Chapter 64: Safe Passage and New Horizons

Karl watched as the Fishmen smoothly navigated a hidden, safe route, twisting and turning their way out of the Sweets Sea in no time.

He jumped out of his chair, face lighting up with excitement, but quickly turned serious as he looked at Krell.

“Is this route always like this? Every hour of the day?”

Fishmen really lived up to their reputation. They found a safe route so fast.

“Yes, Lord Karl.”

“Based on daily reports, this route hasn’t changed at all so far. We don’t know the exact interval of updates though, so more observation’s needed over time.”

“Good. Let me know right away if anything changes.”

Karl grinned. Now that the route was proven safe, they could start moving the kids and some sensitive cargo to Cake Island.

“As for any ships that show up without permission—you know what that means…”

Karl slumped back into his chair, lazily eyeing Krell while half-closing his eyes.

“Don’t worry, Lord Karl.”

Krell’s expression hardened. He knew exactly what Karl meant, and had already made arrangements.

In these waters, swirling with danger and hidden reefs, Fishmen had the upper hand. Without their say-so, getting a ship through here was nearly impossible.

Fishmen patrolled the underwater route. Any ship that entered without permission wouldn’t be questioned—they’d just put a hole in it right away.

After leaving the Sweets Sea, Karl’s group headed straight for Ral Island. They found Yor and the others waiting at the port.

They met up briefly, then set sail together on two ships.

After that, the journey home dragged on. It started to feel a little dull.

Luckily, Karl’s latest entertainment gadgets had already spread throughout the Rocks Pirates. Whenever they got bored, the crews gathered below deck for games and fun—the perfect way to bond and get to know each other.

Each day, Karl trained nonstop in the ship’s training room, drilling the skills he’d picked up from the Elder Heavenly Master. Lightning crackled by day and strange sounds echoed every night.

But voyages never last forever. In the blink of an eye, seven days had passed.

“Once I hand things over to Linlin, it’s time for me to head out. The sooner I finish, the sooner I can relax.”

Karl’s eyes sparkled with anticipation. From here he could see Beehive Island in the distance. The sooner he finished laying the groundwork, the more free time he’d have to prepare for the God Valley campaign. After all, there was a ton of loot in God Valley he had no intention of missing. Success there would catapult his influence.

“Krell, take everyone to get some rest.”

“Yes, Lord Karl.”

After giving Krell his instructions, Karl made his way alone toward Charlotte Linlin’s place. He trusted Krell to handle the rest.

Krell had everyone dock the ships, then led the Fishmen and Yor’s group—with the Cake Island specialties in hand—back to their base on Beehive Island.

As Karl walked through Beehive Island, he noticed that within just a dozen days, a brand new town had sprung up along the port. It was built right against the shoreline.

There had always been a town nearby, but it used to be farther from the port. Now a new settlement connected the two, creating one much larger town.

The place was bustling. What struck him most was seeing groups of pirates in all shapes and sizes playing mahjong right on the roadside. Further off, he could just make out the sounds of card games drifting from nearby houses.

“Wow, that kind of culture sure spreads fast.”

“Guess you could call it a different kind of cultural invasion.”

Karl couldn’t help but smile at the scene, picking up his pace as he headed deeper into Beehive Island.

The island’s inner areas hadn’t changed at all. It was home to all the division captains. No one dared build anything new there.

“Daddy!”

No sooner had he arrived at Charlotte Linlin’s place than a child’s voice called out to him.

Turning to the nearby woods, he saw Compote and a few kids running toward him.

Compote’s face beamed with a wide smile as she bounded over and leaped into his arms. He caught her just in time.

“It’s been too long—come here, give Daddy a kiss.”

He gently kissed Compote’s little cheek.

“Daddy, your beard is scratchy! I don’t like it!”

Compote shoved away his bearded face with both hands, pouting and wriggling to escape his hug.

By now, they’d all grown used to having Karl around.

“Smells like milk, doesn’t it? Go on, off you go and play.”

