Chapter 48: The Ambition of Gold
North Blue - Abandoned Smelter
The acrid smell of burnt metal hung in the air. Rusted pipes and catwalks crisscrossed the space, a silent, oppressive tomb of steel.
FWOOSH!
Space itself seemed to tear as Tesoro was thrown into the darkness, stumbling until he hit a support column. The cold, icy feel of the metal sent a jolt of terror through him.
"Wh-Where is this?!"
He spun around, his eyes wide, and stared at the tall, black-haired man who was now standing calmly behind him. The man's ten-foot frame was a pillar of shadow in the dim light.
"Who... Who are you? Teleportation?! You're a Devil Fruit user?!"
Roy leaned casually against a steel beam, his voice low and steady.
"Marine Headquarters, Rear Admiral. Roy."
"A Marine...?" Tesoro's face darkened, his mind screaming. He instinctively reached for the knife at his waist, but found only empty air.
"Looking for this?" Roy was holding the poisoned dagger, spinning it expertly between his long fingers. The blade caught the dim light. "Double-edged, poisoned, aimed for the vitals. Very professional."
Roy looked at him, a cold, empty smile on his face.
"What do you want?" Tesoro's voice was tight, his body coiled.
"I'm not here to arrest you," Roy said, casually plunging the dagger into a rusted steel plate. "I'm here to make a deal."
"A deal?"
Tesoro let out a sharp, mocking laugh. "A Marine, making a deal? Don't tell me you're here to talk about 'Justice' and 'order' with an escaped slave?"
He yanked his collar down, revealing the raw, ugly brand of the Celestial Dragons.
"Do you know what this is?" he sneered. "It's the brand of your precious Celestial Dragons. It's the footprint they left on my soul."
Roy just stared at him, his expression unreadable. "I'm not here to talk to a slave."
"..."
"I'm here to talk to the future 'Gold Emperor.'"
The laugh died in Tesoro's throat. His entire body tensed.
"Are you insulting me?" he growled.
"I'm acknowledging you," Roy said, his voice serious. "A man who can find Star-Steel in a dead quarry. A man who can organize a group of beggars into a professional workforce in two weeks."
He pulled the dagger from the steel plate.
"You have vision, brains, ambition, and you are ruthless. You're just missing one real opportunity."
Tesoro's sneer remained, but his eyes had lost their mockery. He was evaluating Roy, as if he were a high-stakes gamble.
"So? You want to recruit me? Put a golden leash on me? Make me your pet 'mine boss'?"
"You're wrong."
Roy stood to his full height, a long shadow in the dim light. His voice was deep and steady. "I'm going to invest in you. I'm going to make you the richest man in the world."
The air in the factory was deathly still.
"Wha...?!" Tesoro stared, unable to process the words. "What did you say?"
"I said, you don't just want to make money," Roy continued, pointing to Tesoro's heart. "You want to use money... to shatter that high-and-mighty world."
"You want to forge a knife out of gold... and cut their necks."
The words hit Tesoro like a physical blow. His mask of rage and cynicism finally cracked. He wanted to laugh, but his mouth wouldn't obey.
"Why...?" His voice was a hoarse whisper.
"Because I'm not offering you empty words."
The next instant, Roy unleashed his power.
"BOOM!!!"
A tidal wave of Conqueror's Haki exploded from him, a raw, terrifying pressure that tore through the abandoned factory. The rusted steel beams screamed and bent. The ceiling cracked, dust raining down.
Tesoro's breath was stolen from his lungs. His knees buckled, and he slammed to the ground, a wave of pure, primal fear washing over him. It wasn't just pressure. It was a declaration. A King's declaration.
Just as he felt his mind was about to be torn apart, the Haki vanished.
"Hah... hah..."
Tesoro was on all fours, trembling, gasping for air. He looked up at the man who stood over him, his eyes filled with a new, genuine terror.
"You..." he choked out, "what do you want?"
Roy walked closer, his voice low, like a devil's whisper. "I can give you more than just money... I can give you the power to tear down your nightmare."
Tesoro's pupils shrank. He saw it all again:
Stella, crying in the rain, being dragged away...
Him, chained to the marble floor of Mary Geoise, crawling like a dog...
The cold, bored eyes of the Celestial Dragon, raising his golden cane...
"Money..." he whispered, his nails digging into the dirt, drawing blood. "Without it... you're nothing..."
He slowly looked up, his jaw set, his eyes burning with a new, desperate fire. "...What... do you want me to do?"
Roy didn't answer. He just reached into his coat and took out a black metal box.
Click.
Inside, resting on a velvet cushion, was a Devil Fruit that shimmered like liquid gold.
"Paramecia-type. The Goru Goru no Mi. The Gold-Gold Fruit."
Roy's voice was flat. "It grants the user complete mastery over gold. Solid, liquid, or dust, you can shape it, control it, and create with it."
"The properties of gold... will become your greatest weapon."
"Control gold... and you control the rules."
Tesoro's breathing grew heavy. He understood. Gold was the lifeblood of kingdoms, the fuel of war, the measure of power. To control gold... was to hold the world by the throat.
"You..." Tesoro stared at Roy, his voice shaking. "You would... give this... to me?"
"This is just the start." Roy smiled, his voice cold. "I don't need your loyalty. I just need your success."
"I'm just putting the right person... in the right place."
The factory was silent.
After a long moment, Tesoro slowly, heavily, knelt. Not from the Haki, but from the weight of twenty years of shame, hatred, and ambition that had just broken free.
For the first time in his life, someone saw him for what he truly was: not a monster, but a genius forged from despair.
"...Alright."
His trembling hand reached out and touched the fruit. The ambition in his chest, which had been smoldering for years, finally erupted into an inferno.
Roy placed the fruit in his palm. "Eat it."
Tesoro stared at it, his eyes blazing. "From today on..." he whispered, like an oath, "it is not I who bows to gold... It is gold... that will bow to me."
He bit down. The sound echoed in the silent, steel tomb.
Roy turned and walked to the rusted door, the light from outside catching his shoulder.
"Remember, Tesoro... when you say 'money is everything'..."
He smiled. "Make sure you... are the money itself."
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