"Sorry to scare you."
Looking at the suited man collapsed on the deck, Karl grinned. "The item—please hand it over."
Though he said "hand it over," Karl reached out and snatched the iron case himself.
It was a near-40-centimeter square case with a special silver lock.
Crack.
The lock was excellent quality, but Karl simply broke the latch, tore the silver lock free, and tossed it onto the deck.
When he opened the case, a special fruit with spiral patterns came into view.
"Barrier-Barrier Fruit—got it."
Confirming that the Devil Fruit was inside, the smile on Karl's face grew wider.
—Clang.
He shut the case and was about to retrace his path back.
As he turned, two silver arcs like crescent moons slashed for his neck.
Karl raised a single index finger; the two blades halted against it with a sound like steel striking steel.
"Impossible."
A killing strike from ambush, stopped like that—the dual-blade swordsman voiced sheer disbelief.
"Your swordplay isn't bad. Pity you can't cut steel."
Pinching both blade edges between two fingers, Karl smiled. "If you could cut steel, you might have scratched my finger."
Crack.
A flash of black between his fingers, and both blades snapped at once.
Boom.
An instant later the dual-blade swordsman shot away like a cannonball, smashed through the ship's rail, flew past the pier, and crashed onto the corpse-strewn battlefield.
Leaping off the deck, Karl ignored the stares from all directions and vanished with high-speed movement.
"He disappeared!"
"Who is that guy? Isn't that the legendary treasure of the sea in his hands?"
"Too strong—those two 'monsters' couldn't resist him at all."
"Am I seeing things, or does he look like that bounty hunter they call the Knight? But he's not wearing armor, and the Phantom Thief partner isn't with him."
"The Devil Fruit that was about to be auctioned just got stolen. The black market's face is in the mud. That kid's about to hit their wanted list."
"I'm out… A whole month of hype, thought this auction would go smoothly, and the lot gets snatched at the doorstep. What bad luck."
"…"
Under countless eyes, the Barrier-Barrier Fruit was stolen, and the two hired enforcers were crippled on the spot.
News like that would spread across the East Blue in no time.
Karl's identity would be recognized too. The strongest bounty hunter in the East Blue was about to become famous in its underworld.
Then endless weak, clueless lapdogs would come for the black market's reward, trying every method to assassinate Karl and Carina—just like those who attacked the martial artist and the dual-blade swordsman earlier.
So long as the Navy didn't post a bounty, Karl wouldn't care.
Offending the East Blue's black market wasn't the same as offending the world's. He cared even less about that.
At worst, he'd just stop buying from the East Blue black market from now on.
When Karl returned to the inn room, Carina's gaze dropped to the case in his hand. "So fast?" she said, surprised.
"Of course. Those two were decent, but not even half of me."
Chin high, Karl handed her the case. "Inside is the Barrier-Barrier Fruit. Eat it and you'll have absolute defense—one of the hardest women on the seas."
"Can a mere fruit really be that magical?"
Carina took the case and opened it. Ignoring the double meaning in Karl's words, she stared at the spiral-patterned fruit, still finding it hard to believe.
"You'll know after you eat."
Karl pulled over a chair and sat, urging her with anticipation, "Go on, go on—eat."
Cradling the Barrier-Barrier Fruit, Carina examined it. "If I eat this, do I become a landlubber? One bite is at least tens of millions of Beli, right?"
Then she gently bit into the fruit.
"Mm…"
At the first mouthful, her cute cheeks turned a deep purplish hue, as if she were about to spit it out.
"Don't spit—one bite is enough," Karl reminded quickly.
"…Gulp."
At his words, Carina clapped a hand over her mouth, tilted her head back, and forced the pulp down. Gasping like a drowning person who'd surfaced, she panted, "Ha… ha… what a cursed thing—so disgusting."
"How's it taste?" Karl asked, barely suppressing a laugh.
"Indescribable. Dozens of times worse than rotten fruit." Carina eyed the bitten Barrier-Barrier Fruit, still shaken. "Are you sure one bite is enough?"
"Mm?"
Karl frowned slightly. "Don't you feel a new power inside you?"
"Wait… I feel it."
Carina's blue eyes brightened. She closed them, searching for a way to guide that power.
A moment later, she opened her eyes, raised her right hand with index and middle fingers extended like a pistol, and tossed Karl a wink.
—Boom.
A transparent, square barrier, glasslike, appeared out of thin air between them.
Karl drew back his right fist and slammed it into the barrier.
With the resounding crash, a violent shockwave ripped through the room, cracking floor, walls, and ceiling.
But the barrier before him didn't budge, let alone crack.
Karl laughed—pure, happy laughter.
Carina laughed too—relieved laughter.
In that instant, he no longer had a weakness.
And she would no longer be a burden.
A monster no longer forced to hold back his power would shock the world.