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

"You have won this battle. The Navy will revoke all your bounties. You can still roam the seas as pirates, do whatever you want, and be the freest people in the world. The Navy will never interfere with any of your activities."

"However, if you lose, you must cooperate with everything the navy does."

"This is a choice that will determine your future. Think about it!"

After Karl finished speaking, he just looked at Luffy quietly, waiting for him to make a decision. Karl was absolutely certain that Luffy would agree.

Of course, this trick works well on Luffy too. If it were someone like Big Mom or Kaido, they would definitely agree on the surface, but deny it to the death once it came to fulfilling their promise.

At this moment, Luffy's brain was working at lightning speed, with various symbols, fonts, and formulas appearing in his mind, as if the entire universe was wandering in his mind.

"Alright, I accept! I will definitely win this duel!!!"

Luffy smiled happily, as if victory was assured.

"Alright, then... let's begin!" No sooner had he spoken than Luffy swung his arm like a helicopter and shouted, "Gum-Gum White Whip!"

Boo!

With a sharp whistling sound, Luffy's white whip came whistling through the air, striking Karl's shoulder directly. Unfortunately, it missed, as Karl had already transformed into his elemental form, splitting his body in two to dodge Luffy's attack.

Taking advantage of Luffy's moment of weakness, Karl decisively launched a surprise attack: "Final Flash!"

Karl raised his left hand, and golden light gathered in his palm, instantly completing the entire process of charging and launching the energy.

Biu~

Luffy showed an exaggerated expression of surprise, his body twisting into a strange C-shape like a rubber band, managing to dodge the attack range of the Final Flash.

"Ouch! It's so hot! So hot! So hot!"

Karl couldn't help but click his tongue in amazement. This guy was really agile! It's easier to fight clumsy guys like Big Mom and Kaido! Unfortunately, all those clumsy guys who could withstand a fight on the high seas have already been taken care of by Karl.

Despite Luffy's loud shouting, his mindset at this moment can be summed up in one word: play!

"Hehe, now it's my turn! Rubber Black Mamba!!!"

Luffy tucked his fists into his hands, took a deep breath, and unleashed a storm of attacks on Karl. At first glance, it looked like an ordinary rubber machine gun, but this thing could turn in mid-air and track automatically, a move that would give Newton a real headache.

But no matter how fancy the moves are, Luffy only has two fists. It's just that because he's fast and makes a lot of backslides, it looks like there are many fist shadows.

After dodging Luffy's right punch by tilting his head, Karl swung Raven in a wide arc before the fist could return, creating a streak of silver-white light.

"Ah! It hurts!"

Luffy winced in pain and quickly withdrew his fist. Before he could do anything, Karl appeared behind Luffy, raised his right leg high, and prepared to deliver a tomahawk-style downward chop!

"Get down here!"

But Karl didn't notice that Luffy, with his back to him, grinned and said happily, "Haha, you fell for it!"

The moment Karl's leg touched Luffy, it turned into something as soft as putty, rendering his devastating attack harmless and allowing Luffy to capture its physical form.

"Got you, Uncle Karl!" Luffy gripped Karl's calves tightly with both hands, and with a sudden burst of strength, flung Karl, whose entire body had been turned into rubber, into a noodle.

Karl's face darkened, and he couldn't help but wonder, "This is the Nika Fruit? An ability that even Armament Haki and Conqueror's Haki can't block?"

Biu~

Karl was thrown off balance, but his body had already broken free from the effects of rubberization in mid-air. Karl decisively transformed into his elemental form, forcefully breaking free from inertia, and pulled out Raven, launching more than a dozen flying slashes at Luffy.

This time, Karl will definitely not engage in close combat with Luffy.

"One-Sword Style: Severing Jade!"

"One-Sword Style: Destroy Gold!"

"Elbaf's Spear·Powerful Country!"

"Elbaf's Spear·Hegemony!"

"Sacred Arbitration!!"

Karl maintained his distance and continued to launch flying slashes at Luffy, and the battlefield between the two gradually shifted from the sky to the ground.

Luffy leaped and bounded like a monkey, dodging Karl's flying slashes with his agile body. But how long could he keep this up?

Karl admitted that Luffy's strength was indeed very strong in Nikka form. At least in close combat, Karl couldn't think of any way to get rid of the effects of rubberization, and even purification couldn't remove them.

It seems that Karl can only fight awakening with awakening.

"Rubber Mole Fist!"

Luffy roared and slammed his fist into the ground. The ground in front of him quickly turned into rubber, and then countless fists emerged and attacked Karl. Karl remained calm and swung his Raven. A flash of light appeared, and all the fists were cut off at the root.

