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

Then came the third, the fourth, and the fifth.

Hidden among the crowd, the lionfish fishman revealed a disdainful smile. The boss was too wise; he had specifically told him that this scene might happen, which is why each injured fishman's testimony was different.

Trying to clear your name of suspicion with this? Humph! What a pipe dream.

"Ain, go and invite the owner of the hotel where we stayed yesterday over here!"

Ain seemed to understand something, nodded happily, and used her shaving technique to run over.

Ten minutes later, the hotel owner was brought over by Ain, his eyes filled with confusion.

"Mr. Charlotte, we checked into your hotel last night, do you remember us?"

Charlotte nodded: "Of course, only the two of you humans stayed here yesterday, how could I not remember?"

“We ate at the restaurant across from yours at 18 p.m. yesterday, checked into your hotel at 7 p.m., ordered two late-night snacks at 19 p.m., and didn’t go out at all until 21 a.m. this morning, right?”

Charlotte scratched her head, then nodded firmly: "That's right, exactly."

Carl smiled and said, "Thank you, Boss Charlotte. You can go back now!"

Then Karl took the testimonies left by the five fishmen from one of the marines and said loudly.

"Ladies and gentlemen, these are their testimonies. They all say that I beat them up. The times were roughly the same, all around the time they finished eating, but there were five different locations."

"These are Coral Apartments, Mermaid Bay, Fishmen's Cultural Center, Marin Shopping Center, and Waterwheel Town."

"So, here's the question: what time do you usually eat?"

The fish-people chattered amongst themselves, saying things like, "5:30!" "6:00!" "Do you all eat this early? My family doesn't eat until 7:00!"

The scene instantly turned into a bustling market, filled with the sounds of conversation, making it impossible to hear anything clearly.

"Quiet! Quiet, everyone listen to me! Since everyone's mealtimes vary from 5 to 8 o'clock, let's assume that the five of them ate at 6:30 and then went for a walk. Do you all think that's acceptable?"

"More or less! That should be it."

Carl clapped his hands to attract everyone's attention, and after things quieted down a bit, he said, "You all heard what Boss Charlotte said earlier. I've been at the hotel since 19 p.m., so how could I have time to go out and wander around at night?"

"Besides, the five places they mentioned are practically the four cardinal directions of Fishman Island. Why would I, a human, commit a crime so far away, especially on Fishman Island, a place I know no one?"

"The most important point is that all five of them are residents of Coral Hills. Would they really wander all the way to Mermaid Bay or Waterwheel Town?"

"So they're lying! Even if they were attacked, they were attacked in the same place!"

Although the residents of Fishman Island look strange, they are all born of mothers and are not stupid. They recognize these five fishmen; they are indeed residents of Coral Hill. Why would they go to Mermaid Bay or Waterwheel Town in the middle of the night?

"Yeah! I knew something felt off!" "Exactly, they're definitely lying!"

The lionfish-man cursed under his breath, "Damn humans, they actually found a loophole!"

Just as he was about to leave, he couldn't move at all. When he turned around, he saw Karl with a half-smile on his face.

"Don't rush off!"

Karl then grabbed the lionfish-man, dragged him to an open area, pointed a raven at his neck, and said coldly, "Speak! Who instructed you to frame the Navy!"

"Who gave the order? I don't know!"

The residents of Fishman Island weren't stupid. Upon seeing the lionfish-man's face, they suddenly realized, "Isn't that Kashakoba, the thug from Fishman Street?"

"That's right, it's him! He's one of Hody Jones's henchmen!"

Chapter 90 Fishman Street

"You still don't admit it?"

"Were you instructed by Hody Jones to deliberately incite racial conflict between humans and fish-men?"

Kashakoba glanced down at the black blade pressed against his neck, then looked at the fish-man island residents around him. His courage instantly grew; he refused to believe that this human would dare to kill him.

So he said very firmly, "Humans are inherently evil, why bother with false accusations?"

Karl smiled slightly and said calmly, "I don't care whether it's a frame-up or not, your actions are undoubtedly provoking the Navy. Do you know what the consequences are for provoking the Navy?"

