Speaking Frankly

"Ain, you look like you're in a good mood!"

Ain narrowed her eyes and smiled happily. "Yes, Big Brother Carl. Once my training period is over, I'll become Staff Officer Tsuru's subordinate. I admire her so much!"

"That's great! Though I guess there are gains and losses."

Ain froze. She understood the gain, but what was the loss?

"W-Why?"

Carl let out a long breath and flashed Ain a dashing smile. "Because it'll be hard for you to see another Marine as handsome as me."

"Ugh! Carl, you're so narcissistic!"

Carl smiled without replying. He took the wanted poster for their training mission from Ain and began reading it with great interest.

"The Hunting Knife Pirates. Captain Zacur, bounty of 24.5 million Beli, skilled in swordsmanship. Whoa, so scary~"

Huh? He hadn't even become Kizaru's subordinate yet, and he was already talking like an ape.

Ain seemed dissatisfied with Carl's attitude. Raising her small fist, she declared angrily, "Zacur has committed countless crimes. Not only did he raid Autumn Island, he also killed more than twenty innocent civilians. I definitely won't let him go!"

"Hahaha, of course! Under my leadership, we'll definitely complete this training mission perfectly. Don't worry!"

Ain eyed Carl suspiciously, then her gaze sharpened. "Right, Carl, what exactly is your ability? You can tell us now, can't you?"

"Well..."

"It's fine, Carl. You're Marines on the same ship now—comrades. It's best if they learn about your ability in advance."

Zephyr suddenly appeared behind Carl as he spoke. Without waiting for Carl's answer, he gathered the recruits again.

"Carl, I'm counting on you." With that, Zephyr smiled and stepped aside.

Faced with the curious and puzzled looks of the recruits around him, Carl took a deep breath and smiled.

"I'm sure everyone has been curious about my ability for a long time over these past two months. It just wasn't convenient for me to reveal it for certain reasons."

"But it's time to be honest with everyone."

As soon as he finished speaking, Carl extended his right hand and condensed a golden orb of light. Even beneath the blazing sun, it still shone brilliantly.

"Everyone, this is my ability. I call it the Power of Holy Light. For now, it has only two effects: one is healing, and the other is enhancement!"

Carl then drew a pistol from behind his back, aimed it at Ainz, who was watching from the sidelines, and fired!

Bang!

"AAAAAH!"

Blood blossomed across Ainz's thigh. He looked at Carl in confusion. What the hell?

Then he let out a bloodcurdling scream, clutching his thigh as he rolled around on the ground.

Zephyr frowned from the side, but considering Carl's ability, he figured there shouldn't be much of a problem. So he said nothing and let Carl do as he pleased.

"Everyone, look carefully. Ainz has been shot. If this happened in battle, his combat power would plummet, and he'd need time to recover afterward."

"But..." Carl tossed the Holy Light in his hand toward Ainz, who immediately stopped screaming and looked utterly dumbfounded.

The others only saw a black bullet fall out of Ainz's leg and roll across the ground.

"What?! Th-This recovery ability is terrifying! No, it must be Carl's Holy Light!"

The recruits immediately swarmed around Ainz, tore open his pants, and examined the wounded area. But after taking a closer look...

Other than the blood left behind earlier, there wasn't a single trace of injury.

"This is the healing effect of Holy Light. As for the enhancement effect, it varies from person to person. Everyone experiences it differently. Do you want to try it?"

The recruits shouted excitedly at Carl, "Of course!"

Carl grinned, pressed his hands together, and formed another golden orb between his palms. As it grew larger, his hands slowly spread apart until it was the size of a yoga ball.

Holy Radiance Redemption!

Bang!

The golden orb exploded with a roar, but it caused no harm. Instead, every recruit touched by the golden light became noticeably stronger.

Carl was slightly out of breath. Enhancing so many people at once placed a huge burden on his stamina. Fortunately, [Still as a Virgin] provided a stamina recovery effect, and the stamina he had spent would recover in about fifteen minutes.

"I-I feel like I could punch a cow to death right now!"

"That's incredible! I accidentally sprained my ankle yesterday, but after Carl's Holy Light shone on me, it healed immediately! That's amazing!"

There were countless exclamations like these. The recruits who had trained alongside Carl instantly looked at him with burning eyes.

Who wouldn't want to become stronger?

As long as Carl was by their side, they would have powerful medical support and physical enhancement at any time. How could they not be excited?

No wonder Carl had kept his ability tightly under wraps. No wonder Instructor Zephyr valued him so highly. No wonder the three Admirals had been fighting to make Carl their adjutant!

If it were them, they would have done the same!

Carl's ability was simply too powerful! He was the teammate of their dreams!

"Looks like everyone is very satisfied with my ability! Then, as for this training mission..."

Ainz, who had just been shot, immediately shouted excitedly, "Carl, leave it to us!"

"Yeah! With your Holy Light, we're not afraid of anything. The Hunting Knife Pirates are nothing!"

Carl nodded in satisfaction. Good, very good. Now he could finally slack off with a clear conscience!

The only problem was that Weevil remained a ticking time bomb in his mind. The key was that he had no idea when it would explode.

But seeing Zephyr nearby, still striding like a dragon and tiger and as mighty as ever, Carl temporarily set aside his worries. Together, he and Zephyr would slaughter everyone in their path—Carl would handle the "slaughter," and Zephyr would handle everyone else.

Who knew how much time had passed? Carl had long since gone somewhere quiet with Zephyr to chat and smoke cigars, while the recruits were still tirelessly fighting one-on-one to see just how strong they had become after being enhanced.

Zephyr couldn't even be bothered to stop them. Time at sea was the dullest, so it was good to let them burn off some energy.

"Carl, you did very well just now. Honestly, with your strength, you could easily deal with the Hunting Knife Pirates alone. But this is exactly the situation I wanted to see."

Carl flicked his cigar with a smile and said comfortably, "I think so too. Isn't this exactly how my ability should be used?"

"Hahaha, that's right. The reason the Marines are the Marines is because we are a whole. The strength of one person, or even a few people, doesn't amount to much."

"Only by improving the strength of the Marines as a whole can we better deter those reckless fools."

Just as Carl was about to say something, Zephyr's Den Den Mushi began ringing.

"I'm Zephyr. What is it?"

"Chief Instructor Zephyr, according to information from the Marine Intelligence Department, the Musket Pirates, with a total bounty of 30 million Beli, have landed on Spring Island. Your Training Ship is the closest Warship..."

"Rest assured, I'll head there immediately!" Zephyr hung up at once and rose to walk toward the lively deck.

Three minutes later, the Training Ship began accelerating forward!