Chapter 142: The Admiral's Trial

Karl rubbed his chin and observed the new recruits in the distance, seeing if he could find any familiar faces.

Hey, don't say, he actually found one. Isn't that... Smoker's follower? What was her name, Kuina? No, Tashigi!

"Hey, look, Vice Admiral White Crow is looking at us! Could it be that he's choosing an adjutant? I heard..."

Tashigi in the crowd felt a surge of joy and quickly adjusted her glasses, trying to look reliable, not knowing that she looked a bit silly.

"How about that one? The girl wearing glasses?"

Zephyr took a look and nodded slightly: "Good eye. This little girl is not even 20, and she's skilled in swordsmanship. It's just that her foundation is a bit weak, and her personality has some issues. If she's trained well, maybe she can stand on her own in the future."

"Then it's her. Ain, remember to take her when she graduates."

Ain sized up Tashigi and felt it was fine. Since Karl had decided, then it would be her!

"Alright, I'll tell the others when the time comes."

Karl grinned: "Then I'll trouble you, Master Zephyr. We won't disturb you anymore. Goodbye!"

Two days later, an unnamed island.

Marine Fleet Admiral Sengoku, Staff Officer Tsuru, the three Admirals, two Admiral Candidates, and Karl, who was about to become an Admiral Candidate, all gathered here.

Karl's goal was to challenge an Admiral to prove he possessed the strength to become an Admiral Candidate.

The three Admirals were the ones being challenged. Actually, they were also curious about who Karl would choose as his opponent, except for Borsalino.

He thought they were all old acquaintances; Karl shouldn't be tossing his old bones around. If he wanted to toss someone, he should go toss Sakazuki or Admiral Admiral Admiral Admiral Admiral Kuzan. Just don't look for him.

As for the others, they were just there to bear witness, commonly known as the melon-eating crowd.

On the unnamed island, Sengoku patted Karl on the shoulder: "Are you ready?"

Karl smiled slightly: "Of course, it's just difficult to decide who to choose as my opponent."

Sengoku chuckled: "I can't help you with that. It's all up to you."

Akainu turned his head to look at Admiral Admiral Admiral Admiral Admiral Kuzan and Borsalino, took two steps forward, and looked straight at Karl with his usual stern face.

"Let me do it! Karl, to be honest, I've been curious about your strength for a long time."

"I remember when I first met you, you were so vulnerable, but I didn't expect that in just a few years, you would grow so rapidly and even awaken Conqueror's Haki..."

"I am truly curious."

Karl's smile gradually faded. When dealing with Akainu, you couldn't be playful; it was best to put on a sour face Move Move Like him. That was what he responded to.

"Since that's the case, I'll trouble Admiral Akainu to have a match with me! Let's see if my strength has reached your expectations."

Akainu revealed a rare smile: "Just what I wanted."

Sengoku, standing to the side, nodded, looked at Akainu, and said: "I'll only say one thing: you are colleagues. No matter what, stop at the right time."

"Let's go. Leave this place to Sakazuki and Karl!"

Then Sengoku led the onlookers onto the warship and sailed away from the unnamed island, stopping about 200 meters from the coastline to watch the battle from a distance.

Zing~

Karl gripped Raven and Shusui, looked at Akainu not far away with a solemn expression, and condensed a ball of golden holy light: "Holy Light Blessing!"

Whoosh~

I've been strengthened, let's go!

"A very good sword. Before I obtained the Magma-Magma Fruit, I also used a sword. Later, I discovered that magma has stronger lethality! Karl, you must be careful."

"I won't show mercy just because you're injured."

Karl said without changing his expression: "Same here... Weapon Blessing!"

Golden halos appeared on the blades of Shusui and Raven. A gentle wave would leave a halo trail, looking very powerful at first glance.

"Hmph~ Arrogant!"

Akainu didn't have the patience to chatter with Karl. He directly elementalized his left hand and punched toward Karl.

"Two-Sword Style: Raven Feather!"

Swish~

Karl's voice suddenly disappeared, and the next second, he appeared in front of Akainu—or rather, his blades did.

Both blades slashed into the magma, but soon there was a clang, and they were blocked!

"Heh, your Haki is not bad, but it's a pity..."

Before Akainu could finish his sentence, his whole body flew out. It turned out Karl had kicked Akainu in the abdomen, the immense force directly sending him flying.

"Admiral Akainu, don't be careless!"

Sakazuki, flying through the air, had a dark face: "There won't be a next time! Great Eruption!!"

Watching the magma arm stretching out, Karl crossed his arms, one above the other, and shouted: "Two-Sword Style: Heaven and Earth Return!!!"

One golden and one black, two distinct flying slashes flew toward Akainu's magma arm in a // shape, cutting through the magma Move Move Like a knife through butter and heading straight for Akainu's body.

"Damn it!" Akainu immediately solidified his arm and retracted it, diving to the left to dodge the flying slashes Karl had released.

Press the attack!

Karl stomped his foot, used the recoil to fly into the sky, gripped Shusui and Raven tightly, and slashed wildly toward Akainu.

"Two-Sword Style: Gale and Rain!"

Swish, swish, swish~

He slashed out nearly a hundred flying slashes in a row. The two colors of flying slashes appeared alternately, the sword energy Move Move Like rain!

On the warship, Borsalino pursed his lips exaggeratedly, saying "how scary" with every breath.

Kake took a deep breath, thinking, is this Karl's true strength? It seems he held back last time. It turns out they were no longer opponents on the same level.

As for Gion, she was glad she hadn't fought Karl. Otherwise, she wouldn't have been able to block such dense flying slashes. By the way, was the world's greatest swordsman even this good?

"What terrifying swordsmanship!" Staff Officer Tsuru sighed, thinking that the strongest swordsman in the Marines was probably Karl. Momonga and Onigumo's swordsmanship was also good, but compared to Karl...

Unnamed island.

Akainu looked at the "sword rain" in the sky, shocked. How was he supposed to dodge this?

No choice, he had to take it head-on!

Akainu quickly found a spot where the flying slashes were sparser and emitted Armament Haki to form a shield.

Soon, hundreds of flying slashes landed on this poor little island. Boom, boom, boom~

After a series of loud noises, it finally calmed down. Akainu, covered in dust, looked up and around. Sword marks were dense, gullies crisscrossed, and looking around, he couldn't find a single intact piece of ground.

Akainu took a deep breath, looked at Karl, who was falling rapidly, and his figure disappeared instantly. He shouted loudly toward Karl in the air: "Dog-Biting Red Lotus!!"

The magma dog head fiercely poked its head out, showing its sharp and scorching fangs. The surrounding air was almost ignited.

Karl was not afraid in the slightest. He sheathed Shusui, gripped Raven with both hands, and the black-red lightning representing Conqueror's Haki intertwined with the golden holy light on the blade of Raven.

"One-Sword Style Secret Technique: Holy Light Verdict!!!"