Chapter 31

"Heard what?"

"I'm a Headquarters Major now! Oh, and I also awakened..."

"Click~"

Smoker decisively hung up the phone. He knew Karl too well. Calling at this time wasn't just to mock him? Wanting to show off his superiority in front of Smoker? Impossible!

At night, Smoker stood by the window, the room filled with smoke, three cigars dangling from his mouth.

He thought about it all night but couldn't figure it out. When he graduated, his rank was only a Second Lieutenant. How did this jerk Karl end up at the same rank as him? ===== CHAPTER 53 =====

Early the next morning.

Brrr-brrr-brrr~

"Karl, phone, go answer it. It should be for you."

Karl opened his sleepy eyes and saw the lecherous-looking "Chrysanthemum" Den Den Mushi. He didn't even have to think; it must be Kizaru.

"Hello, Admiral Kizaru. Yes, yes, I understand. Then I'll just wait one more day at Marine Headquarters. Alright, alright, hanging up."

Karl hung up the phone, yawned, and pulled Monica, who was wearing a camisole nightgown, into his arms.

"What's wrong? Are you going on a mission so soon?"

Karl played with Monica's curly hair, bored, and sighed: "Yeah, but I can still rest for one more day today. I won't leave until tomorrow, so I can spend one more day with you."

Monica revealed a sweet smile, kissed Karl on the face, and then felt something waking up.

"You were at it all night yesterday, how do you still have so much energy?"

Karl looked innocent. Who told you to be the knight? Besides, under the dual blessing of [Still as a Virgin] and [Moving as a Rabbit], he wasn't even holding back, alright!

Training ground.

Zefa looked at the empty playground and revealed a smile. His students all had their own futures, and as their teacher, he was naturally happy for them.

"Hey! Zefa, you old dog, you've still got it! I heard you killed a pirate with a 300 million berry bounty a few days ago?"

Listening to this off-key voice, Zefa couldn't help but grin: "You old geezer, is your vacation over?"

Garp, walking toward him, laughed and picked his nose: "It's been over for a while. I've just been chasing that bastard Red-Haired lately."

The two bumped fists, found a spot to sit, and crossed their legs.

"I heard you taught another good apprentice?"

Zefa grinned slightly. Originally, he didn't want to show off, but he didn't expect Garp to force him...

"Hahaha, how did you know?"

Garp curled his lip: "I saw it when I was looking for senbei in Sengoku's office. It's that little guy named Karl, right?"

"That's right. He's the most talented new-generation Marine I've encountered in the last ten years. Given time, he will surely achieve great things."

Hearing this, Garp looked at Zefa in surprise: "Such high praise. Is that kid a Logia user too?"

Zefa chuckled. He guessed Garp wouldn't look carefully, because if he had, he wouldn't have asked such a question.

"No, he's a Paramecia user."

Garp scratched his head. Paramecia, just Move Move Like his troublesome grandson.

Thinking of Luffy made Garp angry. Damn it, what kind of soul-stealing soup did that bastard Red-Haired give Luffy? He was dead set on being a pirate, and even beating him to death wouldn't make him change his mind.

"Not an ordinary Paramecia?"

"That's right. The Devil Fruit he ate is called the Holy Light Fruit. It can release holy light and has the effect of healing and strengthening the physique. The point is, it also works on other people."

Garp was instantly dumbfounded: "Nani!! There's such an ability in the world?"

Garp had been a Marine his whole life and had seen countless ability users, but he had never heard of such a Devil Fruit ability. Just hearing about it, it sounded perfect for the Marines.

"Yeah! In previous internship missions, there were always a few students who died at the hands of pirates, but with Karl, there were no student casualties in this internship mission."

"And relying on Karl's healing and strengthening effects, they wiped out two pirate crews. There was even a student who was shot more than 20 times, and Karl was able to save him."

"Now you should know how powerful his ability is, right?"

Garp gasped and quickly asked: "Then does this kid have a place to go now? If not, I can take him!"

"Hmph~" Zefa sneered disdainfully: "Too late! You can't even imagine how popular Karl is!"

"Then who is he with now? Akainu?"

Zefa shook his head: "No, Akainu invited him, but he refused. If there are no accidents, he should be reporting to Kizaru."

"Kizaru?! Are you sure?"

Garp almost dropped his jaw. He thought it would be Akainu or Aokiji; who would have thought it would be that unpredictable guy Kizaru.

"Sigh~ it's a long story..."

Then Zefa told Garp about Kizaru discovering Karl's ability and the subsequent events, enjoying Garp's surprised expression.

After an unknown amount of time, Garp's curiosity about Karl grew, and he simply said: "Zefa, why don't you call Karl out so I can see him? Just let me experience that 'Holy Light' too!"

"I'll try..."

Crescent Moon Bay, Karl, who was out for a walk with Monica, took out his Den Den Mushi and placed it in front of him.

"Master Zefa?"

"That's right, it's me. Are you still at Marine Headquarters? If so, come to the training ground. Someone wants to see you."

Karl was stunned, thinking it was just as well since he had nothing to do. If he wanted to go, he'd go!

"Alright, Master Zefa, I'll be there right away."

After putting away the Den Den Mushi, Karl took Monica's hand: "Come on, let's go together!"

Monica quickly waved her hands: "This, is that okay?"

"Psh, what are you afraid of? Master Zefa won't eat people. Let's go, let's go!"

Inside the training ground.

Garp, with sharp eyes, saw a handsome, bright young man walking in with a blonde girl, and quickly asked: "Zefa, is that Karl?"

"That's him."

"Master Zefa, uh, Vice Admiral Garp!"

Karl saw it was indeed him. On the way here, he had vaguely guessed that the person who wanted to see him was likely the Marine Hero Garp, because he had basically met all the high-level Marines, and only Garp was someone he had heard of but never seen.

To be honest, he had always been curious about what kind of person the Marine Hero Garp was, after all, he heard about his deeds the most.

Today he finally saw the real person. Just as in his memory, he was tall and burly, and even with a full head of silver hair, he couldn't hide his fierce aura. He was truly a representative of the "the older, the more monstrous" type.

"Hahahaha, I am Garp. Zefa has been bragging about your ability to me just now!"

"Uh... hehehe, Master Zefa is too kind. I'm just an ordinary Marine."

Garp and Zefa smiled at each other. Garp stood up and patted Karl on the shoulder: "Kid, I won't talk much nonsense. Let me experience that 'Holy Light', right?"

"No problem."

Karl immediately condensed a ball of holy light and merged it into Garp's body. Garp closed his eyes and felt it carefully.

After a long time, Garp slowly opened his eyes, looking at Karl with complex emotions. He felt a bit moved in his heart; no wonder Zefa valued Karl so much. This kind of ability was exactly what the Marines needed.

"Karl, work hard! Don't let your ability go to waste." ===== CHAPTER 54 =====