This was already the 25th day of patrolling the seas around the Seasonal Islands.
The atmosphere aboard the training ship was gloomy.
The rookie Marines' morale was steadily sinking—after nearly a month at sea, they still hadn't found any trace of the Hunter Blade Pirates. Even the Navy's Intelligence Department had sent no useful updates.
If not for the decisive victory back at Spring Rain Town, morale would have fallen even lower.
As frustrating as it was, this was simply the normal state of Marine operations.
The sea was vast.
Finding a pirate crew could be easy—or impossibly hard.
Zephyr could only encourage and comfort the rookies. Though he was anxious himself, decades in the Marines had made him used to this kind of waiting.
The trainees, however, weren't nearly as patient.
Veteran "old hands" like Karl were rare.
While everyone else felt restless and dispirited, Karl was having the time of his life.
No Weevil.
No major battles.
And plenty of uninterrupted slacking.
To Karl, this was his dream Marine lifestyle.
If only there were a beauty at his side, it would be perfect.
After twenty days of accumulation, Karl had successfully pushed his Physique from C-rank to C+, and his mastery of the Marine Six Styles had reached near-perfection.
Simply put—
Anything Lucci could do, Karl could do.
Things Lucci couldn't do, Karl could also do.
Compared to Zephyr, the gap now lay only in raw power. That was all.
"Sigh… Karl, how are you still so happy every day?" Ain complained, watching Karl sit casually on the railing, fishing as if on vacation. "Our internship mission is on the verge of failing, you know!"
They had wanted to make a name for themselves during the internship—not spend every day scrubbing decks and repairing the ship.
Karl, however, was clearly an exception.
No… he had always been like this.
"Haha, Ain," Karl said lazily, "you haven't been in the Marines long enough to understand. This is the norm."
"Unless it's a special operation, hunting pirates depends entirely on intelligence.
No intel means you're just gambling with luck."
Ain puffed out her cheeks in frustration and sat beside him, staring out at the endless blue sea.
"Sigh… I really envy your mindset."
"Heh, you'll get used to it. You'll get used to—wait. I've got a bite!"
Karl lifted the fishing rod. A half-meter-long sea fish slammed onto the deck, flopping wildly.
Ain's eyes lit up. She rushed over, grabbed the fish, and handed it to Karl—
—but during the process, the fish visibly shrank.
By the time it reached Karl's hands, it had turned into a tiny little fry.
Karl stared at it in silence, expression stiff.
Ain covered her mouth and burst out laughing, clearly delighted at having successfully pranked him.
"12 o'clock direction! Ten nautical miles out—pirate ship spotted!"
The shout from the lookout tower rang out.
The rookies froze for a split second—then their spirits exploded.
Finally… action!
Ain immediately straightened. "Karl! Stop fishing—pirates!"
On the distant sea, a pirate ship raced forward at full speed. Chaos reigned aboard.
"Damn it! These Marines just won't let us go!"
The man shouting was Zacker, captain of the Hunter Blade Pirates, with a bounty of 24.5 million Beli.
Once a bounty hunter, he had switched professions to piracy and built his name through exceptional swordsmanship.
"Captain! Bad news! The Marines are gaining on us—our ship is slower!"
Zacker's brows knotted tightly.
Finally, he drew his saber and raised it high.
"Since the Marines won't stop chasing us, running is useless!
We are the Hunter Blade Pirates! Men—open fire!"
"OOOHHHH!"
"Kill the Marines!"
Aboard the training ship, Zephyr slowly lowered his binoculars, a faint smile appearing on his face.
"So they've given up running… Hmph. Overestimating themselves."
"Karl!"
"Yes!"
Zephyr turned toward Karl in his white Marine uniform.
"You'll command this operation as well. Don't disappoint me."
"Yes, Zephyr-sensei!"
Karl straightened up. Seeing the anticipation—and hunger—in the rookies' eyes, he sighed inwardly.
So this is what being a support-type feels like…
"May the Holy Light bless you all."
The rookies instinctively closed their eyes, feeling power and vitality surge through their bodies.
"MARINE VICTORY!"
"All hands! Full speed ahead! Gunners—adjust firing angles. Wait for my command!"
"Yes!"
The training ship surged forward.
Several wildly inaccurate cannonballs splashed into the sea far ahead.
"Pirates really are pirates," Karl muttered while watching through his binoculars.
"Firing from this distance? No chance of hitting anything."
He calmly waited for the pirate ship to enter effective range.
"Gunners… prepare—fire!"
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Black cannonballs screamed through the air like death sentences.
Some splashed harmlessly into the sea—but many slammed directly into the pirate ship.
Explosions tore through the hull. Wooden fragments flew everywhere.
"Damn it!" Zacker roared, staring at the ravaged deck.
"You idiots! So many shots and you didn't land a single hit!
One Marine volley and our ship looks like this?!"
"Useless trash! All of you!"
"Captain," a calm voice spoke up—the vice-captain, Rake, clearly the brain of the crew.
"At this rate we'll sink. We should close in and board them. Hand-to-hand might be our only chance."
Zacker slowly calmed down.
"You're right. Sitting here won't save us."
"I want to see whether the Marines can stop my Urumaru."
Rake glanced at the jet-black blade in Zacker's hand, envy flashing in his eyes.
A renowned sword.
One of the 50 Grade Swords—Urumaru.
It was the foundation of Zacker's fame.
"Men! Bring us alongside!"
Under Zacker's command, the damaged ship groaned as it closed in.
"Oh?" Karl raised an eyebrow.
"They want to board us? Are they insane?"
"Gunners—fire again!"
Why engage in a boarding fight when cannons could solve everything?
Break their ship, let them flail in the sea—and clean up afterward.
Simple. Clean. Efficient.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The cannons roared once more.
◇ I'll be dropping one bonus chapters for every 10 reviews. comment
◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 100 Power Stones.
◇ You can read 60 chapter ahead on P@treon if you're interested: patreon.com/SwipeSage