"So what? Just kidding, we're not pirates!"

"Tsk tsk tsk~ Wrong, completely wrong. Fishman Island is a member state of the World Government. You thugs may not be pirates, but you are still terrorists who threaten the security of Fishman Island."

"As a member of the Navy, I have the responsibility and the obligation to bring you wicked thugs to justice!"

After saying that, Carl turned to Smoker and Ian: "Take some men, let's go to Fishman Street and meet that Hody Jones!"

"Yes!"

The two quickly assembled a team of about 40 people and escorted Kashakoba to Fishman Street. Of course, many onlookers who loved watching the excitement also followed.

Dragon Palace.

"King Neptune, something terrible has happened!"

Neptune woke up with a start and jumped up, shouting, "What happened?!"

King Neptune then learned the whole story.

"What! These thugs from Fishman Street actually went and framed the Navy! Aren't they just deliberately making trouble?!"

At that moment, Neptune suddenly remembered Shirley's prophecy, and a cold sweat broke out on his forehead.

"Quickly! Go and inform Jinbe!"

Fishman Street, the lawless zone of Fishman Island.

Originally a large facility for orphans, Fishman Street has become a gathering place for illegal groups due to the incompetence of its management.

Racial hatred, crime, and chaos all breed here.

"Boss, something bad has happened! The navy is here!"

Hody Jones, who was leaning back in his seat, jumped up abruptly: "What? Shouldn't they be... the plan has gone awry?"

"Yes, yes, that rear admiral saw through our plan and discovered that we were the ones who were sabotaging us. Now he has brought a large number of navy personnel to Fishman Street to cause us trouble!"

"Humph!"

Hody Jones picked up the blood-red trident beside his seat and said arrogantly, "The Navy is nothing to be afraid of."

"We are the supreme Fish-Men, and the Navy is nothing but humans, an inferior race. We Fish-Men can easily annihilate the mere Navy!"

"This will also let those ignorant fools know that fish-men are the strongest species in the world!"

After saying that, Hody Jones opened a large bag beside him, which was full of medicines—black and red capsules.

After Queen Otohime died, he stole the deadly drug E·S from the Dragon Palace, which was sealed in a jewel box. Taking this drug would double the strength of the user (one pill doubles the strength, two pills quadruple the strength, and so on).

That's what gave him the confidence to defeat the Navy!

Soon, Hody Jones distributed the drug to his gang of underlings, each of them holding a handful of it.

"Listen up, you fish inside! I am Rear Admiral Karl. You are surrounded. Surrender immediately, or face the consequences!"

Hody Jones gave a mocking smile: "Heh, you're here fast!"

Click~

Ten deadly pills were casually tossed into the gaping maw. Then, Hody Jones's veins bulged, his muscles rippled, and his physique became even more robust and imposing, his eyes turning blood red.

The other underlings did as instructed, took the potent drug, and their strength instantly increased dramatically!

"Now, let those lowly humans suffer!"

Jie'ou, Baozang, Damo, and other minor leaders immediately issued orders.

"Brothers, charge! Kill all those marines!!!"

"Ahhh!"

As soon as Karl finished his routine address and put down the megaphone, his gaze fell upon the deep, dark building before him, and a slight smile appeared on his lips.

"All personnel on high alert!!!"

The next second, a group of merfolk roared and charged out of the building, carrying all sorts of weapons, showing no intention of surrendering.

"Fire!"

Bang bang bang!

The volley of muskets immediately felled some of the weaker murlocs, but many more remained.

"May the Holy Light grant you strength and courage! Blessed by the Holy Light!!!"

Karl raised his right hand, conjuring a huge ball of golden holy light, the energy of which quickly radiated to every naval soldier.

Nelson cracked his neck and couldn't help but exclaim, "Ah! This kind of touwa!!!"

"Fight for justice!!!"

"Ooooooo!" "Justice will prevail!!"

Seeing that there was no time to launch another volley, Nelson simply abandoned his weapons and ordered his soldiers to engage in close combat.

The soldiers kept Karl's teachings in mind and never fought alone. At the very least, they fought back-to-back, which greatly increased their safety.

"Die, human!"

Hey~