Setting Sail for the New World

The next day.

After saying goodbye to Monica once more, he wore a black suit, donned the coat of justice over his shoulders, and stood straight at the edge of Crescent Bay while waiting for Kizaru's warship.

Swish.

"Are you ready for your first mission, Lieutenant Commander Carl?"

Carl slowly turned his head, and the towering figure of Kizaru greeted his eyes.

"Of course, Admiral Kizaru. What is our mission?"

Kizaru said with a slightly troubled expression, "A rather troublesome mission. The target is a rookie from the Beasts Pirates."

The Beasts Pirates, a rookie? Carl thought of the mission Hina had mentioned a month ago, which seemed to involve capturing Jack. It looked like Staff Officer Tsuru had already succeeded.

"Isn't escorting pirates Impel Down's job? Why are we the ones doing it?"

"Get on the ship first! I'll explain it to you later."

After Carl boarded, the warship wasted no time hurrying toward the Red Line, passing through the checkpoint of Holy Land Mary Geoise to head toward the New World.

Kizaru also explained the origins of this mission to Carl.

To put it simply, after successfully capturing Jack, Staff Officer Tsuru discovered that his background was far from simple. At only nineteen years old, he had already become one of the All-Stars of the Beasts Pirates and was highly valued by Kaido.

Coupled with the fact that the Beasts Pirates had grown increasingly rampant in the New World recently, Staff Officer Tsuru devised a plan targeting Kaido to take him down a peg.

First, they needed to draw Kaido out, and Jack was the best bargaining chip. Therefore, a total of two admirals were participating in this operation: Aokiji and Kizaru. As Kizaru's subordinate, Carl naturally had to join this tricky assignment.

"So you see, our mission this time is quite arduous! After all, we aren't facing small fry!"

Carl's expression remained unchanged. Arduous? He doubted it. As an HQ Lieutenant Commander, they surely didn't expect him to go toe-to-toe with Kaido in a brawl. In the end, it would just be Kizaru and Aokiji doing the heavy lifting while he stayed in the background to buff them.

"Kaido of the Beasts, one of the three overlords of the New World? He is indeed a slippery fellow, but I'm curious. The Marines have captured Kaido more than once, and every time, he manages to escape scot-free."

"Does this operation have a foolproof plan to kill him?"

Kizaru pursed his lips into an indifferent expression. "Who knows! Just follow the orders and don't think too much about it!"

In fact, the reason for capturing Kaido wasn't just to deflate his ego; another point was to extract his lineage factor.

Vegapunk's Artificial Devil Fruit project was about to yield results, but there was hardly any of Kaido's lineage factor left. Therefore, the World Government demanded that Kaido be captured immediately to donate blood, which indirectly brought this plan to fruition.

However, Kizaru didn't want to reveal too much of this to Carl, who would naturally find out when the time came.

Soon, the warship crossed the Red Line via the transport mechanism at the base of Mary Geoise and arrived in the New World.

Compared to the ways pirates reached the New World, this was both convenient and swift, and most importantly, safe.

During the journey, Carl also caught sight of Holy Land Mary Geoise. He had to admit that this place was indeed luxurious and grand, truly living up to its reputation as a residence for the World Nobles.

Yet beneath the surface prosperity, the inner filth and corruption far exceeded imagination.

Upon arriving in the New World, Carl looked at the scenery, which was indistinguishable from the first half of the Grand Line, and couldn't help sighing. "So this is the New World? It feels no different from the first half!"

Come to think of it, he used to hang out in those backwaters of the North Blue. Now that he had reached the Grand Line, he hadn't expected to connect to the New World so quickly.

He had finally awakened Two-Color Haki, yet before he even had a chance to bully weaklings, he had to face a behemoth like the Beasts Pirates. He genuinely just wanted to slack off.

"How the newborn calf fears no tiger! Lieutenant Commander Carl, the pirates in the New World are very scary."

The corners of Carl's lips curved up slightly. He had long since mentally prepared himself for this and felt no particular emotion. After all, since he was tagging along with an admiral, he couldn't possibly run off to the Four Blues every day to bully novices.

He was no Smoker.

"Haha, right, Admiral Kizaru, Kaido won't really come to rescue Jack all by himself, will he?"

Kizaru scratched his head. "As for that... based on my understanding of Kaido, he will definitely come alone."

Fine, Kaido was still that same Kaido. If he came alone, Carl could rest easy. Now he didn't have to worry about his life and could just focus on being a good support.

One day later.

Kizaru's warship successfully rendezvoused with Aokiji at the G-2 base, where Staff Officer Tsuru had also been waiting for a long time.

"Kizaru, Aokiji, you've come just in time. News that Jack is locked up in the G-2 branch has already been leaked. Barring any accidents, Kaido will definitely come to break him out, so I'll leave the two of you in charge then."

Aokiji seemed to hold great respect for Staff Officer Tsuru, offering her a slight smile. "Naturally."

Kizaru maintained his usual unserious demeanor, intently trimming his fingernails. Carl, standing beside him, expressed profound helplessness at this.

Yet Staff Officer Tsuru seemed long accustomed to Kizaru's attitude, instead turning her gaze toward Carl standing next to him and wearing a kind smile.

"You must be Lieutenant Commander Carl!"

Carl hurriedly saluted Staff Officer Tsuru, saying in a full-voiced tone, "Yes."

"I hear your abilities have healing and enhancement effects. When that fellow Kaido arrives, I'll have to trouble you to put in some extra effort."

"Rest assured, Staff Officer Tsuru. Even if you didn't ask, I would do so."

"Hehehe, that's good, that's good..."

After the brief operational meeting, Carl also ran into Hina at the G-2 base, accompanied by a tall, cold, and elegant woman.

Barring any accidents, that should be Gion, codenamed Peach Rabbit, an HQ Vice Admiral and admiral candidate.

When Carl saw her, she was wearing a pink tight-fitting top paired with ultra-short hot pants. There was a very distinct spider tattoo on the outer side of her left thigh, and a white-hilted long saber hung at her waist.

From Carl's perspective... large breasts, long legs, fair skin, and beauty. No wonder Chaton confessed a hundred times and still refused to give up.

"Carl, Hina knew you'd come. Let me introduce you; this is Vice Admiral Gion."

Carl smiled and nodded at Gion. "Hello, Vice Admiral Gion. You're very beautiful. Uh, both you and Hina are very beautiful—truly the pillars of Marine beauty."

Seeing the corners of Hina's mouth curve up slightly, Carl finally let out a sigh of relief. He had almost committed a major taboo.

Instead, Gion covered her mouth and chuckled. "Little brother Carl really knows how to talk. I'm afraid you've swindled quite a few ignorant young girls, haven't you?"

Carl smiled without a word, for what she said was true. Even though the North Blue produced plenty of handsome men, Carl still relied on his tall and dashing appearance to outshine the competition, thus becoming a well-known heartthrob in his local area.

"Right, Hina mentioned that your abilities have healing and enhancement effects. Can you let older sister try them out?"

Sigh, Carl sighed inwardly. Another one who coveted his bod... abilities.