The Pinnacle of the Navy! Starting from Being Captured by Garp

North Blue, Deep within the Abandoned Mining Area, Abandoned Smeltery

The pungent smell of burning filled the air. Rusted steel pipes intertwined, and the slag oil that had leaked from the cracks had long since solidified into a black, hard shell. The entire space was like a dead behemoth, silent and oppressive.

"Swish!"

Space trembled, as if the air itself had been torn apart. Tesoro's vision suddenly blurred, and he stumbled into this silent steel graveyard, losing his balance. He instinctively retreated, his steps staggering, until he bumped into a crooked support pillar. The moment his fingers touched the metal, the cold sensation sent a shiver through him.

"Wh-Where is this?!" He spun around, his gaze as sharp as a blade, fixed on the black-haired man who had appeared behind him at some point. The man's figure, over three meters tall, was like an oppressive shadow in the dim light, his posture tall and straight, his expression composed.

"Who... who are you? Spatial transfer?! Are you a Devil Fruit user?!"

Roy leaned casually against a steel beam, his right hand still in his coat pocket, his left hand gently tapping the mottled metal, his voice as low and steady as ever. "Marine Headquarters, Rear Admiral. Roy."

"A Marine...?" Tesoro's face darkened, and the alarm bells in his head suddenly went off. He subconsciously reached for his waist but found nothing—

"Looking for this?" Roy held up the dagger that should have been hidden in his clothes and casually spun it between his fingers, the movement as skilled as a dance, the cold light of the blade drawing a sharp silver line in the air. "Poisoned, double-edged, specialized for vital points. Very professional." Roy looked up at him, a smile on his lips, but without a trace of warmth.

"What... what do you want?" Tesoro's voice was tight, his guard instantly raised.

"I'm not here to arrest you." Roy casually stuck the dagger into a rusty steel plate beside him. "I'm here to talk about a partnership."

"A partnership?" Tesoro sneered, his expression mocking. "The Marines are doing business now? Don't tell me you're a representative of justice and order, and you want to shake hands with an escaped slave?" He suddenly pulled down his collar, revealing the shocking brand on the back of his neck—the brand of a Celestial Dragon slave collar. "Do you know what this represents?" he sneered, his words like a knife. "This is the footprint of this world on me, a gift from your so-called 'Celestial Dragons' that you protect!"

However, Roy just looked at him silently for a moment, then said lightly, "I'm not here to talk to a slave."

"..."

"I'm here to talk to the future 'Gold Emperor'."

One sentence made Tesoro's sneer freeze, and the madness in his eyes wavered almost imperceptibly. "Are you insulting me?" his voice was hoarse.

"I'm acknowledging you," Roy leaned forward slightly, his tone serious. "A person who can find Star Iron Ore in a mine that has been abandoned for thirty years, a guy who can turn beggars into semi-professional workers in half a month." He pulled out the dagger, the cold light flashing, and then slowly sheathed it. "You have vision, you have a brain, you have methods, you have ambition. You're just missing a real opportunity."

Tesoro's lips still held a sneer, but the smile had already faded. He stared at Roy, as if evaluating a strange gamble. "So? You're going to recruit me? Give me a gold-plated dog leash and let me be a 'national mine boss' in peace?"

"You're wrong." Roy stood up straight, his figure a long silhouette under the broken skylight. His gaze was firm, his tone deep. "I'm going to invest in you, to become the richest person in this world."

The air was still for a few seconds.

"Huh??!" Tesoro was stunned, as if he hadn't understood the sentence. "What did you just say...?"

"I said, in your eyes, you don't want to make money." Roy pointed to his heart. "You want to use money to shatter that high and mighty world."

"To forge a knife out of gold and cut their necks."

That sentence was like a hammer, striking Tesoro's heart hard. In that moment, Tesoro's pupils trembled slightly. His forced sarcasm and guard, for the first time, showed a crack. He wanted to sneer but found his lips were a little stiff. "What makes you say that?" His voice was hesitant, unwilling yet probing.

