The Staged Collision Succeeds

Ain bit her lower lip with a pale face, having no mood to deal with Carl as she stumbled forward.

"Sigh..."

Carl let out a long sigh. It was indeed unchivalrous of him this time to land Ain in trouble. He had always repaid kindness with kindness and grudges with grudges, so he figured he owed Ain a favor this time and would definitely return it next time.

"You two have some real nerve! Causing trouble for old man on your very first day! Ain, I'm asking you, can he recover to normal?"

Um... Ain furrowed her brow and slowly said, "With my current ability, Big Brother Carl will probably return to normal in about three days."

Zephyr nodded. As long as he could recover, the situation wasn't too serious yet, but some discipline was definitely in order.

"Ain, Carl, let this be the first and last time. As punishment, both of you will undergo extra training tonight. Any objections?"

Both of them decisively had no objections, an attitude that also left Zephyr quite satisfied.

"Ain, return to the ranks and continue running laps. Carl, your current situation... Never mind, go to the infirmary and get a checkup. Come back if there are no problems, and once your body returns to normal, resume training and make up for everything you missed!"

[Timed quest completed]: Reward active skill [Frailty].

Listening to the pleasant prompt, Carl felt a surge of joy in his heart. The initiative to slack off was finally in his hands. From now on, whether he participated in training wasn't up to Zephyr, but up to the doctor in the infirmary.

The only problem was that getting injured too frequently and regularly missing training could very well cause his impression in Zephyr's eyes to plummet straight down, and being expelled from the training camp wasn't out of the question.

At that moment, Carl thought once again of the Holy Light Fruit he had acquired today. All sorts of bizarre abilities abounded in the world of One Piece, but how many fruit abilities possessed the power to strengthen others? Very few.

The Cheer-Cheer Fruit, the Hormone-Hormone Fruit—Carl truly couldn't think of any others.

And his Holy Light Fruit was undoubtedly the most top-tier kind, combining healing and strengthening into one with incalculable strategic value. Carl wouldn't dare speak for others, but he was certain that if he ate the Holy Light Fruit, he would definitely become a hot commodity in the Marines. After all, who wouldn't want to have such a teammate?

Secondly, this Devil Fruit could help him slack off with a clear conscience. Just imagine: the battle begins, Carl drops a beam of Holy Light, the teammate gets strengthened, his task is complete, and the remaining time can all be used to slack off. The strengthened teammate easily defeats the evildoer, and everyone is happy. Who would dare say he was coasting?

Lastly and most importantly, this kind of ability was very likely to draw the attention of the Marine higher-ups, so by then, even if his relationship with Zephyr deteriorated, he wouldn't be expelled from the training camp.

"Carl! Carl!!!"

The angry roar by his ear brought Carl back to his senses, and he hastily shouted, "Here!"

"What are you zoning out for? Why aren't you hurrying to the infirmary?"

Watching Carl's devil-may-care attitude, Zephyr furrowed his brow and thought to himself, how come this brat still looks so happy? Could it be that he did this on purpose to avoid training? No, no, no, he must be overthinking it. After all, this brat had been a Marine for ten years without any blemishes on his record, so he shouldn't turn out like that bastard Kizaru.

"Yes, sir!"

Carl nodded, pulled up his waistband, and walked with difficulty toward the infirmary. There was no help for it; his physique had shrunk too much, so his clothes had instead become a burden.

Half an hour later, Carl made a low-key return to the training ground and sat by the stands to observe the rookie training, feeling a slight inward sigh. This was youth! However, watching his continuously accumulating slacking duration, Carl grinned from ear to ear. One word: awesome!

Under Zephyr's instruction, Ainz trained diligently, and the corner of his eye happened to sweep over Carl, who was smiling beamingly on the stands. Inwardly, he felt somewhat angry. They were training so hard, yet this guy got to hide on the sidelines to rest, and on top of that, he was sitting there secretly laughing. It was too infuriating!

It wasn't just Ainz who thought this way; many people held the exact same thought. Originally, they weren't all that tired, but upon seeing this fellow Carl crossing his legs and enjoying himself on the sidelines, they instantly felt both tired and furious. What right did he have?!

Faced with the gazes continually sweeping toward him, Carl remained completely unaffected and enjoyed his hard-earned slacking time with a clear conscience.

Are you kidding me? This lord slacked off based on sheer skill. Besides, he had diligently and conscientiously served as a marine for ten years; wasn't he allowed to enjoy himself a little?

Shuzo, who was instructing the rookie training, also noticed the situation over at Carl's side. It seemed he now understood why these rookies were so absent-minded. Damn it, this brat really knew how to affect troop morale!

"What are you looking at?! Although Carl doesn't need to train for the time being, his Doriki Value is still the highest among all of you! No matter how much you resent the sight of him, it's useless; he can still easily defeat you. Therefore, right now is your chance."

"Now, all of you, get to proper training!"

That's right! Carl was already strong, and right now was their prime opportunity to catch up to and surpass him. Thus, they let out a loud and uniform roar: "Yes!!!"

Seeing this, Shuzo was quite satisfied. As for whether Carl would be isolated or targeted, it wasn't a consideration for him at all.

On the side, Carl let out a helpless sigh. Judging by the looks those rookies were giving him, there was a good chance he really would be targeted. No way, his current state couldn't handle any bullying, so that Devil Fruit had to be eaten as soon as possible.

Taking advantage of the fact that no one was paying attention, Carl quietly slipped into a blind spot in the corner and took the Holy Light Fruit out of the system space. This fruit looked like an orange, except it was golden-yellow with intricate patterns circling its surface. Taking a deep breath, Carl bit into it without hesitation.

"Blech~ It tastes awful..."

Carl tossed the unfinished portion aside, fought down the urge to retch, and watched as a pale golden ball of light slowly emerged from his palm, the corners of his mouth curving slightly upward.

Host: Carl

Age: 24 years old

Physique: E

Perception: F+

Willpower: E

Special Ability: Still as a Virgin

Holy Light Fruit: 0% (Awakening Progress)

Active Skill: Frailty (Available)

Looking at his stats panel, Carl felt somewhat surprised. He hadn't expected that after eating a Devil Fruit, all his attributes except willpower had improved. Devil Fruits truly lived up to being one of the most miraculous items in this world.

"Sigh~ You can grow stronger just by sitting down. Tell me, isn't that infuriating?"

After briefly testing the power of the holy light, Carl found it was indeed just as the system described—strengthening and healing. He couldn't feel the strengthening effect for the time being, considering it was a fourteen-year-old body anyway.

As for the healing effect? Carl endured the pain to slice open his palm with a fruit knife, but with a single flash of holy light, the wound healed instantly, leaving only the bloodstain on the ground to prove he had just been injured.

"Hoo~ This Devil Fruit is stronger than I imagined!"

Although the inability to fly or overturn mountains left Carl somewhat disappointed, this was the world of One Piece after all; if Devil Fruit abilities fell short, there were still martial arts and Haki, not to mention that the Holy Light Fruit was far from being useless.