Chapter 45: Preparing to Fly Solo

Moby Dick.

Marco returned to the ship with the scarred Whitey Bay, arranged for someone to treat her, and hurriedly went to find Whitebeard.

"Pops!"

"Oh, Marco is back! Gurarara~ How is the situation?"

Marco bit his lower lip, somewhat dejected: "Pops, by the time I arrived, Karl had already slaughtered all of Big Sister Whitey Bay's subordinates, and Big Sister Whitey Bay was also seriously injured."

"Afterward, I fought with Karl, but I didn't expect a Marine Major to have awakened two types of Haki at the same time. I couldn't take him down for a while!"

"By the way, he is also a Devil Fruit user. His ability possesses healing effects."

Whitebeard's brows furrowed slightly: "Is Whitey Bay okay?"

Marco was stunned, then shook his head: "It's fine, just some minor injuries."

"That's good. What happened later? Did you take him down?"

"No, Huang Yuan came. In case Big Sister Whitey Bay had an accident, I brought her and retreated."

Whitebeard laughed "Gurarara": "It's that annoying guy Huang Yuan again. Forget it, as long as people are fine. When Whitey Bay recovers, we'll help her get back at them!"

"Hmm!"

Marineford, Fleet Admiral's office.

"That's how it happened."

After hearing Karl finish the cause and effect, Sengoku nodded. Karl had handled this matter quite well—no, very well.

Although he killed quite a few pirates, Whitebeard couldn't possibly make a big fuss over them and officially start a war with the Marines.

It wasn't that the Marines were really afraid of Whitebeard and didn't dare to fight him, but the timing wasn't right.

If they really fought, neither the Marines nor the Whitebeard Pirates could bear the series of consequences after the war started.

"Hmm, you handled this matter very well. By the way, I heard you were on par with Phoenix Marco?"

Karl scratched his head. Three people make a tiger! If you really count it that way, then Higuma knocking out Shanks with a bottle, and Morgan almost killing Garp with an axe—what about that?

"Of course not. I could only barely block Marco's attacks. I'm still far from being on par with him!"

Sengoku was even more satisfied now. Not arrogant or impetuous, and having a clear understanding of his own strength.

"Hahaha, too modest. You will grow up sooner or later, and then who wins or loses won't be certain!"

Karl nodded with a smile, trying to speak as little as possible.

"Hmm, since you can defeat the Ice Witch Whitey Bay alone, you should have the strength to lead a team to execute missions independently. How about this!"

"Your rank is promoted to Colonel, and Marine Headquarters will allocate a large warship for you to go out and execute missions..."

After leaving Marine Headquarters, Karl couldn't help but wave his fist. From today on, he could be Move Move Like Hina, a true Marine officer!

Of course, on the surface, he was still Huang Yuan's adjutant. If there were major missions, he would still need to act with him. It was somewhat similar to a pirate division; he was equivalent to Huang Yuan's 1st Division.

There were many benefits to leading a team alone. For example, whether to slack off in the future, when to slack off, and how to slack off were all up to him; no one could control him.

Now he just had to wait for Marine Headquarters to transfer people—navigators, gunners, miscellaneous soldiers, etc. Otherwise, Karl couldn't exactly sail a warship to capture pirates all by himself!

"Wait slowly! No rush!"

Three days later, Karl was officially promoted to Headquarters Major. It immediately caused an uproar, but after learning of Karl's record, everyone shut their mouths.

Single-handedly defeating the Witch Pirates and being on par with the world-renowned Phoenix Marco—being promoted directly to Rear Admiral wouldn't have been an exaggeration.

"Ding! Detected that the host's rank has been promoted from Major to Colonel. Obtained a grade-skipping reward: Random Special Skill Extraction Card."

"Daily task rewards changed to 5 designated attribute enhancement cards + random rewards * 3 (can be stored). Rare reward probability increased to 5%."

Karl, who had just crawled out of the "gentle nest," smiled slightly. One word: Awesome.

"Use all designated attribute cards to enhance Perception, use the Random Special Skill Extraction Card."

"Use successful. Congratulations on obtaining the special skill: [Child of the Sea]. Can breathe freely in the sea and ignore water pressure. Physical strength consumption in water -50%."

After seeing this skill, Karl couldn't help but shout "Holy crap," which even woke up Monica beside him.

"What's wrong?" "Uh, nothing, nothing! You keep sleeping! I'm going to the restroom!"

Karl immediately climbed out of bed and disappeared in a flash.

"System, check attributes."

Host: Karl

Age: 24

Physique: B-

Perception: D+

Will: B+

Haki: Armament Haki LV3, Observation Haki LV2

Special Abilities: [Still as a Virgin], [Move Move Move Like a Rabbit], [Child of the Sea]

Holy Light Fruit: 16.6% (Awakening progress)

Active Skill: Weak and Frail (Can be used) ===== CHAPTER 76 =====

This skill was a bit perverted, but not that perverted. But for Karl, who was a Devil Fruit user, he had one less weakness from now on.

As everyone knew, Devil Fruit users became "landlubbers." To be specific, besides being unable to swim, their physical strength would be rapidly consumed in the sea, leading to an inability to use their abilities. Seastone was the same.

And this skill was equivalent to giving Karl the physique of a Fish-Man, even stronger than Jack's.

"A big harvest! With this, can't I boldly go to the Mermaid Cafe—no, Fish-Man Island?"

"Brrr brrr~"

"Karl, phone!" "Coming!"

Ten minutes later, Karl left the family quarters and headed to the Fleet Admiral's office.

"Karl, your warship personnel have been fully staffed and you can set off at any time. It just so happens that I have a few missions here that need to be handled. You pick one to practice with!"

After saying this, Sengoku slapped the intelligence on the desk and looked at Karl with a smile.

Karl picked out a few to look at. They were all missions to pursue pirates, and they were all pirates who had just come from the Four Blues to the Grand Line, with bounties ranging from 10 million to 30 million Berries. Basically, there was no difficulty, very suitable for slacking off.

"Huh~ This mission..."

Karl frowned slightly after seeing the mission name. Because this mission was actually to investigate the mastermind behind the assassination of Queen Otohime. Investigating it a year after she died—wasn't that a bit too late?

Sengoku took the intelligence from Karl's hand and frowned, saying: "Let me see. Oh! This mission is indeed very tricky, which is why no one has been willing to go."

"It's just that a World Noble refuses to give up, insisting that Queen Otohime's death was a conspiracy, and strongly demands that we send someone to investigate."

"But you know, after Queen Otohime died, the situation on Fish-Man Island was chaotic, and they were very hostile toward humans, so it could only be left unsettled."

Karl stroked his chin. This mission was a bit interesting! ===== CHAPTER 77 =====