Rigidly Prepared

On the training ship.

Carl locked the pirates inside their cells one by one. Only then did he get the chance to take a good look at the Ryo Wazamono he had just acquired.

In the world of One Piece, blades and swords were never strictly distinguished. Though this Karasu was called a blade, in Carl's view, it should be called a sword—double-edged, straight-bodied. What else could it be if not a sword?

"The maintenance is pretty good. Mm, icy to the touch, and the grain is decent too..."

Zacur, inside the cell, stared with eyes splitting at the corners as Carl stroked Karasu with a "loathsome expression." He was so infuriated that his lips turned pale and his body trembled slightly.

To a swordsman, a fine blade was their lover, and now, his "lover" was being wantonly toyed with by Carl like this.

How was this anything short of an NTR?

The crow's nest.

"Alert! Alert! A small vessel has appeared twelve miles out at nine o'clock!"

"The target is accelerating directly toward us! All hands, raise the alert!"

A resounding voice echoed across the training ship. The trainees, who had been laughing, joking, and celebrating, froze for a moment before immediately shifting into high alert—those with guns grabbed their guns, those with blades grabbed their blades, preparing for combat at any moment.

Zephyr peered through his telescope at the flag flying on the enemy vessel and frowned. It was not a pirate flag, but the other party was clearly heading straight for them. They had bad intentions!

"Instructor Zephyr, what should we do?"

"Where's Carl?"

Ain paused for a fraction of a second before speaking. "Carl just went to escort the pirates to the cells. I'll go call him—oh, never mind, he's already here." Ain pointed toward Carl, who was walking out of the cabin.

"What's going on?"

Carl's expression was grave. The moment he heard the warning whistle, he had vaguely felt that something was amiss and immediately sprinted over.

Accidents at a time like this carried a high probability of signaling the arrival of Weevil.

"A small vessel is sailing directly toward us. It's not flying a pirate flag, nor is it a merchant banner..."

Carl said nothing more, picked up the telescope, and looked at the distant silhouette of the ship.

He saw a figure resembling a miniature giant standing at the helm, with a massive blade resting beside him. Carl instantly drew in a sharp breath. It really was him!

Edward Weevil, Whitebeard Jr. He had come after all.

"All hands on alert! The target is a pirate! Edward Weevil! Bounty: 320 million Beli!"

Ain cried out in shock, "What?!"

320 million Beli! In the first half of the Grand Line, that already counted as a major pirate! To think they would actually cross paths with him!

"It's definitely him. I've looked at a lot of wanted posters, and this guy left a deep impression on me because he has the exact same crescent mustache as Whitebeard."

Zephyr patted Carl's shoulder with a solemn expression. "A pirate of this caliber is no longer something you kids can handle. Go ahead and command them to open fire with the cannons for deterrence! If push comes to shove, old man I will make a move!"

"Instructor Zephyr, do we need to call for reinforcements?"

Zephyr gave a confident chuckle. "A pirate with a bounty of around three hundred million? I'm not that old yet!"

It's not that I don't trust you, it's just that this guy Weevil is genuinely a freak!

In Carl's memory, after Whitebeard's death, this fellow chased the remaining members of the Whitebeard Pirates all over the world, single-handedly tearing the remnants apart and leaving over 600 casualties.

Yet that still wasn't his limit. After his Shichibukai status was revoked, Edward Weevil's bounty soared as high as 2.4 billion Beli—at a time when Luffy, Kid, and Trafalgar, who had defeated Kaido and Big Mom, only sat at 3 billion.

The most crucial point was that Edward Weevil was always entirely by himself; his toxic mother could be ignored. He essentially racked up that bounty purely through his personal strength, without any backing from a massive faction.

That alone was enough to show just how terrifying his combat prowess was.

Even though it was only the year 1513 and his strength might not have reached that peak yet, how much worse could he really be?

Surely you didn't expect a guy with that level of intelligence to actively put in hard work training?

Carl nodded with a heavy heart, wondering internally whether he should use his Den Den Mushi number for Kizaru and call him in for backup.

No, wait and see how things develop first. Even if Instructor Zephyr genuinely couldn't beat him, he could still hold out for a while. If worst came to worst, he would have Kizaru provide support then.

"All hands! The moment the enemy vessel enters range, execute a full volley!"

"Sir!!!"

Carl immediately turned on his heel and strode back into the cabin. He needed to eliminate all variables.

Clatter...

The cell door was pushed open. Carl walked into the cell holding Karasu, gazing at the pirates whose eyes were filled with panic.

Since a battle with Weevil was unavoidable, Carl had to ensure there were zero uncertain factors, and this mob of pirates presented the biggest variable of all.

If a fight broke out later and these fellows tried to stir up trouble amidst the chaos, it would become a headache. After all, this wasn't a Seastone prison; it was merely a standard iron-bar cell.

Having guards present was one thing, but once left unattended, these pirates would inevitably rack their brains to break out and create chaos.

Carl simply could not accept any accidents happening because of them, so the easiest course of action was to just deal with the troublemakers beforehand.

"Y-You, what do you want?"

"What are your dreams?"

Several pirates exchanged bewildered glances, having no clue what cheap trick Carl was trying to pull, and none of them dared to answer.

It wasn't until Carl laid Karasu flat across the neck of one of the pirates that the fellow stammered in terror, "To find the One Piece of the Pirate King Roger."

Carl nodded with a look of gratification. "Very good, ambitious! As a reward, I'll send you right now to ask Roger in person!"

Slash~ Squelch~ Cries of alarm rang out everywhere...

Carl simply wielded Karasu, delivering slash after slash without so much as blinking his eyes as he cut down thirty men in a row.

Then, with a kick, he smashed a massive hole in the hull and dumped all the pirate corpses into the ocean in one go...

Carl sharply caught the sound of artillery firing in unison. It seemed Weevil's ship had already entered range.

Carl frowned as he looked down at his blood-stained uniform, quickly stepped into his room to change into a fresh set of clothes, and only then returned to the deck.

"How's the situation right now?"

Ain turned her head to glance at Carl and pouted. "Not great. The enemy vessel is small and extremely agile, so the bombardment isn't very effective."

"Ignore that, keep firing!"

"Yes!"

With that, Carl walked up to Zephyr, gathered a basketball-sized sphere of Holy Light that radiated a dazzling golden glow, and shoved it straight into Zephyr's body without giving him room to refuse.

"This—Carl, has your devil fruit ability grown even stronger?"

Zephyr felt the surging power welling up inside him in amazement, clicking his tongue in wonder. His strength had increased by at least five percent, not to mention the Holy Light continuously infusing his body with vitality, making him feel a whole lot younger.

Carl smiled faintly. "Naturally! After all, I've been developing it for over two months now; even if I'm slow, I'm bound to make some progress!"

"I'll have to trouble Instructor Zephyr for the rest."

"Hahahaha, leave it to the old man! I'll just give you a chance to witness the old man's true strength!"

Watching Zephyr flex his biceps and show off, Carl chuckled wryly. This old fellow...