Chapter 298

After a while, Karl returned and said to the two with a smile, "Sorry, let me interrupt for a moment. There is something I want to tell you."

"What is it?"

"The Marine branch has already sent people to capture you. If you intend to go to Fish-Man Island, you had better move quickly. I won't capture you, but I won't help you evade the Marine's attack either, so the rest is up to you."

Having said that, Karl took a lounge chair out of his system space and lay down in an inconspicuous spot on the deck.

Robin did not ask further; she turned her head and said to Franky, "Franky, did you hear that? We must notify Luffy and the others immediately."

"Yeah, I know!"

Marine Headquarters.

"This guy, honestly..." Admiral Admiral Admiral Admiral Admiral Kuzan hung up the Den Den Mushi helplessly. He didn't say much else; knowing that Robin was still alive was enough.

As for Karl, let him do as he pleases; he couldn't control him anyway.

Sabaody Archipelago. With the arrival of the real Straw Hat crew and the bounty hunters, the island had fallen into chaos. Beyond capturing the Straw Hats, the Marines' more important task was maintaining order.

The Thousand Sunny.

Nami and Usopp had already arrived on the ship and were catching up with Robin and Franky. Karl was directly ignored, as no one dared to disturb him, except for Robin.

"Yo-ho-ho-ho~ Usopp-san! Nami-san! Franky-san! Robin-san!"

"Temptation!"

Usopp: "Brook! (ΩДΩ)"

Franky: "I'm impressed that you were actually willing to abandon your identity as a big star."

Brook let out his signature laugh: "It's truly nostalgic, my friends. Ah, Robin-san and Nami-san have also grown even more beautiful. So, Nami-san, after two years apart..."

Brook sat down and lightly plucked the strings of his guitar: "Could you let me see your panties again?"

*Swish*—Nami immediately landed a whip kick: "Who would let you see that!"

"Besides, I didn't let you see them two years ago either!"

Brook collapsed to the ground, trembling slightly: "Ugh, Nami-san is as formidable as ever. Eh, who is that over there..."

Robin said with a smile, "Don't worry about him. Once we set sail, he will tell us."

Brook was a bit confused but didn't ask further, as he vaguely felt that the man wearing sunglasses, whose face was obscured, had a somewhat familiar aura. In short, he was not someone to be trifled with.

"Honestly, not one of them has made any progress," Nami complained helplessly.

Brook slowly stood up and asked suspiciously, "Come to think of it, it seems everyone hasn't gathered yet?"

"Chopper has already gone to pick up the others; they should be here very soon..."

Before Robin could finish her sentence, shouts came from not far away.

"Hey, hey!!!"

"Everyone!"

Chopper, perched on Zoro's shoulder, shouted loudly: "I've brought them!"

"Luffy! Zoro! Sanji!"

"Luffy-san, I've missed you all so much!"

"Great, everyone is finally together!"

While everyone was immersed in the joy of reunion, Sanji stared at the "grand canyon" between Nami and Robin and fell into deep silence. No one noticed that Karl had already walked into the cabin, opened the refrigerator on his own, and started drinking two bottles of rum.

It had been two years; do you know how he spent these two years?

Never mind, let's just spray some nosebleed to liven things up for everyone!

"Ah! Sanji!!!"

Sanji took off into the air on the spot.

"Usopp, is Sanji okay?"

"One, one beauty, two beauties..."

Usopp shook his head, looking at Sanji with concern: "Hey! Sanji, pull yourself together!"

"This is bad, Chopper, hurry and find a way to stop his bleeding!"

On the other side, Luffy was staring with stars in his eyes, admiring Franky's physique, nearly reaching out to fiddle with it.

But with the whistling of cannonballs, the atmosphere suddenly became tense.

*Bang*—cannonballs landed around the Sunny, sending splashes of water everywhere.

"Not good! Three warships are heading our way. Should we counterattack?"

Zoro leaped up, sliced the cannonballs into fragments, and said calmly, "No need. We just need to submerge as quickly as possible, and the Marines won't be able to do anything to us."

"Right, I'll go prepare now!" Having said that, Franky dove into the sea to prepare to inflate the coating bubble.

Soon, the coating bubble tightly clinging to the ship's hull expanded, forming a bubble roof.

"Listen up, everyone. A coated ship has the ability to reduce various pressures, so as long as we remove the buoyancy bags currently supporting the bottom of the ship, it will sink to the seabed due to insufficient buoyancy. That's how it works." Nami explained painstakingly.

The response was only: "Oh, got it."

Nami: -_-||

"I know you don't understand, anyway, everyone, hoist the sails!"

"Sails?"

Robin said with a smile, "A coated ship uses ocean currents instead of wind to propel the ship."

Luffy jumped onto the base of the mast, wrapped his arms around it, and shouted loudly: "Brothers! There is too much I want to say, I can't say it all. In short, thank you all for forgiving my selfishness and enduring these two years with me."

"Tch, your selfishness isn't a one-day or two-day thing; we're already used to it."

"That's right! Haven't you always been Move Move Like this?"

"Yi-hee-hee-hee~ Hoist the sails! Set sail!!!!"

The Sunny began to sink rapidly and soon submerged beneath the sea surface.

"Heading to Fish-Man Island!!!"

*Clap, clap, clap, clap*~

The sudden sound of applause drew everyone's attention. Luffy turned his head and his pupils suddenly shrank.

"Karl, why are you here?"

Karl finished the rum in his hand in one gulp and said with a smile, "I thought you would be very depressed after Ace died. I didn't expect you to still be so energetic. If Vice Admiral Garp knew, he would surely be very gratified."

"Ace..."

Luffy took a deep breath. Yes, he had indeed been depressed for a while, but Rayleigh-san made him understand that all of this was because he was too weak—so weak that he couldn't even get close to Ace.

"Why are you on my ship?"

Karl shrugged: "I want to go to Fish-Man Island to see a certain little guy, so I'm hitching a ride on your ship. In exchange, I will give Nami the sea chart to Fish-Man Island to ensure you can arrive safely. How about it?"

Hearing this, Nami's eyes lit up: "Really? Why didn't you tell me just now?"

Karl chuckled, took the sea chart out of his pocket, and tossed it to Nami: "Here, this is the most recently updated chart. The route is definitely fine."

"Fine, this exchange is fair."

"Hahaha, that's good. By the way, before we arrive at Fish-Man Island, I plan to rest over there. If you have anything you want to ask, ask quickly!"

Before Luffy could speak, Nami asked impatiently: "Me, me, me, I have a question."

"Fine, go ahead!"

Nami rested her chin on her hand and asked curiously: "Ever since we arrived at Sabaody, I've felt something strange. It seems the number of pirates has decreased, and people aren't very afraid of pirates anymore. Why is that?"

"Right, right, right, I have that feeling too, and there are more bounty hunters!"

Karl said with a smile: "It seems you haven't read the newspapers much in these two years!"

Brook: I read them, but I didn't pay much attention...

"All of this stems from the Marines' new policy! I Move Move Like to call it the commercialization of pirates!"