Chapter 30: Internship Ends

Watching the flames swallow the pirate ship, Karl let out a soft sigh.

"Finally, it's over..."

Zefa didn't lose his students, didn't lose his arm, and Weevil didn't get the chance to become one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea. Surely, Master Zefa wouldn't end up dying at the hands of the Marines, right?

As for his disappointment in the Marines, Karl felt it was nothing; as long as you don't hold expectations for the Marines, you won't be disappointed.

He had been Move Move Like this since the day he joined the Marines. It wasn't that he hadn't thought about changing the status quo, but his position was too low and his words carried no weight; saying more was completely useless.

Even now, he still didn't have the ability to change the status quo of the Marines, but Karl believed that day wouldn't be too far off. He was very young, only 24.

On the sea not far away, several Marine warships slowly arrived to transfer the people from the training ship, which officially announced the end of their internship period.

After returning to Marine Headquarters, they would officially take up their posts and shine for the Marines.

Two days later, Marineford.

Zefa sat calmly before Sengoku, handing him the report on this internship mission.

"This is the summary report for the 24th Recruit Training Camp internship mission. Sengoku, take a look."

Sengoku took it and opened it, reading quietly. Zefa didn't speak, and the only sound in the office was the turning of pages.

Seeing the record of Karl leading the recruits to wipe out the Flintlock Pirates and the Hunting Blade Pirates, and assisting Zefa in defeating Edward Weevil, he couldn't help but reveal a smile.

"Hahaha, Zefa, you've taught another good student! This Karl is truly a talent."

"Rich combat experience, methodical command, and even outstanding strength. Wait, he even awakened dual-color Haki during the battle!"

Sengoku looked at Zefa in disbelief. He couldn't believe that a Marine in the internship phase could awaken dual-color Haki so quickly. One had to know that even Akainu and the others had only awakened Haki one after another through countless subsequent battles, from which they soared.

But Karl had awakened both colors of Haki in a single battle. What kind of genius was this?

The only doubt was, how had such a talent remained obscure until now?

Listening to Sengoku's praise for Karl, a proud smile appeared on Zefa's face.

"Actually, he already showed signs of awakening before. He just lacked the pressure. Weevil provided enough pressure, so he awakened. In my opinion, this is quite normal."

"If he couldn't awaken under the pressure of life and death, I wouldn't know how he could ever awaken."

Sengoku nodded with satisfaction. The new generation of Marines had finally produced a genius, and Karl's ability could also assist in enhancing the high-end combat power of the Marines. Once he grew up, the strength of the Marines would rise to a new level.

Such talent deserved better treatment and a faster promotion rate. After pondering for a moment, Sengoku made up his mind.

"Zefa, how about this: I will first grant Karl the rank of Headquarters Major. After he settles down under Kizaru for a period, accumulates military merit and seniority, we will let him lead a team independently to build his reputation."

"Only then will Karl's subsequent promotions be convincing and not invite criticism. What do you think?"

Zefa nodded. What Sengoku said made perfect sense. Promotions within the Marines depended on strength first, military merit second, and seniority third. Only by meeting all three could one advance further.

A Headquarters Major wasn't a leap to the sky for Karl, nor would it invite criticism; after all, he was previously a Captain, so it was only a one-rank promotion.

Even if Karl's strength was great, he had to take it one step at a time. It was impossible for someone to go directly from Captain to Commodore, right?

Karl would say: "Eh! In the future, you'll see someone go directly from civilian to Admiral."

"You're the Fleet Admiral, you decide. As long as you have a plan in mind, I'm leaving."

"Ding~ [Career Mission - Training Camp Storm] has officially ended. Calculating rewards..."

"Host has accumulated a total of 732 hours of slacking off, exceeding the mission requirements. Drawing random reward... Congratulations on obtaining the Devil Fruit - Zoan Bird-Bird Fruit, Raven Model."

"[Career Mission - King of Slacking] has been activated. Mission requirement: Accumulate 500/1000/2000/3500/5000 hours of slacking off."

"Reward: Based on slacking time, obtain phased rewards (Advanced/Special Attribute Enhancement Card + Random Rare Reward)."

"Detected that host's current rank is Headquarters Major. Daily mission rewards have been upgraded to 3 designated attribute enhancement cards + 3 random rewards, and the probability of obtaining rare items from random rewards has increased to 3%."

Karl, who was reading the newspaper, was stunned by the system's ding-dong notifications and couldn't help but exclaim, "Holy crap."

"5000 hours. If I slack off for 8 hours a day, 5000 hours is 625 days! That's less than two years. It's simple!"

Karl did a quick calculation and threw it to the back of his mind. This wasn't something you could rush; it had to be accumulated slowly. He cared more about the increase in daily rewards; that was the big deal.

"Oh right, it seems I just got another Devil Fruit."

Karl looked into the system space at the round, purple-black Devil Fruit, but lost interest upon seeing it was just an ordinary Zoan type.

"Now I have ten Advanced Attribute Enhancement Cards and 8 Normal Attribute Enhancement Cards. System, use them all to enhance my physique!"

His physique was already C+, which should be enough to push it to B-level. After the enhancement was complete, Karl's attributes were as follows:

Host: Karl

Age: 24

Physique: B-

Perception: D

Will: C-

Haki: Armament Haki LV1, Observation Haki LV1

Special Abilities: [Still as a Virgin], [Moving as a Rabbit]

Holy Light Fruit: 13.6% (Awakening Progress)

Active Skill: Frail (Usable)

Now his physique far exceeded his other attributes—to be precise, it far exceeded his perception, because his will would automatically increase as his strength increased, so he didn't need to invest attribute enhancement cards into it.

So Karl's strategy for the next step was to focus on perception. Perception affected his reaction speed and insight, and had a huge bonus to Observation Haki. In short, Karl's goal was to become a hexagonal warrior.

"Hey, Smoker, have you heard?" ===== CHAPTER 52 =====