Two Saints Face Off!
His heavy heart and indifferent expression only eased slightly when Vidal was pushed to the other end and stepped down. He squinted at the huge iron gate in front of him, having long since grown tired of the Holy Guard Army guarding the area.
To be honest, judging from the aura emanating from these Holy Guard Army, their strength wasn't actually that great. He felt they were no different from the First-Class Seaman at headquarters, except they wore a set of fine full-body armor.
While this armor may seem like paper to skilled fighters, it does offer a significant advantage in combat among fighters of the same level. At the very least, the swords and spears of ordinary First-Class Seaman should be largely ineffective against it.
"Open the door!!"
Passing through the massive, rising iron gate, Vidal immediately saw Pangaea Castle on his left. However, the government official leading the way was heading to his right, causing him to withdraw his gaze and silently follow.
"Hmm, Mary Geoise truly lives up to its name as Holy Land. It's Marineford. Has it not yet reached the Land of the Gods?" Vidal exclaimed, gazing at the various Western-style buildings rising and falling in the distance.
He also noticed that since stepping onto the surface of the Holy Land, he had never seen the original color of the Red Line again. All he could see were gray stone bricks and very normal pale yellow soil.
"We'll be there soon," the government official leading the way replied softly.
He was very fast, but it took him a full seven or eight minutes to reach the second large iron gate, which was exactly the same as the first one. The only difference was that the other side of the iron gate was a beautiful town with a completely different style, with various small buildings with blue roofs and manors.
"This must be the place where Saint Charlos met Saint Rozwald, riding Saint Rosward, after Saint Mjosgard severely injured his face with a Donquixote club during the Reverie in 1524."
Vidal watched the large iron gate slowly rise and pondered to himself, but the moment the street inside came into view, he froze in place.
"This is... the Imperial Way?"
Before him lay a magnificent imperial Imperial Way leading straight into the depths of the Land of the Gods. It not only perfectly replicated the sun, moon, stars, dragons, phoenixes, and qilin, but it also appeared to be made of silver, while the bas-relief patterns on it were made of gold.
Holy crap, that's incredibly extravagant! They spent 100 million Beli on Sabaody Archipelago and still weren't satisfied, so they built an even more luxurious one in their own neighborhood!
"Can I walk this road too?" Vidal asked hesitantly, pointing to the 'Gold and Silver Imperial Way'.
"Of course not, we'll take this stone path over there." The government official said as he automatically walked toward the path to the right of the Imperial Way.
"On the Imperial Way in the Land of the Gods, only Celestial Dragons, or those wearing gloves and shoe covers, carrying Celestial Dragons slaves, are allowed to walk on it. No one else, including the Holy Guard Army and even us, is permitted to set foot on it."
"I think so too." Vidal was not surprised by this at all, and he was particularly understanding of the idea of allowing slaves to walk while being ridden.
In Mary Geoise, given the Celestial Dragons' frail bodies, they would be exhausted to death just walking around.
"So, where should we meet now?"
Because Vidal didn't see any Celestial Dragons or slaves along the way.
The Celestial Dragons are gathering in the Central Park of the Gods.
After walking for another ten minutes or so, they seemed to have arrived at the very center of the Land of the Gods. Vidal looked at the suddenly appearing dense forest in front of him and was speechless.
"Good heavens, the castle used for administration is called Pangaea Castle, and this Celestial Dragons' neighborhood even has a Central Park. I have to say, that creator god really has a twisted sense of humor."
But regardless, he outwardly feigned enjoyment, taking a deep breath and laughing, "So many trees, how delightful!"
"Hehe, it's precisely because the Celestial Dragons know your preferences that they specifically chose this location," the government member in front of him complimented.
As they talked, they walked along a clearly man-made forest path, but the path was covered with soft, comfortable grass instead of bricks.
"Looks like we've finally arrived."
Although he hadn't seen any Celestial Dragons yet, Observation Haki had already allowed Vidal to sense many auras ahead, especially three of the most powerful ones, which made his heart sink.
Needless to say, these are definitely members of CipherPol's highest agency, AIGIS0. They are known as the Celestial Dragons' strongest shield, and it is rumored that each of them is comparable to the Marine Headquarters' top combat force, Admiral!
"It seems the rumors were just rumors. Although these individuals possess strong auras, they are clearly inferior to Teacher Sengoku and Teacher Zephyr."
It was obvious that even AIGIS0s weren't all ridiculously strong; they were about the same strength as himself at this moment, Vidal thought to himself.
Just as Vidal heard the commotion ahead, the man who had led him all the way stopped, bowed to him, and said...
"The meeting place is just ahead; please proceed on your own."
"Okay, go ahead."
Vidal didn't mind, smelled the aroma of various delicacies in the air, and walked directly past him into the party area.
"Yo, Rear Admiral Vidal has finally arrived!!"
Just then, an excited shout drew the attention of all the Celestial Dragons who were playing around to Vidal.
Vidal looked at the person who had called out, a delighted smile spreading across his face as he walked over. "Oh, it's Saint Rosward! It's been a long time."
That's right, the first person to greet him was none other than the Celestial Dragons had previously enjoyed the services of Road Sealing, opening, Imperial Way, and who was also the father of the future Saint Charlos who would be severely beaten twice.
Speaking of that Saint Charlos, he was born around 1500, which is a bit of a shame. I really want to see if that unfortunate kid had a face that deserved a beating since he was a child.
"Haha, it's been a long time. Every time I go to Sabaody, you're always out. I'm so tired of seeing Colonel Noel's face."
Although Saint Rosward was full of complaints, he was immediately pleased that Vidal recognized him at a glance and even took the initiative to come over. Didn't he see that he had become the most dazzling Celestial Dragons in the entire room?
"Rear Admiral Vidal, have you forgotten me?" At this moment, another person walked over, but there was a hint of resentment in his voice, which made Vidal stop and look at the other person.
"Hey, it's Raymond de Saint! Of course I remember you. You were the first Celestial Dragons to hear about 'The Bible Future: The Descent of God'!"
Having said that, Vidal changed direction, turning his steps from Saint Rosward towards Raymond de Saint, while continuing to praise him.
"Oh, right, I've been wanting to thank you in person. Thank you for those two Devil Fruits; I really love this gift!"
"Haha, two Devil Fruits are nothing. I'll give you another one when you leave!" Raymond de Saint looked at Vidal, who was bowing to him in gratitude, and then at the Celestial Dragons' focused gazes around him. With a generous wave of his hand, he gave away another Devil Fruit.
Vidal seemed oblivious to the displeasure on Saint Rosward's face, though not directed at him, but at Raymond de Saint.
"Hmph, it's just Devil Fruit, Rear Admiral Vidal, I'll give you two!" Saint Rosward stepped forward, confronting Raymond de Saint with a displeased expression.
"Hey, I've given away Devil Fruit!"
"Yeah, I remember giving one away too, uh, I can't remember."
At this moment, the Celestial Dragons around them started discussing it, but as they talked, they became unsure whether they had actually given it away or not, because in their eyes, this thing was simply not worth mentioning.
"Hmph, those are for exchanging for hymn services, mine is a pure gift!" Raymond de Saint stood beside Vidal, proudly raising his chin.
Thank you bdhjenjd for the 100-coin reward! Thank you so much!