"—Hiss!"
Karl felt his muscles spasm violently, his whole body shuddering for a moment before everything abruptly calmed down. But he wasn't done yet.
Without hesitation, he invested another five Attribute Enhancement Cards, this time strengthening Perception.
"View attributes."
Host: Karl
Age: 24
Physique: E-
Perception: F
Willpower: E
Special Ability: Still as a Maiden
Karl stretched his limbs, a series of crack-crack sounds echoing from his body.
He had definitely grown stronger—
just… not by much.
Still, Karl was more than satisfied.
Drinking tea, reading newspapers, fishing, flirting—doing all that casually gave him results equal to a month of bitter training. Where else could you find a deal like this?
All he needed now was to arrive at Marine Headquarters, join the recruit training camp, and officially begin his grand slacking career.
From this day forward, Aokiji would be his eternal idol.
As for workaholics like Akainu? Absolutely rejected.
Come on—such a small salary every month. Why should he risk his life for it?
The next morning, Karl was still dreaming about happily playing around with elegant older sisters when loud noises erupted inside the dormitory. Through the chaos, he vaguely heard people talking about Marine Headquarters and Marineford.
He cursed quietly, covered his ears, and rolled over to continue sleeping.
He'd gone to bed late last night, and the ship's cabin had turned into an impromptu Snoring Symposium. Karl hadn't fallen asleep until past three in the morning. Right now, he desperately needed rest.
Time passed. In his haze, Karl felt like someone was calling him—but he still didn't wake up.
Bang!
"You bastard! Everyone's already assembled and you're still sleeping?! This is unacceptable—get up!"
A furious Shuzo ripped the blanket off Karl and dragged him all the way to Crescent Bay Harbor.
By the time Karl arrived, the other recruits were already lined up perfectly, chests out, heads high, eyes straight ahead.
Standing before them was a tall man with purple hair, around sixty-five years old. His face was resolute, and his body was packed with dense, well-forged muscles.
Seeing the half-asleep Karl, the man frowned slightly.
"Shuzo," he asked in a deep, slightly hoarse voice, "what's going on?"
Shuzo immediately reined in his anger and bowed respectfully.
"Instructor Zephyr, this brat was sleeping in! I caught him red-handed!"
"So that's how it is?"
Zephyr's gaze fell on Karl.
"New recruit, you'd better give this old man a reasonable explanation."
Looking at the imposing man before him, Karl felt a trace of awe.
Standing here was a former Marine Admiral, the current Chief Instructor of the Marines—
'Black Arm' Zephyr.
Marines trained by him were spread across the seas. Even Karl's superior, that old fox Charles, had once been his student.
Under Zephyr's gaze, Karl swallowed hard, feeling like he was being stared down by a ferocious beast.
His scalp tingling, he answered:
"Reporting, sir! Knowing I'd be coming to Marine Headquarters, I was so excited that I couldn't sleep all night. That's why I overslept!"
A faint smile appeared on Zephyr's otherwise stern face.
He recalled the rookie profiles he'd reviewed yesterday. This kid had joined the Marines at fourteen—ten full years of service.
First time coming to Marine Headquarters… excitement was understandable.
With time being precious, Zephyr decided not to make things difficult. Besides, there would be plenty of chances to discipline him later.
"Return to formation."
Karl let out a quiet breath of relief and quickly joined the ranks, chest out, eyes forward.
Zephyr scanned the formation and nodded subtly. The recruits looked spirited.
Just as he was about to speak again, a heavy pressure welled up in his chest, and he suddenly coughed violently.
"Cough—! Cough, cough!"
He waved Shuzo off, hammered his chest a few times, and finally managed to steady his breathing, though he remained slightly short of breath.
"From today onward, you are my soldiers," Zephyr declared.
"I don't care what rank you used to hold. Here, you have only one identity—recruits."
"For the next two months, you will have only one goal. Tell me—what is it?"
"Become stronger!"
All the recruits, Karl included, shouted without hesitation.
Slacking and becoming stronger weren't mutually exclusive. Karl merely wanted to grow stronger while slacking off.
Getting paid while lying down—what crime was there in that?
"That's right," Zephyr said.
"What I'll teach you is how to become stronger. I'll squeeze every last drop of your potential and turn you into Marine elites. Do you have confidence?"
"Yes!"
"Good. I believe you. Now—cough—follow Instructor Shuzo to the training grounds!"
Zephyr still had much more to say, but his asthma was flaring up again.
He was forced to cut the speech short and have Shuzo take the recruits away for Douriki testing to evaluate their true strength.
Walking with the group, Karl looked up at the awe-inspiring Marine Headquarters building. The two characters for Marine were emblazoned across its facade, with the Marine emblem displayed proudly in the center.
Passing through the residential district, they arrived at the headquarters proper and halted.
Shuzo stood at the front and shouted:
"Next, each of you will have your Douriki tested. When your name is called, step forward! First—Ain!"
The youthful and energetic Ain stepped out of formation. Under Shuzo's instructions, she threw a powerful punch at the testing device.
401.
Shuzo glanced at her file.
"You're a Devil Fruit user?"
"Yes. Paramecia-type—Return-Return Fruit."
Shuzo nodded, recorded her Douriki score, circled it, and called the next recruit.
About half an hour later, it was finally Karl's turn.
Facing the machine, Karl took a deep breath and unleashed a fully charged punch.
486!
The highest score so far.
Even Shuzo, who had clearly looked down on him earlier, gave Karl a second glance.
This pretty boy… had some substance after all.
That said, it still wasn't particularly impressive.
An average Marine soldier had a Douriki of around 10. Only those above 500 were considered superhuman.
In the future, the CP9 agents stationed in Water 7—those overconfident types—had monsters like Lucci, whose Douriki reached 4,000. Even the weakest, Fukurou, had 800.
And this result was achieved after Karl used Attribute Enhancement Cards.
It could only be said that this batch of recruits was overall mediocre. Karl was merely the tallest among short people.
[Career Mission – Training Camp Turmoil]: Successfully entered the Marine Recruit Training Camp.
Reward: Devil Fruit acquired — Paramecia-type: Holy Light Fruit.
Stored in system inventory. Please check.
"…Damn."
Karl cursed quietly. He'd known it—given his luck, dreaming of Mythical Zoans or Logia Fruits was pure fantasy.
Still, something was better than nothing.
While waiting, Karl quickly consulted the system and finally figured out what this Devil Fruit did.
The Holy Light Fruit was a support-type Devil Fruit.
After consuming it, the user could wield a power called Holy Light.
Its most basic abilities were twofold:
Healing
Enhancement
In simple terms, eating this fruit would turn Karl into a full-fledged support—able to heal and buff allies.
For an organization like the Marines that relied on numbers, this ability was practically top-tier.
"This fruit… is actually pretty damn good."
No rush to eat it just yet. Maybe he'd get lucky someday and find a Mythical Zoan. Otherwise, it'd be embarrassing to even talk to others.
Ding!
[Training Camp Turmoil – Phase Two Activated]: Training Phase
Accumulate 400 hours of slacking time.
Rewards:
Advanced Chosen Attribute Enhancement Card ×10
Special Skill: Swift as a Hare – While moving, stamina consumption is reduced by 50%.
Gulp.
Karl swallowed hard.
Nothing more to say—
Time to lie flat.
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