"Promoted to Lieutenant Commander?"
Naturally, Roy was pleasantly surprised by Vice Admiral Bilos's words.
Because within the Marines, the rank of Lieutenant Commander is effectively a dividing line.
Ensign ranks—even someone like him, a Lieutenant —are essentially still low-level officers.
They can only lead their own action units, such as the "35th Detention Unit," carrying out missions with execution authority but no real command authority.
Commander ranks, however, are different.
Starting from the rank of Lieutenant Commander, one can have their name engraved on a warship and possess a personal vessel of their own.
They gain a certain level of command and decision-making authority, the power to appoint or dismiss subordinates, the right to personally issue some combat orders, access higher-level documents, participate in classified operational command meetings, and even mobilize local Marine forces to assist them.
This difference is also reflected in salary—
A Lieutenant earns around 300,000 Berries per month, while a Lieutenant Commander's pay jumps to roughly 500,000 Berries a month.
It took Roy a moment to fully process it.
"So that's how it is?!"
Only then did he suddenly understand why Smoker had given up on making him his deputy.
Now that he had been promoted to Lieutenant Commander, regulations meant he could no longer serve as Smoker's future base deputy.
"Old man, you really helped me out big time!"
Roy said sincerely.
"Hahahaha! It's nothing, nothing at all!"
Vice Admiral Bilos laughed heartily.
"I promised I'd report your merits for you. If I couldn't even keep a promise to my subordinates, I'd have retired long ago!"
"But, kid, now that you're a Lieutenant Commander, I've already signed you up for the 'All-Forces Martial Exercise'—you don't mind, do you?"
"Of course not."
Roy was momentarily startled, but then nodded.
Since he already knew that Vice Admiral Bilos would retire after the All-Forces Martial Tournament, there was no way he wouldn't participate.
He was determined to take the position of Detention Unit Commander.
"Good—that's the spirit. It's rare to see you take things this seriously."
Bilos nodded in satisfaction.
"That's more like it. Before, you were so lazy and listless—no vitality at all!"
But then his tone suddenly shifted.
"However, I have to warn you, just like I said—because of this incident, the World Government feels that we Marines have been very incompetent."
"So in order to tighten discipline, this year's All-Forces Martial Tournament… may be very different from previous ones. The difficulty will likely be much higher."
He looked at Roy solemnly.
"You're not weak, kid, but you still have shortcomings. So I contacted an old friend of mine and asked him to put you through special training over these last few months."
"An old friend? Special training?"
Hearing that, Roy frowned slightly.
He didn't think he needed any special training.
"Yes!"
Bilos said seriously.
"He's a very formidable man, and he hasn't trained anyone in quite some time. He should contact you before long—learn properly from him, boy."
He patted Roy on the shoulder.
Seeing the Vice Admiral wearing a clear 'the future is yours' expression, Roy could only nod helplessly.
"Alright."
"Good! Then go back and prepare properly."
With that, Vice Admiral Bilos waved his hand, casually pulling out his beloved skewered dumplings from the drawer.
Roy, naturally, had no intention of disturbing his superior's afternoon tea and obediently turned to leave.
Only—
"Vice Admiral Bilos's 'old friend'… someone very strong. Hmm. There are actually only a few possible candidates."
"And whatever I'm supposed to cram for at the last minute isn't hard to guess."
As he walked out of the keep, Roy already had a rough guess in his mind.
However, it was obvious that this matter wasn't particularly important to him.
What truly mattered was—
"I need to create the next slice clone as soon as possible, continue acquiring Berries, and solidify the existence of the 'Twelve Zodiac.'"
"Otherwise, my presence in this incident is still too strong. There's a chance I'll end up being watched."
Roy thought to himself.
"The only real problem now is…"
His gaze shifted forward.
On a translucent, illusory light screen, the displayed information was crystal clear.
[Fruit Encyclopedia]
[Holder: Roy Amos]
[Current Encyclopedia Fruit Types: 21
(Paramecia – 8, Zoan – 8, Logia – 4, Special Paramecia – 0, Mythical Zoan – 1)]
[Number of fruit slots: 3]
[Current slotted fruits: Glint-Glint Fruit LV2, Dragon-Dragon Fruit · Model: Quetzalcoatlus, LV3, Strong-Strong Fruit]
[Current Berries held: 5.1376 billion]
"Which fruits should I strengthen next?"
Roy fell into a blissful dilemma.
Yes.
During the previous operation to seize the Celestial Tribute, he ultimately chose to spend 400 million Berries to strengthen one of his Logia-type fruits—the Glint-Glint Fruit.
At LV2, the Glint-Glint Fruit allowed partial elementalization of the body, while granting extreme speed and the destructive power of lasers. In his view, it paired exceptionally well with the Quetzalcoatlus Fruit among Logia abilities.
And reality proved that this enhancement had been necessary.
When facing Commodore Lanley's strongest sword strike of his life, it was precisely this ability that allowed "You Ji (Rooster)" to survive.
"Logia fruits are indeed countered by Haki, but that only means they can be hit—methods like decapitation or piercing the heart can't instantly kill someone while they're elementalized."
"Combined with the terrifying vitality of an Ancient Zoan, it's practically a perfect match."
Roy inwardly admired how well his fruit combinations worked.
But now, the issue was straightforward.
"First, I need to spend 500 million Berries to upgrade the Slice-Slice Fruit to LV2. That would allow me to split off two additional clones. That expense is unavoidable."
