New Target

Charlos slowly woke up from the bed, raising a hand to cover his dizzy, throbbing head as he let out a low groan.

"Ah, it hurts so much."

Amira brought over a warm towel and was just about to gently place it on his forehead.

The moment the warm touch brushed against his wound, Charlos immediately recoiled repeatedly in pain, speaking rapidly.

"Don't touch it, don't touch it! It hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts!"

Seeing this, Amina softly reminded Amira, "Sister, apply some medicine to him."

Amira nodded in response. "Oh, okay."

Just then, Akali slowly pushed open the door and entered the room. She picked up the prepared ointment and gently applied it to the wound on Charlos's head with her fingertips.

After finishing, she lowered her eyes and asked, "Does it still hurt?"

Charlos shook his head. Most of the pain had faded, so he casually replied, "It doesn't hurt anymore."

Seeing Akali prepare to put the medicine away, Charlos hurriedly spoke up. "Hey, why did you stop applying it? Put on more! The more you apply, the faster the wound will heal."

Akali raised an eyebrow slightly. "Is that so?"

She neatly placed the ointment by the edge of the table, then turned around and was about to leave the room.

"Stop."

Charlos called out to her.

Akali halted and turned back to look at him quietly.

Charlos looked straight at her and asked, "Why did you suddenly come to the West Blue?"

Akali answered slowly in an indifferent tone. "Someone tracked your sailing route, so we came over specifically to investigate."

Charlos thought for a moment. "Was it because Shalria insisted on coming?"

"Yes, and no."

"What do you mean, yes and no?"

"Shalria had always wanted to come find you, but Vice Admiral Garp firmly refused at first and forbade her from running off on her own."

Charlos pressed further. "Then why did you ultimately set out and come here?"

Akali slowly explained:

"Vice Admiral Garp's mission this time was to capture a Marine colonel in the West Blue who had abused his authority and committed a serious offense. He also brought Shalria along to visit you."

After resting for a while, Charlos slowly got out of bed and left the cabin.

At that moment, on the deck of the Dog-Head Warship opposite them, Garp stood with his hands behind his back and asked the assembled Marines in a deep voice:

"Where is he?"

A Marine soldier immediately bowed and reported, "Reporting to Vice Admiral Garp, the delinquent colonel is currently being held in the brig. We'll bring him over immediately!"

At the edge of the warship, Shalria sat obediently, her eyes fixed on the luxurious ship where Charlos was.

The moment Charlos walked out of the cabin, her eyes lit up, and she waved high in the air as she shouted:

"Charlos! Over here, over here!"

Garp casually glanced at the two of them fooling around, then paid them no further attention and turned back to wait for his men to bring the prisoner over.

Charlos pushed off with his feet and lightly leaped directly from the luxurious ship onto the deck of the Marine warship.

Looking at Shalria, he asked with a smile, "How is it? Is it fun following the Marines around to capture pirates?"

Shalria let out a soft sigh, her face full of boredom. "Sigh, it's not fun at all. But my strength has improved tremendously!"

"Oh? Is that so?"

"Don't underestimate me! Take this!"

Shalria leaped into the air and cleanly delivered a sweeping kick straight at Charlos's lower body.

Black Armament Haki instantly covered both of Charlos's arms. He calmly raised a hand and caught her leg precisely, speaking in a relaxed tone. "You're still a little lacking."

"Is that so?"

Shalria had been prepared for this. Using the force of her suspended body, she suddenly wrapped her other leg around Charlos's neck and exerted force, executing a clean Scissor-Leg Lock Technique.

Charlos took advantage of the momentum to flip through the air. His feet landed steadily, and he swiftly adjusted his stance, smoothly neutralizing the move.

A smile filled his eyes as he nodded in praise. "You really have improved. Did Vice Admiral Garp teach you?"

Shalria puffed out her cheeks, looking aggrieved. "Hmph, he would never teach me flashy moves like these. Every day, all he does is watch me practice punching, punching, and more punching!"

"No way. Vice Admiral Garp is a Marine hero. Wouldn't he teach you some more powerful abilities?"

Shalria sighed. "Sigh, he told me that once I could punch through a mountain, my fist training would be complete."

Charlos froze for a moment, then asked calmly, "Punch through a mountain? Shalria, how strong would you have to become by then? Would you end up as muscular as him?" Charlos then looked toward Garp and desperately shook the thoughts out of his mind.

"What are you talking about?" Shalria said indifferently. "That's precisely why I don't plan to keep practicing my punches."

"Ah, but if you want to increase your strength, you still have to choose a path."

"I know." Shalria shook her head. "But if I became built like him, I wouldn't be beautiful anymore."

"Why not eat a Devil Fruit?"

"No."

While the two were chatting idly, a Marine colonel walked over from the entrance to the warship's deck. His hands were locked in Seastone Handcuffs, and he wore a simple prison uniform as he staggered onto the deck.

When he looked up and saw Garp, he instantly broke down emotionally and cried out, "Vice Admiral Garp! Forgive me! I'll never do something like this again!"

Garp chewed on a senbei without even lifting his eyelids and casually replied, "Huh? This has nothing to do with me. You'll have to ask Sengoku."

At that moment, Charlos suddenly raised his head. "Oh, right. I heard the World Government has a scientist who seems to be researching how to feed Devil Fruits to weapons."

"Feed Devil Fruits to weapons?" Shalria blinked as she looked at Charlos. "Really?"

"Of course it's true."

"Then I'll have to choose a Devil Fruit and let my weapon eat it. That way, my strength can increase too."

"Why don't you practice swordsmanship?"

Shalria thought for a while. "No."

"Ah, why not?"

"No particular reason." Shalria followed him with her hands behind her back as she walked toward the warship's cabin.

Charlos scratched his head in confusion. "How strange."

Shalria walked a considerable distance away from Charlos before calmly saying, "Idiot, you still haven't figured it out?"

At that moment, Charlos once again came before Garp. "Vice Admiral Garp, what exactly is your training method?"

Garp chewed on a senbei and looked at Charlos. "Doesn't the World Government have training methods? Hmm, can't you look them up?"

Charlos shook his head. "I've already trained in all of those methods, but the increase in strength was limited."

"Oh, then go practice punching. Once you can punch through a mountain, you'll be about there."

Charlos stared blankly at Garp. "You're not joking, are you?"

"I'm not joking."

"You said to punch through a mountain."

"Yes. Is there a problem?"

"That's a mountain."

"That's close enough. A mountain is a sandbag, and a sandbag is a mountain. It's just a little bigger, that's all."

Charlos swallowed. "All right, I understand." He then leaped back onto the luxurious ship.

The Marine warship let out a rumble, then slowly departed.

On the luxurious ship, Charlos watched the warship gradually disappear into the distance before turning to the people who remained. "Amira, Amina."

Amira and Amina looked at Charlos. "Please give us your orders."

Charlos said indifferently, "Set out. We'll find an island suitable for training."

"Huh? We still have to train?"

"Yes."

Amina tilted her head as she looked at Charlos. "But I remember the CP0 instructor saying that what we lack is actual combat experience."

Charlos was silent for a moment. "Then we'll challenge stronger people."

Amira pointed toward the warship that had already sailed away. "Garp is strong. Should we challenge him?"

Charlos swallowed. "We can find some weaker ones."