One Piece: Signing In as a Pirate Begins with Roger's Execution

At the same time, Karl was unaware of what Garp had done or that Bell-mère, consumed by shame, had lost her composure completely.

Right now, Karl had only one thought: to eliminate the Great Bear King and his subordinates standing before him!

Loguetown's harbor, which had been repaired less than half a month ago, was now destroyed by this scoundrel once again!

Karl was livid.

As the saying goes: Only those who manage the household know the weight of daily expenses.

The funds for the harbor repairs had come straight from Karl's own pocket!

Even more importantly, the residents of Loguetown had suffered substantial losses. Their shops and homes had been damaged, leaving them in dire need of assistance.

All of this required money to fix.

As a responsible officer, Karl couldn't simply leave these people to fend for themselves.

It was this dedication that earned him the high regard of Loguetown's citizens.

Thankfully, the townsfolk had managed to evacuate quickly, and no lives were lost. This brought Karl some relief.

"Lord Karl! Help! Please help!!!"

"That guy's body is impenetrable—I can't hurt him at all!"

Buggy, having been swatted away by the Great Bear King, spotted Karl and immediately scrambled toward him, panicking as he called out for help.

Seeing Buggy's pitiful state, Karl could only shake his head, unsure of what to say.

"You're a disgrace to the Marines."

Buggy: …

Meanwhile, the Great Bear King, standing below, noticed Karl hovering mid-air, using Moonwalk to remain aloft.

At first, the pirate had dismissed Karl as unworthy of his attention, believing the East Blue Marines to be pathetically weak.

But upon seeing Karl seemingly fly, he was taken aback.

"So, you're the base commander of Loguetown? You must be a Devil Fruit user!"

The sight led the Great Bear King to assume Karl's abilities stemmed from a Devil Fruit.

Karl couldn't help but find this amusing.

Pirates in the East Blue, apart from the likes of Admiral Crete who had ventured into the Grand Line, were generally ignorant of techniques like the Six Powers.

"How laughable. Ignorant, yet so confident. But your journey ends here!"

Descending lightly to the ground, Karl faced the Great Bear King and his two subordinates: a man and a woman. He drew his Sandai Kitetsu with a calm determination.

Using the Kitetsu might have seemed like overkill for these opponents, but Karl believed in going all-out, even when facing seemingly minor threats.

"Heheheh! Such arrogance! A mere Marine major dares to run his mouth in front of us, the Great Bear King's top crew? You're courting death!"

The Great Bear King didn't move but gestured for his subordinate, Skunk, to take the lead. Skunk stepped forward, preparing to unleash his toxic gas.

Karl, familiar with the notorious pirate, knew Skunk carried a canister of deadly, foul-smelling gas on his back.

Before Skunk could act, Karl vanished with a blur of motion, appearing before him in an instant. With one swift slash, Karl decapitated him.

Without pause, Karl kicked Skunk's body—canister and all—into the sea.

Moments later, a foul stench rose from the ocean as marine life floated to the surface, poisoned. Among the dead was even a small Sea King.

Fortunately, the contaminated area was nearly a kilometer from Rogue Town, so the impact on the town was minimal. The sea's natural cleansing properties would take care of the rest in a few days.

"You dare kill my brother?!"

"You're dead!!!"

The Great Bear King roared in rage, his body transforming as he activated his Devil Fruit ability. His entire form hardened into steel, glowing as heat radiated from his body.

"Lord Karl, watch out! His Devil Fruit grants him incredible heat and steel-like durability. He's tough to handle!" Buggy shouted a warning from the sidelines.

Buggy, who had underestimated the Great Bear King's resilience at first, had quickly realized that his attacks were useless against the pirate's reinforced body, leading to his defeat.

But Karl wasn't Buggy.

Facing the Great Bear King, Karl tested him with a few casual strikes, finding his steel-hard body impressive but far from invulnerable. Karl had only been using a fraction of his strength.

Yet to the Great Bear King, it appeared as though Karl had given his all and still failed to harm him.

"Hahaha! Do you see it now? This is my power! Sweetheart Queen, let's finish him together!"

"Yes, Captain!"

The Sweetheart Queen, a tall and alluring woman, activated her ability, transforming her body into a gelatinous liquid that surged toward Karl.

Her power required her to shed her clothing, leveraging her beauty as a distraction while the Great Bear King delivered the finishing blow.

But Karl merely smirked, slicing horizontally with his blade.

A seemingly ordinary slash produced a wave of sword energy that struck them both.

The Sweetheart Queen was bisected instantly, her Devil Fruit ability dissipating as her severed form hit the ground.

The Great Bear King staggered, disbelief etched on his face.

He had been injured—his vaunted steel body had been cut, blood dripping from the wound. If the slash had been slightly stronger, he would have been split in two.

"Tell me why you're here," Karl demanded, his voice cold. "Speak, and I'll grant you a quick death. Otherwise, I'll ensure you taste the depths of hell."

The Great Bear King trembled with fury and fear, his confidence shattered.

"Curse that Crete! That bastard tricked me!" he spat, his expression twisting with hatred. "If I'd known you were this strong, I'd never have come! Damn it all!"

Realizing he had no way out, the Great Bear King revealed the truth.

"Admiral Crete sent me. He promised a partnership—said we'd divide the East Blue between us if I killed you. Damn that man! He set me up!"

"Admiral Crete again..." Karl murmured, frowning.

Before the Great Bear King could continue, Karl ended his life with a clean strike.

After ordering Buggy to take the bodies back, Karl turned to reassure the nearby townsfolk, promising compensation and rebuilding efforts.

Unbeknownst to Karl, a young boy in a suit, no older than thirteen or fourteen, had been watching him intently from a small vendor's stall.

Adjusting his glasses with a thoughtful expression, the boy whispered to himself:

"I couldn't follow his movements at all... So, this is the strength of a Marine trained at Headquarters? Truly terrifying." 

~~~~~~~~~

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