After several uneventful days of sailing, God Valley was not far away.
Within this massive fleet, the flagship was the vessel of a Marine Admiral.
By status, a mere Marine Admiral naturally could not compare to a noble Celestial Dragon, but Saint Saturn had chosen to stay here.
Two Marine Vice Admirals stood guard at the entrance to the warship's command room, while three figures sat inside.
They were Saint Saturn and Saint Vikengam, seated on the sofa, along with the current Marine Admiral, Steel Bone Kong, who was pouring them tea.
After placing the two cups of tea on the coffee table before Vikengam and Saint Saturn, Admiral Kong said respectfully, "Saint Saturn, Saint Vikengam, please."
"No need to stand on ceremony. Sit," Saint Saturn said, giving the Admiral considerable face.
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It was as though he were the master of this Admiral's vessel.
At those words, Admiral Kong relaxed slightly. He then respectfully sat on the sofa opposite them, without showing the slightest sign of slackening. Only half his backside touched the seat, presenting an efficient and capable air.
Although Saint Saturn and Saint Vikengam had also been aboard these past few days, aside from speaking with him on the first day, they had not shown themselves again. He had no idea what they wanted to discuss with him today.
"I heard that your other two colleagues wish to retire from the front lines?" Saint Saturn asked casually after lifting his teacup and taking a sip.
Admiral Kong immediately nodded. "That is correct. Seniors Scheder and Saul are both advanced in years. After fighting for the Marines for so many years, their old injuries have frequently flared up recently, so they do indeed intend to retire from active duty."
Among the current three Marine Admirals, Steel Bone Kong was the youngest. Of course, that was only relative. He had filled the vacancy left by the "civilian Admiral" who had been grievously wounded by Rocks in the Holy Land eighteen years ago and later died from his injuries.
However, he had not taken the position immediately. It had been nearly six years later—twelve years ago—that Steel Bone became a Marine Admiral. He was forty that year. During that period, the Marines had looked rather shabby with only two Admirals, the very two men just mentioned.
After that, the Rocks Pirates ran rampant across the seas, frequently clashing with the Marines and plunging the entire world into turmoil. That era was known as the "Rocks Era."
Against the backdrop of such a chaotic age, the pressure on the Marines was easy to imagine. Those two Marine Admirals had often been deployed and were injured time and again.
Now, both men were old. Coupled with the battles and pressure of all these years, their bodies truly could not hold up any longer.
"I see. The two of them have given their all to the World Government. Their toil and achievements are indeed considerable..." Saint Saturn said, still giving them due respect.
This was also one of his methods of managing subordinates.
However, before he could finish speaking, Vikengam, who had lifted his hot tea and brought it to his mouth, suddenly changed expression. He spat out the tea in one fierce spray, then hissed as he sucked in cold air. "Hot, hot, hot... It's burning me to death..."
The tea he spat out splashed across the coffee table, with quite a bit landing on Admiral Kong's suit and Saint Saturn's legs.
Admiral Kong was utterly startled. He immediately stood up and hurriedly apologized, "Saint Vikengam, my deepest apologies, I..."
The tea he had brewed had burned a Celestial Dragon's mouth? It sounded absurd and ridiculous, but if the man before him truly pursued the matter, Kong would have nowhere to plead his case.
Saint Saturn looked at the tea staining his trouser leg and frowned slightly. Somewhat displeased, he said, "Why are you being so careless?"
"Sorry, Grandfather. I discovered these past few days that my tongue is extremely sensitive to heat now. Even slight warmth makes it feel as though my tongue has been scalded. I wasn't paying attention just now..." Vikengam said, somewhat embarrassed.
"Oh?" Saint Saturn raised a brow. "Is that a side effect of your Devil Fruit? Are there any other effects?"
The so-called side effects did not refer to the well-known fact that Devil Fruit users could not swim and were rejected by the sea.
Rather, depending on the ability of each fruit, there could be certain special conditions with varying effects.
For instance, the Paramecia Hobby-Hobby Fruit had an outrageously powerful ability, but it also froze its user's appearance at the exact moment they ate the fruit. Eating it in the prime of one's life was one thing, but if someone ate it as a child like Sugar, then she would remain a little girl who never grew up for the rest of her life.
The side effect of Vikengam's Ice Zheng ability was that his tongue was abnormally sensitive to heat. A casual sip of warm water felt as though he had poured boiling water straight into his mouth.
