"Once we reach the Grand Line and earn enough money, I’m definitely buying a large sailing ship and turning an entire deck into a cold room."
After filling the barrels and the ice room, Karl looked at the nine-tenths of the sea cow that remained and spoke with heartache.
"We might not make it to the Grand Line that soon."
Carina quipped, "Those old-timers say the Grand Line’s weather changes nonstop—sometimes you can get all four seasons in an hour. If we hit a storm, our little boat could get erased by a single wave."
"My sloop only has one deck and two rooms. Nami and I even feel crowded sharing one. Once we deal with Arlong, I should switch to a new ship."
The two of them hadn’t considered changing ships before.
But now that their duo had become a trio, Carina felt it was time to find a new home.
After taking down the sea cow Momoo, the three quickly spotted an island.
"That’s my home—Cocoyasi Village."
Nami spoke through gritted teeth. "And it’s also the Arlong Empire’s headquarters."
"So that’s why they hid in a small place, colluded with the Marines, and had that sea cow—no wonder even the black market had no info on them," Carina remarked.
As the East Blue’s strongest bounty-hunter duo, Carina was naturally familiar with the Arlong Pirates.
She had even tried to track them, but neither fellow bounty hunters nor the intel-dealing black market had any information on them.
To help Carina grow, Karl hadn’t told her the Arlong Pirates were in Cocoyasi Village.
"How many members are in the Arlong Pirates?" Carina asked Nami.
"Counting me, fifty-seven," Nami answered at once.
Clearly, she had memorized the faces of all her enemies.
"Knowing the headcount makes this much simpler."
Carina patted Karl’s shoulder and teased, "Sir Knight, time to rescue the princess. Since you made Nami promise to cook for you for life, you can handle those fish-men alone."
"Exactly what I had in mind."
Karl rested his hand on the knight’s sword at his waist, looked at Nami, and the corner of his mouth lifted. "Want them dead or alive?"
"Eh? Karl, Carina..."
Nami blinked, her blue eyes widening. "Are we attacking head-on right now? No plan?"
"If we didn’t know the numbers, then yes, we’d need a plan to avoid letting any slip through the net."
Carina patted Karl’s shoulder again and said to Nami, "But now that we know, there’s no need to make it complicated. With Karl’s speed, even master swimmers can’t escape his pursuit."
"Alright—how about we make a bet."
Seeing Nami stunned, Carina suddenly proposed, "Karl, head out now. If you finish off those fish-men before I reach the Arlong Empire’s base, Nami and I will grant you three small requests. How about it?"
"It’s a deal... splash!"
Not giving Carina a chance to go back on it, Karl jumped straight into the sea before Nami could react, turning into a white arrow that cut through the waves.
"Carina... is this really okay?"
The Arlong Pirates, who had driven her to despair, were now reduced to a bet and a game between Karl and Carina. Nami felt it was absurd beyond belief.
"Relax. It’ll be fine."
Carina patted Nami’s shoulder and comforted her. "I forgot to mention—besides his monster physique and the spear of light, Karl has two hidden trump cards. As long as those fish-men are on that island, they can’t escape his ’sight.’"
"Instead of worrying about Karl, you’d do better to think about making peace with the villagers once this is over."
the moment Karl set foot on the island, his Observation Haki spread like an endlessly expanding net, covering half the island where Cocoyasi Village lay.
Life auras ten times stronger than ordinary humans immediately lit up on his "map."
"Haven’t used my sword in a while—time to have a taste."
Fixing his gaze on the nearest "target," Karl drew the knight’s sword at his waist. In the next second, his figure blurred into an afterimage and vanished.
A dozen seconds later, fish-men patrolling a forest—or slacking off—
their blue skin and burly bodies branded with the Sun Pirates’ mark—
heard the sound of cloth being torn.
Blood spurted from a chest. The fish-man looked down.
The pain didn’t catch up to the spray. His vision slid downward, blurring, and then his body fell in two, utterly silent.
Without even a scream, life was taken. Follow current novels on 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙡⚫𝔣𝔦𝔯𝔢⚫𝘯𝘦𝘵
He never even saw the enemy’s shadow.
Karl appeared behind him as if by teleportation, flicked the blood from his sword, and vanished again in an afterimage.
A large frame has its perks.
Kaido and Charlotte Linlin, for example—their talents max out strength and defense.
But a smaller frame has perks too.
Karl’s talents max out strength and speed.
Especially his speed—it wasn’t merely "high-speed movement," it surpassed the Navy’s Soru.
It was even more ghostly than Kuro’s Silent Step, and, wielding swordsmanship, more terrifying than Cavendish’s second persona.
Before sound or shadow could register, a head was already split from its body.
With Karl at full speed, a god’s-eye view would show him like a sniper round: one moment in one zone, then a few, a dozen, dozens of seconds later, in another.
The knight’s sword in his hand became the reaper’s scythe, shearing fish-men like paper, then moving to the next target.
By the time the little sloop had only just docked, every fish-man patrolling inside Cocoyasi Village—or outside on the island—had been killed.
"Something’s happened—I... I saw a fish-man’s corpse!"
"Hurry and call everyone outside back! Arlong’s going to explode!"
"I need to get my story straight. I can’t let Arlong vent his rage on me!"
When Nami entered the village with Carina, she found the villagers weren’t hiding indoors as usual. Instead, they were anxiously hurrying about.
Nami paused, calling out on instinct.
"Nami, when did you get back?"
"Friends of yours? This isn’t the time. Get them out of here, quick."
With fish-men suddenly turning up dead, the villagers couldn’t keep up the act with Nami. They rushed forward, worried and urging her to leave.
Seeing their anxious faces, even trying to send her away, Nami’s eyes grew wet.
So that’s how it is... I’ve been such a fool.
Suddenly, Nami showed a smile as bright as in her childhood. "It’s okay now!"
Because her "Knight," her "Hero," her "Savior" had arrived.