One Piece: Starting as a Marine Lieutenant, I Slack Off and Get Stronger

Akainu had no patience to waste with Karl's nonsense, so he directly transformed his left hand into an elemental form and punched Karl.

Dual-wielding sword style: Raven Feather!

shuh~

Karl's voice suddenly disappeared, and the next second he appeared in front of Akainu, or rather, he appeared with a sword.

The two knives slashed into the lava, but were quickly blocked with a clang!

"Heh, impressive in its domineering style, but it's a pity..."

Before Akainu could finish speaking, he was sent flying. It turned out that Karl had kicked Akainu in the stomach, and the immense force sent Akainu flying.

"Admiral Akainu, don't let your guard down!"

Sakazuki, who had been sent flying, frowned: "There won't be a next time! Hades!!"

Watching the ever-extending lava arms, Karl crossed his arms, one above the other, and roared, "Dual Swords - Heaven and Earth Reversal!!!"

Two distinct flying slashes, one gold and one black, flew in a // shape towards Akainu's lava arm, slicing through the magma as easily as cutting melons and vegetables, heading straight for Akainu's body.

"Damn it!" Akainu immediately materialized his arm and then retracted it, lunging to the left to dodge the flying slash unleashed by Karl.

Take advantage of the victory!

Karl stomped his foot, using the recoil to fly into the sky, gripping Autumn Water and Raven tightly with both hands, and wildly slashed at Akainu.

"Dual Sword Style: Gale and Rain!"

Swish swish swish~

He unleashed nearly a hundred flying slashes in succession, with two colors of flying slashes appearing alternately, and sword energy raining down!

On the warship, Kizaru exaggeratedly pouted his little mouth, saying "How terrifying!" one after another.

Jiaji took a deep breath, wondering if this was Karl's true strength. It seemed that he had been holding back last time, and that they were no longer opponents of the same level.

Gion, on the other hand, was glad that she hadn't fought Karl, otherwise she wouldn't have been able to withstand such a dense barrage of flying slashes. Speaking of which, even the world's greatest swordsman is no more than this, right?

"What terrifying swordsmanship!" Staff Officer Tsuru exclaimed, thinking that the strongest swordsman in the Navy was probably Karl. Onigumo's swordsmanship was also good, but compared to Karl...

An unnamed island.

Akainu was shocked as he looked at the "rain of swords" in the sky. How could he possibly dodge it?

There's no other way but to tough it out!

Akainu quickly found a spot where flying slashes were less frequent and released Armament Haki to form a shield.

Soon, hundreds of flying slashes landed on the poor little island, boom boom boom~

After a series of loud explosions, the noise finally subsided. Akainu, covered in dust and dirt, raised his head and looked around. The ground was covered with sword marks and ravines, and there was not a single intact spot in sight.

Akainu took a deep breath, looked at the rapidly falling Karl, and vanished from his spot in an instant, shouting loudly at Karl in mid-air: "Dog bites the Crimson Lotus!!!"

The lava dog's head fiercely poked its head out, displaying its sharp and scorching fangs, almost igniting the surrounding air.

Karl showed no fear, sheathing the Autumn Water sword and gripping the Raven sword with both hands. Black and red lightning, representing Conqueror's Haki, intertwined with golden holy light on the Raven sword.

"One-Sword Style Secret Technique: Holy Light Judgment!!!"

Chapter 144 Get real

At this moment, Akainu's expression finally changed.

This aura, this sense of oppression, is as if he were facing opponents like Kaido or Whitebeard. Is this how the Marines with Conqueror's Haki fight?

"Let me see your strength, Karl!!!"

Boom! Akainu's other arm instantly turned into lava and transformed into a dog's head. The two dogs emerged from the sea, turning the tide of battle. The surrounding air became increasingly hot, as if it would burn the entire world to ashes!

Karl: There's an upgraded version of Xiao Yan on this deserted island, I'm not kidding!

"Then let's give it a try, Admiral Akainu!"

Swish!

It was a dazzling golden blade of light, its edges wreathed with dense black and red lightning. Whatever awaited it, its fate was sealed: severance! A merciless cut!

The two lava hounds were instantly torn into four pieces upon contact with the Holy Light Judgment, revealing magma as soft as candy, followed by Akainu's arm...

Realizing the danger, Akainu quickly blocked his vital parts and gritted his teeth to take Karl's attack. His entire body was forcibly pressed to the ground from mid-air by the blade light, and it continued to penetrate deeper until it was embedded in the trench.

There was no movement for a long time, and Karl frowned slightly.

Although he unleashed his ultimate attack, Akainu is so powerful that he shouldn't be able to be killed in one strike; at most, he'll just...

Glug glug~

Lava seeped from the cracks in the ravines, and after a brief build-up, countless meteors shot out, plummeting towards the ground. Karl looked up at the sky, constantly adjusting his position to avoid being hit by the lava.

bang bang bang~

The surroundings were chaotic, filled with smoke and the stench of burning. Akainu emerged from a pile of lava, solidifying into a dark, solid form.