Fortunately, that was all. When he noticed this side effect not long ago, he had feared that his whole body would be affected, so he conducted many tests. In the end, he confirmed that only his tongue feared heat. The rest of his body had no issues; in fact, due to the nature of ice, it had become even more resistant to high temperatures.
"No. It's just that my tongue can't handle heat," Vikengam replied with a shake of his head.
Saint Saturn was relieved. "That's good. It won't affect much..."
It could practically be said to have no effect at all. After numerous tests, Vikengam had confirmed that while he could not eat warm food, his taste buds preferred chilled food even more. Even plain ice tasted exceptionally delicious in his mouth. As for cooked dishes, if he exhaled a breath of frost to cool or freeze them before eating, they became even more flavorful and suited his palate.
Though he could not eat hot food, it did not hinder his pursuit of fine cuisine.
And if he coated his tongue in Armament Haki, he could still taste hot food.
Mm... an Armament Haki tongue? Maffie absolutely must not find out about this!
After blowing on his teacup and rapidly cooling the tea until it was nearly frozen into icy slush, Vikengam happily took a sip. Then he smiled at Admiral Kong. "Sorry, sorry. I gave you a scare. Don't worry about it—it was my own carelessness."
"No, Saint Vikengam is magnanimous. I am deeply grateful," Admiral Kong said respectfully, visibly relaxing.
From the corner of his eye, he saw that Saint Saturn seemed completely unconcerned about the tea stain on his trouser leg. This only convinced him further that the rumors of Saint Saturn favoring Saint Vikengam were true.
He absolutely could not offend this young Celestial Dragon in the future!
Once the small incident had passed, Saint Saturn resumed the earlier topic. "Do they have successors?"
Admiral Kong did not dare delay and immediately replied, "We have conducted some preliminary selections within the Marines. At present, Vice Admiral Sengoku, Vice Admiral Zephyr, and Vice Admiral Garp all possess the ability to shoulder the duties of a Marine Admiral."
"Sengoku, Zephyr, and Garp?" Saint Saturn repeated the three names. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Mm, I understand."
He did not say whether they were suitable or not.
This was also the tacit understanding between the Marines and the World Government. Under normal circumstances, even the Five Elders would not casually interfere with changes in the Admiral positions.
On the other hand, the position of Marine Fleet Admiral could not be easily decided internally by the Marines. It required the approval of the Five Elders, the World Government's highest authority, before anyone could take office.
As Vikengam listened to their exchange, he quietly calculated to himself. Mm... if I remember correctly, Zephyr should only be thirty-six this year. Barring any surprises, he'll be promoted to Admiral at thirty-eight, becoming the youngest Marine Admiral in history.
In other words, although there were already signs of this upcoming change in the Marine Admirals, it would take at least another two years before it could truly be implemented.
Perhaps... it also has something to do with the coming Battle of God Valley?
After the Battle of God Valley, the existing order would collapse, the Rocks Era would come to an end, and the seas would once more enter a chaotic age of contending powers. Roger would emerge as one of the greatest among them and usher in a new era.
During that time, with Rocks having finally kicked the bucket, the Marines naturally could not replace their Admirals in the middle of such a critical moment. No matter what, they would have to make those two Admirals hold on a while longer, waiting until the tides calmed before discussing retirement from active duty.
And within ten years at most, the Steel Bone Admiral before him would naturally rise to become Marine Fleet Admiral.
Judging from today's exchange between him and Saint Saturn, the Five Elders should be very satisfied with this Admiral. Steel Bone was indeed rather obedient. He clearly knew what would happen later at God Valley, yet he had not made the slightest attempt to stop it. What kind of justice did he follow, exactly?
The Marines truly don't have it easy, do they? Steel Bone, Sengoku, Garp... each of them must have their own difficulties, right? Vikengam mused.
On these seas, the Marines, known as the overlords of the sea, might actually be the force bound by the most shackles and forced to tread the most difficult path.
Just as Vikengam was thinking about these matters, the Den Den Mushi on Admiral Kong's desk suddenly began shrieking wildly.
At the sound, Admiral Kong's expression immediately grew much more serious. He had already given orders that during this voyage, he was to devote himself fully to protecting the Five Elders and Saint Vikengam. Unless something earth-shattering happened, no one was to disturb him.
For the Den Den Mushi to ring now meant something had happened!
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