Don't Hold Us Back Anymore, Garp.

The Den Den Mushi stayed silent for a long time, and Vice Admiral Tsuru did not urge for a response either.

After a few minutes, Admiral Kong spoke up with a helpless tone. "According to Saint Saturn's wishes, we are just to treat that person like an ordinary pirate. The only thing to watch out for is that we cannot take his life; everything else is fine. But that being said, can we really act like this?"

Hearing this, Tsuru also said with extreme helplessness, "Of course not. Putting everything else aside, if we really capture him, how are we supposed to handle it? We would definitely have to send him back to Mary Geoise. By then, he might not go down to the lower world to be a pirate anymore, but given his status, if he decides to stir up trouble for the Marines out of sheer boredom, we won't be able to stand it either."

That was the biggest concern!

As long as Saint Vikengam still held the status of a Celestial Dragon, the Marines would find themselves in a terribly awkward spot.

In the original story, the Marines pounded Donquixote Doflamingo with absolute thrill; Vice Admiral Tsuru went to deal with him whenever she had free time, and things only calmed down a bit after he became one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea.

Why?

It was because Donquixote Doflamingo had his divine registry revoked, and Mary Geoise no longer recognized his status as a Celestial Dragon.

Naturally, there were no reservations after that.

Saint Vikengam was different, though. If you arrested him today, you couldn't just lock him up in Impel Down like Donquixote Doflamingo. You could only send him back to Mary Geoise, and you would still have to do it with the utmost respect.

What would happen if he were sent back to Mary Geoise? Undoubtedly, he would resume his original attitude as a Celestial Dragon. When that time came, given his status as the young master of a Five Elders family, if he decided to throw a wrench in the Marines' plans or cause trouble purely out of boredom, who could possibly handle that?

"So, at this stage, there is indeed nothing we can do about him. And if he truly intends to shelter the Roger Pirates, we don't have any good way of handling that either. The best course of action right now is simply to wait," Admiral Kong said softly.

If Garp were the one hearing this, he might have asked what they were waiting for.

Tsuru, however, was undoubtedly a smart person. After a moment of silence, she said, "Wait until he actually causes a massive uproar, and then see how Mary Geoise deals with him?"

"Yes," Admiral Kong said. "You said that he and the Roger Pirates are very likely plotting a major event, so let them do it. We can't stop anything right now anyway. When the time comes, if this major event genuinely angers the World Government, the situation might change. If Saint Saturn strips him of his Celestial Dragon status, then our Marines will be able to take action."

Yet, even as he said this, Admiral Kong felt a bit uneasy in his heart.

Although their contact was limited, every time he recalled the interactions between Saint Saturn and Saint Vikengam back then, it made Kong couldn't help but wonder: could that noble adult really possibly deprive Saint Vikengam of his Celestial Dragon status?

In this world, many problems were utterly insoluble, leaving people to rely solely on waiting in pursuit of a future change that might or might not appear.

This was precisely the case right now.

Although Tsuru felt this approach was entirely passive, what could she do?

A short while later, she melancholically hung up the call with Admiral Kong, leaned against the city wall, and lost herself in thought.

On the other side, Vikengam was casually chatting with Garp.

"Why is it that you're always chasing after us Roger Pirates?" Vikengam lit a cigar and handed it to Garp.

Garp usually didn't smoke such things, but considering Vikengam's status, he still took it and clamped it between his teeth.

"You're pirates, and I'm a marine. Isn't that only natural? Look at you instead—a Celestial Dragon, doing nothing all day and running around with pirates. If you want excitement, I can recommend that you join the Marines. Come catch pirates on the vast sea with me; isn't that much more interesting than this?" Seeing that this guy Vikengam was different from ordinary Celestial Dragons, Garp spoke much more casually.

"Being a marine has no future. The Marines can't untie—" Vikengam slowly exhaled a puff of smoke, his tone carrying a hint of wistfulness.

"Untie what? Stop leaving your sentences half-finished, will you?" Garp said with great dissatisfaction upon hearing this.

"Hahahaha, it's nothing. Don't worry about the details. Speaking of which, I saw the newspaper a few days ago and it said your son established some sort of Self-Defense Army in the South Blue. How interesting. Wasn't he a marine before?" Vikengam changed the subject.

After the Battle of God Valley, Dragon chose to leave the Marines, a matter that had not caused much of a stir since he was still just a nobody back then.

The only thing people paid any attention to was his background as Garp's son.

After leaving the Marines, Dragon didn't quite know what to do, drifting aimlessly through a two-year period of confusion before suddenly establishing an organization named the "Self-Defense Army" in the South Blue not long ago.

It was just that the Self-Defense Army at that time was not yet the revolutionary army dedicated to rebellion that it would later become; it belonged to the category of a legal civilian armed organization.

Organizations like that were practically a dime a dozen on the grand sea, and the World Government didn't care about them at all.

It was only later, when the Ohara Incident erupted, that Dragon truly recognized the cruelty of the World Government, prompting him to resolve to change everything, transform the Self-Defense Army into the Revolutionary Army, and launch a rebellion.

"Whose fault is that if not you Celestial Dragons? If you hadn't wreaked havoc at God Valley, how could Dragon ever have—" The mere mention of this made Garp's blood boil.

"Don't come bother us anymore, Garp." Without letting him finish, Vikengam suddenly straightened his expression and said solemnly.

Garp was momentarily stunned. Before he could speak, Vikengam lightly exhaled a puff of smoke and said, "Surely, having experienced the incident at God Valley, you harbor many doubts in your heart as well. And we are currently searching for the truth behind it all. You need to distinguish between what is light and what is heavy, so even if you can't help us with anything, at the very least I hope you won't hold us back."

This time, Garp truly fell silent. He stood on the spot, his mind replaying everything from God Valley, and his gaze turned quite gloomy.

After a long while, Garp finally wrenched himself free from those memories. He looked at Vikengam with an extremely complex expression and said, "You are a Celestial Dragon, yet you want to..."

"Precisely because I am a Celestial Dragon, and it seems like everything in this world is easily within my grasp, I want all the more to do things that aren't so boring, Garp." Vikengam interrupted him with a smile.

"Then why are you telling me all this?" Garp looked at Vikengam and asked.

"Because Roger said he trusts you very much. Although our stances are hostile, he said the two of you have long since become friends who can entrust each other with their lives. And as an eyewitness to God Valley, I watched your performance the entire time; you are truly completely different from the rest of the Marines, Garp. Perhaps in the future, we won't necessarily have to stand on opposite sides, so today I'll plant a seed for you in advance." Vikengam smiled and said.

If Nika truly was the key, then some threads needed to be planted now.

Vikengam thought this to himself.

Hearing Vikengam say that Roger regarded him as a friend worthy of entrusting one's life to, and recalling the scene at God Valley where the two of them advanced side by side to face the enemy together, Garp felt a turmoil of complex emotions in his heart.

"Alright, enough said. If I don't leave now, my little buddies might start worrying about me. So, until next time, Vice Admiral Garp." Vikengam smiled, waved at Garp, and then swung up onto his camel and slowly rode away.

Watching that gradually dissolving ice wall, Garp wore an equally complex look in his eyes, his mind a whirl of unvoiced thoughts.

When Vikengam's figure was about to fade out of his line of sight, Garp softly muttered to himself, "Friends, huh? Damn you, Roger..."