Chapter 63: Karl’s Sweet Deal and the Devil Fruit Windfall

After receiving their orders, the group rounded up the Fishmen outside, assigned Karl’s plan, and led everyone into immediate action.

Meanwhile, Krell brought Karl up to the highest level of Cake Island—a spot destined to be Karl’s future bedroom. The towering cake castle had five levels above ground, plus two more floors dug into the basement.

The first floor upstairs could house over a thousand regular folk. The second floor held around 800 people, the third about 500, the fourth just 100, and the top floor—the penthouse—was planned with only 30 rooms, specially designed with Karl’s height in mind. Basically, the entire penthouse was reserved as a private space just for Karl and Charlotte Linlin.

As they walked inside, Karl noticed that every bit of architecture and furnishings was crafted from candies and all kinds of desserts. It made sense—on Cake Island, there were no other building materials.

After leading Karl to a massive room, Krell flashed a mysterious smile, bowed, and excused himself, saying he had to deliver a gift prepared especially for Lord Karl.

Karl gazed at the big pink bed in the room. As he moved closer, a sugary aroma wafted toward him. Turns out, even the bed was made entirely out of sweets.

His eyes traveled around the room; everything was arranged with a cozy touch, and he figured some female Fishmen had probably decorated it.

He sprawled across the huge bed, lying comfortably with arms and legs spread as he let the softness sink in. Breathing in deeply with satisfaction, he closed his eyes for a moment.

At the same time, his mind started running through the next things he needed to handle. Once all the pieces were in place, he’d get to enjoy moments like this every day.

Just thinking about it made him almost giddy with anticipation.

“Knock, knock, knock!”

Suddenly, a burst of knocking snapped him out of his thoughts.

“Lord Karl!”

Hearing Krell’s voice, Karl shot up, straightened his clothes, and headed over to the bread-shaped sofa.

“Come in!”

Krell walked in and immediately spotted the person-shaped imprint on the bed, but just as quickly he turned away and approached Karl.

Karl noticed Krell’s fleeting glance and felt a little awkward. He was usually pretty serious in Krell’s eyes.

Luckily, Krell drew his attention right to the tray in his hands.

When Karl saw more than a dozen Devil Fruits on the tray, his eyes lit up instantly. He hadn’t expected this at all.

“Where did you find these?”

“What a great surprise—you’ve really outdone yourself.”

Karl’s eyes grew wide with excitement, unable to hide his thrill.

The fact that Krell brought him over a dozen Devil Fruits left him genuinely shocked. Even a so-called ‘useless’ Devil Fruit could fetch a hundred million Berries. Getting this many at once was almost unimaginable.

“All of these Devil Fruits were discovered right here in the waters around Cake Island, Lord Karl.”

“There could be even more hidden somewhere. I’ve already ordered the Fishmen to keep searching.”

Karl suddenly remembered from the original timeline that most of Charlotte Linlin’s children had Devil Fruits related to sweets.

So that’s where they all came from.

“Going by the Devil Fruit guide, only a few of these have recognizable names.”

“There’s the Mochi-Mochi Fruit, the Butter-Butter Fruit, the Lick-Lick Fruit…”

“But a lot of them, we still can’t identify by name.”

A trace of regret flickered across Krell’s face. He felt bad rushing to give Lord Karl the Devil Fruits before figuring out all their names.

But the most complete Devil Fruit guide was in Rocks’ hands, and there was no way for Krell to get the info on the rest. All he could do was hand them over and let Lord Karl sort it out.

“Hahaha!”

“Now that’s what I call a surprise!”

Karl didn’t grab the Devil Fruits right away. Instead, he stood up and showered Krell with praise.

From his perspective, Krell’s choice to hand over these Devil Fruits instead of keeping them showed true loyalty.

After all, with more than a dozen Devil Fruits, Krell could have easily fled to a remote place and lived out his days in luxury.

“You did well with this.”

“Here’s your reward.”

Now that he had a good sense of Krell’s loyalty, Karl decided Krell deserved a proper reward. After all, if you want the horse to run, you have to feed it first.

Karl took out one of the Shaolin Great Rejuvenation Pills he’d won from the lottery and handed it to Krell.

“What’s this?”

