Chapter 177: Ain Awakens

Karl frowned, feeling somewhat hesitant.

To be honest, he had planned to go to the East Blue last. After all, the East Blue was indeed very weak, with few Navy branches; wouldn't it be delightful to go there at the end as a vacation?

Besides, as someone from the North Blue, naturally, he should first aim his spearhead at his own hometown!

"What, you're unwilling? Fine! I heard your strength has improved quite a bit; come, come, come, follow me to the training ground, and I'll see exactly how much you've improved!"

Karl's face turned pale, and he waved his hands hurriedly: "No, no, no, Vice Admiral Garp, there's no need for that. Isn't it just going to the East Blue first? Of course, that's fine!"

If you had said that earlier, I would have agreed long ago! We're all Navy; our own people shouldn't fight our own people!

"Hmph! Consider yourself sensible, kid. It just so happens I'm going to the East Blue now, let's go together!"

"Vice Admiral Garp, are you on vacation again?"

Garp nodded: "That's right! When Shanks shows his face, I'll go to the New World to hunt down that bastard."

What could Karl say to that? Good luck, Shanks.

Ten minutes later, Crescent Bay.

"Look quickly! The man behind Rear Admiral Karl is... the Hero of the Navy, Vice Admiral Garp!"

"What? Let me see!"

Karl and Garp walked toward the port, chatting and laughing, then Garp said: "Is this your warship? Why does it have no distinctive features at all!"

Karl smiled without answering. Why no features? To play the pig to eat the tiger!

If I didn't do that, how could you never catch Shanks! As soon as others see your dog-head warship, they immediately turn around and run; it would be a miracle if you could catch them!

"Here, look, my warship is good-looking, right!"

Karl looked at the dog-head warship sailing over slowly and complimented: "It's too good-looking; it's a perfect match for your hat!"

"Hahahaha, that goes without saying. Let's go, hurry up and follow!"

After saying this, Karl jumped directly onto the warship and commanded the vessel to leave Crescent Bay.

"Nelson, follow Vice Admiral Garp."

"Yes!"

Smoker, who was on the side, walked over slowly and asked with a strange look: "Why follow Vice Admiral Garp? Didn't you say..."

"Sigh! Don't worry, Fleet Admiral Sengoku has already agreed, but we must investigate secretly. First, arrest a batch of corrupt Navy personnel to see the results. Vice Admiral Garp insisted that we go to the East Blue first."

"Great! Wait, you don't mean the weakest sea—the East Blue, do you?"

Karl glanced at Smoker indifferently: "What, you're unwilling?"

"That's not it. That kind of place, the East Blue, you know, I reckon there's nothing worth being corrupt about there anyway! After all, there isn't even a decent pirate crew."

Anyway, if he were asked to guard the East Blue, no, he wouldn't go to the East Blue even if he were beaten to death.

Karl shook his head: "That's where you're wrong. Forget it, you'll naturally know when the time comes. Here, these are the files of all branch commanders in the East Blue and the annual reports they submitted last year."

"Study them and find out who you think are the corrupt Navy personnel!"

Smoker got excited when he heard this, snatched the files from Karl's hand, and started flipping through them: "Leave it to me! I guarantee I'll ferret out those guys who are lining their own pockets!"

Ain looked at Smoker walking toward her and felt it was somewhat funny. The last time she saw Smoker this excited was when he was developing his ability.

"Has the matter of the Independent Commission Against Corruption been settled?"

Karl nodded: "Almost. Hey, why did you change your clothes?"

"Does it look good?"

"It's sportswear; how good can it look? It's just that you are naturally good-looking."

The corners of Ain's mouth lifted slightly; Karl still spoke nicely. However, she frowned slightly and said with some dissatisfaction: "You said you would guide my cultivation, but you haven't fulfilled your promise yet. Did you forget?"

"How could I? I was just afraid you would be discouraged. Are you sure you want to do it now?"

Ain nodded seriously: "Yes, I feel like I've reached a bottleneck recently. If I work a little harder..."

Ain didn't finish the rest of her sentence. Only she knew that after boarding Karl's ship, she and Smoker had taken on all the fighting work. It was all real combat, and she had gained a lot during this period.

If she were given a little pressure, perhaps she could awaken Haki!

"You want to awaken Haki?"

"Yes!"

Karl understood immediately. Ain was just like him back then; she was only one step away from awakening.

"Hahaha, then come on!"

On the deck, Ain looked at Karl with a solemn expression and charged directly using Soru.

Karl did not launch a counterattack but adopted a defensive strategy to familiarize himself with Ain's current strength, then adjusted his own strength to the same level as Ain's.

After several attacks yielded no advantage, Ain kicked Karl in the chest and used the recoil to create distance.

Karl patted the dust off his chest and said calmly: "Not bad, now it's my turn!"

Whoosh!

Karl rushed in front of Ain in the blink of an eye, enveloping her in an airtight offensive. Although the force wasn't great, if Ain relaxed her vigilance, she would be knocked flying immediately.

In the process of parrying moves, Ain seemed to enter a wonderful realm. In her line of sight, Karl's fists were getting slower, and the trajectories were becoming clearer.

Next punch, front left...

Next punch, upper left...

Gradually, Ain stopped parrying. Her body swayed left and right as if boneless. It seemed chaotic, but every time, she could dodge Karl's fists just in time.

"Go Ain!"

The soldiers watching the battle seemed to think Ain was about to give up and immediately cheered for her. After all, Ain was one of the few young women on the ship, and the most beautiful and eye-pleasing one at that.

Ding!

Ain's eyes brightened, and she revealed a smile. After dodging Karl's fist, she clenched her right hand and swung toward Karl's face, stopping suddenly just before hitting him.

"Hahaha, it seems you've awakened! Congratulations, Ain."

It could be considered a natural outcome! This speed couldn't be called fast, but it wasn't slow either.

However, Armament Haki would require some time, as that stuff was closely related to physique. If the physique didn't meet the standard, even if awakened, the intensity wouldn't be high. ===== CHAPTER 179 =====