Marineford

"Gasp~"

Carl only felt the muscles throughout his body begin to spasm. After a violent tremor, everything became dull and tasteless. But it wasn't over yet. Carl used five more Attribute Enhancement Cards, this time enhancing his perception.

"Check my attributes."

Host: Carl

Age: 24

Physique: e-

Perception: f

Willpower: e

Special Ability: Still as a Virgin

Lifespan: 20,458 days

Carl stretched his muscles, and the sound of cracking joints rang out from his body. He had grown stronger, but only by a little. Still, Carl was already very satisfied. He could drink tea, read newspapers, fish, flirt with women, and even take paid bathroom breaks whenever he felt like it. All that easily surpassed a month of bitter cultivation. Where else could he find such a good deal?

Now, he only needed to reach Marine Headquarters, join the Marine Training Camp, and begin his glorious career of slacking off. From now on, Aokiji would be his eternal idol, while he would firmly resist workaholics like Akainu. You've only got that much salary a month—why work yourself to death?!

The next morning, while Carl was still happily playing with older sisters in his dreams, the dormitory grew noisy. He vaguely heard people discussing Marine Headquarters, Marineford, and the like. Carl cursed under his breath, covered his ears, and continued sleeping. He had gone to bed rather late the previous night, and then the dormitory had held a "snoring exchange meeting," leaving him unable to fall asleep until after three. Right now, he desperately needed to catch up on sleep.

He had no idea how much time passed. In his daze, he vaguely felt someone calling his name, but Carl still didn't wake up.

"Bang!"

"You bastard! Everyone else is up and assembled, and you're still sleeping in? This is completely unreasonable! Get up!"

Shuzo angrily tore off the quilt covering Carl and dragged him all the way to Crescent Moon Bay Port. The other recruits had long since formed ranks, their chests out and heads held high, their eyes fixed straight ahead.

A tall, purple-haired man stood at the front. He looked around sixty-five, with a resolute face and a body covered in sturdy, well-developed muscles. When he saw Carl, he frowned slightly and asked in a somewhat hoarse voice, "Shuzo, what's going on?"

Shuzo restrained his anger, lowered his head respectfully, and said, "Teacher Zephyr, this kid was sleeping in!"

"Marine, give me a proper reason!"

Looking at the tall, resolute man, Carl felt a slight stir of emotion. The former Marine admiral and current Marine chief instructor, Black Arm Zephyr, had trained Marines throughout the four seas. Even that old fellow Charles had once been Zephyr's student.

Faced with Zephyr's questioning, Carl swallowed, feeling as though he were being watched by a beast. His back grew slightly cold, and his scalp prickled as he replied, "Reporting, sir! Because I learned yesterday that I would be coming to Marine Headquarters, I was so excited that I couldn't sleep all night. That's why I got up late."

A faint smile appeared on Zephyr's expressionless face. He remembered the recruit's file that he had read through the previous day. This kid had apparently joined the Marines at fourteen and had already served for ten years. It was perfectly normal for him to be excited about coming to Marine Headquarters for the first time, so Zephyr couldn't be bothered to make things difficult for him. Time was precious. Once they reached the training grounds, he would have plenty of ways to whip him into shape.

"Fall in!"

Carl breathed a sigh of relief and silently walked into formation, chest out and head held high, eyes fixed forward.

Zephyr swept his gaze across the Marine formation and gave an inconspicuous nod. Their spirits were good. He was just about to speak when his chest suddenly felt tight, and he uncontrollably began coughing loudly.

"Cough! Cough-cough~" Zephyr waved Shuzo off, indicating that he didn't need help. After pounding his chest several times, he felt considerably better, though he was still breathing slightly heavily.

"Everyone, from today onward, you are my soldiers. No matter what rank you held before, here you have only one identity: recruits!"

"For the next two months, you have only one goal. Tell me, what is your goal?"

