Mythical Zoans Really Were Top Tier in This Era!

Holy Land, Mary Geoise, God's Residence.

The Jaygarcia Family's territory stood near Saint Vikengam's residence, and the temperature around it was utterly at odds with Mary Geoise's mild, pleasant climate throughout the year.

On several of the surrounding streets, precious flowers, grasses, and trees transplanted from all over the world had been completely frozen over by frost, radiating a biting chill.

It was as though this area had inexplicably entered winter.

"Achoo!" A Celestial Dragon riding atop his fat, burly slave passed through the area and suddenly sneezed. He immediately complained, "What is going on? Why is it so cold here? My cotton coat—bring me my cotton coat! And someone, light the furnace for me!"

"Yes, Saint Shepherd!" The servants following beside him hurriedly answered and sprang into action.

The butler at his side also said, "I heard that Saint Vikengam returned from the lower world yesterday at noon. Ever since he came back from Pangaea Castle, the temperature around here has changed drastically. There are rumors that that lord bestowed upon Saint Vikengam a Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit with frost-based powers."

"Ah?" Saint Shepherd froze for a moment, then flew into a rage. "That arrogant bastard is back? Saint Saturn really spoils him. Even members of God's Knights need a certain amount of merit to obtain powerful abilities, yet he merely took a few strolls through the lower world and received such a reward... Damn it, the tournament is right around the corner, and he suddenly obtained a Mythical Zoan power. Won't he just keep lording it over me again?"

Hearing this, the butler quickly began flattering him, saying pleasant things to soothe his master's mood.

Still, he could not help but complain inwardly.

Even without eating a Devil Fruit, Saint Vikengam would still lord it over you, wouldn't he? Saint Shepherd, you really thought too highly of yourself.

But on second thought, Celestial Dragons like his master were the norm in Mary Geoise, so there was nothing much to say.

After grumbling and cursing for a while, Saint Shepherd waved his hand and said, "Is the Golden Pistol I had the craftsman slaves make for me ready? That is my weapon for winning the tournament. If it is not finished by the time I leave the Holy Land tomorrow, kill their entire family... No, doesn't he have a daughter? Send her to my room then. I'll enjoy her properly..."

But as he spoke, he reached down and scratched at his crotch again. Then he changed his mind. "Forget it, no need to wait that long. Return to my residence now. Go seize his daughter and bring her to warm me up. It is all that damned Vikengam's fault for making this place so cold..."

While Saint Shepherd went back to commit evil deeds, Saint Vikengam was enthusiastically studying his own abilities in the training grounds of his residence.

As the young master of the Jaygarcia Family, his residence occupied an area second only to Saint Saturn's within the family territory.

And given the Celestial Dragons' extravagance, his residence naturally had every facility and venue one could possibly need.

For example, the training grounds where he now stood were where he had once specifically honed his basics and tempered his body. Whenever he was absent, Bartholomew Kuma also trained and cultivated himself here.

"Kuma, swing that iron club at me with all your strength," Vikengam ordered Bartholomew Kuma before him.

Bartholomew Kuma was clearly not hearing such an order for the first time.

When he had first received orders like this a few years ago, Bartholomew Kuma had felt frightened and uneasy. But after so much time had passed, he seemed to have grown accustomed to this kind of sparring.

Even when he beat Saint Vikengam bloody in this impact-resistance training, he would not receive the slightest punishment afterward. He would even be rewarded.

That was one of the reasons why he held Vikengam in such high esteem and remained loyal to him.

His master was a broad-minded, unusual Celestial Dragon.

Thus, the instant Vikengam finished speaking, Bartholomew Kuma gave a low shout. The muscles in his arms instantly tensed, and the heavy iron club in his hands swept out in a half-circle, tearing through the air with a shrill howl as it smashed toward Vikengam.

This alone showed how astonishingly strong Bartholomew Kuma had become after eating well and training for several years, even though he was only nine this year.

He truly was a member of the Buccaneer Tribe with giant blood in his veins.

In the past, Vikengam had used this kind of beating to train his Armament Haki. But today was clearly different. Rather than drawing upon the Armament Haki within him, he raised an arm and directly blocked the incoming iron club.

