Garp: I Think a Celestial Dragon Heard Me Insult Celestial Dragons?

"Forgive this presumptuous interruption; I deserve death for it. However, I have just learned an important piece of information that may interest you. I did not dare make the decision myself, so I came to seek your instructions," Saint Saturn replied in an exceedingly respectful tone.

"Oh?" Imu's slightly magnetic voice echoed once more within Saint Saturn's consciousness. "What information?"

Saint Saturn replied through their mental link, "I am currently heading to the non-member nation of God Valley in the West Blue alongside God's Knights and some Celestial Dragons..."

When God Valley was mentioned, Imu sent back a trace of displeasure. "Daring to overstep and claim the name of 'God' is already a capital offense. Extinguish their lamp this time, Saturn."

"That was my intention as well," Saint Saturn immediately replied.

He then continued, "The reason I personally came this time is because I learned that a descendant of the Davy Clan's bloodline is hiding on that island. After investigating for some time, I have confirmed it."

"Is this the trivial nonsense you wished to tell me?" Imu murmured with slight displeasure.

Clearly, while Imu did wish to wipe out the Davy Clan's bloodline, those incapable wretches were nothing more than ants in his eyes.

Saint Saturn was deeply alarmed by that dissatisfied tone and hurriedly explained, "No. I would never dare disturb your peace over such a minor matter. But the Marines just sent intelligence saying that the... unforgivable pirate Rocks is also heading for God Valley. Barring any surprises, we will meet at God Valley. I did not dare delay in reporting such a major matter to you."

"Rocks!" Imu's tone abruptly rose, carrying a faint note of hatred.

"You have done well, Saturn." Compared to some descendant of Davy, Imu clearly placed far greater importance on Rocks. He no longer felt that Saint Saturn had disturbed him for no reason.

Before Saint Saturn could say anything else, Imu spoke again. "Saturn, I will be watching you at all times from now on. Be prepared to receive my descent at any moment. This time, I swear to extinguish Rocks, that eyesore of a lamp!"

"Yes. I shall obey your divine decree, Lord Imu," Saint Saturn answered respectfully.

There was no further exchange. Imu had already severed the connection between their minds.

Only then did Saint Saturn open his eyes. He gazed deeply at the sea beyond the window and murmured, "Rocks... For eighteen years, I have been watching you. Have you now become qualified to serve as a bargaining chip, to be weighed...?"

Meanwhile, Vikengam remained at Admiral Kong's side, wanting to see what arrangements he would make.

Kong had quite the headache. He made several calls through Den Den Mushis, giving instructions to Sengoku, Zephyr, and the other Marine officers.

He was not telling them all to rush to God Valley. He was ordering them to prepare for the coming tide. Though intelligence had confirmed that Rocks, Roger, and the others were heading toward God Valley, what if they changed their minds midway and suddenly decided to cause trouble elsewhere?

If all Marine forces were concentrated at God Valley and Marine Headquarters was taken in one blow, who would bear the responsibility?

Listening to those Den Den Mushi calls, Vikengam also gained something from them. He came to understand, at least somewhat, what prompted many Marine strategic deployments and how their strategic logic operated. By seeing the small signs, he could use that knowledge to better predict Marine movements in the future.

After making so many calls, Vikengam still showed no sign of losing interest and leaving. That left Admiral Kong in an awkward position.

As far as Kong knew, Garp happened to be vacationing in the West Blue. He was also the nearest available helper. With something this major happening, Kong definitely had to inform him and ask him to help. But with Saint Vikengam standing right beside him, Kong did not dare call Garp through a Den Den Mushi. It was truly uncomfortable.

There could be no more delay, so after hesitating briefly, Admiral Kong made his decision and immediately dialed Garp's Den Den Mushi signal.

Before long, Garp answered. Before Kong could even speak, Garp's teasing voice came through.

"Big Brother Kong? I heard you were accompanying that bunch of trash for some kind of event. How do you have the time—"

Admiral Kong was so frightened that he nearly hung up the Den Den Mushi on the spot. Before that little bastard could finish, he roared, "Shut your damn mouth, Garp!"

At the same time, he looked anxiously at Saint Vikengam beside him.

To his surprise, Saint Vikengam burst out laughing. "Is that Vice Admiral Garp? Hahahaha, he really is an interesting fellow. I had heard that he was rather dissatisfied with us Celestial Dragons, but I did not expect him to be so unrestrained as to call us 'trash.'"

On the other end, Garp froze as well. Huh? There's a Celestial Dragon on the other end?

Did I get Big Brother Kong into trouble?

That made him somewhat nervous too.

"My deepest apologies, Saint Vikengam. Garp absolutely did not mean it that way. I will definitely teach him a proper lesson afterward and make sure that from now on—" Admiral Kong hurriedly explained.

But Vikengam did not care about such things. After all, he himself thought that most Celestial Dragons were trash. As for the remaining minority, they were the trash among trash, beasts among beasts. Only a very few exceptions did not fall into that category.

"Hahahaha, don't be so nervous. There is no need to care about it. I will not take my anger out on anyone over this. Still, Vice Admiral Garp's personality is truly interesting. Perhaps we will have many dealings with one another in the future..." Vikengam said with a laugh, waving his hand.

He had decided to break away from Mary Geoise at God Valley. Driven by curiosity about the mystery of the Void Century and Laugh Tale, he had already decided that afterward, he would join the Roger Pirates!

At this stage, only the Roger Pirates could help him uncover that secret!

This was not a spur-of-the-moment decision. On the contrary, he had been planning it for years.

That included learning how to decipher ancient script!

After all, the Roger Pirates did not accept just anyone. Especially not a Celestial Dragon like him, whose strength was nothing remarkable. For the elite-focused Roger Pirates, there was absolutely no need to take him in.

What was more, if they truly accepted a Celestial Dragon as a crew member, who knew how the World Government would torment them? Shanks was a complete accident, after all. No matter how one looked at it, the possibility of Vikengam being easily accepted by the Roger Pirates was nearly zero.

But if he could decipher ancient script, that would be a different matter!

By now, the Roger Pirates were already trying every possible means to locate that unknown final island, the place Roger would later name "Laugh Tale."

The problem was that although Roger could hear the Voice of All Things, he truly could not decipher ancient script. Because of that, they had wasted a long time. Only after obtaining information about the Kozuki Household from somewhere did they eventually turn to the Whitebeard Pirates and acquire Kozuki Oden, who could also decipher ancient script.

Only after Kozuki Oden joined the Roger Pirates did they truly gain the ability to find Laugh Tale.

And now, Kozuki Oden was still unknown to the world. Vikengam intended to seize Oden's place and significance within the Roger Pirates first. After all... he truly could not stand an idiot like Kozuki Oden.

If he got the chance, he even wanted to kill Kozuki Oden.

There was no other reason. It was simply personal prejudice!

As for Garp, if Vikengam truly got his wish and successfully joined the Roger Pirates, he really would have plenty of opportunities to deal with Garp in the future.

After all, if Shakky was the succubus of sea-going heroes like Roger, then Roger was Garp's succubus.

Their tale of one fleeing while the other pursued was known across the seas.