"Please forgive this presumptuous interruption. I deserve death for disturbing you, but 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 exceptionally respectful tone.
"Oh?" Imu's slightly magnetic voice echoed through Saint Saturn's consciousness once more. "What information?"
"Your subordinate is currently heading to the non-affiliated nation of God Valley in the West Blue alongside God's Knights and some Celestial Dragons..." Saint Saturn replied mentally.
When God Valley was mentioned, Imu sent back a faintly displeased response. "Daring to overstep by using the name of God is already a capital crime. Extinguish that lamp this time, Saturn."
"That is precisely what I intended," Saint Saturn replied at once.
He then continued, "The reason I came personally this time is because I learned that descendants of the Davy Clan bloodline are hiding on that island. Through my investigations over this period, I have confirmed it."
"Is this what you came to tell me? Such trivial matters?" Imu murmured with a hint of displeasure.
Clearly, although Imu did intend to eradicate the Davy Clan bloodline, those incapable fools were nothing more than ants in his eyes.
That dissatisfied tone left Saint Saturn deeply terrified, and he hurriedly explained, "No. I would never dare disturb your peace over such a trifling matter. However, the Marines have just sent intelligence saying that the pirate who deserves death... Rocks, is also heading for God Valley. Unless something unexpected happens, we will meet at God Valley. I did not dare delay in reporting such a major matter."
"Rocks!" Imu's voice suddenly rose, carrying a trace of resentment.
"You have done well, Saturn." Compared to some Davy descendants, Imu clearly cared far more about Rocks. He no longer felt that Saturn had come to bother him for nothing.
Before 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 I will extinguish that eyesore known as Rocks!"
"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 consciousnesses.
Only then did Saint Saturn open his eyes. He gazed deeply out at the sea beyond the window and murmured softly, "Rocks... For eighteen years, I have kept watch over you. Now, are you qualified to become a bargaining chip, to be weighed...?"
Elsewhere, Vikengam had been following Admiral Kong around, wanting to see what arrangements he would make.
Kong was also suffering from a terrible headache. He made several Den Den Mushi calls and gave instructions to Sengoku, Zephyr, and the other Marine officers.
He was not asking them all to rush to God Valley. He was telling them to prepare for the coming tide. Although intelligence had confirmed that Rocks, Roger, and the others were heading toward God Valley, what if they changed their minds halfway and suddenly decided to cause trouble somewhere else?
If all Marine forces were concentrated at God Valley and Marine Headquarters was taken in one stroke, who could bear that responsibility?
Listening to those Den Den Mushi conversations, Vikengam gained quite a bit as well. He came to understand, at least somewhat, what prompted many of the Marines' strategic deployments and how their strategic thinking operated. From small signs, he could infer larger patterns. In the future, it would help him gauge the Marines' movements.
Seeing that Vikengam still showed no sign of losing interest and leaving even after he had made so many calls, Admiral Kong felt increasingly uncomfortable.
As far as he knew, Garp happened to be vacationing in the West Blue. He was one of the closest available reinforcements, and something this significant absolutely had to be reported to him so he could help. But with Saint Vikengam standing beside him, Kong did not dare call Garp on a Den Den Mushi. It was truly awkward.
He could not delay any longer. After hesitating briefly, Admiral Kong made his decision and immediately dialed Garp's Den Den Mushi signal.
Before long, Garp picked up. Before Kong could even speak, Garp's teasing voice came through.
"Big Brother Steel Bone? I heard you were accompanying that bunch of trash for some event. How do you have the time—" Garp opened with a bombshell.
Admiral Kong was so frightened that he nearly hung up the Den Den Mushi. Before that brat could finish speaking, he roared, "Shut your damn mouth, Garp!"
At the same time, he looked anxiously toward Saint Vikengam beside him.
To his surprise, Saint Vikengam burst into laughter. "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 never expected him to be so unrestrained. He called us 'trash'?"
On the other end of the Den Den Mushi, Garp froze as well. Huh? There was a Celestial Dragon over there?
Did I get Big Brother Steel Bone into trouble?
That made him somewhat nervous too.
"My deepest apologies, Saint Vikengam. Garp absolutely did not mean it that way. I will certainly 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. He personally thought that most Celestial Dragons were trash, while the remaining few were even worse—trash among trash, beasts among beasts. Only an extremely small number of exceptions fell outside that category.
"Hahahaha, don't be so nervous. There is no need to care. I will not hold a grudge over this. Besides, Vice Admiral Garp's personality is truly interesting. Perhaps we will have many opportunities to deal with one another in the future..." Vikengam said with a laugh, waving his hand.
He had decided to leave Mary Geoise at God Valley. And because of his 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 for it for years.
That included learning how to decipher the Ancient Language!
After all, the Roger Pirates did not take just anyone, especially not a Celestial Dragon like him who was not particularly strong. For the elite-focused Roger Pirates, there was absolutely no need to recruit him.
What was more, if they really recruited a Celestial Dragon as a crewmate, who knew how the World Government would torment them? Shanks was purely an accident. No matter how one looked at it, the chances of Vikengam being easily accepted by the Roger Pirates were almost zero.
But if he could decipher the Ancient Language, that would be a different matter entirely!
By now, the Roger Pirates had been trying every possible means to find that unknown Final Island, the place Roger would later name "Laugh Tale."
But the problem was that although Roger could hear the Voice of All Things, he truly could not decipher the Ancient Language. Because of this, they had wasted a long time. It was not until later, when they somehow obtained information about the Kozuki Family, that they finally turned to the Whitebeard Pirates and gained Kozuki Oden, who could also decipher the Ancient Language.
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 take his place in the Roger Pirates first, assuming the role and significance that would otherwise belong to him. After all... he truly found an idiot like Kozuki Oden utterly unbearable.
If he had the opportunity, he even wanted to kill Kozuki Oden.
There was no other reason. It was purely personal prejudice!
As for Garp, if Vikengam could truly get his wish and successfully join the Roger Pirates, then there would indeed be plenty of chances to deal with Garp in the future.
After all, if Shakky was the succubus of Roger and the other great figures of the seas, then Roger was Garp's succubus.
Their story of one running and the other chasing was known by everyone across the seas.
Before you continue