New World — Punk Hazard.
Punk Hazard wasn't far from the Red Line. At the transport ship's speed, it took barely half a day to arrive.
Karl stood by the railing with a cup of coffee, calmly watching as the prisoners were escorted off the ship and sent onto the island.
Thinking back on it…
The last time he came here was still last time.
"So these prisoners are being sent here as test subjects, right?" Smoker asked.
Karl glanced at him. "What else would they be for?"
Smoker let out a scornful chuckle. "Figures. The World Government really loves its inhumane experiments."
"Why worry about it?" Karl replied flatly. "They're criminals—might as well put them to use."
"Better than kidnapping civilians for experiments, wouldn't you say?"
Smoker seemed to relapse into one of his moods again. He snorted coldly.
"That's easy for you to say. What if the World Government ordered you to arrest civilians for experiments? Would you do it?"
Karl shook his head.
"First of all, that kind of situation is extremely unlikely."
"Second, even if they really did give me that order—I'd go arrest them without hesitation."
Smoker's expression darkened. "So in your eyes, civilian lives matter less than a mission?"
"Of course not," Karl said calmly.
"As the saying goes—when there's policy from above, there's countermeasures below."
"They tell me to arrest civilians, so I arrest pirates instead and say they're civilians. Any problem with that?"
Smoker's eyes widened.
"…You can do that?!"
Karl lifted his chin smugly. "I'm the commanding officer. I do things my way."
"The reason you never thought of that is simple—you've always been someone else's subordinate. You never had the right to push back."
"Which," he added lightly, "is still the case now."
Smoker's face instantly turned sour.
He felt annoyed—annoyed at how stubborn and hot-headed he'd been in the past, arguing endlessly about right and wrong instead of making wrong things work out right.
But at the same time… he felt relieved.
Karl really was Karl. Once again, Smoker had learned something new.
At least next time he ran into something like that, he wouldn't just rage helplessly anymore.
"Report, Vice Admiral Karl!"
"All prisoners have been transferred. Should we return immediately?"
"Return." Karl waved his hand.
"Take us back to Marineford."
"Yes, sir!"
One day later, the transport ship docked at Marineford.
Karl and Smoker disembarked.
"It's getting late. Go rest properly."
"Tomorrow morning, assemble at the battleship."
Smoker nodded. "Another mission?"
"You'll find out then."
The Next Morning — 9:00 A.M.
Fleet Admiral's Office
"Fleet Admiral Sengoku," Karl reported,
"Warlord Boa Hancock has been safely returned to Amazon Lily. As for the Fish-Man Island mission…"
Sengoku sighed.
"Alright. I'll leave that task to you."
"But don't force it. If you can't find anything, that's fine—treat it as a vacation to Fish-Man Island."
"You have one month. No matter what you find—or don't find—you must return afterward. Understood?"
Karl smiled. "Of course, Fleet Admiral. I'll be on my way, then."
Back at Crescent Bay, the Seastone battleship was already docked.
Ain and Smoker were fully prepared.
"You finally showed up," Smoker said.
"So what's the mission this time?"
"Get on board first."
Under Nelson's command, the warship left the harbor, heading straight for Sabaody Archipelago.
"Alright," Smoker said once they were underway.
"Now you can tell us."
Karl nodded and brought Ain and Smoker into the lounge.
"I'll get straight to the point. Our mission is to go to Fish-Man Island and investigate the real cause of Queen Otohime's death."
"Fish-Man Island?"
"Queen Otohime?"
Ain spoke first. "Wasn't Queen Otohime assassinated by pirates on Fish-Man Island? Is there something else going on?"
"Yeah," Smoker added.
"I read that report too. Because of that incident, Fish-Man Island's attitude toward humans has been terrible ever since. Why go there now?"
The problem was simple—
All three of them were Devil Fruit users.
If anything went wrong underwater, it would be total annihilation.
"Relax," Karl said, raising a hand.
"I'm basically going on vacation. Looking for clues is just a side objective."
"Whether the mission succeeds or not doesn't really matter."
Ain pressed her lips together. "But still… we're all ability users. If something happens on the way—"
"You don't need to worry about that," Karl interrupted calmly.
"Look."
He pulled out a navigation chart.
"This was given to me by Fleet Admiral Sengoku. Supposedly, it's the route Sea Knight Jinbe submitted to the Marines when he became a Warlord."
Smoker examined it closely, then finally relaxed.
"That helps. With this route, getting to Fish-Man Island won't be nearly as dangerous."
Knock, knock.
"Report, Vice Admiral!"
"We've arrived at Sabaody Archipelago—Grove 66. Base commander Brigadier General Gregory is waiting for you."
"Understood."
Karl stood up, fastened Autumn Water and Raiu at his waist.
Raven perched quietly on his shoulder.
"Let's go."
After disembarking, Karl immediately spotted a tall, rugged figure.
Weathered face, long beard, a massive battle-axe on his back—
the man looked every bit the seasoned warrior.
"Vice Admiral Karl!"
"I'm Gregory. A pleasure to meet you."
Karl instantly switched to professional mode, smiling warmly as he chatted with Gregory.
"Let me introduce you—this is Major Ain, and this is Major Smoker. They're both my assistants."
"Nice to meet you! Nice to meet you!"
After brief introductions, they were led to the guest quarters inside the local Marine base.
"By the way," Karl asked casually,
"how long will my ship's coating take?"
Gregory patted his chest confidently.
"Don't worry. I've already contacted Sabaody's shipwrights. Two days at most, and your ship will be ready to launch."
"Perfect. Thanks for the trouble, Gregory."
Gregory waved it off. "No need to be polite. We're all Marines—this is nothing."
"In that case," Karl smiled,
"we'll go take a look around Sabaody."
"No problem. Just a heads-up—Groves 1 through 29 are lawless zones. Be careful."
Smoker frowned. "This close to Marineford, and there are still areas the Marines can't control?"
Karl put a hand on Smoker's shoulder, signaling him to stop talking.
"Let's go."
After leaving the base, Karl finally explained:
"The water here runs deep. It's not as simple as you think."
Smoker was confused. "But it's right next to Marineford—"
"All you need to know," Karl said calmly,
"is that Sabaody's current state is the result of compromises between multiple forces."
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