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

Shipyard.

When Carl arrived, he found Smoker and Ian there, presumably as supervisors.

"You are all here!"

"You're here!"

Karl walked up to the two men and watched as the craftsmen applied a resin-like substance to the warship. It must be the resin of the Yarqiman mangrove tree!

Approaching a burly craftsman, Karl asked curiously, "Master, what do you do for a living?"

The coating craftsman, holding the resin in his hand, turned to look at Karl, but didn't say anything, just stared at him, creating an awkward atmosphere.

Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, Karl saw an old man on the boat wearing slippers and glasses, who looked vaguely familiar.

"Um, Master, who is that person over there? Is he also from your shipyard?"

The craftsman glanced at it and shook his head: "No, but his skills are quite good. We usually ask him to come and help with urgent orders like this!"

"We usually call him Old Lei, the one with the coating!"

Sure enough, Rayleigh, the King of the Underworld, is indeed worthy of being called Old Rayleigh!

Carl immediately jumped onto the warship and searched everywhere for Rayleigh's voice, but he couldn't find a trace of him; the man had vanished.

"Such keen insight! I only glanced at him and he noticed?"

Meanwhile, Rayleigh emerged from the corner, and after confirming that no one had noticed, he stealthily left the shipyard.

"What bad luck! I was just trying to earn some extra money, and I almost got caught!"

Rayleigh scratched his head helplessly. Who would have thought that someone in the new generation of the Navy would recognize his face?

You have to understand that he has been retired from the sea for 15 years!

Unable to find anyone on the warship, Karl had no choice but to disembark to avoid interfering with the coating craftsmen's work.

If we can't find him, that's fine. As long as we know Rayleigh is here, that's good enough.

Familiar characters have all made their appearances, so who's next? Shanks?

No, no, no, we probably won't meet them for now. Shanks has already entered the New World and is now part of a dazzling supernova pirate crew. It will be a few more years before they become Yonko.

"Forget it, why think so much! Let's go shopping!"

And so, Carl took Ain and Smoker to the tourist area, bought some local specialties and clothes, and replenished some supplies to prepare for tomorrow's voyage.

Ian was quite happy today, except Smoker was a bit of an eyesore.

Chapter 86 Fishman Island, Here I Come!

The next day, noon.

The Seastone warship was already covered in bubbles and quietly docked at the port.

"Goodbye, Major General Karl, have a safe journey!"

Standing by the railing, Carl smiled and waved: "Thank you for your kind words, Brigadier General Gregory!"

After saying goodbye, Karl immediately gave the order: "Depart! Destination: Fishman Island!"

The warship began to submerge and soon disappeared into the water. The sailors looked up at the surface of the sea in amazement; most of them were seeing such a scene for the first time.

Carl wasn't alarmed. He had Nelson keep track of the direction and, after confirming the route, he arrived at the mermaid Mina's side.

"Miss Mina, I'm counting on you for the rest of the time!"

Mina nodded with a smile: "Major General Karl, rest assured, you are my benefactor. I promise you..."

"Cough, cough, cough!"

Karl interrupted Mina, saying, "Don't make promises you can't keep!"

An hour later, the Seastone warship arrived at Fishman Island without encountering any Sea King attacks or anything like the Dark Sea.

"Is this Fishman Island? It's beautiful! Don't you think so, Karl!"

Carl nodded, and what appeared before them was an island surrounded by a huge double-layered semi-circular bubble membrane shield, with an air layer between the two shields.

This is the official passage to Fishman Island; pirates cannot enter Fishman Island from here.

Smoker exclaimed, "Fishman Island has a sky and clouds too! The world is truly full of wonders!"

Hearing others praise her hometown, Mina happily explained, "It's 'the blessing of the sun'!"

"The giant tree 'Sun Tree Eve,' which grows near Fishman Island, can transmit sunlight from the ground to Fishman Island, which is why Fishman Island, located in the deep sea, has sunlight and the change of day and night."

"Oh! So that's it!"

Karl coughed and said, "Let's stop discussing and go inside!"

