Holy Land Mary Geoise, God's Residence.
The Jaygarcia Family estate stood near Saint Vikengam's bedchamber, where the temperature was utterly at odds with Mary Geoise's mild and pleasant climate throughout the year.
On several nearby streets, the precious flowers, grasses, and trees transplanted from all over the world had been completely frozen by frost, giving off an icy chill.
It was as if this area had somehow entered winter.
"Achoo!" A Celestial Dragon riding on the back of his fat slave suddenly sneezed as he passed nearby, then complained, "What's going on? Why is it so cold here? Bring me my cotton clothes! And get someone to light the heater!"
"Yes, Saint Shepherd!" The servants following beside him hurriedly responded and sprang into action.
The butler at his side also spoke up. "I heard Saint Vikengam returned from the lower world at noon yesterday. Ever since he came back from Pangaea Castle, the temperature around here has changed drastically. There are rumors that Saint Saturn bestowed upon him a Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit with frost powers."
"Huh?" Saint Shepherd froze for a moment, then snapped furiously, "That arrogant bastard is back? Saint Saturn really does spoil him. Even members of God's Knights need enough merit to obtain powerful abilities, yet he merely went down to the lower world for a few strolls and received such a reward... Damn it, the competition is just around the corner, and now he suddenly has the power of a Mythical Zoan. Won't he just lord it over me again?"
The butler beside him hurriedly 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 think too highly of yourself.
But on second thought, Celestial Dragons like his master were the mainstream in Mary Geoise, so there was nothing much to say.
After cursing for a while, Saint Shepherd waved his hand and said, "Is the Golden Pistol I had the artisan slaves make for me ready? That is my weapon for winning the competition. If it isn't finished before I leave the Holy Land tomorrow, kill their entire family... No, didn'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 changed his mind. "Forget it, no need to wait that long. Return to the bedchamber now and seize his daughter. Bring her to warm me up. It's all that damn Vikengam's fault for making this place so cold..."
While Saint Shepherd returned to commit evil, Vikengam was enthusiastically studying his new ability in the training grounds of his bedchamber.
As the young master of the Jaygarcia Family, the area occupied by his bedchamber within the family estate was second only to Saint Saturn's.
Given the Celestial Dragons' extravagance, the bedchamber naturally had every facility and venue one could possibly need.
For instance, the training grounds where he currently stood were where he had once specifically honed his fundamentals and tempered his body. Whenever he was away, Bartholomew Kuma would also train and cultivate here.
"Kuma, use all your strength and swing that iron rod at me," Vikengam ordered Bartholomew Kuma before him.
Bartholomew Kuma was clearly not hearing such an order for the first time.
At the beginning, several years ago, Bartholomew Kuma had felt frightened and uneasy whenever he received such commands. But after so much time had passed, he seemed to have grown accustomed to this form of sparring.
Even if he beat Saint Vikengam bloody and battered during this resistance training, he would not receive the slightest punishment afterward. Instead, he would even be rewarded.
That was one of the reasons he held Vikengam in such high esteem and remained loyal to him.
His master was broad-minded and unlike other Celestial Dragons.
Thus, the moment Vikengam finished speaking, Bartholomew Kuma let out a low shout. The muscles in his arms instantly tensed, and the heavy iron rod in his palm swept out in a half-circle, tearing through the air with a piercing shriek as it smashed toward Vikengam.
This showed just how terrifying Bartholomew Kuma's strength had become after eating well and training for several years, even though he was only nine this year.
He truly was worthy of being a Buccaneer with Giant Tribe blood.
In the past, Vikengam had used this method of taking hits to temper his Armament Haki. But today was clearly different. Rather than draw upon the Armament Haki within his body, he raised an arm and directly blocked the incoming iron rod.
"Ice Bone Clang!" Vikengam shouted.
Immediately afterward, frigid air erupted. In an instant, a suit of armor formed from condensed ice crystals manifested over the arm he had raised to block, perfectly enveloping the entire limb.
