Chapter 298: The Arrival of the Navy and the Power of Templates

For the first time, the people from the World Government found themselves threatened by such a subtle warning.

But as they spotted dozens of warships sailing in from the horizon, their cocky arrogance quickly returned.

“You think you’re stalling, but did it ever occur to you that I’m just buying time too?”

Knowing things wouldn’t go smoothly, they’d already notified multiple nearby Navy branches ahead of time.

Before the World Government agents could even speak, the Batoia spotted the navy fleet closing in from all directions.

Fighting simply wasn’t an option anymore, unless they fancied dying even faster.

After all, it’s just a shipment of tungsten steel—hardly a dent compared to their total stash.

Still, nobody likes being threatened, no matter how you spin it.

“Consider this tungsten steel a gift from me to you.”

“Hope you can handle that big shot yourselves.”

“We’re leaving!”

The gang’s lead man shot a fierce glare at everyone present.

If he’d known it would come to this, maybe he’d have started the fight himself.

As the Batoia crew rowed their small boats away with their men in tow, eyes followed them warily.

One of the crew members hesitantly approached. “Captain, should we…”

Seeing his teammate’s intent, the captain shook his head. “Now isn’t the time to clash with the Mafia.”

“We’ve got bigger priorities. Don’t lose sight of our main objective.”

“Understood, Captain.”

The Batoia group soon reached the harbor, watching as navy soldiers hauled away the tungsten steel shipments.

“This isn’t over. Let’s see what happens next.”

News of what happened quickly spread to others involved in these clandestine deals.

Because of this incident, the World Government only managed to pull off one massive heist of supplies.

Retaliation followed hot on their heels.

Anytime the World Government tried acquiring certain materials, the Mafia or other paid-off groups leapt in to sabotage.

As for the materials they did buy, those rested safe by day and moved by night, batch after batch, swiftly shipped through the Calm Belt to Cake Island.

Meanwhile, Karl gathered his children together.

He planned to hand out some of his unused templates, handpicking five before instructing the rest to disperse.

At the same time, he opened his system panel—something he hadn’t checked in ages.

Host: Lux D. Karl (Bounty: 3.5 billion Berries)

Integrated Templates: The Outcast—Elder Heavenly Master; Stealing the Star of September—Liuxing; Legend of Qin Sword Sage—Gai Nie (unintegrated); Fox Spirit Matchmaker—Wang Quan Fugui (unintegrated); Scissor Seven—Qi (unintegrated); Calabash Little Titan (unintegrated); Fog Hill of Five Elements—Element of Fire (unintegrated)

Skills: Mastery of Eight Elements; Advanced Three-Color Haki; Golden Light Spell; True Fivefold Thunder and more

Innate Talent: Titan Strength

Wealth: 278 billion Berries

Items: Shaolin Great Rejuvenation Pill x1 bottle, Rejuvenation Pill x11, Bloodline Pill x4 bottles, Halberd, Dragon Spring Blade, Great Blade—Ancient Moon Blade, Great Blade—Silver Alloy Blade…

Devil Fruits: 18

Assessment: Top-tier powerhouse of the sea, overall strength is half a step from Emperor!

“Look at those dazzling stats! All that hard work really paid off,” Karl grinned.

Every time he scanned the system’s data, Karl couldn’t help but feel a surge of pride—this power was built with his own two hands.

Turning to the five still-baffled kids in front of him, he wasted no time getting started.

He dove right in, no preamble—”Oven—Fog Hill of Five Elements—Element of Fire!”

The second he touched Oven, a flood of knowledge poured into the kid’s mind, becoming instinct like he’d always known it.

Flames erupted all over Oven’s body, the heat and sudden transformation shocking the other children nearby.

“Whoa! Oven, you’re literally on fire!”

“Hey, look—his clothes aren’t burning at all!”

“But isn’t Oven’s power supposed to be extreme heat? What does that have to do with fire?”

Normally, when Oven transformed, his body would just turn red, grow hot, and radiate intense heat.

His signature move could boil the sea and cook people alive too close to him.

So how did he suddenly erupt in flames?

Could this be some newly awakened power?

Little Ye Linzhi asked softly, “Father, is this that template thing you mentioned?”

“Does everyone get one?”

Seeing someone finally catch on, Karl gave him an approving pat on the head.

The whole template idea actually first came up from Daifuku.

Daifuku’s skills were common knowledge—he could summon a genie.

But after spending a little time alone with Father, suddenly he could summon a whole squad of powerful followers.

He called it a ‘template’—a mysterious power that granted new abilities, on par with even a Devil Fruit.

“That’s right, this is the power of a template. From now on, everyone will have one.”

“Daifuku, take your time to master that strength.”

“Hopefully, one plus one will be greater than two.”

“But don’t rely too much on this power. Your own skills still matter most.”

Still working to steady his newfound strength, Daifuku clenched his jaw and answered, “Don’t worry, Father. I’ll definitely master this power!”

He promptly ran off to a corner to train, focused and determined.

As excitement spread through the kids, Karl placed his hand atop Cracker’s head.

When Cracker realized he was next, his eyes went wide and he waited silently for Karl’s touch.

Seconds later, memories flooded his mind—years of harsh training since childhood, mission after mission in his teens, countless lives taken, all building up to become the legendary assassin, Qi.

The other three kids saw black mist pouring off Cracker and quickly backed away, worried they’d get caught up too.

“What kind of power is that? Why is there smoke?”

“Is he turning into some kind of supervillain or what?”

“But Dad would never actually hurt us.”

Ever since video transponder snails had been invented, Karl managed to copy all sorts of anime, novels, and entertainment—everything he could get his hands on for his kids.

Even cultivation-themed anime had made their rounds.

In Karl’s view, only while his kids were small could he truly shape their character and beliefs—after all, there’s an old saying, ‘Teach them while they’re young.’

They might not reach modern standards, but Karl was determined to give them the best environment he could.

He wanted them to know exactly who they were fighting for, and why.

He believed in building faith—without it, you could never achieve greatness.

Judging by Cracker’s motionless state, he was clearly lost in Qi the assassin’s memories.

Karl didn’t interrupt—he sent out the last three templates instead: Ye Linming—Legend of Qin Sword Sage Gai Nie; Ye Linyue—Fox Spirit Matchmaker Wang Quan Fugui; Ye Linzhi (age 3)—Calabash Little Titan.

The only reason he didn’t give a template to his daughter was—

He didn’t want her going off to war.

Karl wasn’t the type to send women to the front lines. He’d never let that happen.

Well, unless you counted Charlotte Linlin. She’d storm a battlefield whether you wanted it or not.