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

"Don't come any closer! If you want to hurt Katakuri, you'll have to get past me first!"

Karl twirled his sword and tossed the raven into the air, saying calmly, "Now, can we stop?"

"How terrifying! They actually defeated the strongest of the three Sweet Commanders of the Big Mom Pirates. Looks like I arrived too early!"

The ape appeared behind Karl without warning, shaking its head as it spoke, looking quite regretful.

"Kizaru, he's really here!" "Damn it, the Navy planned this all along!"

Karl pointed irritably at Shanks and Big Mom, who were still fighting: "You can handle that. I can't manage it."

"Sigh~ We're both from the Navy, why are you being so distant? You come with me!"

"Fine!"

And so Karl and the ape swaggered off to the other side, and the Charlotte family’s children didn’t dare to stop them.

There was nothing they could do; a general is a general after all, and they wouldn't dare to cause trouble for him.

"Wow, that's a really intense fight! Shanks is so tenacious."

Carl, however, voiced his dissent: "Shanks is strong, but his talent is definitely not as good as Big Mom's. This guy has been having babies every year and still has this much fighting power. He's a monster!"

The ape was taken aback and looked at Karl in surprise. What a novel angle this was.

But after a moment's thought, he had to agree with what Karl said: "That's right, this woman is indeed a monster. Alright, it's time for this old man to make his move."

"Eight-foot beautiful magatama!!!"

The ape raised its delicate fingers, pouted its lips, and countless light bullets shot out, hitting the old lady with a thud and producing a series of explosions.

"Kizaru, what do you think you're doing?!"

The old woman glared at Kizaru with undisguised murderous intent.

"Kawaii, you're still as fierce as ever!"

The old woman raised her hand and unleashed two powerful sword energies. Kizaru's figure flickered, dodging the sword energies, and he dusted himself off.

"Hey, hey~ don't get so worked up! I'm not here to fight you."

The older woman glanced at the panting Shanks, her face contorted with rage, and shouted, "Then get lost! My affairs are none of your Navy's business!!!"

Kizaru immediately started "talking" with the old lady, exchanging words back and forth.

Seeing this, Shanks glanced at the ape and Karl, then ran off without a word, never looking back.

"In short! The Navy will never stand idly by and watch the Red-Haired Pirates join Big Mom!"

"Damn it, I said I'll do whatever I want, and you navy don't need to interfere!!!"

"You all should die!!!"

"Blazing Light Sword!!!"

This is a combination of lightning, fire, and sword techniques. An energy ring gathers on the sword, and when the sword is swung, it emits a terrifying flying slash.

Kizaru scratched his head in annoyance, then instantly transformed into particles of light, leaving his original spot to dodge Big Mom's attack, leaving Karl alone in the same place.

Carl: ??? I haven't even gotten on the bus yet!!!

There was no other way, so Karl could only desperately dodge; his small frame couldn't withstand that level of attack.

"Shanks has already escaped. I'll cover you; you go first!"

Carl nodded vigorously, and the raven quickly grew larger and lay down on the ground. Carl stomped on it and shouted, "Go! Fly as fast as you can!"

“Quack quack!!!”

The raven flapped its wings frantically and flew more than 50 meters away in the blink of an eye, quickly leaving the old woman's attack range.

After seeing Karl leave, the ape felt relieved and began to harass the old lady.

Hey! Come and hit me, old man! I'm running away!

Hey! Again! I ran away again!

You can't hit me, you can't hit me, are you angry or not?

Whether the old lady was angry or not is unknown, but the ape was quite happy. Later, when he got bored, he simply left, leaving the old lady without even catching a whiff of the exhaust fumes.

After working so hard for so long, she got nothing. How could the old lady not be angry?

"Damn Kizaru, one day I'll make you pay!!!"

Chapter 126 Guarding the New World

The Red Furs.

"Quickly! Speed ​​up! Don't let them catch up with us!"

Beckman was directing his crew to leave the world at top speed, evading the pursuing enemy's artillery fire.

Shanks leaned against the wall, panting, not wanting to say a word.

