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

Carl opened his eyes in the room, feeling as if he had just been playing VR, which was quite a unique experience.

Given the Raven's unique nature, Karl can even sense hearing and touch, making the Raven essentially his clone—a clone that can be controlled regardless of distance.

"interesting."

Carl nodded in satisfaction; this made Raven's functionality off the charts.

However, the biggest gain today is the Black Blade Autumn Water that Karl has been longing for.

"Hmm, it's a bit heavy, but it won't have a big impact."

Autumn Water is slightly heavier than Raven, but its overall length is about 5cm shorter. Its blade is a chaotic reverse T-shape, and the body is blackish-purple with red serrated patterns.

After a few simple swings, Carl found the knife quite easy to handle and rather aesthetically pleasing.

Most importantly, it's a fully upgraded sword, unlike the Raven, which requires continuous battles to evolve into a black sword.

Although it is already very dark, even if it were turned into a black knife, it probably wouldn't be noticeable.

Click~

Karl sheathed the Autumn Water sword and hung it at his waist as one of his go-to weapons, thus making Karl a dual-wielding swordsman... I suppose.

......

"Colonel, we've left the Bermuda Triangle. Where should we go next?"

Karl stroked his chin and asked, "Where is the nearest naval branch?"

Nelson pointed to the nautical chart and said, "Colonel, the closest one to us right now is the 048 Naval Branch."

“Okay, let’s go to Branch 048 to resupply, and then you go and notify Impel Down to have them lock up Wolf the White Wolf.”

"Yes, sir."

Upon arriving at Branch 048, Carl exchanged pleasantries with Major General Nasr, the garrison commander of Branch 048, before temporarily imprisoning Wolf the White Wolf in Branch 048's prison.

While replenishing supplies, a naval handyman sneaked out, spoke with a local reporter, sold him footage of Carl and Mihawk's battle, and then stealthily returned to his unit.

Carl was completely unaware of all this, because he was either slacking off or on his way to slacking off, and had no time to care about such trivial matters.

......

After a short rest at Branch 048, the warship set sail again, this time targeting the Wind Pirates, whose total bounty was just 1 million Berries, making them minor characters.

"Colonel, this is today's newspaper; it has news about you!"

Carl was taken aback. His news? After seeing the headline, Carl gasped.

Naval Swordsman Carl VS World's Greatest Swordsman Mihawk

He and Hawkeye were clearly fighting on Shipwreck Island, and there were no other witnesses besides his men, so how did the fight still leak out?

There's a mole in the team!

When Carl saw that the two were evenly matched, he breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, the reporter was very professional and reported the facts fairly, without exaggerating for the sake of sales.

"Huh~" Carl caught a glimpse of another news article out of the corner of his eye, but shook his head after reading it.

Kaido and Jack sank the escort ship and escaped, their whereabouts unknown. Karl thought they would arrive a few days earlier, but they only managed to escape now.

"Bulu Bulu~"

Carl picked up the Den Den Mushi and grinned as he saw the lewd face simulated by the Mushi.

He knew that besides him, only Yuanzi would be able to see the newspaper at this time.

"Moxi Moxi~"

"That's terrifying, Karl! You actually managed to hurt Hawkeye. Your progress is really fast!"

"You know, even I find this guy a bit troublesome!"

Karl said with a wry smile, "Hey! Don't flatter me, Mihawk wasn't even serious, otherwise how could I have hurt him!"

"That's true. By the way, the World Conference is about to be held, and the World Government has asked the Navy to intensify its crackdown on pirates to ensure the smooth running of the conference."

"So the tasks ahead will be quite demanding, so you'd better keep a low profile. I won't say any more; you should understand!"

"Haha, of course! Thanks for the reminder, Admiral Kizaru. Goodbye!"

Karl hung up the phone immediately, calculated the time, and realized that in two months it would be the year 1514 of the Sea Calendar, another new year!

"Bru bru~" Another phone call.