"Because I'm not just talking empty words," Roy's answer was without any extra embellishment but was firm and resonant. The next second, the dust at his feet swirled violently, and an indescribable pressure exploded from his body.

"BOOM!!!"

Conqueror's Haki swept out, like a clap of thunder tearing through the sky, shaking the entire abandoned smeltery. The rusty steel beams creaked, the plaster on the walls peeled off, and the ceiling trembled violently, as if it would collapse at any moment.

Tesoro felt his breath instantly snatched away. His knees uncontrollably hit the ground, cold sweat pouring down, his back as if pierced by an ice pick. The air froze, and time stood still. In this violent Haki, he felt as if he had been thrown into a roaring forest of beasts, with thousands of wild animals roaring in his ears—this was not oppression. This was a declaration. A king's declaration.

And just as his consciousness was about to be torn apart, that terrifying pressure suddenly receded like a tide.

"Hah... hah..." Tesoro lay on the ground, panting heavily, his knuckles white, his whole body trembling. He looked up at those calm yet suffocating eyes, and for the first time, a real fear arose in his heart.

"You..." his voice was hoarse. "What do you want?"

Roy slowly approached, his voice low, like a demon's tempting whisper in his ear. "I can not only let you control money... but also let you, with your own hands, overturn your nightmare."

In that moment, Tesoro's pupils constricted. He seemed to see it. He saw that dark, rainy night, Stella being dragged away by a Celestial Dragon, her screams tearing through the night. He saw himself chained to the marble floor of Mary Geoise, his knees bleeding, his palms worn, crawling like a dog under the leather boots of countless nobles. He saw that Celestial Dragon with a contemptuous look, the moment he raised his golden scepter, he had thought he would die there.

"Money..." he murmured in a low voice, as if crushing his past humiliation. "Without it... you are nothing..." His nails dug into the sand, and blood seeped out. He slowly looked up, gritting his teeth. "...What do you want me to do?"

Roy didn't answer, but just slowly took out a black metal box from inside his coat. "Clack—" The lid popped open, and a Devil Fruit, entirely like flowing liquid gold, its light eerie, lay quietly inside, as if a burning greed had condensed into form.

"The Paramecia-type Glim-Glim Fruit," Roy said lightly. "It allows the user to have ultimate control over gold. Whether in solid, liquid, or dust form, it can be freely shaped, manipulated, and reconstituted."

"All the properties of gold... will become your most powerful weapon."

"As long as it exists, you can control value, shake the order, and set the rules."

Tesoro's breathing suddenly became heavy. Of course, he knew what this meant. Gold is the lifeblood of a kingdom, the fuel of war, the bargaining chip of power, the shell of faith. To control gold is to hold the world by the throat. The fluctuations of the gold market, the demands of the military-industrial complex, the rules of the underworld... countless possibilities exploded in his mind.

"You..." Tesoro stared at Roy, a new, complex light in his eyes. "You're actually willing to give this kind of power... to me?"

"This is just the beginning," Roy chuckled lightly, his voice calm but with a cold edge. "I don't need your loyalty."

"I just need you to succeed." He added lightly, "I'm just putting the right person in the right place."

Silence, as if the entire ruin were holding its breath. After a long while, Tesoro knelt down heavily. Not because of the pressure of Haki, but because the twenty years of shame, oppression, hatred, and desire that had been weighing on his heart all collapsed at this moment. For the first time in twenty years, someone had seen through his layers of disguise to his true self—not a vengeful demon, not a greedy madman, but a master manipulator forced into genius by despair.

"...Alright." He reached out a trembling finger and touched the fruit. His whole being was as if ignited by fate, his burning ambition erupting from his chest.

Roy gently placed the fruit in his palm and said calmly, "Eat it."

Tesoro stared at the fruit, his eyes burning. "From today on..." he murmured in a low voice, like an oath, "it's not me who bows to money, but money... that is used by me."

He fiercely bit into the fruit, the crisp chewing sound exploding in the silent ruin.

Roy turned and walked towards the rusty iron door. The sunlight shone through the broken iron window, slanting onto his shoulder. "Remember, when you say 'money is everything'..."

"Make sure you are money itself."

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