A Robust Physique

"Captain Carl, are you alright?"

Clay asked with some anxiety.

Upon hearing a loud crash from Captain Carl's room, he had rushed over immediately and smashed the door open.

But as soon as Clay entered, he saw only a charred table.

"I'm fine, I was just testing out a new move."

Crackle, pop!

She then looked at her hands, where a spark of lightning flickered.

"Captain, did you eat a Devil Fruit?"

It was the first time Clay had seen Carl possess lightning abilities, and his first reaction was that she had eaten a Devil Fruit. After all, Devil Fruits were bizarre and came in all varieties; lightning wasn't exactly rare. Still, he felt happy for her—Captain Carl's increase in strength was a good thing for him as well.

"You could say that."

Carl didn't offer much of an explanation; she didn't want others to know the true nature of her current abilities, preferring to keep them as a trump card.

"Right, how much longer until we reach Hachinosu?"

Carl shifted the topic, retracting her right hand. She wanted to know how long the return trip would take.

"Captain Carl, due to the rough seas we encountered earlier, it might take a little longer than expected."

The wind and waves outside were something Clay hadn't anticipated, but fortunately, they weren't severe.

"It's fine, safety first. There's no rush to get back."

"By the way, have you seen those two children?"

Since they wouldn't be reaching Hachinosu for a while, she remembered Long Yi and Long Er.

She wanted to study their constitutions.

"Captain, do you mean Long Yi and Long Er?"

"I saw them. They're quite well-behaved kids. They just finished washing up and are currently getting a check-up at the ship's infirmary."

Clay wore a doting smile; for some reason, he had taken quite a liking to the two children.

"From now on, I'm leaving them in your care."

Seeing his smile, Carl thought that since he found the two children amusing, she would leave them to him.

"Ah, Captain, I don't know how to take care of kids!"

As expected, upon hearing that Captain Carl wanted to entrust Long Yi and Long Er to him, he immediately wore a look of distress.

"Hahaha, it's settled then. Let's go, let's go see them."

Carl stood up with a laugh, patted his shoulder, and walked out the door first, giving him no chance to refuse.

"Don't do this, Captain! Pick someone else, I really can't do it!"

Clay turned and followed, his words filled with various excuses.

Clay didn't want two little followers tagging along. He had no experience raising children; liking them was one thing, but that didn't mean he wanted to be responsible for them.

But no matter what Clay said, Carl didn't respond.

"How are they doing?"

Carl walked into the infirmary and asked the ship's doctor.

"They have no illnesses and are quite healthy, just a bit malnourished."

Seeing Carl approach, the doctor stood up immediately. Since these were children Carl had brought aboard personally, the ship's doctor took the matter very seriously. However, he was surprised that two such thin children had no underlying health issues, which he found quite strange.

Carl, having sensed the special energy within their bodies, knew they weren't ordinary people, so she naturally didn't share the doctor's confusion.

As individuals with special bloodlines, they would recover quickly as long as they had sufficient nutrition.

"Let's go, you two come with me to the mess hall."

"Yes, Lord Carl."

Long Yi and Long Er said happily. Today was the first time they had ever taken a bath.

They sniffed each other; their bodies now emitted a faint, clean fragrance.

It was much better than the stench of rot they had carried before.

Carl walked to the dining area and spoke to Long Yi and Long Er.

"You two go and bring the food over."

"Take only what you can eat; no wasting."

"Understood, Lord Carl."

Hearing Carl's words, Long Yi hurriedly grabbed Long Er and ran toward the kitchen.

He knew that the life they were living now was all thanks to Lord Carl, so they were deeply grateful to her.

Long Yi and Long Er each carried a massive platter, returning quickly with a variety of roasted meats.

"Eat!"

He mainly wanted to see if the energy within Long Yi and Long Er's bodies could be stimulated after they replenished their nutrition.

Upon receiving the order, Long Yi and Long Er began to gulp down the food.

Long Er started shedding tears as he ate.

"Thank you, Lady Carl. It has been such a long time since we've had a meal this hearty."

As Long Er spoke, he recalled their time at the auction house, when they would go nine meals without food over the span of three days. Back then, they would tighten their stomachs with hemp ropes and comfort each other just to forget the hunger.

"Thank you for taking us in, Lady Carl."

"Alright, hurry up and eat."

"Yes, Lady Carl."

Long Yi and Long Er did not dawdle.

Instead, they continued their gluttonous feast.

As they ate rapidly, Carl keenly noticed that the faint energy within their bodies was gradually growing stronger, and as it grew, it began to circulate throughout their entire bodies.

Their frames also swelled up like balloons, quickly recovering to the level of a normal person.

He knew his hypothesis was correct; Long Yi and Long Er definitely possessed a special bloodline.

This was because only those with special bloodlines could have their stomachs digest food at such high speeds, sending nutrients throughout the body to restore it to its peak state in the shortest time possible.

A normal person might need ten days or half a month to recover, but those with special bloodlines could return to their peak state anytime, anywhere, as long as they had food.

This was the charm of a special bloodline. He couldn't help but think that Charlotte Linlin was always looking for people with special bloodlines to bear her children likely for this very reason.

However, he couldn't identify exactly which bloodline it was; after all, too many bloodlines had vanished in the Pirate World, and many were never even shown in the original story.

"System, do you know what bloodline these two children possess?"

"Host, they possess 1/3 Dragon-Human lineage."

"Dragon-Human?"

Carl had never even heard of this name. In his memory, there shouldn't be any such thing as a Dragon-Human bloodline in the Pirate World.

"This world originally had a Dragon-Human race, but... in short, they are the remnants of the Dragon-Human bloodline."

Hearing this, Carl understood. It must have been that something massive occurred during the blank 100 years of pirate history, leading to the extinction of many different races.

Yet, many collateral bloodlines had survived, and he hadn't expected his luck to be so good that he would stumble upon two children with Dragon-Human blood.

He then carefully observed their heads.

Upon closer inspection, he indeed discovered two small horns on the sides of their heads, though they were merely small bumps due to malnutrition.

Furthermore, under his perception, the faint energy in their bodies would return to those small horns after circulating through their systems.

From this, he could conclude that these two small horns were likely the symbol of their Dragon-Human heritage.

Knowing what bloodline they possessed, Carl turned and left. Since he knew their lineage, he had his own matters to attend to.

Meanwhile, Long Yi and Long Er remained where they were, continuing to eat frantically; their bodies were still severely lacking in nutrition.

They had finished the food just brought to them and went to the kitchen to fetch some more.

At the same time, in a corner of the deck.

"Hello, is this Captain Rocks...?"