The Training Ship Sets Sail

After the Marine Grand Match ended, we were given three days off.

There were no slacking missions during the vacation. Carl thought that was great, but there was nothing he could do about it. Only slacking on workdays counted as slacking. During vacation, he could do whatever he wanted!

"Ah! It's already eight! Oh no, I'm going to be late! Carl, stop messing around!"

Monica hurriedly climbed out of bed and pushed away Carl's mischievous hand. It was all Carl's fault. He had tossed and turned with her all night, leaving her with barely any rest. Meowmeow'er said

"Mm, you go ahead. I-I'll sleep a little longer."

A faint snore soon sounded through the room. Monica quickly got ready and left.

An hour later...

"Bang, bang, bang!"

"Who is it?"

"It's me, Smoker. I know you're home, so open the door!"

Smoker? What does he want with me? Since the man had come all the way to his door, Carl had no choice but to climb out of bed.

"What do you want? Huh? Why is there a woman here too?"

The woman was naturally Hina. She had long pink hair and wore a dark-red suit. Her features were strikingly cold, and like Smoker, she had a cigarette between her lips.

Although Carl knew her name, they were not acquainted on the surface. He could only pretend not to know her.

"Oh, this is Hina. We were trainees at the Training Camp in the same class. She's more or less a friend of mine!"

Hearing "more or less," Hina's expression turned cold. "Hina is disappointed. We've known each other for so many years, and I'm only 'more or less' your friend?"

"Uh, fine, fine, you're my friend, all right? Forget it, I can't be bothered to argue about this. Carl, come on. Follow me to the training ground!"

Carl wore an expression that seemed to say, "Hey, what are you doing?" as he pushed Smoker's hand away.

"Are you kidding me? I finally have some time off! I'm not going to the training ground!"

Smoker sneered disdainfully. "Don't think I don't know. Teacher Zephyr already told me everything, so stop pretending you're innocent."

"We didn't determine a winner yesterday! Let's have another match today!"

"No. I admit defeat, all right?"

Carl rejected him without a second thought. How can a Logia user have the nerve to challenge someone who hasn't even learned Armament Haki?

"Hey! How about I don't use elementalization? We'll have a proper fight, fair and square. How does that sound?"

Carl looked at Smoker suspiciously, seriously suspecting that he only wanted to regain his pride and teach him a harsh lesson.

"Come on, Carl! You can't spend all three days at home, can you? Maybe we'll have a spar, and you'll suddenly awaken Haki!"

Well, that did make some sense. Zephyr had told him long ago that one had a higher chance of awakening Haki during battle.

But whether it was Zephyr or Shuzo, either of them could easily handle Carl. They could not put any pressure on him at all, since he could not defeat them.

That made an evenly matched opponent like Smoker the best training tool.

"All right! Give me a moment to get ready!"

A quarter of an hour later, Carl and Smoker stood on opposite sides of the training ground, while Hina acted as the referee.

"Are you both ready?"

Carl slapped Holy Light into his body, and his strength soared. The physique on his status panel temporarily rose from C to C+. If converted into enhancement cards, it would probably take more than fifty cards to raise his physique from C to C+.

"Come on!"

Shave!

The two of them sprang into action, immediately exchanging blows evenly.

Carl spent most of the next two days of vacation sparring with Smoker and Hina.

By now, Smoker was no match for Carl as long as he did not use elementalization.

He could hold his own while his stamina was full, but once he tired and exposed an opening, Carl—whose stamina remained abundant—would finish him in one overwhelming assault.

Simply put, Holy Light's healing, combined with [Quick as a Rabbit]'s halved stamina consumption, gave Carl far greater endurance than Smoker and Hina.

His recovery ability in particular was no weaker than that of a Zoan user. In fact, it was even stronger.

Of course, if Smoker used elementalization, it would be extremely difficult for Carl to defeat him.

Besides Smoker, Hina also sparred with Carl several times. Her Bind-Bind Fruit had extremely powerful restraining abilities. Once she bound him, Carl found it difficult to break free. The two of them were more or less evenly matched.

As the saying went, people became acquainted through fighting. Carl soon became friends with the two young Marine officers around his age.

"Phew~ Thank you, Carl. Your ability is amazing! No wonder your endurance in prolonged battles is so incredible!"

Hina closed her eyes in comfort, feeling the warm energy circulate through her body. The injuries she had suffered during her spar with Carl healed instantly, and even her stamina recovered considerably.

Although she had been healed like this many times, she still could not help sighing in amazement.

"That's no exaggeration! Capturing pirates alongside Carl would be so easy, and we wouldn't have to worry about getting injured. No wonder all three Admirals want Carl as their adjutant!"

After personally experiencing Carl's ability, Smoker had lamented more than once that he had eaten the Smoke-Smoke Fruit. He was useless at everything, and in the end, he still had to rely on physical techniques.

"Hahaha, listen to you two. We're all Marines. We'll definitely have chances to fight side by side in the future."

Smoker nodded. "True. By the way, you're going to capture pirates tomorrow, right?"

"That's right. We're leaving in the morning."

Whether he was on vacation or not made no difference to Carl. He spent most of his time slacking anyway, and during his vacation, he did not even have his daily missions.

"Good luck with your internship. I should be leaving tomorrow too. What about you, Hina?"

"Hina is going to the New World with Staff Officer Tsuru tomorrow. A newcomer named Jack from the Beasts Pirates has been acting far too arrogantly recently. Staff Officer Tsuru is preparing an operation to capture him, so she asked Hina to help."

Carl's heart stirred. Thinking that they would not be able to see each other for a long time, he considered suggesting that they have a meal together or something. But after thinking it over, he decided against it. They all had missions to carry out.

"In that case, let's part ways here! Next time we meet, we'll definitely get together properly!"

"It's a promise!" "Hina agrees!"

The next day.

"Monica, I'll be away on a mission this month. Wait obediently for me to come back, all right?"

Monica wrapped her arms around Carl's neck and greedily breathed in his scent. Reluctantly, she said, "Mm, I'll wait for you. You have to come back safely!"

"Of course. I'm off!"

Under Monica's affectionate gaze, Carl boarded the Training Ship and waved goodbye to her from the deck. Only after the Training Ship left Crescent Bay did Monica reluctantly return to the hospital and quietly wait for the day Carl would come back.

The Training Ship sailed onward. Many of the recruits were thrilled. After two months, they could finally set foot aboard a warship and carry out justice.

"Ahem! Everyone, assemble!"

Zephyr held a megaphone as he summoned the recruits and explained the target of their capture mission.

"According to information provided by the Marine Intelligence Department, the Hunting Knife Pirates, with a total bounty of 47.45 million Beli, have been wandering near Autumn Island. Your mission is to defeat them and send every one of them to Impel Down. Do you have confidence?"

"We do!!!"

"Good. I believe you have the ability. I've already said everything that needs to be said. Now, raise the sails and set off!"

"Woohoo!!!"

Carl took a deep breath, feeling some pressure. It mainly came from the monster who might appear at any moment—Whitebeard Jr., Weevil.

But since he had come, he absolutely would not allow the tragedy from his memories to happen again in reality.