Chapter 2

— Doriki test concluded, everyone follow me! —

The Doriki test ended swiftly, with only three recruits garnering the most attention. The first was Karl, who had the highest Doriki score, followed by two with special abilities, Ain and Binz, with scores of 401 and 451, respectively. Karl regretted learning that he had the highest Doriki in the squad. Had he known, he would have just punched with his fist. Now, being the first to step forward, he would likely be given extra attention, which complicated his goal to relax.

— Ding! [Daily Task Released (Training Camp Phase)]: Idle for a total of 8 hours during daily training sessions, reward: 2 enhancement cards for chosen attributes, 2 random additional rewards.

— Damn, the daily rewards in the training camp are doubled?! — Karl just sighed, realizing it was a worthy task for a career.

— Ding! Warm reminder, the current linked profession is the Navy, and the rewards for career and daily tasks will increase with the master's rank.

— Master, please adjust your attitude; idling is not about performing poorly! —

Indeed. For Karl, idling is merely a means, while becoming stronger is the goal!

Kuzan, a man with a horse-like face, may seem as if he's always asleep, but he's actually very serious when there's work to be done. This attitude—idle when necessary, work when needed—is very much worth emulating for Karl.

Even after the Ohara incident, Aokiji always maintained this laid-back attitude, yet it didn't stop Sengoku from valuing Kuzan when he was about to retire and even recommending him for the next Fleet Admiral position.

What an icon in the world of idlers! There it is!

Unfortunately, he was criticized by the World Government, but he lost to the King of Roulette and left the world of idlers in despair.

Thinking about this, Karl involuntarily recalled the Fruit of Sacred Light he had just obtained. This fruit seemed to suit him perfectly!

No, don't worry. There are too many people around. Even if you want to eat it, not now.

With mixed feelings, Karl approached the training ground with the new recruits. Instructor Zephyr had been waiting for a long time.

Once everyone had gathered, Zephyr took the list from Charles , glanced at it briefly, put it aside, and shouted to them:

— Attention!

— I announce the start of the 24th Marine Training Camp! Everyone, line up to the right and run 50 laps around this field! Start now! —

At his command, all the recruits obediently began running around the field.

Zephyr used this opportunity to go over each recruit's information, occasionally conversing with Charles. Upon seeing Karl's information, he involuntarily asked:

— Hey~ The guy who was late turns out to be the strongest among this batch of recruits?

— Master Zephyr, yes, even I was very surprised. This handsome guy, he looks weak, but I didn't expect him to be so strong.

Zephyr nodded and patted Charles on the shoulder:

— Keep an eye on this guy, he has potential! —

On the track, Karl was running in the middle of the squad with a sour expression. He swore he was definitely idling, but the idling time wasn't accumulating.

Karl was almost overwhelmed with anxiety. If he wasn't careful, he might not even be able to complete his daily tasks. Would he have to pretend to be sick to avoid training, so they would consider him idle?

But that wouldn't work! This isn't military training from the world Karl came from. Pretending to be sick isn't that easy.

If this is discovered, given Zephyr's attitude toward Kizaru, it's very likely that the relationship between him and Zefa would spoil, and he could easily be expelled from the training camp!

After all, he's not Kizaru, the one with a powerful Devil Fruit power, he's just an ordinary marine with average talent.

An ordinary marine who doesn't put effort into training but just wants to idle to avoid training still wants to live a lazy life at Navy Headquarters?

— It has been detected that the host is in the idler's predicament. A time-limited task has been issued. Find a perfect way to avoid this training within 10 minutes.

Reward: Active skill [Fragile]: After using this skill, life span -3 days, defense -100%, chance of injury +1000%, and immunity to serious injuries (immunity to fatal injuries and their consequences), lasting for 3 minutes. PS: can be used only once every three days. —

Karl's eyes immediately lit up, and he felt like life had hope again. Worthy of the Idleness System, such foresight!