Krell eyed the pill, unsure. Was this lump of candy-mud really anything special?

Karl just shook his head in amusement.

This was a Shaolin Great Rejuvenation Pill—one bite could grant sixty years of cultivation. But, he figured, Krell wouldn’t understand anyway, so he dropped it.

“Just eat it. You’ll find out soon enough.”

Karl didn’t bother explaining further. With their totally different worldviews, there was no point. Better for Krell to experience it himself.

“Is it really safe to eat?”

Krell looked from the pill to Karl’s expectant face.

With his eyes squeezed shut, Krell gritted his teeth and tossed the ‘candy’ down his throat.

“Huh?”

As the pill slid into his stomach, a rush of wild energy exploded inside, making his eyes go wide.

He didn’t even have time to look back at Karl. His whole body was burning up—he only wanted to find water and cool down.

Karl had never seen a scene like this before. He supposed, since it came from the System, it probably wouldn’t cause any real harm… At least, that’s what he hoped. Suddenly, he was glad he hadn’t tried it himself.

Krell dashed toward the ocean as fast as he could. It felt like he was on fire, about to burst into flames—with white steam rising from his crimson skin.

Karl hovered midair, following Krell, and noticed streams of black liquid oozing from Krell’s body.

“That must be the effect of purifying the body and marrow,” Karl muttered, remembering the Rejuvenation Pill’s introduction.

Scratching his chin as he floated along, Karl spoke without even thinking.

“Splash!”

Krell reached the shore in no time. Still a ways from the water, he lunged forward and dove right in.

As the sea surrounded his whole body, the cool sensation swept away the burning inside him.

At the same time, Krell realized his strength had improved dramatically. Old injuries were gone, and his body felt lighter—free of all its past heaviness.

Underwater, Krell crouched into a horse stance, then started practicing the Five Elements Fist. What once felt awkward now flowed effortlessly.

The Golden Light Spell ran smoother than ever, thickening around him and boosting his defenses.

“Alright, rinse off and get back up here.”

When Karl saw Krell below, his whole body shimmering gold, he knew any discomfort was long gone.

Hearing Karl’s call, Krell stopped moving, looked up, planted his feet on the ocean floor, and shot toward the surface.

Karl stood hovering above the water, feet glowing with golden light, arms crossed as he watched Krell.

“You’ll be coming back with me to Beehive Island. We’ll need a seafaring ship.”

“We can use that safe route you discovered earlier.”

Karl had already stashed away the Devil Fruits in his cabin. Now, he wanted to see for himself if this escape route was really as safe as promised. Next time, he might need to get away on his own.

He had plans brewing in secret, and wouldn’t be paying attention to Cake Island for quite a while.

“Rest assured, Lord Karl. The ship’s been ready for ages.”

Word of Karl’s visit had prompted Krell to prepare the vessel ahead of time. After all, Lord Karl needed to try out the safe route in person.

“Good. Then let’s head out now.”

Karl didn’t want to linger on Cake Island. He was eager to get to the Four Seas and set up his plans—only then could he develop Beehive Island in peace.

That would leave him with more time to build up Cake Island in the future.

Without another word, Krell strode straight toward the port.

Karl dropped down from the air, landing on solid ground.

“Brynn, get this ship ready—we’re heading out to sea any minute.”

“No worries, it’s all set!”

Brynn, the giant whale Fishman, saluted Lord Karl the moment he arrived. He used the special salute Karl had taught Krell—one straight from the ranks of Huaxia’s soldiers. All of Karl’s men used it now.

“Do your best to follow Lord Karl’s orders. I’ll be leaving you with a Transponder Snail number—get in touch if anything comes up.”

Krell pulled Brynn aside and whispered something quietly.

“Don’t worry—next time you come back, I promise to have a surprise for you as well!”

Brynn thumped his chest, full of confidence.

“Alright, I’m off.”

Krell patted Brynn’s shoulder, then boarded the ship, joined by over a dozen fellow Fishmen.

“Set sail—make best speed for Beehive Island!”

Once Karl gave the order, he headed for the cabin—not much to see at sea, so he figured he’d rather get some rest.

“Let’s go!”

Seeing Lord Karl enter the cabin, Krell immediately ordered the Fishmen to set course for Beehive Island.