Two hours later.
Inside the Marine G-51 Branch, the banquet was nearing its end.
Most of the weak-drinkers in the Marine were already passed out on the floor, and the ones still standing were half-drunk at best.
"That Headquarters Lieutenant today… what was his name again, Roy or something—hic—truly a man who doesn't know his place."
In the center of the banquet hall, Steward Mantal was still not entirely drunk.
He was loudly complaining.
"That's right—just some nobody from the Detention Unit, yet he dared speak to us like that!"
In front of him, Captain Aster drained a massive tankard of alcohol and slammed it heavily onto the table.
"If I hadn't already been reassigned to this Branch, I'd have taught him a lesson today!"
He lowered his voice as he spoke.
According to Marine rules, an officer transferred to a local branch indeed holds very high authority within the branch's jurisdiction.
But Headquarters officers are not under their authority—
because every Headquarters Marine has a direct superior in Marine Headquarters, separate from regional command.
For example, Lieutenant Roy from the Detention Unit's direct superior is Vice Admiral Bilos of Headquarters.
Therefore, while Captain Aster was extremely unhappy with Roy's cold attitude today, he couldn't do anything about it.
"Don't worry, Captain Aster,"
Mantal grinned upon hearing him.
He leaned in and lowered his voice:
"This time, the treasure you're transporting for us includes part of the Celestial Tribute. That's a major accomplishment. I'll explain your contribution clearly to His Majesty the King."
"When the Reverie convenes three years from now, His Majesty will definitely be happy to speak on your behalf to the higher-ups of the World Government. By then, who knows—you might be promoted to a Headquarters Commodore."
Perhaps the alcohol made him bolder—his flattery was more exaggerated than usual.
"Really?!"
Captain Aster sounded genuinely tempted.
"Of course it's true. You should know—the Celestial Tribute we prepared this time totals five billion Berries, including a Devil Fruit. That's over a billion more than what the Government actually required."
"That extra billion is for… smoothing things over with the right people."
Mantal chuckled.
Aster quickly poured himself another full drink.
"Then I'll ask you to put in a good word for me with His Majesty… I'll drink to that!"
"Nonsense—our dear future Commodore Aster, we'll be needing your continued support for the Kingdom of Nismael!"
The two roared with laughter.
But then—
"BEEP! BEEP!"
A sharp alarm suddenly rang throughout the entire G-51 branch.
"Hmm!? What's going on!?"
Aster immediately frowned and looked at the nearest still-standing marine.
"Go check immediately… probably some drunk idiot set off the alarm by accident?"
"Yes, sir!"
The marine ran out—
and returned quickly.
But this time, his face was full of panic.
"Sir… it's the port—the ship at the port is in trouble!"
He spoke anxiously:
"The Aekyon has already left port, and all of the Aekyon's guards… have been killed! Their bodies were thrown all over the harbor!"
"WHAT!?" ×2
Aster and Mantal sobered up instantly.
"That pirate… he had accomplices!?"
Aster immediately thought of the possibility.
Meanwhile, Mantal had gone completely pale.
After all, the Aekyon was a royal vessel worth 200 million Berries, and every one of its guards belonged to the royal household.
Now that all the guards were dead, if the ship were lost as well…
forget earning merit—he'd be lucky to escape punishment!
"Send men to pursue immediately! Deploy all warships—we must get that ship back!"
Captain Aster clearly understood what was at stake, and barked the order without hesitation.
"But sir…"
The marine looked helplessly at the drunken soldiers scattered around them.
Aster's expression grew darker.
"…Leave a few men to sober these idiots up. Everyone else—GO AFTER THEM! NOW!"
Seeing his expression, the marine didn't dare say another word.
After the marine left with his squad—
Steward Mantal suddenly seemed to realize something, turning to stare at Captain Aster.
Their eyes met.
The next moment, the two of them hurriedly left the banquet hall in unison.
"Captain Aster, do you think the attackers might have come for the treasure…?"
Mantal's round, fleshy face was now completely drained of color.
Yes.
That was exactly what he feared the most.
The Aekyon had been sailed away; the guards were slaughtered—
all of that was alarming, but not enough to terrify him.
But if the treasure—the part of the Celestial Tribute he had hidden inside the Marine branch—
were stolen, then once he returned to the Kingdom of Nismael,
the best outcome waiting for him would be death.
"Don't worry. Impossible."
Captain Aster was clearly anxious too, but he forced himself to remain calm.
"The vault's location is known only to us. The key to the treasure chests is with you.
The attackers took the Aekyon because they mistakenly thought the treasure was still aboard."
Hearing this, Steward Mantal clung to the explanation like a drowning man to a life raft.
"Right! You're right! That must be it!"
While talking, they arrived at the basement level of the G-51 branch.
Down here were rows upon rows of storage rooms—
the depot for the branch's supplies.
They headed toward a massive weapons cabinet.
Aster tapped lightly on a particular wooden plank.
And then—
"THUD!"
With a loud sound, the weapons cabinet slowly slid aside.
Behind it, a storage room was revealed—
and inside, piles of treasure chests stacked like a mountain.
Seeing all the treasure still there, Steward Mantal finally let out a breath of relief.
"Good… good. It's still here."
His spirits seemed to recover.
"Captain Aster, next I must rely on you. You must retrieve the Acher—"
Before he could finish speaking, Aster's expression suddenly changed.
He had heard something—
a massive impact behind them.
"THUD!"
Like a giant rhinoceros charging straight into them—
an ear-splitting crash that made Captain Aster's whole body tense instantly.
