18 Chapter 18

Upon hearing Carnes' unexpected words, both Smoker and Tashigi were slightly taken aback. Almost simultaneously, a thought popped into their minds.

"Greetings?"

"Is he... friends with Vice Admiral Garp and Fleet Admiral Sengoku?"

However, this thought quickly vanished from their minds.

Him? Friends with Vice Admiral Garp and Fleet Admiral Sengoku?

Impossible!

Absolutely impossible!

Setting aside whether Carnes is a pirate or not, with such a significant age difference, how could Garp and Sengoku be friends with a youngster?

It's utterly absurd!

Carnes observed the change in their expressions and could roughly guess what they were thinking. However, he didn't bother to explain much. He had been silent for too long, lost in tranquility. He had been forgotten by those old folks a long time ago.

Asking Smoker to convey his greetings to Garp and Sengoku was merely an impulsive idea. It was a way to let those old folks know he was still around. But in reality, whether this message reached them or not was irrelevant to Carnes. Because he would let them know he had returned in a different manner.

"Captain~"

At that moment, shouts came from behind Carnes.

Carnes turned his head and saw his ship, the Eternal Gale, slowly approaching.

Looking at the scene on the Marine warship's deck, the crew members seemed downcast.

"Ah! I knew it, if Captain and Demiurge made a move, we wouldn't have anything to do."

"That's right, look, they're all bowing down."

"Sigh~"

"Sigh~~"

The crew members sighed, seemingly disappointed and helpless that they couldn't participate in the battle.

On the other hand, Veya's perception was completely different from that of the crew members.

Seeing the Marines kneeling down on the warship's deck not far away, Veya felt as if her vision had been struck.

Her pupils began uncontrollably shrinking.

"This... This can't be true, right? They... They won? Against all of them? Just two people against an entire warship and hundreds of Marines?!"

"Are these two guys even human?!"

"The number of Marines is so vast that even if you average it out, each of them would have to face hundreds of people. But even so, they won?!"

"This completely exceeds the limits of human capability, doesn't it?!"

Veya looked at Carnes and Demiurge on the warship, her face filled with an incredulous shock.

Even their eyes trembled intensely due to the tremendous impact of the scene before them.

On the warship.

Carnes looked at his more than twenty sighing crew members and couldn't help but laugh.

"Why are you all sighing as if you've suffered a defeat?"

One crew member sounded somewhat aggrieved.

"Captain, we also wanted to participate in the battle."

A crew member took the lead, and others immediately chimed in.

"Yes, Captain! We also want to fight with passion."

"With your and Demiurge's strength being so formidable, if you make a move, we wouldn't have anything to do."

"That's right! That's right!"

The crew members nodded in agreement.

Carnes couldn't help but glance at Demiurge beside him, finding the situation somewhat amusing.

Demiurge pushed his glasses and said, "It doesn't matter to me, but Captain, it's better if you don't handle everything personally. After all, these insects aren't worthy of experiencing the glory of being killed by your own hands."

"Sigh~" Carnes sighed helplessly and casually smiled at his crew members on the ship. "Since that's the case, I'll leave it all to you the next time we encounter something like this."

"But if you can't handle it, then Demiurge or I might have to intervene."

As soon as the crew members heard that Carnes had made arrangements for the future, their faces immediately lit up with enthusiasm.

"Really?!"

"That's great!"

"Don't worry, Captain. If something like this happens again, we will definitely handle it beautifully."

"Hehehe..."

Watching the crew members' excited expressions, Carnes shook his head helplessly.

He accompanied Demiurge back to the Eternal Gale.

Meanwhile, Veya, witnessing the crew members' reactions, widened her eyes in disbelief and a hint of fear.

"What? Are they battle maniacs? These guys?"

On the other hand, Carnes, who was about to return to his room to rest, suddenly remembered something.

This prompted him to immediately open his attribute panel to check.

[Influence Points]: 301

As he had anticipated, there was no system prompt for the increase in influence points.

"Can battles also increase influence points? And it seems that they are even more rewarding than recruiting crew members for gaining influence points."

"This small battle actually increased my influence points by more than a hundred..."

Carnes fell into contemplation.

Suddenly, he caught a glimpse of Veya standing not far away.

This sparked a new idea in his mind.

After a moment, a cry of surprise rang out, "Ah!"

Veya, who was still paying attention to the surrounding crew members, was suddenly lifted up by Carnes.

"Cap... Captain? What's happening?" Veya asked anxiously, turning her head with a trembling voice.

Carnes smiled.

"It's nothing. I suppose you don't really want to stay on this ship, do you? I'll give you your freedom back!"

Veya was momentarily stunned by his words.

Before she could react, Carnes shouted towards the Marine warship in front of them, "I'm giving this girl to you."

Without waiting for Veya's response, he simply threw her over.

"Swoosh!"

Opening his attribute panel once again, Carnes saw the expected result.

[Influence Points]: 300

"Indeed, it decreased, didn't it?"

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