"Is this the power of Conqueror's Haki? It's terrifying!"

That's right, that's what Akainu said, but his tone was rather flat, unlike Sarutobi's dramatic delivery.

He hadn't felt anything when facing fighters like Whitebeard who possessed Conqueror's Haki in the past, but Karl, a Marine, using the power of Conqueror's Haki to defeat him, made him feel somewhat unacceptable and his feelings were very complicated.

Akainu looked at Karl and inexplicably felt old. A 28-year-old young man had given him the feeling that he was no match for him.

"Admiral Akainu, do you still want to fight?"

Akainu took a deep breath, his expression returning to calm, and said coldly, "Of course."

As soon as he finished speaking, Akainu charged towards Karl. It seemed that the attack hadn't caused him much trouble. Karl had no choice but to fight back.

Sengoku, who was watching the battle, put down his binoculars and sighed, "Akainu seems to be serious."

Staff Officer Tsuru said calmly, "Given his personality, it's quite normal. After all, who could have imagined that Karl would progress so quickly? If I remember correctly, Akainu once wanted Karl to be his adjutant, didn't he?"

"As a result, now..."

Staff Officer He didn't say what he was going to say next, but everyone present understood what he wanted to say.

Karl's strength was indeed somewhat unexpected. Fortunately, he was a Marine; otherwise, he would have been another Shanks.

Aokiji silently observed the battle between Sakazuki and Karl, wondering if he would end up like Akainu if he were to fight.

After thinking for a while, Aokiji came to a positive conclusion: in terms of destructive power, his ice blocks were far inferior to Akainu's magma, and in terms of physique, Akainu was also stronger than him.

However, Karl is too abnormal. Four years ago, he fought Smoker to a standstill, and now he can even go toe-to-toe with Akainu. Is this reasonable?

"Tsk tsk tsk~ How terrifying! Sakazuki might actually lose to Karl!"

Aokiji turned to look at Kizaru: "How did you know?"

Kizaru replied matter-of-factly, "Of course I know. Don't forget that Karl is a user of the Holy Light Fruit. His ability to sustain combat is something even Kaido doesn't have to admit defeat to."

"Unless Sakazuki can prevent Karl from receiving treatment in time, he will definitely be worn down by Karl."

Aokiji nodded, then gave a "good-natured" smile: "Borusalino, Karl used to be your second-in-command, can you beat him now?"

"Why fight? Isn't he a navy officer?"

Aokiji gave an awkward smile and said nothing more.

Time flew by, and it was already the morning of the next day, but the battle between the two was still not over.

But from the spectators' perspective, the battle was already over.

After a day and a night of fighting, Akainu had many knife wounds on his body and looked disheveled.

On the contrary, apart from his tattered clothes, Karl was completely unharmed and his breathing was very stable, indicating that he still had plenty of energy.

On one hand, Karl can use Holy Light to heal his injuries at any time, keeping his body in peak condition. On the other hand, Karl has become very durable with the support of various skills. Even if he is hit by Akainu many times, he can recover quickly as long as it is not fatal.

Akainu is different. When he's injured, he's injured and can't recover at all. At most, his injuries get worse. Of course, he's physically strong, so even if Karl cuts him more than a dozen times, it doesn't affect his movements.

"Admiral Akainu, if we continue fighting, this nameless island might not be able to hold out. Should we stop here?"

Akainu's face darkened, and just as he was about to speak, the ground not far away collapsed, and seawater instantly poured in, creating high waves. However, this was only the beginning.

Soon, like dominoes, the nameless islands collapsed one after another, and if this continued, there would soon be no place to stand.

"Whoo~"

Akainu breathed a sigh of relief. There was nothing he could do but end the battle prematurely. He just couldn't understand why Karl was so strong.

Ability? Yes, that's right, it's his ability.

The fact that it could strengthen his physique and heal his injuries left him somewhat bewildered.

Previously, he was almost invincible against pirates with his magma, and they would be seriously injured if they came into contact with him. But it was not very effective against Karl. He finally broke through Armament Haki and burned Karl, but Karl could heal him with a Holy Light. How could he fight against Karl?

After fighting for so long, expending so much energy and effort, and not even getting a scratch, how can one not feel frustrated?

Kaido is not much different, but he is not as agile as Karl, and he has a kind of mysterious confidence that allows him to quickly wear down Kaido's stamina.

But Karl is slippery; if he hits once out of ten attacks, you're lucky if he's accurate.

The only drawback of the Holy Light Fruit is that it cannot unleash wide-range attacks; overall, it is more of a support-oriented Devil Fruit.

However, Karl made up for this with his Haki and swordsmanship. Not enough attack range? He made up for it with flying slashes. Not enough attack power? He made up for it with Conqueror's Haki!