"Watch ou—"
He turned his head to warn Steward Mantal,
but before he could finish, he felt a tremendous force slam into the middle of his back.
And Mantal suffered the same fate—
Aster even saw the man's enormous back deform under the impact of a single fist,
his entire body twisting from the sheer force.
"Crack."
He could even hear the sound of the man's bones shattering completely.
The next instant, both their bodies were sent flying at the same time.
"BOOM!"
They slammed heavily into the thick wall of the storage room, a massive crater instantly forming on impact.
As dust billowed through the air, a figure slowly stepped into the room.
"When people panic, they instinctively try to secure their most valuable possessions.
That's just common sense."
Wearing the rooster mask, Roy strode into the storage room.
"Thanks for showing me the way."
Saying so, he glanced at the mountain of treasure chests with a satisfied look.
But he did not immediately move to touch any of them.
Instead, he turned his head toward the lingering dust.
"I didn't expect this, Captain Aster. You're actually a bit tougher than I thought."
As he spoke, Captain Aster indeed emerged from the smoke and dust.
His Marine uniform was completely torn apart, exposing his thick, corded musculature.
At this moment, the muscles on his body were swelling, hardening—
looking almost like forged steel plates.
Aster's voice was hoarse as he spoke:
"Iron Body… Ironwood."
As he said this, his gaze briefly flicked toward Steward Mantal—
whose body was now folded into three grotesque angles at the neck, torso, and legs.
He was obviously beyond saving.
"You bastard…
How dare you kill the royal steward of a World Government member nation?"
He clenched his teeth, fury surging through him.
Roy shook his head.
"First of all, I have no idea why you people feel compelled to shout out your technique names before fighting."
"Second, what royal steward? I just took out a piece of trash."
He snorted.
Then his eyes shifted back to Aster.
"And you… you're trash too. So you get cleaned up next."
"Hmph!"
Hearing this, Aster let out a cold laugh.
He swept his arm, scattering the dust around him with the force of his movements.
"Do you know who I am?
I am Aster Campbell—Marine Captain, the commander of G-51!"
Step by step, he walked out from the rubble, draping his Marine coat over his shoulders.
"I trained relentlessly to master the superhuman martial art known as the Six Powers of the Marine."
"You—some nobody who crawled out of who-knows-where—
you think you can kill me?!"
His voice burned with fighting spirit.
Hearing this, Roy grew slightly more serious.
In truth, Captain Aster's strength was somewhat beyond his expectations.
Within Marine Headquarters, access to Six Powers (Rokushiki) training wasn't difficult to come by—
The difficulty of learning this technique mainly lay in one's physique—
only those with a body strength exceeding 500 Doriki (Power Level) had any chance of mastering the Six Powers.
The stronger one's body, the easier it was to learn.
Thus, any marine officer capable of using Six Powers was considered above average among their peers.
So he hadn't expected someone like Captain Aster to actually have mastered Iron Body (Tekkai).
Still, considering the man was the commander of a Marine branch on the Grand Line, this level of strength wasn't surprising.
"Then I guess I'll take this a little seriously."
Seeing the Captain brimming with fighting spirit, Roy cracked his knuckles, preparing to stretch a bit.
And at that moment—
"Ready yourself, intruder! I'll show you the might of the Marine's Six Powers!
Take this—Tempest Kick: Wind Cutter!"
Captain Aster let out a low shout and slammed his right foot into the ground.
Then—
"BOOM!"
To Roy's bafflement, he watched the man shoot toward the storage room's exit like an arrow from a bowstring!
"Running away!?"
Only then did Roy finally process what was happening.
Tempest Kick, my ass—
He was clearly trying to escape!
And indeed, that was exactly the case.
At this moment, Captain Aster had no intention of fighting at all.
In fact, if one looked closely, there was a fierce, fist-shaped imprint on his back—
hidden earlier beneath his coat.
"That guy is a monster… Fighting him is suicide. Running… running is the only way!"
Gritting through the pain, he fled desperately.
"My Iron Body couldn't block his attack at all!"
That was what terrified him most.
He had mastered Iron Body, one of the Six Powers he took the most pride in—
the very reason he'd been promoted to Captain.
But from that single punch, everything around the impact point—the bones in his body—
he had no idea how many had snapped.
Thus he made the only rational decision:
fighting meant death; fleeing was the only hope.
As he staggered and fled, Captain Aster turned his head—
And he saw Roy still standing where he'd been.
"He's not chasing— I did it! I'm going to escape!"
That thought filled him with wild joy.
But the next second—
"As expected… someone who associates with slave traders isn't much of a warrior."
Aster heard the man's calm voice.
"Weren't you going to show me the power of the Six Powers?"
"But it looks like you're not very good at the Tempest Kick."
Then—
Aster saw the man slowly raise his right foot.
Silently, his leg seemed to thicken and grow heavier.
[Rabbit-Rabbit Fruit, Model: Snow Rabbit — Leg Enhancement]
[Ox-Ox Fruit, Model: Giant Rhino Form — Leg Enhancement]
"Since you don't know how to do it…
Watch closely. I'll teach you once."
As those words fell, Roy kicked.
"Tempest Kick— Wind Cutter."
He even used the exact same technique name.
In the next instant, Captain Aster witnessed the impossible—
The ground instantly ruptured and split apart, a massive trench carved open by the flying slash.
The stone walls of the storage chamber shattered instantly.
Yes.
What had been kicked out from Roy's foot was—
A massive slicing air blade over five meters long!
It was also the last sight Captain Aster would ever see.