Chapter 61: Return to the Marine

"Darkseid? Carl's cousin?"

Zephyr couldn't help but think back to when Sengoku the Buddha told him that Carl had a background. He hadn't paid much attention to it at first, but now things were different. He couldn't afford to ignore it.

Good guy, he is a user of the Logia Dark-Dark Fruit, and now here comes another cousin who has a Mythical Zoan ability. How could it be such a coincidence?

The best Devil Fruits specifically choosing people named Darkseid?

It's one thing for a low-probability event to occur once, but for it to happen twice in a row? Zephyr was almost certain that Carl and Lucia's Devil Fruits were given to them by the forces backing them.

Thinking about it, Zephyr was secretly shocked, wondering what kind of force could wield such power.

Zephyr was deep in thought when a chaotic noise suddenly erupted outside the window, interrupting his thoughts.

"These brats have become lawless just because I haven't been around for a while! That guy Borsalino must be leading them!"

Zephyr moved to the window with a dark expression and looked toward the training ground. He immediately understood the situation.

It turned out that Carl had returned, and there was a slim black-haired girl standing next to him. Although she was a little far away, Zephyr knew that it must be the Lucia mentioned in the resume.

On the training ground, Ginny was almost clinging to Carl, her pretty face nuzzling against his chest. Lucia frowned slightly but didn't say anything.

Carl had already introduced her to several of his close friends on the ship, with Ginny naturally being a key figure. Lucia knew how important Ginny was to Carl.

Gion in the crowd also wanted to go up and say a few words to Carl, but she knew that given their relationship, approaching him now would only lead to awkwardness.

She glanced at Lucia, who had been standing quietly beside Carl, with amusement in her eyes.

Carl had just introduced Lucia to everyone, saying she was his cousin, but Gion, being perceptive, sensed something off.

The way Lucia looked at Carl wasn't that of a mere cousin—there was an almost palpable sense of attachment.

Realizing that someone had been staring at her, Lucia frowned slightly, turned her head to meet Gion's gaze, and slowly placed her right hand on the handle of her sword.

Gion's expression changed. She felt an inexplicable sense of threat from Lucia, which meant that Lucia's strength was probably greater than her own.

Fortunately, Carl noticed something strange about Lucia. He called her name softly, and Lucia immediately calmed down, no longer focusing on Gion.

Akainu waited for Ginny to finish talking to Carl before speaking,

"Carl, you've gotten stronger again."

Carl smiled slightly and replied half-jokingly,

"Sakazuki, where do you see that? My hair?"

Akainu responded seriously,

"No, it has nothing to do with your hair. There's an aura about you; I can feel it."

Kizaru held his chin and nodded in agreement. He felt the same way.

Others didn't react much to this. In their opinion, given Carl's remarkable talent, his strength was growing almost daily, especially over the past month.

"What are you all doing? Getting lazy when I'm not around, huh?"

Zephyr's voice boomed, and everyone froze, suddenly quieting down. The scene reminded Carl of the time when a teacher would suddenly appear at the classroom door during his studies on Earth.

The students began lining up quickly, and when Zephyr approached, they had already formed two neat rows, except for Lucia, who stood on Carl's right side.

She stood out among the male students as the only girl.

Zephyr noticed her and asked, "You must be Lucia, the new arrival. Come forward and introduce yourself to everyone."

Lucia remained motionless as if she hadn't heard him.

Zephyr frowned and was about to speak when Carl interjected, "Teacher Zephyr, my cousin is very shy and hasn't been out much. Please don't make her introduce herself. I've already introduced her to everyone. Lucia, apologize to Teacher Zephyr."

Lucia nodded obediently and whispered to Zephyr, "I'm sorry."

Her tone was stiff, but Zephyr didn't press the matter, merely nodding and thinking, "This Lucia seems a bit withdrawn. I hope she's not a female version of Sakazuki."

Sakazuki suddenly felt an itch in his nose and raised his hand to rub it. Zephyr continued, addressing Lucia,

"Then you should join the female students first."

However, Lucia remained unmoved until Carl spoke again. She then left the male students and joined the female group.

Everyone who witnessed this scene was secretly shocked, thinking that this cousin was overly obedient to Carl. If Carl weren't so young, some might even suspect that he was Lucia's father.

In fact, Carl himself was feeling a bit helpless. In some ways, Lucia's dependence on him was even more intense than Ginny's. He suddenly worried about how to handle the situation at night.

He decided that he must tell Lucia later not to follow him back to the dormitory at night—that would be troublesome.

At the female students' area, Jessica glanced back at Lucia, who stood at the end of the line with an indifferent expression, and nudged Ginny with her elbow, whispering, "Ginny, is Lucia really Carl's cousin? I don't think so!"

Ginny had noticed it long ago.

She initially thought that Lucia was a cousin Carl had reconnected with after returning to his family, but now it seemed things were not as they appeared.

After all, Carl hadn't been with his family since he was eight years old.

How could a cousin have such deep feelings for Carl? That behavior was completely obedient, almost like...

Carl's wife.

A sudden thought popped into Ginny's mind: "Could Lucia be Carl's fiancée?!"

Once this thought surfaced, it couldn't be shaken off.

Ginny stood there, her mind in turmoil.

The more she thought about it, the more uncomfortable she felt.

She had already begun to imagine the bloody scene where, after Carl returned to his family, the elders assigned him a fiancée. "Ginny? Ginny! What are you thinking about? Why aren't you saying anything?"

Jessica poked Ginny again, snapping her out of her thoughts, and she suddenly shouted,

"No! Brother Carl, don't agree to it!"

This outburst immediately drew everyone's attention to Ginny. Wide-eyed and blushing, she didn't dare to look at Carl, who was confused across the room, and said hesitantly,

"Uh, sorry, I was just... distracted."

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+60 chapters on p@treon/tambeerg

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