After running for nearly three hours, Beckman finally shook off Bigom's pursuers and was temporarily safe, allowing him to finally breathe a sigh of relief.

"Hey, Shanks, are you alright?"

Shanks shook his head: "It's alright, it's just that I've used up a lot of energy. Big Mom's physique is terrifying."

Beckman patted Shanks on the shoulder and took out a cigarette: "If it weren't for the Navy's interference, we wouldn't be in such a mess."

"The Navy? The one who pretended to be one of us and then smashed the photo, driving the old lady crazy?"

Beckman nodded: "That's right, it's him, Vice Admiral Karl, whose ability is Holy Light, which has the effects of healing and strengthening the body."

"If he hadn't secretly helped those Charlotte family bastards, we wouldn't have lost so many brothers."

"However, this guy also killed quite a few of Charlotte's people and helped us hold off the pursuers. I really don't understand."

Shanks chuckled: "It's good that you're all alright. As for that Karl, I guess it's for the sake of balance!"

"balance?"

Shanks looked thoughtful: "That's right, balance. His goal is to maximize the losses for both of us."

"Maximize losses...I get it!"

Beckman exhaled a smoke ring and said calmly, "He wants us to fight Bigom with all our might, but he doesn't want us to give up and join Bigom, so that's why he did this."

"This outcome is exactly what the Navy wanted, as it thwarted the old lady's ambitions and caused us heavy losses."

Shanks sighed: "Yes! To put it bluntly, we were just a pawn used by the Navy to deal with Big Mom, but that kind of thing won't happen again."

"That's right, there are already three overlords on the sea, why can't there be one more?"

Shanks and Beckman exchanged a knowing smile, their unspoken understanding unspoken.

Meanwhile, Karl and Sarutobi have returned to Naval Headquarters to report their mission to Sengoku.

"Haha, well done, Karl. You have lived up to my expectations."

Karl waved his hand modestly: "If it weren't for Admiral Kizaru's support, I wouldn't have been able to retreat from Whole Cake Island so easily, right, Admiral Kizaru?"

Turning my head, I saw Kizaru trimming his nails. He must have finished trimming them and was filing them down.

"Huh? What?"

Sengoku shook his head helplessly: "Never mind him. By the way, Karl, do you want to continue operating in the first half of the Grand Line, or go to the New World?"

"Or perhaps, to guard a certain branch?"

After pondering for a while, Karl looked up and said, "Marshal Sengoku, I'll go guard the branch first. Whether it's Paradise or the New World, I'm ready."

Sengoku nodded, clasped his hands together, and looked directly at Karl: "The G-10 base in the new world is short of a base commander. Would you like to go?"

"G10?"

Karl recalled the map of the Navy's branch locations and immediately confirmed the location of the G10 branch: Milham Island, located in the very center of the New World route, not too far from Wano Country and Dressrosa, and surrounded by World Government member states such as Dressrosa and Lulucia Kingdom.

"I do, Marshal of the Warring States!"

Sengoku nodded: "Very good. You go back first. I will give you the letter of appointment later. You will set off for G-10 base tomorrow."

"By the way, about Whitebeard, if you join G-10, that old guy Whitebeard might cause you trouble. If they really come, request support immediately, don't be reckless."

"understand!"

Being stationed at the base meant that Carl no longer needed to travel to Navy Headquarters; G10 Base became his home.

The advantage is that it's easier and more convenient to slack off, since he's the highest-ranking officer in the base and can do whatever he wants.

The downside is that the G10 base is located in the New World, which inevitably means it has to fight against top-tier pirate crews, such as Whitebeard and the Beast Pirates, which significantly increases the intensity of the battles.

Overall, however, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. No matter how arrogant Whitebeard and Kaido are, they can't possibly attack a naval base with their entire crew, since the navy is the largest force at sea.

So Carl wasn't too worried.

In the afternoon, Karl received his appointment letter and was ready to depart for the G10 base that very day.

However, Carl wasn't in a hurry to leave. He'd deal with tomorrow's problems tomorrow and go check on Smoker first.

Office of the Commissioner of the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC).

Bang bang bang.