All the recruits, including Carl, shouted without hesitation, "Become stronger!"

Slacking off and becoming stronger weren't mutually exclusive. Carl merely wanted to become stronger while slacking off—earning money while lying down. What had he done wrong?

"That's right. What I can teach you is how to become stronger. So, during the time ahead, I will squeeze out every ounce of your potential and turn you into elite Marines. Do you have confidence?"

"Yes!"

"Very good. I believe in you. Now, cough, cough~ Follow Instructor Shuzo to the training grounds!!!"

Zephyr had originally wanted to say much more, but his damn asthma was acting up again. He had no choice but to end the speech early and have Shuzo take the recruits to the training grounds to test their Doriki Values and see what they were made of.

Carl walked within the formation. When he looked up, the imposing Marine Headquarters stood before him. The words "Marine" were written on the building, with the Marine emblem in the middle. After passing through the Marine residential district, they arrived at Marine Headquarters, and the formation came to a halt.

Shuzo stood at the front of the formation and shouted, "Next, each of you will have your Doriki Value tested. Come forward when I call your name! First, Ain!"

A pretty female Marine stepped out of formation. Under Shuzo's instruction, she punched the Doriki testing machine with all her strength. The displayed value was 401. Looking at Ain's file, Shuzo asked, "You're a Devil Fruit user?"

"Yes. I'm a Paramecia-type Return-Return Fruit user."

Shuzo nodded, recorded the Doriki Value after Ain's name, and drew a circle beside it before calling the next person.

After roughly half an hour, it was finally Carl's turn. He took a deep breath as he looked at the testing machine before him, gathered his strength, and struck with all his might.

486!

The highest value in the entire group. Even Shuzo, who had always looked down on him, gave Carl several extra glances. This pretty boy seemed to have some substance after all! Ten years in the Marines hadn't been wasted.

But Shuzo only looked at him a few more times. This result wasn't particularly outstanding. An ordinary Marine soldier's Doriki Value was 10, and one needed to exceed 500 to be considered superhuman. The CP9 agents who would later go undercover in Water Seven were a good example: the strongest, Rob Lucci, had a Doriki Value of 4,000, while even the weakest, Kumadori, had 800.

This was still the result Carl had achieved after using Attribute Enhancement Cards. It could only be said that this batch of recruits was mediocre. He was merely the tallest among a group of short men.

[Carrer Mission—Training Camp Turmoil]: Successfully enter the Marine Training Camp. Reward: Devil Fruit, Paramecia-type Holy Light Fruit. It has been stored in the system space. Please remember to claim it.

"Damn!"

Carl cursed under his breath. He knew that, with his luck, he could forget about obtaining some mythical Zoan or Logia Devil Fruit. Still, having something was better than having nothing. While waiting, Carl questioned the system and finally figured out what this Devil Fruit could do.

The Holy Light Fruit was an auxiliary-type supernatural ability. After eating it, one could use holy light. The holy light had two most basic abilities: the first was healing, and the second was enhancement. As for its other effects, they depended entirely on the user's development.

In short, as long as Carl ate this Holy Light Fruit, he could transform into a healer who could both heal and provide support. For the heavily populated Marines, this ability was practically top-tier.

"This fruit... I'll leave it for now."

Carl wasn't in a hurry to eat the Holy Light Fruit. He mainly wanted to see whether he would have a chance to get a mythical Zoan later. Otherwise, he would be too embarrassed to speak to anyone whenever he went out.

Ding! [Training Camp Turmoil—Second Stage Unlocked]: Training phase. Accumulate 400 hours of slacking off. Reward: Advanced Designated Attribute Enhancement Card ×10; Special Skill: Quick as a Rabbit. While exercising, stamina consumption is halved.

Gulp. Carl swallowed. There was nothing more to say.

Time to slack off!

You provided the great work One Piece: Marine Captain at the Start, I Become Stronger by Slacking Off by Xu Dingling.