About Ten Years

"Could that be Shandia's Golden Bell?"

"How could it be in the sky?"

"And Moon People? Turning into lightning—that must be from eating the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, right?"

"No wonder Shandia couldn't be found. The Rumble-Rumble Fruit had never appeared either."

"How far in the future do you think this 'god' will appear?"

Miming thought for a moment. "A long time. Around ten years."

"Ten years?" The Gorosei looked unconcerned. The Moon People did not understand the writing on the stone tablets anyway, so letting them guard the tablets was perfect. The Shandians had probably long since been wiped out by the Moon People, right? In that case, leaving things alone was best. Besides, even if they wanted to intervene, they had no idea where it would happen.

"Did you dream of anything else?"

"I also dreamed of a train—a long train like that—that could travel over the sea! It was incredible. Does something like that exist?"

"You mean Water 7's Sea Train experiment?" The Gorosei were overjoyed. "This is a project overseen by Enies Lobby, and it is still being tested. If it succeeds, it will connect Enies Lobby and Water 7. How long until it succeeds?"

"Very soon," Miming said. "It should happen within two or three years."

"Good news." The Gorosei were delighted. The Sea Train could strengthen the Marines' and Enies Lobby's control over the surrounding waters. They did not particularly care whether those islands became prosperous, but this dream was enough to prove the accuracy of Miming's foresight.

"What about what you said before—that Mary Geoise would become a sea of flames? Did you dream about it again?"

"Yes." Miming wore a grief-stricken expression. "I dreamed of it once more. Mary Geoise was engulfed in flames everywhere, and many people died, including Celestial Dragons. It should happen about a year from now."

After bullshitting with the Gorosei for a while, this trial finally came to an end.

The Twelve Gods briefly taught him several basic moves from the Six Styles of the Gods. It did not take much time, because the Gorosei had arranged a more important meeting.

"With your current strength, unless you encounter an Admiral or an expert on CP0's level, very few people should be able to take your life. You can cultivate on your own from now on."

The Gorosei said, "We intend to put you to some use."

Miming immediately objected. "Why? Work three hours a day like you do? No way. I'm very busy."

He could accept brutal training because it made him stronger, but working meant staying busy for someone else's sake. There was a huge difference. The Gorosei fully understood Miming's way of thinking, because that was how Celestial Dragons thought.

"Busy having heart-to-hearts with your female slave? Or flicking boogers onto people's heads?" Saint Ichi said. "We never stopped you from flicking boogers onto people's heads, nor did we stop you from casually wasting precious medicine on slaves. Just treat it as going out to broaden your horizons."

"What haven't I seen?"

Miming looked disdainful, but since the Gorosei had brought up so many things they had turned a blind eye to, he naturally had to show some tact.

Early the next morning, the roar of an engine sounded outside his home, accompanied by the beeping of a car horn.

Miming shot out of bed and rushed to the door. So this was broadening his horizons!

"This is... a car?"

Miming's eyes widened. Wasn't this an open-top jeep? It looked somewhat different, though. Tracks had replaced the tires, and he could imagine how formidable its cross-country capability was. The World Government clearly possessed quite advanced technology, but such vehicles were useless at sea, so they rarely appeared.

A very muscular old man stepped out of the vehicle. His hair was completely white, yet he had a mohawk standing tall down the center of his head. He looked like some roughneck soldier as he leaned there pressing the horn. If he had not been wearing a Justice coat, Miming would have thought he was a Celestial Dragon. After all, in the Holy Land of Mary Geoise, anyone who dared act this arrogantly would usually die unless they were a Celestial Dragon.

"Ah, this subordinate Kong has come to request an audience with Saint Jalmack's Son... What? The one before me is Saint Sanming? Please wait while I pick my nose."

The old man sounded respectful, yet he had no intention of getting out of the car. He was asking questions whose answers he clearly knew, giving off a distinct impression that he looked down on others.

"Bastard! Did you come here to fight?" Miming had already decided to take his car. In this absurdly enormous Holy Land, he did not want to walk on the moving walkways. Having a vehicle was important!

The old man flicked a finger. With a boom, the large tree outside the entrance snapped in response.

"Oh dear, my apologies. This old man is Kong, Commander-in-Chief of the entire military..." The muscular old man gave a light cough. Usually, by this point, Celestial Dragons would have been scared limp, and many CP0 agents would have rushed out with their subordinates.

"What the hell is an apology good for!"

The next moment, a fist slammed into Kong's face, sending him flying out of the vehicle.

Then Miming skillfully shifted gears, hit the accelerator, and drove off in a flash, racing up to a hundred...

Kong climbed back up. The CP0 agents at the entrance and Cairns, who had rushed over upon hearing the commotion, were all dumbfounded. When they saw it was Fleet Admiral Kong, they asked, "Fleet Admiral Kong, what is this? Did you come all the way here to get beaten up?"

Kong let out a collision-scammer's wail. "I've been assaulted! Robbery!"

Then he dashed after his own car.

Miming had barely enjoyed himself for two seconds when he suddenly saw a figure catch up. It was that old man Kong. He shot past the vehicle, then decisively sprawled flat in the middle of the road.

Without hesitation, Miming drove straight over him. The vehicle bounced off Kong's body and flew high into the air, then stalled and crashed back down.

Miming cursed loudly, "You damned old man, are you running a scam? You wrecked my car! Can you afford to compensate me?"

"Saint Sanming truly is extraordinary." A line of track marks ran across Kong's Justice coat as he gave an awkward laugh. "This is actually this old man's car."

Miming looked even more like a shameless deadbeat. "What? You say it's your car? Call it, then. Will it answer you?"

Kong: "..."

Miming said, "Since you seem fine, I'll be leaving!"

He stomped on the accelerator, but the car did not move.

"Hm?" Miming looked around. Why had the needle on the fuel gauge dropped straight to the bottom? Looking closer, that did not seem to be a gasoline symbol. Was it not powered by gasoline?

"Haha, this old man thought Saint Sanming knew how to drive!" Kong wore the expression of a crafty old fox pretending to be simple and honest. "You gave me quite a scare, hahaha!"

A few minutes later, Kong drove while Miming sat bored in the passenger seat, speeding toward the outskirts of the Holy Land.

The air car gave off a steady engine roar as it raced across the Red Line at lightning speed. So it was powered by compressed air, and once the compressed air was used up, it needed to be compressed again.

Kong's foot below moved at a speed too fast for the naked eye, tapping rapidly like he was working a clutch and repeatedly using Soru. In the blink of an eye, he compressed the air, keeping the vehicle at full pressure as it sped forward at full force. Ordinary people could not use this thing. The stronger one's legs, the faster it went...

"You said you'd give me a new one later!" Miming had only agreed to attend the meeting with Kong because of that.

The Gorosei's request was for him to attend the World Government military meeting that day and clearly explain that the Holy Land of Mary Geoise might come under attack.