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

Now, he is just a lamb to the slaughter.

Half an hour later, Weevil had lost consciousness, but he hadn't actually died; his vitality was so strong that he was practically inhuman.

"Professor Zephyr, what should we do? Kill him?"

Zephyr nodded, panting heavily. The battle with Weevil had left him exhausted. After all, he was getting on in years, and even with Karl and Ian's assistance, his stamina couldn't sustain him for days and nights unless he pushed himself to the limit.

"You brat, you dare ask me? Haven't you wanted to kill him a long time ago?"

Karl chuckled and scratched his head, then took the Karasuma and walked toward the unconscious Weevil.

"This guy is a bit strange, Professor Zephyr, look at the wounds on his body!"

Following the direction Karl was pointing, Zefa saw three shocking wounds on Weevil's body, as if he had suffered severe injuries, such as having his entire left hand and head cut off or severed.

“I noticed it long ago. At first, I just thought he had super strong recovery ability and could recover even from such an attack.”

"But upon closer inspection, it's impossible. If he really had such strong regenerative abilities, how could he have been left with scars?"

Carl nodded silently. He now strongly suspected that Weevil was a Frankenstein's monster created by the Naval Science Unit, but it was only a suspicion, without any conclusive evidence.

"Forget it, Professor Zephyr, these are not things we should worry about. Let me see him off!"

"You do it! I won't get involved."

Zefa walked to the side, breathing evenly, followed by the sound of a knife piercing flesh. Zefa slowly closed his eyes, shook his head, and sighed.

......

After a great deal of effort, Karl finally managed to send Weevil away from this beautiful world, but the famous sword Karasuma he had just acquired had a crack on its blade.

Carl guessed that it was left behind when he blocked Weevil's attack. The knife was now useless, but it didn't matter. There was another black knife in the Devil's Triangle!

“Professor Zephyr, I’ve already fired the signal flare. Binz and the others should be back soon.”

Zephyr nodded, turned and walked toward the cabin of the training ship. As he was about to enter, he turned back and said, "Karl, remember to call for support from Naval Headquarters. Our ship may not be able to return to Naval Headquarters."

"Yes, no worries."

Half an hour later, several lifeboats slowly approached the training ship. The recruits rushed onto the deck and breathed a sigh of relief when they saw Karl standing by the railing smoking a cigar.

"Karl, how's Professor Zephyr? Is he alright?"

Carl turned around and smiled: "Don't worry! Professor Zephyr is fine, he's just a little tired. Don't disturb him, let him rest well."

"So, Karl, what about the battle just now..."

Only then did the new recruits notice that the training ship was already in a state of disrepair, with holes and knife marks everywhere, and the whole ship was creaking.

"That pirate with a bounty of 320 million Berries... has he been killed by Zephyr-sensei?"

"Yes, the body is on that ship over there. If you want to go see it, search that ship while you're at it! There should be some gold and silver treasure on board; remember to bring it back and confiscate it."

"Of course!!!"

Soon, most of the new recruits ran onto the rickety little boat.

The recruits gasped when they saw Weevil's giant-like body.

"So this is the kind of opponent that Professor Zephyr and Karl were facing? That's terrifying!"

"Look, he has a beard just like Whitebeard's. Could they really be father and son?"

The recruits excitedly surrounded Weevil, pointing and gesturing until the ship was about to break down. Only then did they empty the treasure that Miss Bakkin had instigated Weevil to plunder and return to the training ship.

Chapter 29 Internship Ends

As the flames engulfed the pirate ship, Karl let out a soft sigh.

"It's finally over..."

Zephyr didn't lose his students, he didn't lose his arm, and Weevil didn't have the chance to become one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea. So, Zephyr shouldn't have died at the hands of the Marines in the end!

As for his disappointment with the Navy, Karl didn't think it was a big deal. As long as he didn't have any expectations of the Navy, he wouldn't be disappointed.

He had been like this since the day he joined the Navy. It wasn't that he hadn't thought about changing the status quo, but unfortunately, he was a nobody and his words were useless.

He still has the ability to change the status quo of the Navy, but Carl believes that day will not be too far off; he is young, only 24 years old.

On the sea not far away, several naval warships slowly approached and transferred the people on the training ship to the warships, which officially marked the end of their training period.

Upon returning to Naval Headquarters, they will officially begin their duties and contribute to the Navy.

Two days later, Marineford.

Zephyr sat calmly in front of Sengoku and handed him the report on his internship assignment.

"This is the summary report of the internship period for the 24th recruit training camp. Sengoku, please take a look!"

Sengoku accepted the document, opened it, and quietly began to read. Zephyr remained silent, and the only sound in the office was the sound of Sengoku turning the pages.

