Chapter 38: Karl’s New Crew: The Giant Joins the Fray

“Show me the details for the Draw-Draw Fruit and the Morph-Morph Fruit.”

Karl could figure out what the other Devil Fruits did just by their names, but these two left him stumped.

“Draw-Draw Fruit: Turns drawn objects into real things, but they lack souls. When awakened, the user can grant these objects souls and seal non-living things inside their drawings.

Morph-Morph Fruit: Lets you transform into any animal, plant or shaped object you’ve seen, but you don’t inherit their abilities or power—unless you awaken the fruit, then you gain all of their strength.”

So if Karl understood right, the Draw-Draw Fruit could store stuff, kind of like the magic brush from old legends.

And the Morph-Morph Fruit? It’d let you turn into all kinds of animals, maybe even massive beasts like Zunesha. Too bad you only get the power if you fully awaken it.

Wait—what if, during the God Valley Incident, someone with the Morph-Morph Fruit sneaked in with the Draw-Draw Fruit user? You could infiltrate without a sound.

Just thinking about it made Karl see how valuable both fruits really were. He had to keep them safe at all costs.

Karl stashed each Devil Fruit carefully into his system’s inventory.

The journey back to Beehive Island went quickly. They didn’t hit any trouble—not like any pirate with half a brain would pick a fight with the Rocks Pirates.

By the time they made it back to the island, John, Wang Zhi and the rest had also returned with their loot.

After handing over seventy percent of his Berries, Karl’s system balance shot up—now sitting at 5.9 billion Berries. This time, though, the Devil Fruits taken from the Giant Pirates weren’t distributed.

Made sense. The Giant Pirates hadn’t joined in this expedition. Whatever was left probably ended up with Rocks himself.

Meanwhile, Rocks decided to throw a massive banquet that night.

“Awooo!”

“Lord Karl, you’re back!”

The moment Karl got back to his quarters, White Tiger bounded over to greet him.

Long Yi and Long Er trailed right behind, quick on White Tiger’s heels.

Karl reached out to ruffle White Tiger’s furry head, then glanced down at the two brothers.

“So, how’s the training going? Did you practice like you’re supposed to?”

“Of course! Look, Lord Karl!”

Long Er was the first to show off, stretching out his right hand. A faint spark of lightning flickered around it—that had to be Daoist Thunder Magic. He’d finally gotten the basics down.

“Not bad. You two are really leveling up fast.”

“By the way, Lord Karl… we might’ve done something kind of bad today.”

Long Yi looked a bit embarrassed as he spoke.

“Oh? What happened? Come on, spill it.”

Karl found a massive boulder and took a seat, settling in for the story.

Turns out, after heading out that day, Long Yi and Long Er got into an argument with some of the pirates guarding the island. But they were smart—they avoided a straight-up fight, since even after all their hard training, they still weren’t strong enough.

So they challenged the pirates to a wager instead. There was an actual dueling arena on Beehive Island, after all.

Not like pirates have many options for entertainment.

The bet was simple: each person buys a slave and pits them against each other in the arena. Loser has to kneel and kowtow, calling the winner grandpa.

Sure enough, the brothers fell for it. Only after buying their slave did they realize the pirate they were betting with had picked a slave from the Giant race.

No surprise—the brothers lost, hands down.

But they played dirty. Instead of caving, they picked a fight with that pirate—and to their shock, he turned out to be incredibly weak. He was dead in a few hits.

Afraid the story would get out, they brought the Giant slave back to their quarters and never left since.

Karl couldn’t help but laugh after hearing the whole thing.

“Relax. In the Rocks Pirates you don’t have to stand on ceremony with the other crews. We’re not on the same side.”

“Even among the captains, the ones who love killing won’t care about something like this. You’ve got nothing to worry about.”

Karl patiently explained the way things worked in the Rocks Pirates, putting their minds at ease.

After hearing this, the brothers finally relaxed. The whole thing had scared them so badly they’d been afraid to even leave their quarters, worried they’d cause trouble for Karl.

“A Giant, huh? Take me to see him.”

Karl actually looked forward to it. He may not have been the collecting type, but having a Giant on your crew? That’s something to brag about.

“Right this way, Lord Karl!”

Long Yi eagerly led the way.

Behind their quarters was a massive cave, and that’s where Heil Joseph waited.

The Giant’s size alone meant he couldn’t fit into any building, so the cave was the only option for now.

“What’s your name?”

Karl stopped in front of the cave and peered into the darkness. The gloom didn’t bother his eyes one bit—he spotted the Giant sitting inside.

“Heil Joseph.”

Joseph’s answer echoed out, deep and rumbling.

“Interested in joining the Rocks Pirates?”

“As long as I’m not a slave, I’m up for anything.”

Joseph was through with being a slave.

“Sounds good. Come on out then.”

Boom. Boom. Boom!

Heavy footsteps shook the ground as Joseph walked out of the cave.

“You’re seriously tall.”

As Joseph emerged, Karl estimated he was at least twenty meters high.

Joseph had a wild beard and a giant collar clamped around his neck. He looked utterly defeated.

“Join my crew. From now on, you’re protected under my name. No one on these seas will treat you as a slave again.”

“Th-thank you… Lord Karl.”

Tears streamed down Joseph’s face as he spoke.

Giants weren’t ones for subtlety—they remembered kindness and grudges forever. To Joseph, Karl was the one who’d pulled him out of hell.

“Alright, hold still. I’ll take care of that collar for you.”

As Joseph lowered his head, Karl covered his hand with Armament Haki, snapped the collar with a squeeze, then hurled it into the ocean with all his strength.

Splash!

A massive wave soared up as Joseph reached to feel his now bare neck.

“It’s gone! It’s really gone! I can’t believe it!”

Joseph’s eyes welled with fresh tears as he looked straight at Karl.

At long last, the symbol of slavery was gone.

“Hahaha! I’m finally free!”

Joseph leapt up and let out a roar of laughter.

Karl couldn’t help feeling a bit proud—he never expected his crew would one day include a Giant.

“Okay, from now on you’ll stick with Krell.”

“Krell, he’s yours to handle.”

Karl glanced over at Krell—who’d become his de facto manager, mostly dealing with anything Karl didn’t want to bother with.

“You can count on me, Lord Karl.”

Krell already knew exactly what Karl wanted—even if they hadn’t worked together long, he was good at reading his boss.

When Karl said something like that, it usually meant he’d be handing over the Five Elements Fist technique.

“Alright, everything’s settled. Let’s all head to the banquet together tonight.”

“This is a huge moment—it marks our Rocks Pirates crew’s entry into the second half of the Grand Line.”

“Understood, Lord Karl!”

…