This is a Den Den Mushi-like face that Carl has never seen before. It looks like a woman, somewhat like Vice Admiral Gion, or perhaps Tina.

"Hello, this is Carl! Who are you...?"

"Hehehe~ Little brother Karl, you've already forgotten me?"

Upon hearing the voice, Carl knew who it was and quickly replied, "Haha, it's Gion-nee! What's up, is there something you need?"

"You little rascal, you've been hiding it pretty well! How come I didn't realize you were a swordsman last time?"

"I didn't even have a chance to make a move last time!"

"Hehe, that's true. By the way, little Karl, I'll be at Naval Headquarters next month. How about we have a spar? I'm really interested in your swordsmanship now!"

"I'm sorry, Gion-nee, but I have to hunt down pirates right now, so..."

"How about another day?"

Chapter 55 Fame Across the Seas

East China Sea, Shuangyue Village.

A boy with green hair was wildly hacking at a target in front of him with two training wooden swords until he was drenched in sweat.

"Huh~"

"Zoro-senpai! Come and see the newspaper! There's news about the world's greatest swordsman today!"

Zoro, who was panting heavily, narrowed his eyes and quickly ran over to snatch the newspaper.

"The other day, Navy Captain Karl and the world's greatest swordsman, Hawkeye Mihawk, sparred on Shipwreck Island in Water Seven..."

"Colonel Carl and Hawkeye Mihawk are both injured, but the battle is still undecided..."

Zoro silently read the contents of the newspaper, looking at the photos of Karl and Mihawk on the page, his desire to become stronger grew even stronger.

"Hawkeye Mihawk, Navy Captain Karl..."

"I really want to settle things with them as soon as possible, Kuina..."

Unfortunately, this call could never be answered, as Guina had fallen down the stairs and died two years earlier.

Naval Headquarters.

Sengoku frowned as he read the newspaper report. How could Mihawk, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, attack Karl? How dare he attack the Navy?

Thinking about the recent information about some of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, an idea gradually emerged in Sengoku's mind.

"Speaking of which, the Seven Warlords of the Sea were full last year, it's time for them to 'get together'!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Sengoku took out the Den Den Mushi, which he used to contact the Five Elders, from its hiding place.

......

Karl, who shone brightly in the last operation to capture Kaido, only made it into the Navy's internal newspapers, and his influence was limited to the Navy.

But now, Karl's handsome face has appeared in a world-renowned newspaper for the first time, immediately causing a strong reaction.

To Karl's amusement and exasperation, he became famous not for his fight with Hawkeye, but for his unparalleled good looks.

Some even put his photo next to that of Boa Hancock, the world's most beautiful woman, and called him the world's most handsome man.

Now Karl is afraid to land on the islands at will, otherwise he'll be faced with women whose eyes light up at the mere sight of him.

Carl was puzzled too! Before, when it wasn't in the newspaper, he would at most peek at it secretly! Now, she was staring at him without any attempt to hide it, as if she wanted to strip him naked.

Could this be the celebrity effect?

On the high seas, a warship slowly sails forward.

Karl, wearing sunglasses, shirtless, and dressed in beach shorts and flip-flops—the symbol of a big shot—was comfortably lounging on a chair with a parasol beside him.

"Colonel, this is juice sent from the kitchen."

"Oh~ Ah... I'll put it here!"

Carl stretched, yawned, and sleepily looked at the distant sea. "This is what life is all about!" he thought.

If there are pirates, fight them; if there aren't, treat it like a vacation. And you still get paid! It's pretty comfortable!

"Colonel, this is intelligence from headquarters. It seems like there are more missions lately?"

Carl knew the reason, but there was no need to tell Nelson. He shrugged and said, "Who cares! It's just that there are a lot of missions during this period anyway."

"Alright, don't disturb my sleep. Call me if you need anything!"

"Yes, sir."

......

Time flies, and the end of the year is fast approaching. Karl has been slacking off for more than two months.