Seeing Karl's record of leading the new recruits to annihilate the Musketeer Pirates and the Hunter Blade Pirates, and assisting Zephyr in defeating Edward Weevil, he couldn't help but smile.

"Haha, Zefa, you've produced another excellent student! This Karl is truly a talent."

"He has rich combat experience, commands in an orderly manner, and is even quite strong. Wait, he also awakened dual-color Haki during the battle!"

Sengoku looked at Zephyr in disbelief. He couldn't believe that a trainee Marine could awaken both types of Haki so quickly. Even Akainu and the others only awakened their Haki in countless battles afterward, and then soared to great heights.

But Karl awakened both types of Haki simultaneously in a single battle—what a genius!

The only question is, how come such a talented person has remained unknown all this time?

Hearing Sengoku praise Karl, Zephyr smiled proudly.

"Actually, he had already shown signs of awakening before, but he just lacked some pressure. Weevil provided enough pressure, so he awakened. I would say that's quite normal."

"If he can't awaken under the pressure of life and death, I don't know how he can awaken."

Sengoku nodded with satisfaction. The new generation of the navy had finally produced a genius, and Karl's abilities could also help enhance the navy's high-end combat power. Once he grew up, the navy's strength would reach a new level.

Such talent deserves higher treatment and faster promotion. After some deliberation, Zhan Guo made up his mind.

“Zeffa, how about this? I’ll first grant Karl the rank of Major in the headquarters. After he’s spent some time working under Kizaru and accumulating military merits and experience, I’ll let him lead a team on his own and build his reputation.”

"This way, Karl's subsequent promotions will be more convincing and won't cause controversy. What do you think?"

Zephyr nodded. Sengoku's words made a lot of sense. Promotions within the Navy depended on three things: strength, military achievements, and seniority. Only by meeting all three criteria could one advance further.

For Karl, becoming a major in the headquarters wasn't a meteoric rise, nor would it attract much criticism, since he had only been a captain before and had only been promoted one rank.

Even if Karl is very strong, he has to take it one step at a time. It's impossible for someone to be promoted directly from captain to brigadier general, right?

Carl said, "Hey! You'll see in the future, you'll rise directly from a commoner to a general."

"You're the marshal, you're in charge. Just keep it to yourself. I'm leaving."

......

"Ding~ [Career Mission - Training Camp Showdown] has officially ended. Rewards are being calculated..."

"The host has accumulated 732 hours of slacking off, exceeding the task target. Random rewards are being drawn... Congratulations on obtaining the Devil Fruit - Zoan-type Bird-Bird Fruit - Raven Mode."

“【生涯任务-摸鱼之王】已激活，任务要求：累计摸鱼时长达到500/1000/2000/3500/5000小时。”

"Rewards: Based on the duration of your 'slacking off,' you will receive tiered rewards (Advanced/Superior Attribute Enhancement Cards + Random Rare Rewards)."

"The host's current military rank has been detected as Major of the Headquarters. The daily mission reward has been upgraded to 3 designated attribute enhancement cards + 3 random rewards, and the probability of obtaining rare items from the random rewards has been increased to 3%."

Carl, who was reading the newspaper, was stunned by the system's pinging notifications and couldn't help but exclaim "Holy crap!"

"5000 hours. If I slack off for 8 hours a day, that's 625 days! It won't even take two years. It's that simple!"

Karl did a quick calculation and then put it out of his mind. This kind of thing couldn't be rushed; it could only be accumulated slowly. He valued the improvement of daily rewards more, as that was the main thing.

"Oh right, I think I just got another Devil Fruit."

Karl glanced at the system space; there was a perfectly round, purplish-black Devil Fruit, but upon seeing that it was just an ordinary Zoan-type, he lost interest.

"I now have ten advanced attribute enhancement cards and eight ordinary attribute enhancement cards. System, use them all to enhance my physique!"

His physique is already C+, and this should be enough for him to upgrade it to B. After the upgrade is complete, Karl's attributes will be as follows.

Host: Karl

Age: 24 years old

Physical fitness: B-

Perception: D

Willpower: C-

Haki: Armament Haki LV1, Observation Haki LV1

Special Abilities: [Still as a Virgin] [Swift as a Rabbit]

Holy Light Fruit: 13.6% (Awakening Progress)

Active Skill: Fragile (Usable)

His physique now far surpasses his other attributes, or more precisely, his perception, because his will automatically increases along with his strength, so he doesn't need to invest much in attribute enhancement cards.

Therefore, Karl's next strategy is to focus on perception, which affects his reaction speed and insight, and greatly enhances his Observation Haki. In short, Karl's goal is to become a well-rounded warrior.

"Hey, Smoker, have you heard?"