Two hours later.
Inside the Marine G-51 Branch, the banquet was coming to an end.
Most of the marines who couldn't hold their liquor were already passed out on the floor, and the remaining ones were mostly half-drunk.
"That Headquarters Captain from today, what's-his-name Roy... hic... he's a really ungrateful bastard."
At the center of the banquet, Steward Mantar was not yet drunk.
He was speaking loudly.
"Yeah—just some guy from the Custody Unit, how dare he speak to us like that!"
Across from him, Captain Aster drained the large cup in his hand and slammed it on the table.
"If I hadn't already been transferred to a branch, I'd have definitely taught him a lesson today!"
He said in a low voice.
According to Marine regulations, although officers transferred to a branch have extremely high authority within their jurisdiction.
Marine Headquarters officers were not within their jurisdiction—because every marine from headquarters has a direct superior at Marine Headquarters, and they are managed independently of each other.
For example, as a captain in the Custody Unit, Roy's direct superior was Headquarters Vice Admiral Byros.
So, although Captain Aster was very displeased with Roy's cold attitude today, there was nothing he could do about it.
"Don't worry, Captain Aster."
Hearing this, Steward Mantar grinned.
He lowered his voice and said, "The treasure you helped us transport this time is part of the 'Heavenly Gold'. This is a great merit... I will explain your contribution clearly to His Majesty the King."
"When the World Conference comes in three years, His Majesty will surely be happy to praise you to the higher-ups of the World Government. You might even be promoted to a headquarters general by then."
Perhaps it was the alcohol that made his promises grander than usual.
"Really?"
At the very least, Captain Aster was very tempted by what he heard.
"Of course it's real—you should know, the Heavenly Gold we prepared this time is a full 5 billion Belly, and it includes a Devil Fruit. That's over 1 billion Belly more than the government required us to submit."
"This extra billion is for greasing the palms of the important people in the government," Steward Mantar said with a smile.
So Captain Aster quickly refilled his cup. "Then I'll have to trouble the Steward to put in a good word for me with His Majesty... I'll drink to that!"
"Not at all! We will need your continued care for our Nismael Kingdom in the future, the future Commodore Aster!"
For a moment, both host and guest were happy.
But just at that moment...
"Beep! Beep!"
"Beep! Beep!"
A piercing alarm sounded throughout the entire G-51 Branch.
"Hmm!? What's going on!?"
This made Captain Aster frown immediately. He looked at a marine next to him who wasn't drunk yet. "Go and see immediately... Did some guy get too drunk and accidentally trigger the alarm?"
"Yes, sir!"
The marine took his orders and left, returning shortly after.
But when he came back, his expression was clearly flustered.
"Sir... it's the port, something's happened to the ship at the port!"
He said anxiously, "The Eikjourn at the port has already left, and all of the Eikjourn's guards have been killed... Their bodies were thrown onto the docks."
"What!?" they both exclaimed.
Hearing this, Captain Aster and Steward Mantar sobered up instantly.
"That pirate... could he have accomplices!?"
Captain Aster immediately thought of this possibility.
Steward Mantar's face was pale.
The Eikjourn was a royal merchant ship worth two hundred million Belly, and those guards were also the king's royal guards.
Now all the guards were dead, and if the ship was lost as well... forget about getting credit for this voyage, he'd be lucky to avoid punishment!
"Organize men to pursue them immediately! Send out all the warships, we must get that ship back!"
Captain Aster clearly knew this as well, so he immediately gave the order.
"But sir..."
The marine looked hesitantly at the drunken marines scattered around.
Captain Aster's expression grew even darker. "...Leave a few men to sober them up, the rest of you pursue immediately! Go now!"
Seeing his expression, the marine naturally didn't dare to say anything more.
After he left with his men.
Steward Mantar suddenly seemed to remember something and looked at Captain Aster. The two of them happened to lock eyes.
The next moment, both of them hurriedly left the banquet.
"Captain Aster, do you think they might have gone for the treasure..."
At this moment, Steward Mantar's fat face was drained of all color.
That's right.
This was what he feared the most.
The Eikjourn being taken away and the guards being killed made him anxious, but not panicked.
But if the treasure he had hidden in the Marine branch, the part of the 'Heavenly Gold', was stolen, then... the best outcome for him upon returning to the Nismael Kingdom would be death.
"Don't worry, they won't."
Captain Aster was obviously very anxious as well, but he managed to remain calm.
"Only we know the location of the treasury, and you have the key to the chests... The attacker took the Eikjourn, they must have mistakenly thought the treasure was still on the ship."
Hearing this, Steward Mantar clung to his words as if to a lifeline. "Right! You're right! It must be like that!"
As they spoke, they had already arrived at the G-51 Branch's basement.
Here, there were numerous storage rooms—all for storing the branch's supplies.
At this moment, they came to a huge weapon cabinet.
Then, Captain Aster lightly knocked on a wooden panel on the weapon cabinet.
And so...
"Thump!"
With a loud sound, the weapon cabinet slowly moved aside.
It revealed the storage room behind it, and the mountain of treasure chests inside.
Seeing that the treasure was still there, Steward Mantar finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"Thank goodness, it's still here..."
He seemed to have regained his spirits. "Captain Aster, I'll have to trouble you next, you must get the Eikjourn back..."
As he was speaking, Captain Aster's expression changed.
Because at that moment, he heard a loud noise from behind him.
"Thump!"
