One Piece: Signing In as a Pirate Begins with Roger's Execution

After leaving the prison, Karl returned to his quarters to grab his pouch of money before heading straight to the weapon shop in Loguetown.

He had his eye on the Sandai Kitetsu, but due to his lack of advanced swordsmanship, he had hesitated to wield such a cursed blade, fearing he wouldn't control it properly.

But now, Karl had no such concerns!

"Shopkeeper! Bring out the Sandai Kitetsu—I'm buying it!"

Karl waved a hand grandly, placing the Beris he had painstakingly saved on the counter.

Although the shopkeeper repeatedly insisted that this blade was only for those fated to wield it and refused payment, Karl wasn't about to take it for free. 

After all, as the base commander of Loguetown, setting a precedent of skipping out on debts would only make managing his subordinates more difficult.

Still, his savings from 18 years of allowances were gone in a flash.

"What a magnificent blade!" 

Karl unsheathed the Sandai Kitetsu, marveling at its craftsmanship.

But just as he was appreciating his new acquisition, an explosion erupted outside, interrupting his inspection. 

A thick white smoke filled the street outside the shop, and through the haze, the silhouette of a humanoid figure was faintly visible.

As Karl was trying to make sense of the situation, a chilling yet unmistakably familiar voice rang out from the street.

"Fuffuffuffuffu! Did you really think being a Logia Devil Fruit user makes you invincible? Pathetic!"

That distinctive laugh immediately clued Karl in—it was Doflamingo's voice!

Without hesitation, Doflamingo launched an attack, aiming to cut down the figure enveloped in smoke.

Karl seized the moment to strike!

A blade of sword energy sliced through the air like a mighty dragon, swallowing Doflamingo's assault whole before continuing toward him with undiminished ferocity.

The destructive force ravaged the street, leaving no part of it intact.

Caught off guard by the sudden assault, Doflamingo's expression darkened. He activated his Devil Fruit powers to defend himself, but even so, his strings were cut one after another.

The sword energy struck him, hurling him several meters away. 

Thanks to the layers of defense he had mustered, the blow was mitigated; otherwise, Doflamingo wouldn't have gotten off with just being sent flying.

Karl emerged from the weapon shop as the system's notification rang out.

[Doflamingo detected. Eligible for Sign-In!]

[Smoker detected. Eligible for Sign-In!]

The voice in Karl's head made him raise an eyebrow before turning his attention to the figure cloaked in white smoke nearby.

"Are you Smoker?" 

"You know me?" 

"Let's just say I do," Karl replied cryptically, walking over to pull Smoker off the ground by the hand.

[Sign-In with Smoker complete. Minor boost to all attributes!]

"Weak," Karl muttered.

His remark was directed at the system's underwhelming reward, but to Smoker, it sounded like a direct insult.

Though angered, Smoker couldn't deny the truth—he was weak.

"Fuffuffuffuffu! I never expected to see you here, Karl!" 

"Yo! Doflamingo, you're still alive?" 

Karl retorted with a smirk, his exaggerated expression dripping with mockery.

Karl and Doflamingo were acquainted, though they rarely crossed paths. The one thing Doflamingo knew about Karl was his connection to Garp. 

However, Doflamingo was clueless about Karl's strength or rank. At this point in time, Doflamingo had not yet risen to his future level of influence.

For Karl, any encounter with Doflamingo was an opportunity for mockery.

"Fuffuffuffuffu! This isn't the place to fight. We'll meet again!" 

With that, Doflamingo took to the sky, attempting to flee.

Having experienced Karl's overwhelming attack firsthand, Doflamingo knew he wasn't a match for him in his current state.

However, Karl wasn't about to let him escape.

With a powerful leap, Karl soared into the air, intercepting Doflamingo's path.

"That's Moonwalk from the Six Powers, isn't it?" 

Seeing Karl use the aerial technique, Doflamingo's brow furrowed.

"Since you've caused trouble in my territory, don't expect to leave so easily. How can I maintain order if I don't deal with you?" 

Karl grinned confidently, closing the distance to Doflamingo in an instant.

Caught off guard, Doflamingo hurriedly deployed his strings to block Karl's strikes, but they were effortlessly sliced apart.

Karl, now adept in Armament Haki, shredded Doflamingo's defenses as if they were nothing.

Seizing the opportunity, Karl grabbed Doflamingo by the face, slamming him into the ground and dragging him across the rubble. 

[Sign-In with Doflamingo complete. Armament Haki mastery acquired!]

Ten seconds later, Karl hurled Doflamingo into the air, following up with a powerful sword slash.

Still reeling from the beating, Doflamingo reacted too slowly. The blade of energy was upon him before he could mount a proper defense.

Just then, a wall of sand materialized, swallowing Karl's attack.

A man clad in a black coat and puffing on a cigar appeared midair, intercepting the blow.

[Crocodile detected. Eligible for Sign-In!]

"You're lucky to have sand shielding you. Fortune truly favors you," Karl quipped.

"Fuffuffuffuffu…" Doflamingo let out his sinister laugh, offering no gratitude to his savior before fleeing the scene.

Crocodile frowned, sensing Karl's jab was also aimed at him, though he couldn't prove it.

"Marine brat, if you intend to kill him, be ready to face me next. I'll turn you into a dried corpse!" 

With a final threat, Crocodile transformed into a sandstorm and vanished, clearly uninterested in prolonging the encounter with Karl.

"Tch, sand. Annoying stuff—fast for escaping and leaves a bad taste in your mouth."

With his enemies gone, Karl's opportunity to complete the Sign-In tasks slipped away. He turned back to Smoker.

"Smoker, why did you provoke those guys?" 

"I want to become a Marine, and he's a wanted pirate. If I capture him, I can join the Marines right away!" 

At this stage, Smoker was still young, though his future arrogance was already evident.

"Hah!" 

Hearing Smoker's reasoning, Karl rolled his eyes and prepared to leave. 

But then, he felt a piercing gaze fixed on him. 

Turning around, he saw a sharp-eyed man in a pink flower-patterned suit staring at him intently.

Karl recognized him immediately—it was the younger Dracule Mihawk! 

~~~~~~~~~~

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