Chapter 283: God's Knights and the Five Elders? Just Mobs!
Looking at the Vivre Card in his hand, Roy leaned back slightly in his office chair. Behind him hung a plaque that read "Justice Above the Stars."
A thoughtful expression crossed his face.
Just as written on it — this Vivre Card belonged to "Red Hair" Shanks.
The origin of the card was actually quite simple.
Half a month ago, after the battle on Instein Island had concluded, Hebi returned to Neverland together with Kuma. Accompanying them back was Hawkeye.
Roy had no grudge against the strongest Great Swordsman. Moreover, Hawkeye was no longer a Warlord of the Sea but a pirate who stood as an enemy of the World Government.
Both logically and emotionally, Roy had no reason to leave him to die on Instein Island.
And this is where the coincidence lay.
After Hawkeye woke up, the Great Swordsman chose to leave immediately.
"I owe you a life."
"Once my injuries have healed, I will come find you. In the future, I can do one thing for The Zodiac."
Regarding Hebi saving his life, he didn't act coy or bashful.
Of course, the sharp look in Hawkeye's eyes when he spoke made Hebi highly suspect the man simply wanted an excuse to duel again.
Besides that, Hawkeye handed him the Vivre Card before leaving.
"This is what Red Hair gave me in exchange when I asked for his help."
Hawkeye's words were casual.
"He asked me to give this to you if I ever met The Zodiac in the future."
Hebi wasn't entirely surprised. After his main body returned to Marine Headquarters, Roy had naturally heard the news — the reason Hawkeye made it to Instein Island for the duel was that Red Hair had intercepted Aokiji along the way.
However, Hebi hadn't expected that in exchange for stopping Aokiji, Red Hair would make such a request of Hawkeye.
"He said... if you have the time, he hopes you can meet with him. He has something he wants to tell you."
Those were the words Hawkeye relayed, and they were the source of Roy's contemplation now.
"Shanks..."
He muttered the name under his breath.
A former Celestial Dragon and God's Knight. The guide for the current Nika. The adopted son of the Pirate King. Someone suspected of knowing many of the World Government's secrets. To be honest, Roy was indeed very curious about him.
And the invitation the other party had proactively extended gave Roy a strong sense of déjà vu. Counting Whitebeard, this was already the second Emperor of the Sea to send him an invitation to meet.
However—
"I don't mind meeting him, but he shouldn't have much free time recently."
Roy muttered to himself.
As far as he knew, the intensity of the battle between Aokiji and the Red Hair Pirates had been extremely high, leaving that entire sea area in ruins.
Aokiji had even been injured, and even Kizaru — originally stationed at Marineford — had been mobilized.
Although Red Hair chose to evacuate before Kizaru arrived, many of his subordinates had reportedly been injured as well.
Under those circumstances, Roy figured Red Hair wouldn't have the time to meet in the short term.
This made him feel a bit of regret.
After all—
"Red Hair used to be a God's Knight. He might know where to obtain a sufficient amount of Source Energy of Lineage Factor..."
This was what was genuinely frustrating Roy right now.
Yes.
[Current Source Energy of Lineage Factor: 450 points / 1 point can be exchanged per 1 billion Berries]
Within the Fruit Encyclopedia at the bottom of Roy's vision, this information was visible.
"I have a good amount of Berries on hand. If I exchange them all, I should be able to create about four Fruits of the Stars... but it's still not enough."
After the battle on Instein Island, he had already confirmed the path he needed to take.
He only needed to collect wishes. The Fruit of the Stars, created with the Source Energy of Lineage Factor, was a creation that transcended the world's restrictions. Theoretically, as long as he had enough Fruits of the Stars, he could grow to the point where he stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Imu.
And with Hebi as a precedent, Roy already had a plan for collecting wishes.
The critical issue was the Source Energy of Lineage Factor.
"Whether it's using the power of the Contract of the Stars or creating Fruits of the Stars... every part of the upcoming plan requires Source Energy of Lineage Factor."
"Even without considering anyone else, making a Fruit of the Stars for each of the twelve Zodiac members would require at least over two thousand points."
"If I'm to truly stand against Imu and the World Government, I'll need an unquantifiable amount."
"If I were to exchange it all using Berries... it would be an astronomical figure."
This was the crux of the problem.
Even for Roy, acquiring that amount of Berries in a short period was almost impossible.
Of course, he had originally had a backup plan.
The God's Knights and the Five Elders.
After the battles in Dressrosa and Instein Island, Roy had started treating Imu's contractors as the best method to obtain Source Energy of Lineage Factor.
"From the looks of it, an Abyssal Contract contains at least around two hundred points of Source Energy of Lineage Factor."
"An Abyssal Sea Contract has a full four hundred points or more."
"The key is that once stripped of their immortality, the actual combat strength of the God's Knights and the Five Elders is incredibly weak. They are literally the best mobs to farm."
But unfortunately, through the World Government's recent actions, Roy had already sniffed out the reality — Imu had clearly noticed this as well and had already made countermeasures.
He planned to use the Star Hunters Unit to face The Zodiac directly, while the God's Knights seemed to have been put on ice.
Of course, under normal circumstances, Roy wouldn't be in a rush.
With the forces he currently commanded, if he slowly gathered Berries, he would naturally scrape together enough Source Energy of Lineage Factor after waiting a few years.
After all, judging by the original plot, the era Luffy lived in was undoubtedly the "promised day" that Joy Boy and Davy Jones had been waiting for.
That should still be about four years away.
When that era arrived, the sea would submerge everything, and the final decisive battle would begin.
However, Roy knew very well—
"The original plot can no longer be trusted."
"Because of my appearance, the global situation has drastically changed. Imu will not sit back and watch me catch up to Him."
"He will definitely find a way to either kill me or break free from His restraints early."
Precisely because he understood this, Roy had no intention of waiting.
Therefore—
"While maintaining my Berry income, I need to find other ways to obtain a massive amount of Source Energy of Lineage Factor — to ensure all the Zodiac members get a Fruit of the Stars as soon as possible."
While clarifying this goal, a thought naturally formed in his mind.
"I have the Fruit Encyclopedia, which can convert Berries into Source Energy of Lineage Factor — that's an abnormal situation."
"Normally speaking, all the Source Energy of Lineage Factor in this world should come from the Pillar of the World."
"So... what I need to look for now are clues and information related to the Pillar of the World."
Regarding that ancient tree of creation, there wasn't much information circulating throughout the world.
But coincidentally, Roy actually knew of two places that were closely related to it.
However — before heading to those two places, he still had a prearranged meeting to attend.
(End of chapter)
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