The Oxhead Battleship Surrounded!
In the Holy Land, Mary Geoise, in the Hall of Authority, the Five Elders sat or stood, but all listened with their eyes closed, listening to the magnificent, solemn, and awe-inspiring low chanting.
Although there are no lyrics, the imagery in the music truly evokes a strong sense of unattainability and ineffable nobility. To be honest, even those who hold the highest power in the world are hearing this kind of music for the first time in their lives.
They've listened to this piece, "The Bible Future: The Descent of God," countless times these past few days. After each discussion of noteworthy matters, they'd have this piece played to savor the brief moment of emotion.
"No matter how many times I listen to it, it always stirs my emotions. The music is great, and the title is great too!" The blond man with a golden beard shook his head and exclaimed sincerely.
"Yes, although I've said it several times, I'm still amazed by Vidal's musical talent. Even if he didn't stay in the navy, he would be a world-class musician." The man, wearing a black flat cap and leaning on a cane, praised him highly.
The music had stopped, and the magnificent, empty hall returned to its usual silence.
"You can tell from his music that this kid has a strong affinity for the 'descendants of God.' We haven't seen such high-quality naval prospects in a long time."
The words of the man wielding the First Generation Kitetsu resonated with the others. Even the obedient Sora and Sengoku knew that they were only acting out of a sense of justice, order, and balance, not because they genuinely believed in the existence of the Celestial Dragons.
Garp exemplified this most clearly, but given his strength, his victory over Rocks, and his accumulated achievements over the past decades, the Celestial Dragons could only pretend not to see it.
Those who openly acknowledge the Celestial Dragons, like Vidal, are truly rare.
"This kind of person is actually more suitable to join my CIPHER POL. Once he has fully matured, he can become our strongest shield and serve as the commander of CP0!" the blond, bearded man in a suit laughed.
"No, you don't lack people like that. I think Vidal would be perfect for the navy."
Holding the First Generation Kitetsu, the Five Elders glanced coldly at the other party, their eyes behind their glasses making no attempt to conceal the warning, for he was the supreme leader of the entire government's military forces, and whether it was the Commander-in-Chief, the Fleet Admiral, or the Admiral, Admiral were all his direct subordinates.
Therefore, Vidal is one of his men in the navy, but he is not yet qualified to be directly under his command.
The blond man smiled at his expression but said nothing. Then, the goatee-bearded old man, who was in charge of scientific research and history, asked, "I heard he's recently obtained quite a few Devil Fruits from those idiots?"
"That's right, there are already more than twenty, and there will be more and more until most of the Celestial Dragons have received one." The blond man nodded; as the head of Cipher Pol, he was in charge of espionage and intelligence.
"What does he need so many Devil Fruits for?"
"It's said to be for collection, and also for giving to family and subordinates." The blond man recalled the information he had seen in the past few days. "According to the information, that's indeed the case. Vidal's adopted son Bullet, his subordinate Major Vincent, and Colonel Noel all received their Devil Fruit abilities from him. If nothing unexpected happens, he should give one to his other two adopted sons when they grow up as well."
"And this kid seems to want to create a family, like the Forest family of Germa 66's Vinsmoke."
After listening, the other four understood. The old man with the white beard, who had been silent all along, chuckled and said, "So that's how it is. He wants to turn these Devil Fruits into his own resources. He's got quite the ambition."
"If it's a family loyal to the government, then we should support them. Let them be. All the Celestial Dragons combined are only about a hundred people; it's not a big problem."
The one wielding the First Generation Kitetsu is clearly helping Vidal; he doesn't really care about a hundred or so Devil Fruits.
No one else had any objections, except for the one with the mustache who added a comment.
"However, we still need to control the types of Devil Fruit away, otherwise those idiots will dare to give away any kind of fruit."
The other four naturally understood what this meant: trust is trust, but precautions must still be taken.
On the first section of the Grand Line's third route, Vidal ran into trouble; simply put, his 'Oxhead Battleship' was surrounded!
Yes, Commodore Forrest Vidal, who has many titles such as "Horn of Justice" and "Green Bull," was surrounded by a pirate crew from "Paradise." Isn't that hilarious?
Why choose the path to hell when there's a road to heaven?
However, to be fair, this pirate crew was quite large. Vidal stood on the deck and looked around at the sea. There were five pirate ships that were only two sizes smaller than the warship. The ship he was standing on was a large warship with a capacity of a thousand people. More than 90% of the pirate ships were nothing compared to it.
"Four hundred people per ship on average? That's quite a lot of troops." Vidal quickly assessed the enemy's numbers with a sweep of his Observation Haki, then turned to Major Rogers behind him and asked, "Have you ascertained their identities?"
Such a large pirate crew shouldn't be nobodys, but he thought for a long time and still couldn't recognize those skull and crossbones flags. Logically, this shouldn't be the case, as he always takes a look at them whenever a bounty is posted.
"The skull is wearing a red top Gentleman and a green collar; it should be the Shepherd Pirates, but..." Rogers hesitated, looking at the intelligence and bounty poster he had just found.
"But what?"
"However, the captain of this Shepherd Pirates, Yes, only has a bounty of 13 million Beli, and according to information updated a year ago, this should be a small pirate crew with no more than twenty members."
Vidal understood what he meant. If the information was correct, then the large and powerful pirate crew in front of them was very suspicious.
"It seems that Yes has had some extraordinary encounter this year!"
This situation is actually quite common. This vast ocean is full of countless opportunities and mysteries. As long as you are lucky enough, even if you were just a lowly nobody, you may become a figure who stirs up the wind and waves a year later.
"Get the men ready for battle. Whatever his extraordinary adventures may have had, since he dared to provoke us, let him stay and earn military merit!"
"Yes!"
Although the enemy numbered over two thousand, Major Rogers never showed any fear, nor did the sailors on deck, who were on guard, because they had confidence not only in themselves but also in Vidal's towering figure.
If it were the inexperienced naval personnel in the Four Blues divisions, they might have doubts about individual combat capabilities. However, the naval personnel at the Marine Headquarters are well-informed and know that some powerful individuals cannot be dealt with simply by numbers.
"Yes of the Shepherd Pirates might as well be called Jesus; he must be religious, right?"
Thinking about the beliefs of this world, Vidal recalled the '****' book he had seen in Sleep Ancient Town. Could it be that this group of pirates across from him all believed in this?
It seems that the future Bartholomew Bear also believes in this. By the way, how old is this bear this year?
In the tense atmosphere of impending battle, Vidal stood at the bow of the ship facing the sea breeze, lost in thought, completely oblivious to the 'dangerous' situation of being surrounded.
Thank you kakeyi for the 1500 reward! Thank you so much! Also, welcome to the reader group, thank you!
Thank you so much, Golden Rabbit Silver Dragon Hammer E, for the 325 yuan donation! Thank you, thank you! This person is an old acquaintance and has been in the group for a while!
First of all, following a reader's suggestion, I've changed the synopsis again. Ahem, those who are interested can take a look and then share their thoughts in the book review section.
Finally, let me confirm, I can give those hero names to Vidal's retainers, right? I don't want names like Garen, Darius, Hecarim appearing, and then I'll be blamed for changing the art style.