Whoosh—
Karol's figure flashed from the bottom of the island.
The sky was not yet fully bright.
But under the Trump Pirates' oppression, the entire island's people had already gotten up to work.
And building a gigantic castle for the pirates to live in and indulge themselves.
When Karol appeared inside the palace, the Bear King was hugging a captured resident and snoring loudly.
The massive Bear King, over three meters tall and resembling a black gorilla, made Karol frown slightly as he pulled out a High-Voltage Electric Grenade.
Crack—
A crisp sound rang out.
The Bear King was instantly startled awake, eyes snapping open.
His entire body immediately turned into steel as he flipped off the bed, staring at Karol:
"Guards!!!"
The booming roar made all the Trump Pirates in the castle tense up.
They kept running toward the central palace.
Karol didn't move, holding the High-Voltage Electric Grenade as he looked at the Bear King:
"Bear King, Captain of the Trump Pirates."
"Paramecia—Hard-Hard Fruit user."
"Your dream is to build the 'King Cannon' and rule the world."
Outside, the chaotic footsteps drew closer and closer.
The Bear King's pupils shrank sharply. He stared at Karol warily, unable to figure him out:
"You sure know a lot."
Even his Devil Fruit and his dream—he knew everything. In the Bear King's mind, only the Marines could have such intelligence capabilities.
Whoosh—
Karol's figure suddenly vanished.
Like a wave of sticky liquid, something fell from the sky where Karol had been standing, splattering and forming a shape.
The attack missed. The wave of liquid surged into the coat fluttering in midair, condensing into a body.
The Trump Pirates' only other Devil Fruit user, Honey Queen, descended from above.
She looked at Karol, who had reappeared on the bed after sending away the resident captured by the Bear King.
"What a handsome guy."
"Want to join us~?"
The Bear King roared immediately:
"Stop flirting! He might be a Marine!!!"
A hint of regret flashed across Honey Queen's beautiful face:
"That's a real shame."
Then three other bizarre-looking officers rushed in with a group of gathered pirates.
Now that everyone was here, the Bear King finally felt a little confident.
After all…
That guy was just too calm… calm like nothing in the world could faze him…
Just as he was about to speak, Karol raised the hand holding the High-Voltage Electric Grenade.
The Bear King frowned and said:
"You're a Marine, aren't you."
"That teleportation just now—was it a Devil Fruit ability?"
"Truly terrifying..."
"But under this palace lies the heart of the entire island."
"The mechanism that keeps the whole island running."
"If it's destroyed, the entire island will fall, and everyone on it will die."
"Marine…"
His gaze locked firmly on Karol.
Karol chuckled lightly:
"Yes, I'm a Marine."
"But… what does that have to do with me?"
"Are you trying to morally blackmail me?"
The cruel words, spoken with a smile, left the pirates in the palace momentarily stunned.
This… is a Marine???
Whoosh—
Karol vanished.
Clatter…
At some point, the High-Voltage Electric Grenade had rolled into the middle of the crowd.
Except for the Bear King, whose entire body had turned to steel, and Honey Queen, the sticky liquid Paramecia user, everyone else tried to flee.
But as soon as they raised their feet…
Bzzzzzt—
High-voltage electricity instantly engulfed the entire palace.
No one was spared—not even the two Devil Fruit users…
After all, steel and liquid… neither of them is insulated…
Whoosh—
Karol reappeared, yawning:
"Idiots. I was lying."
He picked up two Devil Fruit Recovery Devices, ignored the groaning, twitching pirates, and squatted in front of the Bear King.
The Bear King, paralyzed but still maintaining his steel body, glared at him.
Karol smirked, his arm flashing with afterimages.
The needle of the Devil Fruit Recovery Device, coated with Armament Haki, pierced straight into the Bear King's pupil, plunging deep into his brain.
The intense pain made the Bear King's entire body flush red, a beastly roar tearing from his throat.
Karol knocked on the Bear King's steel body—dong, dong:
"Even the insides turned to steel, huh."
He drew the blade from his waist and lightly slashed across the Bear King's neck.
The Bear King's head rolled to the ground… and inside the Recovery Device, a Devil Fruit slowly took shape.
Karol casually tossed the other Recovery Device, driving it into the half-paralyzed Honey Queen, then swung the blade again.
Another Devil Fruit slowly formed in the Recovery Device…
Karol pulled out both Recovery Devices, glanced at the fruits inside, then at the unconscious, twitching pirates, and tossed out two more High-Voltage Electric Grenades.
Whoosh—
Gone…
After three waves of high-voltage electricity… not a single pirate in the palace survived.
Reappearing below the island, Karol used Observation Haki and sighed:
"Convenient."
A clean sweep…
...
New World, Punk Hazard.
Morning.
Karol, carrying several Devil Fruits, appeared inside the underground laboratory, exhausted.
Normally, Vegapunk wouldn't show up until late at night.
Half-asleep, Karol found a spot and lay down…
After sleeping for a while, he felt something tickling his face. He groggily opened his eyes…
Only to find two unfamiliar faces.
One was a serious-looking person doing experiments.
The other was a smirking girl in front of him.
And the tickling on his face came from the girl, who was grinning wickedly while brushing his face with a feather.
Karol sat up, frowning:
"Who are you?"
The smirking girl said:
"My name's Lilith. That guy is Shaka."
The one called Shaka put down his experiment, turned around, and said:
"No need to worry."
"We are the main body's clones."
"The main body… is the one you call Vegapunk."
Karol nodded slightly:
"I see…"
"What time is it now?"
Shaka said:
"It's almost 3 p.m."
Karol gave a faint "Mm."
The bag with the Devil Fruits was still at his feet. He picked it up:
"Then I'll leave this to you."
"Inside are the Heat-Heat Fruit, Hard-Hard Fruit, and Slow-Slow Fruit."
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The fanfic is Finished on p@treon/tambeerg. 414 chapters in total