Prepare to Fly Solo

Moby Dick.

Marco returned to the ship with Whitey Bay covered in wounds. After arranging for her to be treated, he hurried off to find Whitebeard.

"Pops!"

"Oh, Marco's back! Gurararara~ How did it go?"

Marco pursed his lower lip, looking somewhat dejected. "Pops, by the time I arrived, Carl had already slaughtered all of Big Sis Whitey Bay's men. Big Sis Whitey Bay was also seriously injured."

"After that, I fought Carl, but I never expected a Marine Major to awaken Two-Color Haki at the same time. I couldn't take him down quickly!"

"Oh, right. He's also a Devil Fruit user, and his ability has healing effects."

Whitebeard's brows furrowed slightly. "Is Whitey Bay all right?"

Marco froze for a moment, then shook his head. "She's fine. They're just minor injuries."

"That's good. What happened afterward? Did you take him down?"

"No. Kizaru showed up, so I withdrew with Big Sis Whitey Bay to prevent anything from happening to her."

Whitebeard laughed heartily. "That annoying Kizaru again. Forget it. As long as she's all right, that's what matters. Once Whitey Bay recovers, we'll help her get her revenge!"

"Mm!"

Marineford, Fleet Admiral's Office.

"That's what happened."

After hearing Carl explain the entire sequence of events, Sengoku nodded. Carl had handled the matter quite well—no, exceptionally well.

Although he had killed quite a few pirates, Whitebeard could never launch a major campaign against the Marines and formally declare war over them.

It wasn't that the Marines truly feared Whitebeard and didn't dare fight him. The timing simply wasn't right.

If a real war broke out, neither the Marines nor the Whitebeard Pirates could withstand the chain of consequences that would follow.

"Hmm, you handled this very well. By the way, I heard you fought the Phoenix Marco to a draw?"

Carl scratched his head. Three people repeating a rumor makes it true, huh? If we're counting things that way, then how should we explain Shiki knocking Shanks unconscious with a wine bottle, or Morgan nearly chopping Garp to death with an axe?

"Of course not. I could only barely withstand Marco's attacks. I'm still far from fighting him to a draw!"

Sengoku was even more satisfied now. Carl wasn't arrogant or impatient, and he had a clear understanding of his own strength.

"Hahaha, you're too modest. You'll grow stronger sooner or later. By then, it won't be certain who wins or loses!"

Carl smiled and nodded, trying to speak as little as possible.

"Since you were able to defeat the Ice Witch Whitey Bay by yourself, you should be strong enough to lead a team and carry out missions independently. How about this?"

"Your rank will be raised to Colonel, and Marine Headquarters will assign you a large Warship for missions..."

After leaving Marine Headquarters, Carl couldn't help pumping his fist. From this day onward, he could become a true Marine officer just like Hina!

Of course, on the surface, he was still Kizaru's adjutant. If there were any major missions, he would still need to act alongside him. It was somewhat similar to a pirate crew's divisions, with Carl effectively becoming Kizaru's First Division commander.

Leading his own team had many benefits. For example, whether he wanted to slack off, when he wanted to slack off, and how he wanted to slack off would all be up to him. No one could control him.

Now he only had to wait for Marine Headquarters to assign him personnel—navigators, gunners, deckhands, and the like. Carl couldn't exactly sail a Warship alone to hunt pirates, could he?

"Let's wait patiently. There's no rush!"

Three days later, Carl was officially promoted to HQ Lieutenant Commander, immediately causing a huge uproar. However, after learning about Carl's achievements, everyone fell silent.

Defeating the Witch Pirates single-handedly and fighting the notorious Phoenix Marco to a draw—promoting him directly to Rear Admiral would not have been excessive.

"Ding! The host's rank has risen from Major to Colonel. Jump-rank reward obtained: Random Special Skill Drawing Card."

"Daily mission rewards have been changed to five Designated Attribute Enhancement Cards + three random rewards (storable). The probability of obtaining rare rewards has increased to 5%."

Carl had just crawled out of a gentle embrace. He smiled faintly. One word: awesome.

"Use all Designated Attribute Enhancement Cards to strengthen perception. Use the Random Special Skill Drawing Card."

"Use successful. Congratulations, you have obtained the special skill: [Child of the Sea]. You can breathe freely in the ocean and ignore water pressure. Stamina consumption in water -50%."

After seeing the skill, Carl couldn't help shouting, "Holy crap!" His exclamation woke Monica beside him.

"What's wrong?" "Uh, nothing, nothing. Go back to sleep! I'm going to the bathroom!"

Carl immediately climbed out of bed and vanished in a flash.

"System, display attributes."

Host: Carl

Age: 24

Physique: b-

Perception: d+

Willpower: c-

Haki: Armament Haki Lv. 3, Observation Haki Lv. 2

Special Abilities: [Still as a Virgin] [Quick as a Rabbit] [Child of the Sea]

Holy Light Fruit: 16.6% (awakening progress)

Active Skill: Frailty (available)

This skill was somewhat absurd, though not excessively so. For a Devil Fruit user like Carl, it meant he had lost one of his weaknesses.

As everyone knew, Devil Fruit users became unable to swim. More specifically, aside from being unable to swim, their stamina was rapidly drained in the ocean, leaving them unable to use their abilities. The same applied to Seastone.

This skill was equivalent to giving Carl the physique of a Fish-Man—one even stronger than Jack's.

"What a huge haul! With this, doesn't it mean I can boldly head to the Mermaid Cafe—no, Fish-Man Island?"

"Buru buru~"

"Carl, it's the phone!" "Coming!"

Ten minutes later, Carl left the residential compound and headed for the Fleet Admiral's Office.

"Carl, your Warship's crew has been assembled, and you can depart at any time. As it happens, I have several missions that need handling. Pick one and use it for practice!"

With that, Sengoku slapped the intelligence reports onto his desk and looked at Carl with a kindly smile. "Meow meow—"

Carl picked up several reports and looked through them. They were all missions to hunt pirates, specifically pirates who had just arrived in the Grand Line from the Four Blues. Their bounties ranged from ten to thirty million, and they were basically no challenge at all—perfect for slacking off.

"Hm? This mission..."

Carl frowned slightly when he saw the mission's title. It actually involved investigating the culprit behind the assassination of Queen Otohime. She had died last year, and they were only investigating now. Wasn't that a little too late?

Sengoku took the report from Carl and frowned. "Let me see. Oh! This mission is indeed extremely troublesome, which is why no one has been willing to go."

"But a World Noble refuses to give up. He insists that Queen Otohime's death was part of a conspiracy and strongly demands that we send someone to investigate."

"But as you know, Fish-Man Island fell into chaos after Queen Otohime's death and became extremely hostile toward humans, so the matter was ultimately shelved."

Carl rubbed his chin. This mission was rather interesting.