Chapter 65: Arrival at Loguetown

East Blue – Loguetown!

“Ah, finally made it!”

Karl looked out at Loguetown in the distance and stretched. He’d spent over ten days racing across the sea at full speed with the Golden Light Spell, seeing nothing but blue sky and endless ocean day after day. Honestly, if not for his good mood, he’d have found an island to vent his frustration long ago.

On top of that, when he passed through the Calm Belt, sea kings lurking below noticed him and tried to surface for an attack.

Not wanting any trouble, he just unleashed his Conqueror’s Haki and scared them off, slipping through without a hitch.

“Wow!”

“Look at that guy!”

“He’s so tall!”

When he docked his small boat at the harbor, the people nearby gasped in surprise.

“Ah…”

“A tiger!”

One onlooker pointed at White Tiger, his face filled with terror.

That instantly drew the attention of everyone around, and the whole place fell quiet for a second.

“Whoosh!”

The next moment the entire crowd at the harbor bolted, rushing away like someone hit fast-forward. In the blink of an eye, everyone was gone.

It was because White Tiger in the ship’s cabin had stood up and stretched, now walking down the gangplank toward them.

Before arriving, Karl worried the Navy might recognize his face. Luckily, thanks to the lottery last month, he’d gotten Bone-Shrinking Art and Disguise Technique from the world of Bad People. He compressed his height to just over three meters and changed his appearance completely—now he looked like a man in his thirties or forties.

“See what you did? You scared everyone off.”

He said with a hint of mock annoyance.

“Rrrowr!”

White Tiger gave a low growl. Even he didn’t expect people would be so quick to run—was he really that scary?

Well, it made sense. In the New World, a beast that size often ended up as meat on a pirate’s table.

“Alright, I’m going to check out Roger’s execution platform from the future.”

Karl had actually taught White Tiger the Bone-Shrinking Art too, but maybe because of their species difference, White Tiger could only shrink to about five meters—any smaller was his limit.

They crossed into the square. People nearby shrank away, staying dozens of meters back to avoid getting bitten by White Tiger. This was the busiest spot in Loguetown, the same square where Roger’s execution stage would later stand.

“Never thought I’d get to witness a historic moment here.”

“Even though it hasn’t happened yet, I’m looking forward to it.”

Karl did want to rewrite the world’s fate to complete his main quest, but being a foreseer of the original story was his real asset.

He planned to tweak the course of the One Piece world as much as possible, while avoiding major disruptions to the original plot.

That way, he’d have more of a ‘God’s-eye view’ for scheming.

He wanted to scatter seeds of hope across all Four Seas. All he needed was Luffy’s power to defeat Im, but that didn’t mean he’d join up with Luffy. After all, if the world post-Im’s downfall had no proper direction, it’d eventually drift back to the old ways.

He headed to a tavern, leaving White Tiger lying at the doorway. He came to learn the news, not to terrify everyone inside, so White Tiger would just have to wait outside for now.

“You guys hear about it?”

“Hear about what?”

“Apparently the Rocks Pirates rule the entire New World now!”

“No way, where’d you hear that?”

As soon as Karl entered and ordered a glass of rum at the bar, he overheard voices from a nearby table.

“My uncle’s cousin’s sister’s second son is a captain at Navy Headquarters!”

“You think I’d make this up?”

“Come on, out with it. Tell us the details.”

The middle-aged man leading the group took a sip of rum and explained everything in detail.

Turns out, ever since Karl left the Rocks Pirates, most of the islands in the New World had been flying their flag.

Even the Navy had been forced to retreat; now only two strongholds remained near Fishman Island, guarded by Garp and Sengoku.

Karl just shook his head. That wasn’t the kind of news he’d wanted, even if knowing there were two Navy outposts left was useful. For now, he had other things to worry about.

“Not the least bit bothered, are you?”

“Makes sense. The New World’s affairs are a long way from here.”

The bartender watched Karl, noticed his reaction, and wiped down a glass as he spoke.

“You don’t look like you’re from the East Blue.”

The bartender saw through Karl at first glance. He wasn’t an East Blue local—everything from his clothes and height to the imposing air about him said as much, and seeing the White Tiger outside only confirmed it.

“Yeah, just got back from the Grand Line.”

“Anything interesting going on around here?”

Karl didn’t go into details. He wanted to build a force but picking a representative was tricky. The whole plan could take decades, so he needed someone capable, resourceful, loyal—and he had to prepare ways to deal with betrayal, just in case.

“Actually, there is something.”

“Since you’re asking, I’ll tell you.”

The bartender set aside the glass, leaned over the bar, and looked straight at Karl.

“There’s a man in East Blue…”

Turns out there was someone named Johann who, a few years back, founded a Pirate Hunter Guild. They hunted pirates, brought their proof to the local Navy to claim rewards. Although lots of people joined at first, most weren’t all that strong and often ended up being hunted themselves—the roles of hunter and prey flipped overnight.

For years now, pirates and pirate hunters had been clashing across the seas.

But just a couple days ago, this Johann and his ten-year-old son Yotia were betrayed by their own men and forced to flee to Loguetown.

Now pirates kept pouring into Loguetown, searching for the two of them.

“If you’re interested, you could look into it yourself.”

With that, the bartender stood up and went back to wiping his glasses.

“Oh, so you figured out what I’m after.”

Karl was a little puzzled—he hadn’t expected this ordinary bartender to see through his intentions right away.

Without even looking up, the bartender answered softly.

“I’ve met all sorts in this tavern, all kinds of faces. Plenty like you have sat here before.”

“You remind me of a certain brat I know.”

“Only difference is, he can’t get enough of New World news, and you don’t seem to care at all.”

Karl mulled over his words. Suddenly an event from the original story came to mind—Roger once showed up in a Loguetown bar.

Was it this very place?

“Was that Roger?”

Karl asked, curiosity piqued.

“Oh? You know him?”

The bartender looked genuinely surprised. He hadn’t expected Karl to be familiar with Roger.

So it really was Pirate King Roger. Karl couldn’t help wishing for a chance to face off with him one day.

“I’ve heard of him—just some rookie pirate, right?”

“Yeah! Just the other day, the paper said Roger and his crew caused a huge ruckus at Sabaody Archipelago and are now off in the New World.”

Roger’s already made it to the New World at this point? Maybe Karl would run into him there.

Becoming a bounty hunter… not a bad idea after all!

“Anyway, thanks for the info, boss.”

Karl raised his glass in thanks, dropped some Berries under his cup, and headed out.

“Let’s hope you’re not here with bad intentions.”

After Karl left, the bartender wiped his brow—though there was no sweat to speak of. The sight of that massive White Tiger out front had tipped him off about Karl’s identity as soon as he walked in.

He actually had a second identity—he was one of Shakky’s informants.

Even though Karl was disguised.

But with that towering height and a White Tiger by his side, it wasn’t hard to put two and two together.

That kind of combination was nearly unheard of—and from their reports, they knew Karl wasn’t on Beehive Island at the moment.

He acted calm, but truthfully, inside he was terrified. After all, this was Karl: captain of the Rocks Pirates’ Sixth Division, one of the New World’s top pirates.

“Let’s go, White Tiger!”

“Rrrowr!”

“Alright, I know you’re hungry.”

Walking along the road with White Tiger, Karl could actually hold basic conversations with him by now.

“Oh, looks like you’ll have to wait a bit longer.”

“I’ve found something interesting nearby.”

“Let’s move!”

Riding White Tiger, Karl dashed off in the direction his Observation Haki pointed. Seeing a man riding a giant tiger, everyone on the street froze with fear and hurried to make way.