"Oh?"
Karl's eyes lit up. "So you've got a bounty. That's great—my time wasn't wasted."
"Damn it, don't—"
Seeing Karl's hunter's look, the pirate captain's heart was full of fear, but his face twisted with anger as he drew breath to shout.
The next second, Karl vanished from his sight.
His vision then plunged as if falling from the sky; his face smashed against the tavern floor, even pressing into the dirt beneath the planks.
—Boom!
A delayed roar hit his ears. Agony flashed and vanished; then his whole body went numb as if anesthetized, all sensation gone.
Thud thud thud…
Just as he had with the underling earlier, Karl palmed the captain into the floor, then his figure split into a dozen afterimages. He flashed before the pirate grunts, officers, and the first mate, blasting each away with a punch or a kick.
Some crashed through tables and sank into the walls.
Some flew up into the ceiling and ended up hanging from the chandeliers.
Some burst through the windows and tumbled into the street outside.
In barely ten seconds, the tavern—previously messy but still orderly—became a disaster zone.
"The one who mentioned the Devil Fruit—step forward."
With the small fry cleared, Karl fixed his gaze on the other pirate captain, strode up, and asked in a voice full of menace, emerald eyes seeming to gleam with a blood-red sheen, "Tell me where the black market plans to auction that Devil Fruit. Do you know what kind it is?"
"I… I don't know what kind it is… I only know the black market plans to auction it in Waldingburg."
Facing Karl—shorter, yet radiating a beast's invincible aura—the pirate captain's legs trembled uncontrollably. He answered in a shaking voice.
When he finished, he slumped to the floor, scared witless by Karl's display.
Karl turned to Carina, who was busy looting. "Carina, do you know where Waldingburg is?"
"Waldingburg doesn't sound like an island's name."
Carina fished a wallet off a pirate, searched her memory, then shook her head. She took an East Blue map from the pouch at her waist and tossed it to Karl. "I don't know. Ask him."
"Then mark Waldingburg for me."
Karl set the map before the pirate captain, patted his head, and rested his other hand on the knight's sword at his hip. He smiled mildly. "As a reward, I won't cut off your head."
Seeing that smile paired with terrifying words, the captain hurriedly bobbed his head.
Crack!
Once he circled Waldingburg on the map, Karl chopped him on the neck and dropped him unconscious.
"Damn… I forgot to ask if that guy has a bounty."
After knocking him out, Karl pressed a hand to his face, regretful.
"That impatient temper of yours—can't you fix it?"
Carina finished looting, shot Karl a glare, and drew a small notebook from her pouch.
She flipped it open; inside were clippings from wanted posters.
Her fingers flew until her eyes stopped on a page. "Found him—Hansa Tabor. Bounty: 950,000 Beli. A small-time East Blue mob boss, an arms dealer."
"Oh? Not a pirate?"
Karl glanced, slightly surprised, at the "pirate captain" on the ground.
"Not the point!"
Carina's blue eyes lit up. "The point is he's an arms dealer. If the two groups met here, they were trading. Where's the money? Hurry up and look."
"Doesn't seem to be here!"
They searched the tavern high and low, but Karl found no cash chest.
"Move. We'll check their ships at the other pier."
Without another word, Carina strode out of the tavern.
Karl hefted the pirate captain and the gang boss, one on each shoulder, and followed.
At the other pier, Carina quickly picked out a pirate ship with a skull flag and a sailing ship with a different emblem that had to be the gang's banner.
Thud thud thud thud thud…
After confirming the two ships, Karl became a phantom again, dropping all the watchmen and tossing them into the sea.
"Found it—lots of money and weapons!"
In the holds of both ships, Carina found a safe stuffed with Beli and crates of brand-new guns and ammunition.
"Do we take these weapons and ammo?" Karl asked, the safe on his shoulder.
"Take everything. I can use them—or sell them to the Navy."
Carina nodded and instructed, "I'll bring our boat around. Watch things here."
"Okay."
While Carina sailed their sloop over, Karl found two ropes and tied up the pirate captain and the mob boss, then piled the safe and the weapons and ammo together and sat on the safe to wait.
Before long, their small single-cabin sailboat came gliding in from afar.
After moving the people and goods to the deck, Carina and Karl boarded the two ships again.
This time they went to the ice rooms, stripped them of food and fresh water, then left the island and headed for a familiar Navy branch.
The East Blue is vast—or rather, all four seas are vast, nothing like the smallness shown in the comics.
After all, the four seas cover the greatest oceanic area; they can't be compared to the Grand Line at all.
As the weakest and most peaceful sea, the East Blue also has many member nations.
Wherever there's a member nation's waters, there will be a Navy branch to protect the countries that pay the Heavenly Tribute.
So beyond places like Shells Town and Loguetown, and beyond the base of Captain Nezumi, there are many Navy branches that never appeared in the original.
To avoid getting stiffed on the bounty, Carina and Karl chose to return to a Navy branch they had cooperated with for years.