Upon seeing the naval warship, the Sea King's guards at the entrance immediately became serious and shouted to Karl on board, "Halt! Any vessel entering Fishman Island must undergo immigration inspection!"

Mina quickly burst out of the bubble and swam to the gatekeeper, saying, "They are the navy, not bad guys. They are the ones who rescued me from human traffickers."

After carefully examining Mina, Neptune exclaimed in surprise, "You are the resident who went missing half a month ago!"

"Yes, my name is Mina! I work at the Mermaid Cafe! Mrs. Shirley knows that!"

The Neptune's merman nodded: "I know, but entry checks are necessary. Don't worry, we won't make things difficult for them."

"Uh-huh!"

Ten minutes later, the warship successfully passed through the entrance and officially landed on Fishman Island.

News of the naval landing naturally reached Ryugu as well.

King Neptune stroked his bushy orange-red beard: "The Navy? Why would the Navy come to Fishman Island?"

"I don't know. According to the navy, they came to Fishman Island for vacation."

"A vacation? I hope so!"

Mermaid Cafe.

Upon hearing that a warship had arrived at Fishman Island, Shirley's expression changed drastically. She hurriedly went into her room and her pupils widened in shock at the scene she had foreseen in the crystal ball.

"They're here! They're really here! How could they be here so fast?!"

The scene unfolding inside the crystal ball was like a living hell: corpses, countless fish-man corpses, and a man in a naval uniform, his face obscured, standing amidst the carcasses, confronting a fat, blue fish-man...

Coral Hill, southeast of Fishman Island.

This is the most bustling port town in the Dragon Palace Kingdom, with restaurants, clothing stores, amusement facilities, and all sorts of strange fishmen and beautiful mermaid ladies.

"Major General Karl, I've been missing for so many days, my mother must miss me terribly. Why don't you take a look around here for a while, and I'll come back to find you later, okay?"

Carl chuckled, "Haha, of course! Go on! We'll be waiting for you here!"

After Mina left, Karl turned to the navy soldiers and said, "This is Fishman Island, so everyone be careful and don't say anything carelessly."

"Don't worry, sir!" "Yes! This place is so beautiful, I definitely want to explore it thoroughly!"

Carl waved his hand: "Alright, alright, dismissed! Let me know immediately if anything happens!"

"Yes!!!"

The soldiers left in groups, and now only Karl and his two companions remained on the street.

Smoker looked at Fishman Island, which was filled with water, and felt inexplicably physically uncomfortable. He stared at the transparent water pipes in the sky with a tense mind.

"Is that how the fish-men reach various locations on Fish-Man Island? That's really interesting!"

Carl rolled his eyes at Smoker: "You're asking me? Who am I supposed to ask? This is my first time on Fishman Island too, okay!"

Suddenly, Ian grabbed Karl's arm and excitedly pointed to the clothing store next to them: "Look, there are clothes for sale over there, let's go have a look!"

Karl glanced at the Mermaid Cafe not far away, then at the fashion store. Was there even a choice?

"I'm suddenly a little thirsty, how about we go to the Mermaid Cafe for some coffee?"

Ain glanced at Karl suspiciously, her cheeks slowly puffing up like a hamster.

"Phew~ Okay! But hurry up!"

Karl: Choke to death!

"Hey Smoker, wanna come along?"

Smoker shook his head: "I'm not going. I'll just wait for you here!"

Ain's lips curled up slightly.

"Welcome to Mermaid Cafe. What would you like to drink?"

Looking at the two mature and alluring mermaid sisters in front of him, Karl couldn't help but take a deep breath. Fishman Island really is a paradise for men!

Ayn clenched her fists tightly. She knew it. Karl, that womanizer, was up to no good. What coffee? He was clearly after the mermaid beauty!

"Hahaha, um, let me see, a caramel macchiato, and a cappuccino for her!"

The mermaid nodded after noting it down: "Yes, I've noted the guest's information. Please wait a moment, they'll be right there!"

Another blue-haired mermaid lady licked her lower lip, staring intently at Karl: "Guest, you're really handsome!"

Karl smiled slightly: "Really? You're very pretty too! What's your name?"