As a Cat-Cat Fruit user, Ice Zheng had the form of a tiger crossed with a leopard, which also meant its explosive power was exceptionally formidable.
However, Vikengam had yet to test just how powerful that was. For now, he had only seen a tremendous increase in speed.
At the same time, his reactions had become far sharper. Perhaps that was also thanks to the Cat-Cat Fruit?
Tomorrow, he would be setting sail with Saint Saturn and the others for God Valley. Although everyone regarded it as nothing more than the triennial "school trip" they had long grown accustomed to, no different from before.
But Vikengam knew very well that once they arrived at God Valley, it would become the most elite battlefield on these seas!
Even the Summit War that would erupt at Marine Headquarters—Marineford in the future seemed somewhat inferior compared to God Valley.
Garling, who was stronger than him now, would be nothing more than a speed bump there, casually carved up like a melon by the monsters of the sea. Vikengam himself went without saying.
Clearly, that was not his stage. Once he arrived at God Valley and the great battle erupted, he would merely be a backdrop—a lackey.
In a war of that caliber, someone at his level would not be much different from Saint Shepherd, who had passed by his home earlier. The aftershocks from the clashes of top-tier powerhouses alone would be enough to leave him struggling to cope.
So, in this very short period, Vikengam focused his ability development in two directions.
One was strengthening his defenses, and the other was increasing his speed.
Simply put, survival came first, opportunism second. He would coast if he could, and run when he had to.
"God Valley clearly isn't a stage where I can stir up storms yet. But if my Haki can elevate my Sharingan to the level of the Mangekyo Sharingan in the future, then once I activate Susanoo and wrap myself in Ice Zheng's Mythical Zoan power, won't I be slaughtering enemies left and right?" Vikengam thought smugly.
Even as these thoughts ran through his mind, Vikengam's hands never stopped moving. This time, he was not training his resistance to blows, but developing another ability.
"Frost-Heaven Mirror Image," Vikengam said softly.
Biting cold erupted from beneath his feet in an instant. At incredible speed, it covered the training ground, which was as large as two football fields, in the blink of an eye. The ground froze solid, while moisture in the air condensed into sheets of ice crystals that drifted slowly down. Jagged, countless ice crystal pillars and spikes rose haphazardly from all around, radiating frosty air and displaying their savage forms.
It truly lived up to the power said to freeze a thousand miles in a fit of rage, All Things Mournful Ice. Vikengam felt that if this freezing speed and intensity were properly developed in the future, its destructive display might not be inferior to Kuzan's Logia-type Ice-Ice Fruit.
Its intensity might even surpass that of natural frost, given the ice power of a Mythical Zoan.
Though he was thinking this, Frost-Heaven Mirror Image was clearly not intended merely to freeze and alter the surrounding environment. Vikengam held his hands before his abdomen, palms facing each other without touching. A trace of cold rapidly condensed between them into a smooth mirror surface, reflecting streaks of icy light.
The instant that icy light aligned with a distant ice pillar, Vikengam's figure abruptly vanished from where he stood, leaving behind only a wisp of freezing air.
Immediately afterward, an ice pillar over a hundred meters away shattered. Amid the exploding shards of ice, Vikengam's figure had already appeared there.
This was a high-speed movement technique Vikengam had conceived and developed, inspired by Haku's Ice Release Kekkei Genkai and Borsalino's Yata Mirror ability. Haku had been born in the same year as him, while Borsalino would one day rise to the rank of Marine Admiral.
For now, one could still vaguely trace his path by following the freezing air, and its range was not particularly large—at most just over two hundred meters. But if he continued developing it in the future, its potential was quite considerable.
Who knew? Once fully developed, perhaps it could be called true long-range teleportation.
Still, developing an application for his power in such a short time was enough to prove that Vikengam truly possessed considerable talent in developing Fruit abilities, even if this technique was still quite immature.
"That's amazing, Master!" Bartholomew Kuma exclaimed when he saw Vikengam suddenly appear over a hundred meters away as though he had teleported.
Hearing Bartholomew Kuma's amazement, Vikengam smiled without becoming too smug.
Come to think of it, Bartholomew Kuma was the true master of teleportation—provided he could still obtain the Paw-Paw Fruit this time.
