Moby Dick
Marco brought the injured Widdibe onto the ship, arranged for her treatment, and then hurried to Whitebeard.
— Dad!
— Oh, Marco's back! Gurarara~ How's it going?
Marco bit his lower lip, slightly subdued:
— Dad, when I arrived, Karl had already defeated all of Whitey Bay's subordinates, and she herself was seriously injured.
— After that, I fought with Karl, but I didn't expect the lieutenant to have awakened both colors of Haki, and I couldn't defeat him!
— By the way, he's also a capable person, and his ability has a healing effect.
Whitebeard frowned slightly, the wrinkles on his forehead deepening:
— Is Whitey bay okay?
Marco was taken aback, then shook his head:
— She's fine, just a mild wound.
— Good, what happened next? Did you defeat him?
— No, Kizaru arrived. Because of what happened to Whitey bay, I took her and retreated.
Whitebeard laughed:
— That annoying Kizaru again, forget it. Since she's okay, we'll help her get back when Widdibe recovers!
— Yes!
…
Marineford, Marshal's office.
— That's what happened.
After listening to Karl's explanation of the reasons and consequences, Sengoku nodded. Karl handled this affair well, no, exceptionally well.
Although he killed many pirates, it's unlikely that Whitebeard would start a war with the Fleet over them.
It's not that the Marines is truly afraid of Whitebeard and dares not fight him, it's just that the time is not right.
If a real war breaks out, neither the Maribes nor Whitebeard's pirates could withstand the consequences once it begins.
— Well done, you handled this affair very well. By the way, I heard you got into a fight with Marco, the Phoenix?
Karl scratched the back of his head. Three men make a tiger! If that's the case, what can be said about Sig, who knocked out Shanks with a bottle, or Morgan, who nearly killed Garp with an axe?
— Of course not. I can barely withstand Marco's attacks. It's a long way for me to be his equal!
Sengoku was more satisfied now. Karl was neither overconfident nor hasty, and he clearly understood his own strength.
— Ha-ha-ha, too modest. Sooner or later, you'll grow, and then it will be unclear who will defeat whom!
Karl smiled and nodded, deciding to speak less.
— Alright, since you can defeat the White Witch on your own, it means you have the strength to lead a separate unit for missions, so!
— Your rank is promoted to Colonel, and the Marines Headquarters will assign you a large warship so you can embark on your mission...
Upon exiting the Marines Headquarters, Karl couldn't help but clench his fist. From today onwards, he could become a true Marine officer, just like Tina!
Of course, outwardly he remained Kizaru's adjutant. If a significant mission arose, he would still have to act with him. It was like a pirate crew, and he was equivalent to Kizaru's unit.
Leading his own unit independently had many advantages, like deciding if, when, and how to be lazy in the future—it was entirely up to him, and no one could control him.
Now, he only needed to wait for the Marine Headquarters to allocate personnel such as navigators, artillerymen, and other crew members. Otherwise, Karl wouldn't be able to manage the warship alone to capture pirates!
— Just wait! Don't rush!
Three days later, Karl was officially promoted to Colonel of the Headquarters, which immediately sparked a storm of indignation, but upon learning of Karl's feats, everyone fell silent.
Defeating the Witch Pirates by himself and matching the power of the renowned Marco, the Phoenix, his promotion to Colonel was no exaggeration.
"Ding! Host's rank detected to have been promoted from Major to Colonel, reward for a multi-rank promotion: a random special skill extraction card obtained."
"Daily task rewards changed to 5 enhancement cards of a chosen attribute + random rewards * 3 (can be stored), the likelihood of receiving rare rewards increased to 5%."
Karl, who had just recently moved from the countryside, smiled, simply put, it was cool.
"Use all enhancement cards of the selected attribute to increase perception, and also use a random special skill extraction card."
"Usage successful, congratulations on obtaining the special skill: [Son of the Sea], you can breathe freely underwater and ignore water pressure, energy consumption in water is reduced by 50%."
Seeing this skill, Karl involuntarily exclaimed, waking up Monica, who was sleeping next to him.
— What happened?
— Uh, nothing, go back to sleep! I'm going to the bathroom!
Karl immediately jumped out of bed and disappeared.
"System, check characteristics."
Host: Karl
Age: 24 years
Physical Strength: B-
Perception: D+
Willpower: B+
Heroism: Armament Haki LV3, Observation Haki LV2
Special Abilities: [Quiet as the Son of the Sea] [Fast as a Rabbit]
Light Fruits: 16.6% (Awakening Progress)
Active Skill: Fragile (available)
This skill is somewhat strange, but not too strange, but for Karl, possessing this power now means one less weakness.
As is known, users of Devil Fruits become land-bound. More precisely, besides not being able to swim, their powers rapidly deplete in water, making it impossible to use their abilities. The same applies to sea stone.
This skill gives Karl the physical abilities of the Fishmen tribe, which are stronger than Jack's.
"Great catch! With this, I can safely head to the 'Mermaid' café or Fish-Man Island, right?"
"Blurp Blurp~"
"Karl, there's a call!"
"On it!"
Ten minutes later, Karl left the family estate and headed to the Fleet admiral's office.
"Karl, your warship is fully equipped and ready to set sail at any time. I have a few assignments that need to be completed. Choose one and practice!"
Saying this, Sengoku slapped a stack of information on the table and smiled at Karl.
Karl selected several options and browsed through them. All of them were missions to hunt pirates. All the pirates had just arrived on the Grand Line from the four seas. The bounties on their heads ranged from 10 to 30 million. There was practically no difficulty, making it very suitable for fishing.
"Hmm... this mission..."
Karl slightly furrowed his brow upon seeing the mission's title, as it was an investigation into the murder of Princess Otohime. Is it not too late to investigate if someone died last year?
Receiving the information from Karl, Sengoku frowned and said:
"Let me see, oh! This mission is indeed very challenging, which is why no one wanted to take it on."
"Simply put, one of the World Nobles refused to let it go, insisting that Princess Otohime's death was a conspiracy, and strongly demanded that we send someone to investigate."
"But, as you know, after the death of Princess Otohime, the situation on Fish-Man Island became chaotic, and they grew very hostile towards humans, so the matter was left unresolved."
Karl scratched his chin; this mission seemed quite interesting!