"The real question is what to enhance next."
Roy knew very well—
The five billion Berries he currently possessed sounded like an enormous sum.
But in front of the Fruit Encyclopedia, a true money-devouring monster, it still wasn't enough.
He could choose to upgrade several fruits to LV2, or push the Dragon-Dragon Fruit to LV4, or enhance several Logia fruits to LV3.
The differences in cost and ability between fruits gave rise to countless possible choices.
"Coo coo!"
Just as Roy was deep in thought, he heard a sound from above.
He instinctively looked up and saw a seagull wearing a postman's cap tossing down a stack of newspapers.
"Oh? The World Economy News Paper?"
Roy caught the papers and opened them.
Sure enough, the wanted poster for "You Ji (Rooster)" slipped out, and news about "Arasite Island" naturally occupied the front page.
But Roy didn't care about that at all—
The Marines were hunting the criminal "You Ji." What did that have to do with Marine Lieutenant Commander Roy?
Instead, his eyes were immediately drawn to an inconspicuous corner of the paper.
[Alabasta Has Seen No Rain for Seven Consecutive Months — Abnormal Climate Draws Attention]
"…Oh?"
Roy raised an eyebrow.
"I think I know which fruit I should strengthen next."
While murmuring to himself, Roy quickened his pace and soon returned to the Detention Unit dormitory.
After closing the door, Roy continued thinking through his plans.
"Wait… did I forget something?"
As the bright moon climbed high and the night grew deeper, Roy scratched his head and muttered quietly.
But before long, this small doubt was pushed to the back of his mind.
He got busy again.
And Roy had completely forgotten that—
At this very moment, on the Detention Unit training ground.
"Why isn't the boss here yet?"
In the cold night air, Hans stood alone, shivering uncontrollably.
"Didn't he say he was going to beat me up? Did he forget?"
"Maybe I should just go back… no, if the boss finds out, I'm dead—achoo… so, so cold."
...
A week after Petty Officer Hans caught a cold from staying up all night training—
Alabasta, Erumalu.
This city, located on Alabasta's southwestern coast near the Sandora River, had once been called the "Oasis Cit" because of its prosperity.
But recently, an air of unease had spread throughout the city.
Seven months—an entire seven months without a single drop of rain falling on Erumalu.
As a result, the Sandora River, once flowing endlessly and nourishing both banks, had dropped to a historic low. Even securing drinking water for the city had become a serious problem.
"The price of water keeps rising. I hear even the groundwater is drying up…"
In the southern part of Erumalu, Aha wiped the sweat from his forehead and stared at the large water jar in front of him, nearly empty.
"What on earth is going on?"
He felt deeply anxious.
As a country where most of the land was desert, the people of Alabasta were no strangers to drought.
But a drought that felt as if it were sucking the very life out of the earth—this was something he had never experienced before.
"Don't worry, King Cobra will surely find a solution."
Beside him, his wife, holding their daughter in her arms, tried to comfort him.
"King Cobra? I heard that it's been raining normally in Alubarna."
Aha scooped out what little water remained in the jar and handed it to his wife and child as he spoke.
"Meanwhile, the situation at the Yuba Oasis in the north is even worse. People have already started fleeing. If the king had a solution, he would've used it by now."
He was deeply uneasy.
Although there was no clear evidence yet, rumors had begun circulating in Erumalu.
It was said that His Majesty the King had used certain forbidden methods to ensure rain fell over the capital, while leaving the rest of the kingdom without a single drop.
Aha didn't really believe it—after all, King Cobra was known for his wisdom and benevolence—but still…
"This can't go on."
Staring at the painfully blue sky, Aha murmured to himself.
And then, at that very moment—
"Hm?"
Out of the corner of his eye, Aha noticed something in the distance.
At the edge of the desert outside the city.
A lone figure was slowly approaching.
The distance was still great, and the figure appeared blurry.
But Aha could clearly see what was happening around that figure.
"…"
Almost instinctively, Aha rubbed his eyes—he couldn't believe what he was seeing.
Only as the figure drew closer did he realize it wasn't an illusion.
Above that person's head—
Dark gray rain clouds were forming and gathering continuously.
The clouds hung low, as if they had appeared out of thin air.
And from within those clouds, a clearly visible curtain of water fell like a pillar from the heavens, enveloping the figure below!
"Shhh—!"
"Shhh—!"
As the figure came closer, Aha could almost hear the sound.
It was a sound every citizen of Erumalu had longed for.
It was rain—torrential rain.
"That person… that person… is he a god?"
The thought rose almost unconsciously in Aha's mind.
But the next moment, he snapped back to his senses.
"Quick! Zina, get the basins and jars—everything in the house! Hurry!"
Seeing the approaching downpour, he urgently called out to his wife.
"Okay!"
As his wife rushed off to fetch every container they could use to collect water, Aha took a deep breath and turned back toward the approaching figure.
By now, the figure was very close.
Close enough for Aha to see what he looked like.
He wore a dark-colored robe that concealed his body.
But Aha could clearly see that on his head, he wore a mask.
Aha recognized that kind of mask—South Blue specialty "Sea Beast Masks," said to be widely sold and even customizable.
In a great nation like Alabasta, and a large city like Erumalu, they weren't rare.
But within that torrential rain, that mask made Aha feel an overwhelming sense of awe and mystery.
It was a—
Dragon Head Mask!