If someone could see through him, they would discover that Vikengam's arm had undergone far more changes than the ice crystal armor on its surface. The bones within had crystallized as well, becoming many times harder than his own skeleton. At the same time, the flesh of his arm seemed to have become more resilient, like piled snow, giving it greater room to absorb and disperse force.
With a clang, Bartholomew Kuma's iron rod struck Vikengam's arm, scattering ice crystals everywhere. Since Vikengam had only recently acquired this ability and was not particularly proficient with it, coupled with Bartholomew Kuma's explosive strength, fine cracks appeared across the ice crystal armor after the heavy blow.
Then the force penetrated the armor and reached Vikengam's arm. His muscles dipped slightly downward as the impact was swiftly dispersed, leaving no further effect.
To a certain extent, this strike had been perfectly blocked.
And that was not all. A biting chill instinctively spread out at that moment. In the blink of an eye, the iron rod touching Vikengam's arm was frozen over with frost, and the cold rapidly traveled along the rod toward Bartholomew Kuma's hands.
But Bartholomew Kuma did not seem surprised. He had clearly seen this before and appeared to have suffered from it as well. He reacted quickly, immediately releasing the rod and retreating several steps.
The next instant, vicious ice spikes rose from the end of the iron rod, piercing through the air for some distance before gradually losing momentum.
"Whew, I almost got frozen into an ice block again..." Bartholomew Kuma said with a slight sigh of relief.
On the other side, Vikengam nodded in satisfaction. "Not bad, not bad. This ability really is excellent. This frost counterattack is a completely natural reaction. I don't need to think about controlling it at all. That way, if anyone tries to ambush me in the future, they might freeze themselves if they aren't careful."
It somewhat felt like an icy thornmail effect.
The difficulty of developing a Zoan Mythical Zoan went without saying, but it also had a certain advantage: even without development, merely eating it would activate powers that could be considered instinctive.
Just like Kaido. One moment after eating the Azure Dragon Fruit, he could already breathe fire the next.
Such instinctive powers were activated from the moment the fruit was eaten. Subsequent development was merely a matter of increasing their strength.
Ice Zheng's instinctive powers were also formidable. For example, the technique Vikengam had named "Ice Bone Clang" allowed him, in an instant, to turn frost energy into exceptionally hard ice crystal armor and transform the bones and flesh throughout his body with frost-based traits. Not only did this make him incredibly tough, it also improved his ability to absorb and disperse force.
And that was only in human form. If he transformed into his beast form, silver-white frost fur would extend across the surface of his skin, further improving his ability to absorb and withstand force.
In short, his defense had greatly increased!
It was not only his defense. Although he had eaten the 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. For instance, he had begun training the moment he woke up this morning, yet he did not feel the slightest fatigue even now.
That would have been impossible in the past, and this change meant he had more abundant stamina. He could train for longer every day, which would undoubtedly allow his strength to grow more quickly.
This was clearly one of the hidden advantages of Zoan users.
At the same time, his recovery ability had changed enormously. Injuries were inevitable in this kind of resistance training. In the past, bruises and similar injuries would often take two or three days to heal, even with the Celestial Dragons' extensive medical resources.
But now, the bruising and contusions Bartholomew Kuma inflicted on him quickly faded away!
Then there was the increase in strength. Although Vikengam was also naturally gifted, he had been weaker than even nine-year-old Bartholomew Kuma in terms of raw strength. The boy now possessed the power of a giant.
Yet after gaining the power of a Mythical Zoan, Vikengam had still been at a disadvantage when wrestling Bartholomew Kuma that morning, but he could now barely hold his ground.
Moreover, he could clearly feel that his strength was continuing to increase naturally, like growth during development, and training could accelerate that process!
Mythical Zoans really were incredible! No wonder they were the T0 of the current meta—even the Straw Hat protagonist had to evolve in this direction and rely on cheats!
Before you continue