Chapter 90: Bloodline Awakenings in the Shadow of Night
by xennovel“That’s enough. Let’s end it here.”
Rocks stepped in just in time, stopping Karl’s fist before it could land.
“Fights between captains are fine, but killing each other is not allowed.”
In the next instant, Rocks unleashed the overwhelming force of his Conqueror’s Haki.
“If you want to keep going, then fight me instead.”
The moment Karl saw Rocks arrive, he knew John wouldn’t die today.
“Consider yourself lucky, John.”
Karl withdrew his Titan Form.
He turned away, heading in the direction of Charlotte Linlin.
“Gurararara!”
“So close, Karl. You almost had him.”
“There will be plenty of chances. We’re not done yet.”
Seeing Whitebeard watching from a short distance, Karl walked up to greet him.
“So, what do you say? Up for a drink?”
“Not tonight, it’s getting late. Tomorrow—I’ll invite you myself.”
“Gurararara!”
“It’s a date then.”
After that brief exchange, Karl strode off into the night.
“Kukukuku!”
“John, you owe your life to Captain Rocks tonight.”
“You’d better tread carefully from here on out.”
Shiki hovered overhead, gazing down at John at the bottom of the crater.
“Golden Lion, I don’t need your pity.”
John got to his feet and first gave his thanks to Rocks.
But when he caught Golden Lion’s taunt, he turned and glared back in anger.
“Kukukuku!”
Golden Lion let loose a booming laugh as he walked away. In his eyes, John was as good as dead, just barely hanging on.
Whether John could dodge Karl’s next strike was anyone’s guess. Golden Lion didn’t bother with someone already marked for death.
With the matter settled, Rocks vaulted up above and headed back to his room without another word.
Only Wang Zhi and Silver Axe stayed behind, tending to John and helping rebuild the outpost.
On his way back, Karl replayed everything in his head, growing more and more frustrated. If only he’d acted a bit quicker, he could’ve finished John off before Rocks arrived.
After all this commotion, his connection with Linlin was bound to become public.
“Right, the children.”
Karl suddenly thought of his three kids and shot a fierce glare at John’s base.
“This isn’t over, John. I’ve got plenty of time to deal with you.”
……
“I’m telling you, that move just now—so cool!”
“Yeah, ever since I joined you guys, I’ve seen so many epic clashes.”
“Evening, Captain!”
Brown and Halil were chatting at the entrance. When they saw Karl approach, Brown gave Halil a quick pat.
“Hold off on the ‘Captain’ for now. Call me Lord Karl or Team Leader while we’re on this island, all right?”
“No problem, Cap—er, Team Leader.”
Inside the manor, Karl nodded to Davis and the others as they tidied the aftermath, then headed inside.
Tap tap tap!
He pushed open the door to find Charlotte Linlin sitting in a chair.
“Where are our kids?”
“Right here.”
Karl hurried over to the bed and finally spotted the babies. The crib was a bit low, so he hadn’t noticed them at first.
He let out a sigh of relief.
The triplets Linlin had just given birth to—three baby girls—were sleeping soundly in their crib.
Karl reached out with his senses, feeling the faint Titan bloodline flowing within the infants.
“Damn you, John!”
He felt like maybe he’d gone too easy on John.
“Wait a second!”
“System panel, open!”
“Host: Lux D. Karl (Bounty: 2 billion Berries)”
Fused Template: Elder Heavenly Master from ‘Out of This World’!
Unfused: Sword Saint Gai Nie from ‘Legend of Qin’ (unfused), Wang Quan Fugui from ‘Fox Spirit Matchmaker’ (unfused)!
Skills: Armament Haki Unleashed, Advanced Observation Haki, Conqueror’s Haki (Intermediate), Navy Six Powers—Shave, Moonwalk, Tempest Kick, Golden Light Spell, Palm Thunder, Yang Five Thunders, Tai Chi Fist… Mohist Mechanical Beast Creation, Bone-Shrinking Art, Disguise Technique!
Talent: Titan Strength (fully awakened)
Funds: 224.2 billion Berries
System Points: (Eight months of hard work and minor timeline tweaks for these points!)
Items: Shaolin Great Rejuvenation Pill ×4 bottles (10 per bottle), Rejuvenation Pill ×4, Bloodline Pill ×1 (10 per bottle)!
