The light screen floating before Roy silently confirmed a staggering fact.
Indeed, the youth whom the G-51 Branch had captured so easily was named “Aran,” and he was a Devil Fruit user.
Furthermore…
“This fruit’s ability…” The moment Roy read the description of the fruit’s power, he immediately grasped its potential.
Even among Devil Fruits, Aran’s ability was exceptionally unique.
“The gap between its skill floor and ceiling is immense.” “If eaten by an ordinary person, its strength would be even inferior to a common Zoan-type fruit.” “But if this power were obtained by a powerful Haki user, the results would be unimaginably terrifying!” Imagine if Marine hero Vice Admiral Garp or the world’s greatest swordsman, Hawkeye Mihawk, ate this fruit.
Every single one of their slice clones would possess virtually their full strength.
“Seven Garps…
How terrifying would that be?
The Marines might as well rename themselves the Garp Army.” Accordingly, the price to upgrade this fruit was worthy of its potential.
It possessed the highest upgrade cost of any Devil Fruit Roy had encountered thus far.
“Would you like something to eat?” Roy smiled, watching the analysis progress on the screen as he looked toward the youth in the cell.
“My treat!” “I-I’m not eating your food!” Aran clearly could not fathom the calculations running through Roy’s mind; he only felt that this eccentric Marine was incredibly unsettling.
Right at that moment, the last grains of sand fell through the hourglass.
“Very well.” Roy stood up casually.
“I’ll be going then.” He slipped the hourglass into his pocket and turned to leave.
However, just as he reached the cabin door, his steps suddenly halted.
“By the way, kid—you must know that even with most of the branch’s Marines attending the banquet, rescuing those people will still be immensely difficult.
In fact, it is practically impossible, right?” he asked softly, slightly turning his head.
“…I told you, I don’t know what you’re talking about!” This time, Aran let out a furious roar.
But it was hard to say whether his roar carried more anger or fear.
One thing was certain, however.
While his words carried fear and anger, there was not a single shred of hesitation in them.
Roy smiled.
The brave were always worthy of respect.
“Sir?” When Roy emerged from the cabin containing the temporary cell, the Marine on night watch duty on the deck showed a puzzled expression.
“I’m a bit tired.
I’m going back to rest.
Have someone relieve me.
Remember to prepare some food and water for the prisoner, and give him a blanket.” “Yes, sir!” the Marine quickly saluted.
After giving his orders, Roy quietly returned to his personal quarters—an independent cabin located at the rear of the deck, complete with a skylight.
The moment he stepped into the room, the system notifications began ringing in his ears.
[Paramecia-type Slice-Slice Fruit has been added to the Fruit Encyclopedia.
Current Level: LV1] [Current Fruit Types in Encyclopedia: 19 → 20 (Paramecia: 8, Zoan: 7, Logia: 4, Special Paramecia: 0, Mythical Zoan: 1)] [Total recorded fruits have reached 20.
Obtained extra ‘Fruit Slot’] [Current Fruit Slots: 2 → 3] [Current Fruits in Slots: Ox-Ox Fruit: Giant Rhino Form, Rabbit-Rabbit Fruit: Snow Rabbit Form, Empty] Listening to the continuous chiming and watching the flashing prompts on the screen, the smile on Roy’s face became incredibly radiant.
“This trip was entirely worth it!” he muttered, deeply satisfied.
Indeed.
With the acquisition of the “Slice-Slice Fruit,” his total cataloged fruits had finally reached twenty, successfully unlocking his third fruit slot.
For him, this was a massive leap in power.
Of course, the most critical part was…
“The Slice-Slice Fruit…
this ability is incredibly important to me!
Crucially important!” This was the source of Roy’s greatest joy.
As he had realized earlier, his biggest headache was his identity.
He needed his position in the Marines for protection, and he needed their resources to encounter and catalog more Devil Fruits.
At the same time, he also required an astronomical, practically limitless sum of money to upgrade his fruit abilities.
These two requirements were almost entirely contradictory—especially the latter, as almost every method to amass such massive wealth quickly was fraught with extreme danger.
But now…
“Slice!” Roy whispered in his mind.