He set Compote down, letting them chase and tumble with the other kids, a smile creeping onto his own face.

His thoughts drifted to his own child, soon to be born. At least he got an early taste of fatherhood.

“Karl, you’re back!”

Charlotte Linlin practically burst out of the house, beaming. They hadn’t seen each other for over ten days. Even though they’d chatted every day via transponder snail, you know how it is when you’re head over heels…

As soon as Karl saw Linlin, he hurried over to her.

“Yeah, let’s talk inside.”

He brought Charlotte Linlin into the house, filled her in on Cake Island’s situation, then set 17 dessert-type Devil Fruits right in front of her.

“You’ll need to carefully identify these Devil Fruits. You handle how they’re distributed.”

Karl looked rather smug as he watched Linlin. No way was he playing favorites—consider it a gift for Perospero and the others.

“Where’d you get so many Devil Fruits?”

Sure enough, Charlotte Linlin was blown away, unable to hide her delight.

She’d never seen this many Devil Fruits at once, not even since first setting sail.

“We discovered them right in the Sweets Sea. And we haven’t even finished exploring yet. Who knows how many more are out there.”

“Mamamama!”

“Now I’m excited.”

Linlin grinned with satisfaction. If they found this many with only a partial search, just imagine what the full haul could be…

“Linlin, you keep an eye on Cake Island’s development. I’m off to sow some seeds in the Four Seas.”

Karl wanted to hand everything over to her so he could focus on bigger plans.

“Mamamama!”

“Don’t worry, Karl.”

“I’m looking forward to it.”

Linlin was secretly thrilled—Karl had taken the entire Sweets Sea so quickly. It made her proud that her man was so capable.

“Krell is here on the island.”

“I brought him back.”

“You can go straight to him if you need anything.”

“Oh, that Fishman?”

“And one more thing—guess who’s been working on the Sweets Sea development?”

Karl paused, looking to tease her a bit.

Linlin rested her head on her hand, genuinely lost in thought. She’d never considered who might be handling all the development. There were dozens of islands, after all—there was no way Karl had done it alone.

“Is it the Fishmen?”

She recalled Karl mentioning that she could issue orders directly to the Fishman Krell.

“Huh, didn’t think I’d fool you. Yeah, you got it right.”

Karl shrugged, half exasperated. Linlin had guessed it on the first try.

“But it’s all 500,000 Fishmen!”

Karl’s face turned exaggerated, flashing a sly grin, clearly trying to wow her.

And it worked. Linlin’s eyes went wide. She’d guessed the Fishmen—but never imagined there were 500,000 of them. Even the Rocks Pirates didn’t have that many members!

“Mamamama!”

“Not bad, Karl!”

Linlin laughed happily. Her dream was always to create Totto Land—a place where every race could live peacefully together.

Now Karl had taken the first step, bringing the Fishmen to her side. She truly appreciated it.

But time always seemed to slip away too fast.

After he finished things with Linlin, Karl immediately went to see Rocks and brought up his plans for heading out to sea.

If it was just a short trip, he didn’t need approval. But for a long one, Rocks had to sign off.

Rocks didn’t object, since the crew’s situation was stable. That’s why Karl had come to him in the first place.

“Gurararara!”

“Safe travels!”

After leaving Rocks, Karl found Edward Newgate. He only told Linlin and Rocks about his plan to leave.

He’d never liked Golden Lion Shiki’s personality, and John, Wang Zhi and the others were hardcore Rocks loyalists—firmly on the ‘guardian’ side.

Newgate’s group was different. They’d joined only because of Rocks’ might, so they weren’t all that close to John and his crew.

As a result, the Rocks Pirates now had two main factions: the guardian faction and the newcomers.

After a brief farewell with Edward, Karl spent a wonderful night with Linlin. At dawn, he gave Krell, Long Yi, and Long Er their orders, then set out with White Tiger. Just the two—one man, one beast—off to sea!

Even though Karl was headed off to the Four Seas, he’d stay in touch about anything major through the transponder snail.

Look out, Four Seas—here I come!