Idler's Autonomy!

Although it costs a bit of life, just three days, and is rarely used, not to mention that random rewards will grant life days.

But the question is, how can he perfectly avoid this training?

— Tsk-tsk~

Only ten minutes left, and Karl suddenly felt immense pressure, his gaze started wandering, and he involuntarily saw Ain confidently moving forward ahead of him and understood!

Decided, you! Ein!

This girl's ability is the regression fruit. If Karl remembers correctly, her ability can make people "smaller."

If he becomes a child, would Zephyr dare to force him to be a little friend? Want to run fifty laps with friends?

The plan is perfect! Starting!

Karl immediately sped up and caught up with Ain. He looked forward, but from the corner of his eye, he glanced at the youthful figure of Ein, smiling:

— Hey, Ain! Can you do me a favor?

Ain, who was focused on running, turned her head and saw Karl winking at her, his face slightly flushed.

Looking at Karl's handsome and cheerful smile, she was too shy to look him directly in the eyes.

She could only pretend to be indifferent and timidly replied:

— Well~ What do you want me to do?

Yes! Karl rejoiced inwardly; being handsome certainly has its perks!

If he looked like Foxy, he probably wouldn't have succeeded.

— Ein, I heard you have the regression fruit. Can you show me your ability? —

Ain furrowed her brow slightly and said bashfully:

— Um, Brother Karl, do you mean right now? —

— Yes, right now, try it on me! Don't worry, I'll take responsibility if anything goes wrong! —

Karl patted his chest, afraid Ain wouldn't believe him.

Ain heard that's impossible. She knew her ability very well! If she used it on Karl, he would definitely turn into a child. She could never do that to her colleagues.

— No, no, no, no, Brother Karl, I absolutely can't do that! —

Saying this, Ein immediately stepped back with a very firm stance.

Karl was furious and slapped her. Couldn't you appear better?

I'll teach you a lesson this time. If there's a next time, you won't be able to think about cleansing cream in this life!

Alright, if plan A fails, we still have plan B!

Running over to Ain again, Karl whispered:

— Ain, let me see your ability. You don't need to use it on me, okay? —

Karl's tone was pleading, and he looked at Yan sadly.

Time passed, and Ain couldn't withstand Karl's gaze, so he sighed helplessly.

He extended his left hand under Karl's watchful eyes, and a deep pink glow appeared from Ain's palm, flickering like a flame, mysterious and strange.

Now!

A glint flashed in Karl's eyes, and with lightning speed, he grabbed Ain's left hand with his right, holding it tightly and not letting go.

After his body transformed, Karl smiled easily, and the plan for "offense" was declared successful!

— This! —

Ain covered her mouth and was stunned by Karl's actions, but she quickly reacted and immediately tried to cancel her superpowers.

However, her ability activated instantly upon contact, and now it was too late to reverse it.

Karl, who had turned into a 14-year-old boy, tripped over his pants and fell to the ground. The marines behind him couldn't dodge in time and stumbled over Karl.

One after another, the commotion on the field quickly caught Zephyr's attention. Stopping the recruits who were running in circles, he reached Karl in one stride.

Zephyr frowned while looking at the amusing boy who was now draped in oversized clothes and asked in a rough voice:

— What happened? —

— Reporting to the instructor, I just asked Ain to demonstrate her ability. Out of curiosity, I touched her, and this is what happened... —

— What a joke!!! You're training, not playing house! Ain, is it cool to have powers? Do you really need to show off to your colleagues? —

— I, I... —I made a mistake, Instructor Zefa!—

Ain wanted to say something, but soon, under Zefa's stern gaze, she wilted, admitted her mistake, and took the blame for Karl.

— Hmph! What are you looking at? Don't you need to train? Keep running!—

— Come here, both of you!—

Zefa left with a frown. Karl whispered to Ain:

— Sorry, I'll make it right later!—