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

"Oh!"

Ace, engulfed in flames, descended from the sky onto the deck, staring intently at Karl with a solemn expression. Just as he was about to say something, he caught a glimpse of Mikhail, petrified in the corner of his eye, and his face immediately changed.

"Karl, what did you do to my partner?"

Ace was met with silence. Hancock, standing beside him, snorted, raised her proud head, covered her face with one hand, and pointed at Ace with the other.

"It was I who petrified him. Who told him to defile me with those lewd eyes? This is the end he deserved!"

Suppressing his anger, Ace growled, each word distinct: "Miss, my partner didn't mean it. Please let him go, okay?"

"Hmph! Are you ordering me around?"

Karl waved his hand: "Undo his petrification!"

"Okay!"

Ace: ? ? ?

After being freed from petrification, Michal looked at Hancock in terror, retreating repeatedly until he hid behind Ace. The Franky family members on the abandoned ship island, who had been petrified, were somewhat confused, but after Franky's reminder, they quickly ran away.

This is a dangerous idea, get out of here!

"Mikhal, are you alright?"

After catching his breath several times, Mikhail said, "No, it's nothing, Ace."

Ace nodded, turned his gaze back to Karl, and said calmly, "Uncle Karl, if you've come to invite me to become one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, I'm sorry, I have no interest."

"Oh, are you sure? You're putting me in a difficult position! If you don't want to become one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, then I'll have no choice but to send you to Impel Down."

"You should remember what I said to you a few days ago, right?"

Ace smiled and said, "I remember, but I promised Luffy that we would meet again on the high seas, so I won't surrender!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the flames on Ace's body became even more violent, and the surrounding temperature also rose rapidly. The atmosphere became tense.

"Hmph, you think you've got wings just because you ate a Logia-type Devil Fruit?"

Ace took a deep breath, clenched his fist, and launched a fierce attack: "Divine Fire - Shiranui!"

His hands transformed into flames, which then coalesced into a spear, before lunging at Karl. But to Karl, it was as if Ace had delivered himself right to his doorstep.

Carl reached out to stop Hancock from attacking, and seeing Ace getting closer, he kicked her with a backhand.

Bang! Then came Ace's cry of pain.

Ace, who was kicked away, tumbled several times before finally coming to a stop, leaving a size 47 footprint on his abdomen. After being helped up by his companions, Ace began to vomit.

No other reason than that Carl kicked Ace so hard he felt nauseous.

"How could this be? Captain Ace is a Logia-type Devil Fruit user, how could he have been hit?"

"I know, this is the power from the new world, domineering!"

"Is this the strength of a general candidate? It's terrifying!"

The members of the Spade Pirates looked at Karl with panic. With just one kick, the seemingly invincible Ace was beaten like this. If they, as weaklings, were to fight him, they would be doomed. Was their pirate journey over?

Lu Qi, who was silently watching the drama unfold in the crowd, clenched his fists so tightly they cracked. He had clearly seen that kick just now.

The combination of Tempest Kick and Armament Haki, and the fact that he held back, shows that Karl's Tempest Kick has long been a mastery of the technique, not to mention the Haki that he has yet to master.

He clearly had a higher starting point, but Karl left him far behind. This feeling...

"Ace, I'll let you off the hook today for your grandfather's sake, but you won't be so lucky next time..."

"This is an invitation from the Seven Warlords of the Sea. Think it over carefully. If you've made up your mind, call the number on it."

Carl casually tossed the invitation on the ground, then, with Hancock on Raven's back, they left Shipwreck Island, displaying a carefree attitude that left Ace's friends stunned.

"Captain Ace, what... what does this mean?"

"I don't know..." Ace took a deep breath, his expression shifting between light and shadow; his feelings were incredibly complex...

He became a "free" pirate, but he had to rely on his grandfather's influence to escape a disaster. What kind of nonsense is that?

bang~

The invitations on the ground spontaneously combusted and quickly turned to ashes, dissipating in the sea breeze.

Ace composed himself and smiled at Lucci and Kaku not far away: "You two are too kind. This is our ship. Please show us the way so we can sail to the dock for repairs."

"Goo! No problem, please sail in this direction!"

The pirate ship gradually sailed away from the abandoned ship island and headed towards Dock No. 1. Ace stood silently by the railing, looking at the boundless sea.

At this moment, he had only one thought in his mind: to immediately go to the new world, master the power of dominance, and become stronger!