It was as if a giant rhinoceros had charged from behind. The piercing sound made Captain Aster's entire body tense up in an instant.
"Watch out..."
He turned to warn Steward Mantar, but before he could speak, he felt an immense force from behind him.
And it was the same for Steward Mantar—Captain Aster even saw his portly back get hit by a fist, the immense force instantly deforming his body.
"Crack."
He even heard the sound of the man's bones shattering completely.
The next moment, both of their figures were sent flying.
"Boom!"
They slammed heavily into the thick wall of the storage room, and a huge crater instantly formed in the wall.
As the dust settled, a figure slowly walked into the storage room.
"It's common knowledge that when people panic, they subconsciously check on their most precious belongings."
Roy, wearing the rooster mask, stepped into the storage room.
"Thank you for leading the way."
As he spoke, he looked at the piled-up treasure with a satisfied gaze.
However, he did not immediately approach the treasure chests.
Instead, he turned his head to look into the dust.
"But I didn't expect... Captain Aster, you're a bit tougher than I thought."
As he spoke, Captain Aster did indeed walk out from the dust.
At this moment, the Marine uniform on the captain was completely shredded, revealing his muscle-bound upper body.
And his muscles were currently bulging, looking like blocks of steel.
At this moment, Captain Aster spoke in a hoarse voice, "Iron Body: Hardwood."
As he spoke, his gaze swept briefly to Steward Mantar at the side—the latter was now bent into a grotesque shape, clearly lifeless.
"You bastard... How dare you kill a steward of a World Government member nation's royal family?"
He gritted his teeth, as if in extreme anger.
Hearing this, Roy shook his head. "First, I don't understand this obsession you people have with shouting out your move names when you fight."
"Second, what royal steward... I just cleaned up a piece of trash."
He sneered.
Then, his gaze fell on Captain Aster. "And you, you're trash too, and you need to be cleaned up."
"Hmph!"
Hearing this, Captain Aster sneered.
He waved his hand, and his muscular arms dispersed the surrounding dust.
"Who do you think I am? I am Aster Campbell—Marine Captain, commander of the G-51 Branch!"
He walked out of the rubble step by step, putting on his Marine greatcoat.
"I trained hard to master the superhuman martial art that surpasses human limits, the 'Six Powers'."
"You, some guy who popped out of nowhere, you think you can... kill me!?"
His voice was filled with fighting spirit.
Hearing this, Roy became a little more serious.
In fact, Captain Aster's strength was somewhat beyond his expectations.
At Marine Headquarters, it wasn't difficult to find ways to learn the Six Powers.
The main difficulty in learning it was physical constitution—one needed a body strength with a Doriki value of over 500 to even have a chance of learning the Six Powers. The stronger the body, the easier it was to learn.
Therefore, a Marine commissioned officer who had mastered the Six Powers was definitely considered above average in strength among their peers.
So he hadn't expected that a guy like Captain Aster had actually mastered 'Iron Body'.
However, considering he was the commander of a Grand Line Marine branch, having this level of strength was normal.
"Then I'll get a little serious."
Seeing the other's fighting spirit, Roy also cracked his knuckles, preparing to warm up a bit.
And just at that moment...
"Are you ready, intruder? I'm going to show you the power of the Six Powers. Take this... Tempest Kick: Wind Shear!"
Captain Aster shouted, and his right foot slammed violently onto the ground.
And then...
"Boom!"
Roy watched in astonishment as the other man shot towards the storage room's exit like an arrow released from a bow!
"Running away!?"
Only then did Roy finally react.
Tempest Kick my ass—the guy was obviously trying to run!
And that was indeed the case.
At this moment, the rapidly fleeing Captain Aster had no intention of fighting at all.
In fact, if one looked closely, one would see a hideous fist print on his back—it had just been hidden by his greatcoat before.
"That guy... is a monster... fighting him is suicide, I can only run..."
As he fled, enduring the pain, he roared in his heart.
"My Iron Body can't block his attack at all..."
This was what terrified him the most.
He had indeed mastered one of the Six Powers, 'Iron Body'. This was his greatest pride and the main reason he had been promoted to Captain.
But under the other's punch just now, he didn't know how many bones had been broken in his body, centered around the fist print.
This made him make a decisive judgment—to fight was to die, to run was the only way to live.
As he fled in panic, Captain Aster turned his head.
And then he saw Roy, still standing in the same spot.
"He's not chasing me... I made it!"
This scene made his heart leap with joy.
But the next moment...
"As expected... scum who hang out with slave traders are never brave."
Captain Aster heard the other's calm voice.
"Weren't you going to show me the power of the Six Powers?"
"But it seems you're not very good at Tempest Kick."
And then...
Captain Aster saw the other person slowly raise his right leg.
Silently, he seemed to see the other's leg become thicker and larger.
[Rabbit-Rabbit Fruit, Model: Snow Rabbit - Leg Enhancement]
[Ox-Ox Fruit, Model: Rhinoceros - Leg Enhancement]
"In that case... watch closely. I'll only teach you once."
As these words fell, Roy kicked out.
"Tempest Kick: Wind Shear!"
He called out the exact same move name as Captain Aster.
The next moment, Captain Aster watched in disbelief...
The ground instantly shattered and disintegrated, and a huge trench was formed as a slash flew through the air.
The stone wall tiles of the storage room instantly crumbled.
That's right.
What was kicked out from the other's foot at this moment was a... massive slashing blade of air over five meters long!
That was also the last thing he ever saw.