Weapons: Halberd (Lu Bu’s Halberd), Supreme Grade Great Blade—Dragon Spring Blade, Great Blade—Ancient Moon Blade, Great Blade—Silver Alloy Blade!
Devil Fruits: 12!
Rating: Top-tier powerhouse on the seas; overall strength Admiral-level.
“Yes, it’s the Bloodline Pill!”
Karl quickly grabbed the bottle of Bloodline Pills out of his pocket and popped the cap.
“Pop!”
“Karl!”
“What’s that?”
Charlotte Linlin eyed the bottle Karl had pulled out, curiosity flashing in her gaze.
“This stuff’s incredible.”
“It’s called the Bloodline Pill.”
“It can awaken a dormant bloodline, even if it’s very faint.”
“Now we’ll see just how miraculous it really is.”
Linlin, hearing Karl’s explanation, hurried over and sat beside him, fascinated by the red pill.
She’d never seen a pill before, and no matter how closely she looked, she couldn’t figure it out.
“Is it really that amazing?”
“You’ll know in a minute.”
To play it safe, Karl only took out one pill and fed it to the baby girl on the far left.
Just in case something went wrong, at least he’d have time to react. But since it was made by the system, there probably wouldn’t be any big issues, right?
He trusted the system enough, so he gently pried open his eldest daughter’s mouth and slipped the pill inside.
The tiny pill went down with ease; his eldest swallowed it without fuss.
“Gulp!”
Under Karl and Linlin’s watchful eyes, the eldest girl suddenly began to squirm, a pale white steam rising from her small body.
“Waaah…”
“Move!”
Linlin shoved Karl aside, scooping her daughter into her arms and trying to soothe her.
“There, there…baby…”
But the eldest kept struggling—not calming down, just getting stronger by the second.
“Whoa, that’s some strength!”
Linlin felt the power in her daughter’s arms. She hadn’t even used her full force, yet most people wouldn’t be able to break free.
She hadn’t expected her baby girl to squirm so hard she managed to push away Linlin’s hand. After all, she was still only a baby.
“Mamamamama!”
“Karl!”
Linlin looked at Karl, her face lighting up with delight.
Karl stepped up and gently laid his hand on his eldest daughter’s body, focusing his senses.
He felt her bloodline being excited and awakened, surging through her.
Not only was there no harm done, the energy bathed and nourished her little body.
The baby’s body even expanded a bit, faintly radiating a lofty, noble aura.
“Hahaha, it worked! It really worked!”
Karl hugged Linlin tight in his excitement.
“Knock it off!”
Still, for their baby’s sake, she wriggled out of Karl’s embrace.
Ten minutes slipped by in the blink of an eye.
Linlin gently laid her now-peaceful eldest daughter back in the cradle.
The girl’s skin shimmered with a soft golden hue, her life force more than ten times as strong as before.
“Karl, this pill is incredible! Do you have any more?”
Linlin looked up at Karl hopefully. Her second and third daughters still needed help…
With her urging, Karl didn’t hesitate to pour out two more pills and feed them to his other girls.
“Relax, we’ve got plenty.”
After a while, watching their three daughters sleeping soundly, both parents finally breathed easy.
Their Titan bloodlines had fully awakened; the rest would depend on their own efforts.
“I’ve already heard what happened. Thank you, Linlin.”
After pushing the three babies into their new nursery, Linlin and Karl stayed behind to talk in private.
Karl put his arms around Linlin.
“He was here for revenge on me, and I dragged you into it. I’m really sorry.”
“Our kids are all right, but I’m not just letting it go, either.”
“I’ll never let him off.”
As soon as Karl mentioned John, Linlin sat up straighter and looked right into his eyes.
“No worries. We’ll take care of this together.”
“Come on, let’s get some sleep.”
A mischievous grin spread across Karl’s face as he reached out and turned off the lights.
What happened next, let’s just skip a few thousand words…
“Whew, finally done for the day.”
“Captain’s got it made, doesn’t he?”
“My Lisa…”
Brown eyed the lightless window, feeling a stab of homesickness. His Lisa was still back on Fishman Island.
“Get it together, man.”
“Come on, let’s go get some sleep too.”
Davis waved everyone over to Karl’s quarters—Krell had already prepared the guest rooms.
“Let’s go, let’s go!”
Jennifer had been dying to sleep, so she hurried after Davis.
……