Recruits First Battle

Four Seasons Island, Spring Island, the first half of the Grand Line.

A pirate crew from West Blue successfully crossed Reverse Mountain and impatiently started pillaging the moment they arrived in the first half of the Grand Line.

Perhaps this pillaging was not strictly necessary for them. It stemmed more from the excitement of coming to the Grand Line for the first time and an inexplicable restlessness—they wanted to do something big!

Their goals were also simple: money, fame, women, and fine wine.

What they did not know, however, was that an unremarkable navy training ship was quietly approaching. Carl held a rifle, aimed, and pulled the trigger.

Bang~

The lookout on the pirate ship wailed and tumbled off the crow's nest, dying a rather miserable death.

"Tsk tsk, I'm out of practice..." Carl shook his head helplessly.

Back at Branch 108 he was quite the sharpshooter, but his accuracy vanished after not touching a gun for two months.

"Big Brother Carl, you hit the target from this far away! You're already amazing!" Ain had thoroughly transformed into his little fangirl, cheering him madly on.

"Alright, stop flattering me. Get ready to land!"

Chunyu Town.

"Wahahaha! As expected of an island on the Grand Line, it really is loaded!"

A tall, slender man with a long gun slung across his back looked greedily at the gold and silver treasures plundered by his underlings, grinning broadly.

He was Doman, the captain of the Musket Pirates, with a bounty of 13.5 million Beli. Unable to survive in West Blue, he could only bring his men to try their luck in the Grand Line. He never expected his first pillage to go this smoothly.

He figured that since he had just spotted a reporter taking pictures, his heroic killing posture would surely make the papers soon! By then, how much would his bounty increase?

"Captain Doman, we're about done. If we take any more, our ship won't be able to hold it. We should hurry and retreat! It'll be a hassle if the navy shows up!"

Doman looked at the town being devoured by flames, the trembling civilians shaking with fear, the sobbing women, and the crying children. A fierce glint flashed in his eyes.

"No rush. Since we're already here, we might as well pull off one big job. Little ones, listen to my orders! Slaughter this town, kill all the men and children, and as for the women..."

"Hahahaha! Do as you please, brothers!"

A chorus of demonic, howling cheers instantly erupted from the grunts: "Oh oh oh! The captain is brilliant!!!"

Bang~

The front door of a nice-looking medieval-style building was kicked open, and a burly pirate barged in, looking greedily at the luxurious interior decoration.

"We've struck it rich this time! This place hasn't been hit yet, hahaha! Serves me right for making a fortune today!"

With a strange shriek, the tall pirate charged straight into the room, ransacking all sorts of things he deemed valuable.

In the corner of the room, a pair of fine-looking mother and daughter hugged each other tremblingly, hiding under the bed without daring to make a single sound, praying that the detestable pirates would not find them.

Otherwise, this helpless mother and daughter duo would undoubtedly be doomed.

Soon, somewhat anxious footsteps grew closer and closer. The mother and daughter instinctively held their breath. The heel of an old shoe appeared before them, and the pirate squatted on the ground to rummage through their wardrobe.

"Huh? How is it all women's clothes? Could it be..." The tall pirate's eyes lit up. He wondered why this house was so quiet—someone must have been hiding.

And if nothing went wrong, it was a woman!

"Heheheh..." The man let out a lewd laugh and couldn't help but grope his crotch.

"Don't hide, I know you're in here. You can't run away, I swear I won't hurt you!"

The wardrobe was roughly shoved over by the pirate, producing a loud crash.

"Ah!"

The daughter, held in her mother's arms, let out a startled cry, which was sharply caught by the tall pirate.

"Hahahaha, so you were hiding in here! You sure made the boss work to find you!"

Just as the pirate reached out to flip over the large bed, urgent shouts echoed from the street.

"The navy is here! The navy is here! Retreat! Retreat!!!"

"Damn navy!"

The man stamped his foot in vexation and strode out of the room. The mother and daughter instantly let out a sigh of relief. Sweat had nearly drenched their clothes, but fortunately, they had escaped a catastrophe.

On the training ship.

"Carl, you are the navy member with the most combat experience here. Let's leave the command of this operation to you!

"Please remember, although these pirates aren't very strong, you must be extremely careful in everything."

Carl smiled faintly. Since his slack-off time for today was almost up, he would just treat this as stretching his limbs.

"Don't worry, Teacher Zephyr, leave it to me!"

With that, Carl walked over to the group of eager recruits, Holy Light gathering in his hand.

"May the Holy Light bless you, the navy will prevail!"

"The navy will prevail!"

Having been raring to go for a while, the recruits shouted slogans excitedly and, under Carl's command, formed a encirclement around the town, gradually closing in and cutting off all escape routes for the pirates who had ransacked the town.

"Damn navy, little ones, get them!"

"Bang!" The battle broke out instantly.

The cream of the crop among the recruits easily dodged the pirates' bullets and launched a counterattack. This mob of trash was simply pathetic before the well-trained training camp cadets.

Ain looked at the tall, thin man, a sharp glint flashing in her eyes.

Shave!

"Damn woman, you think you can beat me too? I'm Musket Doman! Go to hell!"

Doman quickly aimed his musket at Ain, and after a brief charge, actually fired a dozen bullets in rapid succession. As a pirate captain, he certainly had some tricks up his sleeve.

"Damn it!!"

Ain hurriedly used Shave to dodge to the left, but her arm was still grazed by the dense barrage of bullets. A sharp pain shot from her arm, causing her to frown.

Soon, however, a warm force smoothed away her pain. She turned her head and saw that the wound was healing rapidly under the healing power of the golden energy, completely recovering in a mere three seconds.

"So this is the healing effect Carl talked about? You really only understand the power of this ability once you've experienced it yourself!"

Free of any worries, Ain instantly turned fierce and formidable. Closing in rapidly on Musket Doman, she slapped him.

"You, what did you do to me!"

Doman watched in terror as his body grew smaller and smaller. In the blink of an eye, he transformed from a middle-aged man into a young lad. If that were all it took, fine, but Ain slapped him once more.

This time he went from a young man to a little kid, and he couldn't even lift his favorite musket.

"Tie him up!"

Interim Commander Carl was in the center of the town, sitting on a crude wooden stool, crossing his legs and leisurely blowing smoke rings as if this battle had nothing to do with him.

A bearded pirate holding a rifle crept out from an alley, aimed his musket at Carl, who sat motionless in place, and roared.

"Go to hell, pretty boy!"

He pulled the trigger—bang!

Carl, having sensed it beforehand, tilted his head slightly to easily dodge the pirate's sneak attack, then looked calmly at the culprit.

He hadn't noticed this pirate earlier, but somewhere deep inside he had a premonition that he would be attacked, yet he hadn't even awakened Observation Haki. Carl preferred to call this half-step awakening!

"Hey, calling me that is going too far. Aren't you just jealous of my good looks!"

"Damn it!" Seeing Carl easily dodge, the pirate frantically reloaded his rifle, but just as he raised it to aim, Carl's right hand appeared in his field of vision.

"Finger Pistol!"

Whoosh~

A bloody hole appeared between the pirate's eyebrows. He collapsed to the ground in disbelief, dying without ever understanding how this harmless-looking pretty boy could be so lethal.

"You can consider your death worthwhile. At least because of you dying, the average attractiveness of all men went up just a tiny bit."

After a while, a training camp recruit ran over, looking around left and right before his eyes lit up upon spotting Carl.

"Carl, someone is injured and it's critical! Come take a look quickly!"

Carl was stunned. What was the situation?

He definitely had all his buffs applied! How could someone still be severely injured!