"You'll find out eventually."
Karl deliberately left it vague before turning around and walking away.
To Karl, a living Luffy was far more valuable.
First—
The Straw Hat crew weren't true pirates in the traditional sense. At most, they were an adventure group with relatively little threat to society.
There was no reason for Karl to deliberately target them.
Second—
At this stage, Luffy posed no conflict of interest to him.
And with Garp around, even if Karl captured Luffy, Garp would definitely find some way to bail him out.
After all, Luffy didn't even have a bounty yet.
It would be easy to claim he was merely a misguided child.
Third—
Luffy was an excellent tool.
He could unintentionally accomplish many things Karl himself couldn't openly interfere with.
And Karl never had to worry about him dying for no reason.
Don't ask why.
Ask because plot armor.
In short—
Luffy was still extremely useful right now.
Targeting him would bring far more disadvantages than benefits.
And Karl never did thankless work.
Smoker glanced at Luffy, Zoro, and Koby before laughing lightly.
"You guys got lucky today."
Seeing the two annoying Marines actually preparing to leave him alone, Luffy immediately became anxious.
"Hey, don't leave!"
"Aren't you Marines?!"
"How can you just let pirates go?!"
"Damn it! Gomu Gomu—"
In other words:
If you don't beat me to death today, don't think about leaving!
Zoro immediately grabbed Luffy.
"Calm down!"
"You're nowhere near strong enough to fight them yet."
"They're on a completely different level from us…"
Then Zoro turned toward Koby.
The boy's face looked utterly lifeless, like a salted fish that had lost all purpose in life.
But Zoro didn't know what to say either.
After all—
being directly exposed for associating with pirates…
wasn't exactly easy to recover from.
Meanwhile, inside the office of Marine Branch 153.
"Sorry~ please bear with it for a little while longer, okay?"
Nami blinked playfully at the two tied-up Marines before tiptoeing deeper into the office.
Soon, sounds of rummaging echoed through the room.
"Huh? It's not here either?"
"Did someone give me the wrong information?"
"That shouldn't be possible…"
Nami looked around in confusion.
Then suddenly, her eyes lit up.
Behind a wooden barrel was a deep red safe almost perfectly blended into the wall.
"YES!"
Excitedly, she pushed the barrel aside.
One hand grabbed the handle while the other reached for the lock mechanism.
Just as she prepared to use her skills—
her expression changed.
Because the safe opened by itself.
There were only two possibilities.
Either someone had opened it earlier and forgotten to close it—
—or someone had already beaten her to it.
Holding onto the smallest sliver of hope, Nami pulled open the safe door.
The moment she saw the rolled parchment inside, she cheered excitedly.
"Found it!"
"The map of the Grand Line really was here!"
But the moment she opened it—
her face froze.
Instead of a sea chart, there was a ridiculous pirate flag drawn across the paper.
The most eye-catching feature was the skull's bright red nose.
And beneath it were several large words:
"I'll gladly be taking the Grand Line map for myself! — Buggy"
"This isn't the map…"
"That symbol…"
"Captain Buggy?!"
The man known across East Blue as Buggy the Clown.
Though Karl preferred another title for him:
The Clown Emperor.
Nami's face filled with irritation.
But she quickly calmed herself down.
"On second thought…"
"This means the Grand Line map is definitely with Buggy now."
"As long as I can sneak close to him, I'll eventually find the map."
Finding the Grand Line map had been one of her long-term goals.
Because a certain man once told her—
he hoped they would meet again someday out on the sea.
"Crap, someone's coming!"
Nami skillfully climbed out the window and disappeared.
One minute later.
Karl and Smoker walked into Morgan's office side by side.
"Mmph! Mmph!"
Slash!
A flash of blade-light cut through the ropes binding the Marines.
"You… you're…"
"Vice Admiral White Raven… no, the Marine Hero from the newspapers!"
"Vice Admiral Karl!"
"I-I joined the Marines after hearing about your deeds!"
"You… you're my fan! Ah no—I mean, I'm your fan!"
Karl smiled gently.
"No need to get so excited."
"By the way, how did you two end up tied up?"
"It was an orange-haired thief…"
"She ambushed us…"
Smoker rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
"Orange hair…"
"Could it really be that much of a coincidence?"
"Was it a woman?"
"Yes."
"Short orange hair… and very beautiful."
Smoker sighed.
"Earlier today we were talking about what happened to that little girl…"
"Who would've thought she'd become a thief…"
"You've become way too sentimental lately," Karl interrupted casually.
"Do you know how many children saved by the Marines end up becoming pirates anyway?"
Without Arlong's tyranny, Nami no longer needed to hand over all her hard-earned money as protection fees.
Yet somehow—
she still ended up walking the same road.
What could Karl even say?
Life was unpredictable.
One moment you're eating sausage—
the next your intestines are wrapped around it.
"Enough already."
"Aren't you supposed to be collecting evidence?"
"Hurry it up. The Holy Light is arriving soon."
At Shells Town Harbor.
After eating their fill, the three prepared to part ways.
More accurately—
Luffy and Zoro were preparing to leave.
Luffy had already completely forgotten the unpleasantness at the execution grounds.
Especially after hearing how monstrously powerful Karl was from Zoro.
Which made perfect sense.
Karl = Marine Hero.
Grandpa = Marine Hero.
Grandpa could beat him senseless without resistance.
Therefore, another Marine Hero could obviously do the same.
Simple logic.
The only thing surprising to Luffy was learning Karl was also one of Zoro's goals.
But that only made him happier.
After all—
that was exactly the kind of crewmate he wanted.
"Koby, what are you gonna do now?"
"You can't become a Marine anymore, so maybe—"
Koby shook his head firmly.
"No, Mr. Luffy."
"Even if I can't become a Marine…"
"I still don't want to become a pirate."
"But I'll work hard to become a strong person."
"Just like you, Mr. Luffy."
Luffy laughed loudly while patting Koby's shoulder.
"Hahahaha! That's good!"
"I was worried you'd completely lose hope."
"Well then, we're heading out!"
"See ya, Koby!"
Koby took a deep breath before smiling brightly.
"Goodbye, Mr. Luffy!"
Someday…
We'll definitely meet again somewhere, Mr. Luffy.
Even if I can never become a Marine…
I'll still strive to become a brave person.
We will meet again someday.
Not long after Luffy and the others departed—
Morgan, covered in bandages and shackled in chains, was escorted aboard the Holy Light.
His final destination:
Impel Down.
"Major Grael," Smoker said seriously, "with the position of Branch 153 commander currently vacant, I hereby appoint you acting commander of Branch 153 in my capacity as Loguetown base commander until Headquarters assigns a new officer."
"Yes, Vice Admiral Smoker!"
"I swear that I will—"
As the sun slowly sank below the horizon—
the Holy Light departed from Shells Town Harbor.
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