A Sip of Tea: First Spray the Five Elders, Then the Marine Admiral

After several uneventful days of sailing, God Valley was not far away.

Among this massive fleet, the flagship was the vessel of a Marine Admiral.

By rank, 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. Inside were three figures.

They were Saint Saturn and Saint Vikengam, seated on the sofa, and the current Marine Admiral, Steel Bone Kong, who was pouring them tea.

After placing two cups of tea on the table before Vikengam and Saint Saturn, Admiral Kong said respectfully, "Saint Saturn, Saint Vikengam, please."

"No need to trouble yourself. Sit," Saint Saturn said, giving the Admiral some face.

It was as though he were the true master of this Admiral's vessel.

Hearing this, Admiral Kong relaxed slightly. He then respectfully sat on the sofa opposite them, without showing the slightest hint of ease. He only rested half his backside on the seat, giving off an efficient, capable air.

Saint Saturn and Saint Vikengam had been aboard for the past few days, but 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 your other two colleagues intend to step back from the front lines?" Saint Saturn asked casually after taking a sip of tea.

Admiral Kong immediately nodded. "That is correct. Seniors Scheder and Saul are advanced in age, and after fighting for the Marines for many years, their old injuries have recently flared up from time to time. They do indeed intend to retire to secondary positions."

Of the Marines' current three 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 of his injuries.

However, Kong had not taken the position immediately. It was nearly six years later—twelve years ago—that Steel Bone became a Marine Admiral, at the age of forty. During that time, the Marines had been in a rather embarrassing state, with only two Admirals: the two men just mentioned.

Since then, the Rocks Pirates had rampaged across the seas, clashing with the Marines time and again and plunging the entire world into chaos. That era was known as the "Rocks Era."

Against such a chaotic backdrop, the pressure on the Marines was obvious. Those two Marine Admirals were frequently deployed and often injured.

By now, both were old. Combined with years of warfare and pressure, their bodies truly could not hold on much longer.

"I see. The two of them have given their all for the World Government. Their merits and hardships are indeed great..." Saint Saturn said, still giving them due respect.

This was also one of his methods of controlling his subordinates.

But before he could finish, Vikengam, who had lifted his hot tea to his mouth, suddenly changed expression and sprayed it out in one fierce burst. He then hissed, "Hot, hot, hot... It's scalding me to death..."

The tea he spat out splashed across the table, with quite a bit landing on Admiral Kong's suit and Saint Saturn's trousers.

Admiral Kong was badly startled. He immediately stood up and hurriedly apologized. "Saint Vikengam, my deepest apologies, I..."

The tea he had brewed had scalded a Celestial Dragon's mouth? It sounded absurd and ridiculous, but if the other side truly pursued the matter, he would have nowhere to seek justice.

Saint Saturn looked at the tea-stained leg of his trousers, his brow furrowing slightly as he said with some displeasure, "Why are you being so careless?"

"Sorry, Grandpa. These past few days, I've noticed that my tongue is especially sensitive to heat now. Even a little warmth makes it feel as though my tongue has been scalded. I wasn't paying attention just now..." Vikengam said awkwardly.

"Oh?" Saint Saturn raised a brow. "A side effect of the Devil Fruit? Is there any other impact?"

The so-called side effects were not the well-known inability to swim or the sea's rejection of Devil Fruit users.

Rather, they were special circumstances that differed according to each fruit's power.

For example, the Paramecia-type Hobby-Hobby Fruit possessed an utterly outrageous ability, but it also froze the user's appearance at the exact moment they ate the fruit. Eating it in one's prime was one thing, but if someone like Sugar ate it as a child, she would remain a tiny loli forever.

The side effect of Vikengam's Ice Zheng ability was that his tongue was abnormally sensitive to heat. Drinking even a mouthful of warm water felt as though he had poured boiling water directly into his mouth.

Fortunately, that was as far as it went. When he first noticed this side effect not long ago, he had feared it would affect his whole body, so he conducted several tests. In the end, he confirmed that only his tongue feared heat. The rest of his body was unaffected and, due to the nature of ice, was actually more resistant to high temperatures.

"No, it's only my tongue that can't handle heat," Vikengam replied with a shake of his head.

Saint Saturn was relieved. "That's good. It won't have much of an impact..."

It could practically be said to have no impact at all. After many tests, Vikengam had confirmed that while he could not eat warm food, his taste buds preferred cold food even more. Even plain ice cubes tasted delicious in his mouth. As for cooked delicacies, if he exhaled a breath of frost to cool or freeze them before eating them, they became even fresher and more suited to his taste.

Though he could not eat hot things, it did not affect his pursuit of good food.

And if he coated his tongue in Armament Haki, he could still taste hot food.

Hmm... an Armament Haki tongue? Maffie must never find out about this!

After blowing on the teacup and rapidly cooling the tea until it was nearly frozen into slush, Vikengam happily took a sip before smiling at Admiral Kong. "Sorry, sorry. I gave you a scare. Don't mind it—it was my own carelessness."

"No, Saint Vikengam is magnanimous. I am deeply grateful," Admiral Kong said respectfully, finally relaxing a little.

From the corner of his eye, he saw that Saint Saturn seemed completely unconcerned about the tea stains on his trousers. He became even more convinced 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 previous topic. "Do they have successors?"

Admiral Kong did not dare delay and immediately replied, "The Marines have conducted some preliminary selections internally. At present, Vice Admiral Sengoku, Vice Admiral Zephyr, and Vice Admiral Monkey D. Garp all possess the ability to shoulder the duties of Marine Admiral."

"Sengoku, Zephyr, and Garp?" Saint Saturn repeated the three names. After pondering 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 lightly interfere with changes in the Admiral positions.

On the other hand, the position of Fleet Admiral could not be casually decided within the Marines. It had to receive the approval of the Five Elders, the World Government's highest authority, before anyone could assume the office.

Listening to their exchange, Vikengam silently calculated. Hmm... if I remember correctly, Zephyr should only be thirty-six this year. If nothing unexpected happens, he'll become an Admiral at thirty-eight, the youngest Marine Admiral in history.

In other words, while this round of Admiral replacements had already shown some signs, it would still take at least around two years before it could truly be finalized.

Perhaps... it also has something to do with the coming battle at God Valley?

After the battle at God Valley, the existing order would collapse, the Rocks Era would come to an end, and the seas would once again enter a chaotic age of heroes vying for supremacy. Roger would rise above them and usher in a new era.

Rocks had finally died, so naturally the Marines could not replace their commanders at such a crucial time. No matter what, they would have to make those two Admirals hold on a little longer and only discuss retirement after the tide had eased.

And in at most ten years, the Steel Bone Admiral before him would naturally rise to become Fleet Admiral.

From his interactions with Saint Saturn today, the Five Elders seemed quite satisfied with this Admiral. Steel Bone Kong was indeed rather obedient. He knew perfectly well what would happen at God Valley later, yet he did not make the slightest attempt to stop it. What kind of justice did he uphold, exactly?

The Marines really don't have it easy. 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 ocean, might actually have been the force burdened 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 squawking wildly.

Hearing it, Admiral Kong's expression immediately turned much more serious. He had previously given orders that throughout this voyage, he was to devote himself entirely to protecting the Five Elders and Saint Vikengam. Unless something earth-shattering happened, no one was to disturb him.

Now that the Den Den Mushi was ringing, something had clearly happened!