Instantly, the Slice-Slice Fruit was equipped into the newly unlocked third slot.
*Buzz!* The muscles and skin across Roy’s body began to shift and warp, feeling as though his physical form was being torn apart.
Yet, he felt no pain.
Instead, he felt a strange, indescribable split in his body and consciousness.
A second later, a replica of “Roy Amos”—identical in every way and completely naked—appeared out of thin air directly in front of him.
At that moment, Roy’s perception grew even sharper.
He felt as though the body standing before him was a direct extension of his own.
His consciousness had divided into two distinct parts, yet both parts remained under his absolute control.
This sensation was incredibly novel, even for someone like Roy who had mastered multiple Devil Fruit abilities.
Roy quickly recovered his composure.
He grabbed a set of his everyday clothes and tossed them to the clone.
Even though his own build was nothing to be ashamed of—indeed, he was quite well-endowed—staring at his own naked body was still a bizarre experience.
Next, he controlled his slice clone, carefully testing the changes in its physical form.
Then, the corners of both Roy’ mouths curled upward in unison.
“Just as I suspected…” he whispered.
He commanded the slice clone to throw a simple punch.
*Boom!* The immense force tore through the air, creating a sharp, piercing wind.
Faint patches of white fur even began to sprout along the clone’s arm.
It was snow rabbit fur!
“The clones created by the Slice-Slice Fruit are perfect ‘replications’.” “They even duplicate my other Devil Fruit abilities!” Roy had already suspected this back in the prison cell.
The Aran in the cell had clearly been a slice clone, yet Roy’s Fruit Encyclopedia had still been able to analyze the fruit’s power from him.
This proved that the Slice-Slice Fruit’s clones replicated the user’s other Devil Fruit abilities as well—with the sole exception that the clone’s replicated Slice-Slice Fruit ability could not be used to create further clones.
For almost anyone else in the world, this trait would be useless.
Even if they knew the Slice-Slice Fruit could replicate Devil Fruits, so what?
Aside from a freak like Blackbeard, normal people could only consume a single Devil Fruit in their lifetime anyway.
But for Roy, the implications were entirely different.
For instance, right now…
“This clone of mine also possesses the powers of the Snow Rabbit Form and the Giant Rhino Form!” “The only downside is that the Slice-Slice Fruit itself must occupy one of the clone’s slots and cannot be swapped out.
This leaves the clone with one less slot than my main body, but that is more than enough!” Roy understood exactly how monumental this discovery was.
It meant that the dilemma he had been facing was finally resolved.
From this day forward, his main body could safely remain within the Marines, steadily acquiring more Devil Fruit abilities.
Meanwhile, his clones could go out and amass the astronomical amounts of Berries required to upgrade his Fruit Encyclopedia, without having to worry about keeping their hands clean!
He already had a highly daring plan in mind.
“First, I need to hide my identity…” Roy muttered, scanning the room.
His eyes quickly landed on an object resting on a storage cabinet in the corner of the room.
It was a highly lifelike mask shaped like a rooster.
Roy remembered exactly what it was.
It was a gift Hans had brought back for him two years ago after visiting his hometown in the South Blue.
“This is a ‘Sea Beast Mask’ unique to our South Blue, crafted from our local iron ore…” According to Hans’s proud explanation, this mask was one of the South Blue’s most famous specialties.
They were common across the various kingdoms of the South Blue and even throughout the Grand Line, famous for being sturdy, snug, and highly durable.
Of course, Roy had later learned from the “anonymous” Mr.
Fal that while it was indeed a South Blue specialty, the main reason Hans had bought it as a souvenir was simply because it was cheap.
The next day, Hans had been ordered to pull night watch shifts for half a month for the offense of “stepping onto the deck with his left foot first,” while the mask had been tossed into the corner of Roy’s room, forgotten until now.
But now…
Roy picked up the mask and tossed it to his slice clone.
Once the clone put on the mask and dressed in ordinary clothes, Roy inspected him thoroughly from every angle.
It was completely impossible to discern any facial features or physical characteristics.
He nodded in deep satisfaction.
“Now…
let the games begin!”