Time passed quickly, and early the next morning, Mary Geoise stirred to life.
The gates of God's Residence swung open, and large numbers of Celestial Dragons began leaving in groups, heading toward the Red Port in the direction of the West Blue.
There were a great many people in the accompanying procession. Nearly every Celestial Dragon brought along more than a dozen, even dozens of servants. From afar, the entire group was a vast, bustling mass, with too many heads to count.
Naturally, the members of God's Knights walked at the very front.
Saint Figarland Garling, who led them, imagined himself soon winning the beauty's hand, becoming the user of the Azure Dragon Fruit, greatly increasing his strength, and dominating the Four Blues. At the same time, he scanned the surroundings.
Then, somewhat puzzled, he asked, "Why don't I see that fellow Viking?"
His position as a core figure in God's Knights naturally meant he was exceptionally outstanding among the younger generation of Celestial Dragons. Garling had once believed that no one among his generation would ever be worthy of being called his opponent.
Until Saint Vikengam of House Jaygo Lucia began to emerge a few years ago.
In terms of strength, Vikengam could not compare with him at all right now. But in terms of talent, Vikengam had displayed aptitude even greater than Garling's in his youth. Saint Saturn had publicly praised him on multiple occasions—who in Mary Geoise did not know of Saint Saturn's favoritism toward Vikengam?
Especially since he had heard that, two days ago, Vikengam had personally been granted the power of a Mythical Zoan Fruit by Saint Saturn.
Garling himself had not even become a Mythical Zoan user yet!
Thus, Garling took Vikengam quite seriously. According to his father, if there were changes within God's Knights in the future, Vikengam could be said to be a formidable rival for his position as commander, or even for competing with him for the future post of Commander-in-Chief!
It was even highly possible that if Vikengam caught Imu's attention, it would affect Garling's standing in Imu's eyes.
That was right. As the current commander of God's Knights, Garling had signed the Deep-Sea Contract, making him one of the very few Celestial Dragons who knew of Imu's existence. He understood very clearly that while God's Knights appeared to be a blade protecting the Celestial Dragons, in truth, they were Imu's blade.
Of course, although he vaguely felt Vikengam would become his competitor, Garling was too proud to suppress Vikengam at a time like this.
It was not that he had never entertained such thoughts. The main reason was that neither he nor his father could afford to offend Saint Saturn, one of the Five Elders. In this era, the Figarland Family was ultimately still inferior to the Jaygarcia Family.
Thus, in the eyes of outsiders, Garling played the role of a "good big brother," happy to see rising talents strive forward, friendly and united, with the magnanimity to tolerate others.
As his slightly puzzled words fell, Saint Shepherd Sommers, a mainstay of God's Knights who walked beside him half a step behind, grinned. "He boarded the Marine Admiral's warship with old man Saturn early this morning. He won't be traveling with us."
Although Sommers's status within God's Knights was lower than Garling's, from a broader perspective, his identity was somewhat more impressive.
For example, Garling would never dare call Jaygarcia Saturn Saint "old man." He would only respectfully address him as "Saint Saturn" or "Lord Saturn."
But Sommers dared to do so. The reason needed no explanation: he was from the direct line of the Shepherd Family, one of the Five Elders' families, and was also its young master. His standing within the Shepherd Family was equivalent to Vikengam's in House Jaygo Lucia.
As members of the Five Elders' families, all five young masters could use more intimate forms of address for these five supreme authorities.
Garling felt slightly displeased upon hearing this, but on the surface, he seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. "That's good. Sailing overseas carries risks in the end. I was thinking of having him stay by our side so I could protect him, but it seems he has a better choice. Now I'm relieved."
With a Marine Admiral and Saint Saturn both aboard the same warship, its strength and security were obviously greater than theirs.
Sommers did not have any particular feelings toward Vikengam. In fact, they got along rather well, since he too was the young master of a Five Elders' family.
It was only because Saint Saturn was personally going to God Valley this time. If it had been the old man of his own family instead, he would also be aboard the Marine Admiral's ship right now.
Boarding alone took nearly half a day before all these noisy Celestial Dragons finally boarded the fleet.
It was nearly noon before the Celestial Dragon fleet, escorted by multiple Marine warships, slowly set sail toward God Valley.
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