organization consists of twelve senior executives and one supreme leader.
And ‘Rooster’ is the code name of one of those twelve executives.” Upon hearing this, Roy abruptly stood up from his seat and shouted in shock, “What?!
Such a thing actually exists?!” But while putting on an Oscar-worthy performance, Roy mused inwardly: *That kid Aran turned out to be reliable after all.* Indeed.
Roy wasn’t surprised in the slightest by anything Vice Admiral Bilos was saying.
The reason was simple: all of this had been orchestrated by Roy himself.
The two tasks he had previously assigned Aran—first, to use a clone to pilot the Nismail royal merchant ship out of G-51 Branch’s port.
And second, to feed the Marines the exact “intel” Vice Admiral Bilos was now relaying.
As for the reason behind it, it was equally simple.
Roy understood clearly that to obtain enough Berries, he would inevitably have to rely on the power of his Slice-Slice Fruit to continuously create sliced clones and earn money through various means.
Stealing the Heavenly Tribute was only the first time, but it certainly wouldn’t be the last.
And whatever exists leaves behind traces.
Thus, to ensure his true self remained undiscovered, what Roy needed to do was muddy the waters.
The muddier the water, the easier it would be to fish in secret.
Hence, he had long devised a plan.
He would fabricate an organization—a “powerful syndicate” that didn’t actually exist, but was destined to become notorious in the future.
He wanted to shift the attention of the Marines and even the World Government entirely onto that organization, thereby concealing his own existence.
Compared to a continuous stream of unnamed, powerful Devil Fruit users popping up one after another, a “mysterious syndicate” that had long existed in the shadows, hatching dark schemes, would far more effectively keep the World Government preoccupied.
This Heavenly Tribute heist was his first test run.
Allowing the lieutenant commander to escape on Arasheet Island and leaving Commodore Ranri alive were both calculated moves to pass this information to the Marines.
Judging by the bounty poster and Vice Admiral Bilos’s current attitude, his plan had clearly succeeded beyond expectation.
Meanwhile, Vice Admiral Bilos continued speaking.
“The Crime Investigation Division is gathering intelligence regarding that organization, but so far they’ve come up empty-handed,” he spoke solemnly.
“So they want you to submit a detailed report of your search in Master Port.
At the same time, I need to remind you…” He looked seriously at Roy.
“That fellow named Aran will be imprisoned on Level 5 of Impel Down.
From now on, none of you are to mention any information regarding him.
Until the existence of this organization called the ‘Twelve Zodiacs’ is verified, all intel regarding this matter remains top secret.” “Understood!” Roy naturally had no objections.
He wasn’t surprised by the Marines’ judgment.
Relying solely on “Rooster” was obviously not enough to make the Marines fully believe in the existence of the Twelve Zodiacs.
And for that, he had already prepared his next move.
However, what Roy didn’t expect was…
Just as he thought everything was settled, Vice Admiral Bilos shifted the conversation.
“Besides that, I have two more things to tell you.
First, regarding your mission this time, I’ve already reported your merits to Sengoku.” As he spoke, he drew something from his coat.
Roy recognized it at a glance—a pair of shoulder boards reserved exclusively for field officers.
“The higher-ups deemed your initiative in stepping up as temporary commander in Master Port to be extremely brave, and the intelligence provided by the prisoner you escorted back was crucial.
Therefore, starting today…” “You are now Major Roy!”