Chapter 150 Jaya Island

"How's the situation? Has Portgas D. Ace agreed to join the Seven Warlords of the Sea?"

"No."

"So you caught him?"

"Uh, he ran away..."

Sengoku's tone turned strange: "He escaped? From your hands? You didn't let him go on purpose, did you?"

We've been discovered? It's okay, don't panic when something happens.

"Uh, Fleet Admiral Sengoku, well, he is, after all, a Logia-type Devil Fruit user, so..."

"Alright, alright, I understand. Anyway, this kid didn't do anything heinous, so let him go. I wasn't expecting him to join the Seven Warlords of the Sea anyway."

"That's all. I'm hanging up now. By the way, what are you doing now?"

"Well, I'm just wandering around the Grand Line. I don't have any urgent missions, do I?"

"Hmm, not for now. I'll have someone notify you if anything happens!"

......

After hanging up the phone, Carl looked down at an island in the sea that resembled the Chinese character for "vessel" and said to Hancock beside him, "This is Jaya Island, and there's a town on it called Mogu Town."

Hancock, resting her chin on her hand, asked in confusion, "You mean, the Sky Island is 10000 meters above this island?"

"Hmm... yes and no. Look, from above, do you feel like this island is missing something?"

Hancock pouted and shook Carl's arm vigorously: "Oh, stop being so mysterious! Just tell me already!"

"Okay, okay, stop shaking it!"

"Raven, prepare to land, right...over there!"

"Gah!"

During the descent, Carl began to teach Hancock some history. The so-called Sky Island was actually Jaya Island. 400 years ago, half of Jaya Island was blown into the sky, along with the natives, animals, and ancient sites.

400 years ago, Jaya Island was much larger than this, but the remaining part is the most barren area.

"By the way, do you know someone named Montblanc Nolando?"

Hancock shook her head. She had grown up on Amazon Lily and her knowledge of the outside world was limited to her voyages and newspapers. How could she possibly know about people from 400 years ago?

Karl smiled gently and said with a touch of nostalgia, "Do you know? Montblanc Noland was the admiral and botanist of an expedition team from the Kingdom of Lubnir in the North Sea more than 400 years ago."

And I was born in the Kingdom of Lubniz, and I grew up listening to his stories, though he had a bad reputation; people called him Noland the Great Liar.

"Nolando, the big liar? Why?"

Why? Because there was a magnificent city on the island called Shandora, which was filled with piles of gold and silver treasures. However, more than 400 years ago, an unprecedented surge of ocean currents sent half of Jaya Island, the part that existed in Shandora, into the air.

"Therefore, Noland, who was sent by the king to find gold, was convicted of deceiving the king. Before his death, he still insisted on the 'lie' that the land of gold truly existed. Thus, the story of the great liar Noland became a well-known fairy tale in North Sea."

After Carl finished speaking, Raven landed steadily. Carl hugged Hancock and jumped off Raven's back. Looking at the house that was only half-built in the distance, Carl smiled.

"So, the big liar Noland was framed?"

Karl shrugged. "Who cares? It happened hundreds of years ago. I don't care anyway. It's just that the existence of this story tells me that Sky Island is very likely real, that's all."

"Oh, then why do we stop? Why don't we just fly up there and take a look?"

Karl pointed helplessly at the raven: "Look at this guy, he's exhausted. Let him rest for a while, eat something, and then we'll go up again, okay?"

The raven, being called upon, nodded quickly, pointing to its beak with its wing, indicating that it wanted to eat.

Hancock looked around and found that apart from half a house not far away, there was only forest everywhere and no sign of people.

"But, my dear, there seems to be no one here. Have we come to the wrong place? I remember there's a town on the other side of the island."

"It doesn't matter. Let's go to the house over there and rest for a while. Someone will come naturally."

Then Carl led Hancock to the half of the house. There was no one there, but there were obvious signs that someone had lived there, and the door was locked.

"Let's rest here for a bit! Raven, didn't you want something to eat? Here, have some!"

Carl took out a bunch of food and a tablecloth from the system space, intending to have a picnic with his girlfriend.

Hancock was already used to this, since she kept all her clothes with Carl.

In the afternoon, two oddly shaped pirate ships docked near Jaya Island, and a man with a chestnut-shaped head jumped off one of them.

"Goodbye, boss! We'll pick you up tomorrow morning!"