"Ice Bone Clang!" Vikengam shouted.

The next moment, cold air erupted. In an instant, a suit of armor formed from condensed ice crystals manifested over the arm he had raised to block, perfectly encasing it.

If anyone could see through him, they would discover that Vikengam's arm had changed in far more ways than merely gaining a surface layer of ice-crystal armor. The bones within his arm had crystallized as well, becoming countless times harder than ordinary bone. At the same time, the flesh of his arm seemed to have become more flexible, like piled-up snow, giving it greater room to cushion and disperse force.

With a clang, Bartholomew Kuma's iron club struck Vikengam's arm, sending ice crystals flying everywhere. Since Vikengam had only recently gained this ability and was not particularly proficient with it yet, coupled with Bartholomew Kuma's explosive strength, fine cracks spread across the ice-crystal armor after the heavy blow.

The force then penetrated the armor and reached Vikengam's arm. His muscles dipped slightly downward, the impact was swiftly dispersed, and then it had no further effect.

To some extent, the blow had been perfectly blocked.

And that was not all. A razor-sharp, bone-piercing chill instinctively spread out at that moment. In nearly the blink of an eye, the iron club touching Vikengam's arm was frozen over, and the cold rapidly traveled along the club toward where Bartholomew Kuma gripped it with both hands.

But Bartholomew Kuma did not seem surprised. He had clearly witnessed this before and apparently suffered from it as well. He reacted swiftly, immediately released the club, and retreated several steps.

The next instant, savage ice spikes rose from the end of the iron club, extending through the air before gradually losing their momentum.

"Whew, I almost got frozen into an ice block again..." Bartholomew Kuma said with a small sigh of relief.

On the other side, Vikengam nodded in satisfaction. "Not bad, not bad. This ability really is good. This frost counterattack is a completely natural response; I do not need to think about controlling it at all. That way, if anyone tries to ambush me in the future, one careless move and they will freeze themselves instead."

It felt somewhat like icy thorn armor.

Mythical Zoans were naturally difficult to develop, but they also had a certain advantage: even without any development, simply eating one could activate powers that were practically instinctive.

Take Kaido, for example. The moment after he ate the Azure Dragon Fruit, he could already breathe fire.

Such instinctive powers were activated from the moment one ate the fruit. Subsequent development merely concerned their strength.

Ice Zheng's innate powers were formidable as well. For instance, the ability Vikengam had named "Ice Bone Clang" allowed him to turn frost energy into extremely hard ice-crystal armor in an instant, while transforming the bones and flesh throughout his body to possess frost-like properties. It was incomparably hard, yet also better able to withstand and disperse force.

And that was only in human form. If he transformed into his beast form, silver-white frost fur would extend over the surface of his skin, further improving his ability to absorb and bear impacts.

In short, his defensive power had increased tremendously!

It was not only his defense. Although he had eaten this Devil Fruit only yesterday and had possessed its power for a short time, Vikengam could already feel that his physical abilities had been enhanced across the board. Take his stamina, for instance: he had begun training as soon as he woke up this morning, yet he did not feel the slightest bit tired even now.

That had been impossible in the past. This change also meant he would have more abundant stamina and could train longer each day, which would undoubtedly let his strength grow faster.

This was clearly one of the hidden advantages of Zoan users.

At the same time, his recovery ability had undergone an enormous change. Injuries were unavoidable in this kind of impact-resistance training. In the past, bruises and sprains like these would often take two or three days to heal, even with the Celestial Dragons' extensive medical resources.

But now, the bruising and sprains Bartholomew Kuma inflicted on him faded away very quickly!

Then there was the increase in strength. Although Vikengam could be considered naturally gifted, when it came to raw strength, he had not even matched nine-year-old Bartholomew Kuma. The boy now possessed strength comparable to a giant.

Yet after gaining the power of a Mythical Zoan, when Vikengam wrestled Bartholomew Kuma this morning, though he had still been at a disadvantage, he could already barely hold his ground.

Moreover, he could clearly feel his strength continuing to increase naturally, like growth and development, and training could accelerate that process!

Mythical Zoans really were fucking amazing! No wonder they were top tier in this era—even the Straw Hat protagonist had to evolve in this direction and cheat his way stronger!