Then Karl disappeared from his spot and reappeared in front of Luffy the next second, only this time Karl was shining with golden light all over his body.

In the form of the Holy Light Arbiter, the entire body transforms into holy light, making the user immune to physical attacks and damage from ordinary fire and lightning. The user can travel freely through the atmosphere at "near the speed of light," and their stamina and injury recovery speed are increased by 500% under sunlight. The user also possesses all the abilities of the human form.

Similar to Luffy's Nika form, but Karl's Holy Light also has unique effects: physical enhancement, recovery enhancement, and ultra-high temperature...

One of the most important aspects is that it can always maintain its optimal state, which is the constantly refreshed "purification" effect.

In this way, Luffy's rubber field becomes ineffective against him.

"Arbitration Fist!" Karl raised his golden fist and smashed it into Luffy's head with such speed that Luffy couldn't react at all.

With the effects of [Murloc Armwyn] and [Justicebringer], Karl successfully landed a critical hit and true damage with this move.

"Ouch! That hurts! How could this be?!"

After rolling around on the ground more than ten times, Luffy rubbed his head in a state of existential doubt. Why did Karl's fist hurt him? And why didn't his awakened state disappear? Also, why didn't Karl turn into rubber like before?

Luffy simply stopped thinking about all the "whys" and just wanted to have a good, satisfying fight!

"Rubber Crow Cannon!"

Whoosh whoosh~

Carl smiled slightly upon seeing this; hitting him now wouldn't be so easy.

Karl, in his Holy Light Arbiter form, began to grow larger and more dispersed, gradually transforming into a phantom.

Luffy's attacks all missed!

Chapter 367 The Drum of Liberation

This "ethereal" state can only be used in the form of the Holy Light Arbiter.

Once Karl uses this technique, he can make his body and any object he touches pass through all matter, which is a weakened version of Kamui, but it is enough.

In this world, there are very few ways to break this move. At least among the opponents Karl has faced, only Big Mom has been able to damage Karl with her soul attack.

"Huh? How come?" Luffy was a little confused. He clearly applied Armament Haki, so why couldn't he hit him?

咻咻 咻 ~

After dodging Luffy's attack, the ball of light gradually solidified, and Karl reappeared, now wielding a golden longsword in his right hand.

It looks like a raven, but the blade is covered in golden light, making it impossible to see any details!

Hey~

Karl suddenly unleashed a vast and boundless wave of Conqueror's Haki! He caught Luffy completely off guard, but Karl's purpose was not to intimidate Luffy with Conqueror's Haki.

Under the influence of Karl's power, Conqueror's Haki transformed into golden lightning, coiling around the blade. Karl then raised the Raven...

Luffy's eyes narrowed, and he dodged to the left without hesitation. Based on his experience fighting Karl just now, Karl was sure to unleash another flying slash, and he didn't want to take it head-on.

This kind of sharp thing is too harsh on rubber.

Ideals are beautiful, and reality is very skinny.

Karl raised the raven to force Luffy to anticipate and dodge, so that he could ensure his attack would be foolproof.

shuh~

Karl raised the raven high, staring expressionlessly at Luffy, who was in a "running" state. His hand muscles bulged as he made a downward chopping motion, but in the next instant, Karl turned into a streak of light and disappeared from the spot.

shuh~

Karl's illusory stream of light transformed into a golden meteor behind Luffy, his sword light like a rainbow, carrying a vast expanse of silver waves, slicing through the sky.

In that instant, the world lost its color, and the mortal realm trembled.

To Luffy's astonishment, blood splattered from his back, and he was embedded in the ground like a meteorite.

Immediately afterwards, a deafening sound came from Dieterre Island.

Because the island was cleaved in two by that enormous blade of light....

Everyone on the island was utterly astonished. Was this the power of General Karl? It was terrifying!

That's Luffy, the Pirate King, whom even Garp couldn't defeat!

As for Zoro and the other two, they were completely dumbfounded. Could it be that Luffy had already given up so quickly?

"Young Zoro, it seems your captain has already failed. Are you sure you still want to fight this old man? Why make a futile struggle?"

Zoro's face was dark, and although he was very worried about Luffy's condition, he calmly said, "No, Luffy won't fall so quickly! Heh, he's the Pirate King!"

On the other side, Sarutobi also started to unleash her sharp tongue, relentlessly mocking Sanji; "Ugh~ How terrifying! Your captain seems to have been chopped to pieces, kid..."

"Why waste time talking nonsense? Luffy won't fall so easily. Our battle is far from over!"

The ape shrugged and pouted, "Hmm~ Still not ready to give up? Where's your fighting spirit? But I'm about to get serious!"