Float-Float / Nomination as a Candidate

Kizaru gently stroked his chin, striking a thoughtful pose.

Atlas wasn't lying to Kizaru about this; everyone knows that Tokikake and Kizaru are the two most handsome men in the Marine Headquarters.

Atlas slowly landed on the deck, casually tossing 'Sakura Ten' and 'Kogarashi' at Smoker.

"Keep it safe, it's my trophy."

"This is...?"

"Ah, the Golden Lion's sword."

Chapter 152 Floating

Bull ~ Bull ~ Bull ~

Suddenly, a Den Den Den Mushi) chimed on Kizaru's body.

"It must be Sengoku -san calling to inquire about the situation..."

As Kizaru spoke, he raised the small Den Den Mushi on his left wrist, "Moshi moshi... Huh? Moshi moshi... This is Borsalino."

Kizaru scratched his head, puzzled, and looked at the Den Den Mushi in his hand from side to side, muttering to himself, "Strange? Is it broken?"

Smoker, somewhat embarrassed, interrupted, pointing to Kizaru's Suit pocket, "Vice Admiral Kizaru, do you think it's possible that the Den Den Mushi that made the sound wasn't actually the one on your wrist...?"

"Oh~" Kizaru Satori, reached into his pocket, answered the Den Den Mushi, and turned to Smoker to thank him, "Thanks, sir~"

"Hey! Borsalino, how's the support from Atlas?"

As Kizaru expected, Sengoku's voice came through the Den Den Mushi. It was calm, but you could clearly sense his concern.

"By the time I arrived here, the battle was already over, Sengoku -san~"

Kizaru lazily slackled off.

"Hmm? How's the battle going? Did the Golden Lion escape?"

Sengoku was clearly unaware of the current situation of Golden Lion, after all, Golden Lion had concealed his whereabouts too well, and there was no intelligence about him over the past eight years.

"No, Atlas is too terrifying; he's already killed the Golden Lion."

Kizaru glanced briefly at the composed Atlas and said casually.

"What!!?"

Den Den Mushi, on the other end of Sengoku Den Golden Lion, was shocked. As someone who had personally fought Shiki dozens of times, he was very qualified to speak about Golden Lion's strength. Even though his abilities had declined due to injuries and age, even with Akainu and the other two's current strength, it would still take them half their lives to truly kill him!

Could it be...?

Thinking of this, Sengoku quickly asked, "How is that brat Atlas? Was he not seriously injured?"

Kizaru's expression turned strange upon hearing this. He recalled how Atlas had taken a fatal blow from Golden Lion before his death, and how his severe injuries had healed in a short time. This kind of unheard-of self-healing ability was something he had never heard of before. Only Kaido's Mythical Zoan Awakening had such a level of power, but the effect would never be this good.

"No, Atlas is doing great right now!"

Sengoku was startled, leaning back against the cushion behind him, his mind filled with Kizaru's words.

In good condition...

By the way, how old is that brat Atlas again this year?

East Blue, Loguetown.

Behind the island where Loguetown is located lies a remote coastline, a place rarely visited by anyone.

On a towering reef, Atlas sat cross-legged on a flat rock he had carved, his posture upright, but his eyes were somewhat vacant, as if he were lost in thought.

Smoker and Ace have been settled in the Marine Base in Loguetown and will be heading back to Marine Headquarters in a day or two, thus ending their vacation.

Kizaru, under Sengoku's instructions, returned to Marine Headquarters to take charge. After all, although Akainu and the other two did not hold the rank of Admiral, their combat strength was undoubtedly at the Admiral level, and there had to be an Admiral combatant at Marine Headquarters to be under their command. Kizaru himself was happy to do such a job.

After all, Impact Marine Headquarters is a very rare and foolish thing for Pirates; it's only happened a handful of times in history. So Kizaru is quite happy to stay at Marine Headquarters and clock in. He doesn't want to fight to the death in the New World. Isn't it better to just slack off at work?

"It seems the color of the pattern is a bit deeper than the other Talisman..."

Atlas focused his consciousness on the Talisman and was immediately puzzled; the appearance of the Chicken Talisman had indeed changed slightly.

Ever since his fight with Golden Lion, he's been quite envious of the Float-Float Fruit's abilities; at least he could have aerial combat capabilities without needing Geppo, which would be quite worthwhile.

However, in terms of sheer expressiveness, the Chicken Talisman doesn't seem as powerful as the Float-Float Fruit. It's just that its concept is much higher, somewhat like a superior version of the Float-Float Fruit. Unlike the Float-Float Fruit, it doesn't only affect non-living entities other than itself, and it doesn't require the user to make contact. It sounds much more awesome than the Float-Float Fruit.

The combination of the Chicken Talisman and the Rabbit Talisman would likely grant Atlas mobility comparable to Vice Admiral Kizaru.

However, the Chicken Talisman has several obvious flaws in the original work.

Whether the Chicken Talisman is activated by telekinesis or some kind of levitation force is unclear, in terms of sheer power, even Jade, who is considered a plot Jade in the entire series, could only control a few hundred pounds of objects for a short while before becoming breathless. She simply couldn't control the clouds and rain or have mountains and seas under her control like the Golden Lion.

However... it seems there's been a slight change?

Atlas withdrew from the mental space, slowly extending his palm and gently activating the Chicken Talisman that had already been lit in his mind.

"Shishiwei· Imperial Scroll?"

Atlas was too lazy to come up with a name, so he simply borrowed the name of the Golden Lion's move. Anyway, he's offline now, so suing him for copyright infringement wouldn't do any good.

As soon as he finished speaking, a majestic lion's head appeared on the sea not far away. Its fur was clearly defined, and almost every fang in its open mouth gleamed with a chilling light. This was a complete replica of the Float-Float Devil Fruit Ability.

No! It has to be even stronger!

Atlas sensed that he could control objects without even touching them! It was the same with living beings, except that it was useless against powerful beings like Kaido and Big Mom; he could only slightly interfere with them.

"This change... must be related to the Golden Lion's Float-Float Fruit."

Atlas stroked his beardless chin, watching the water lion gradually dissipate in the distance due to the loss of its power to control it. After a moment's thought, he understood the key to the matter.

The main reason is that this change in the Chicken Talisman only occurred after the Golden Lion's death, so Atlas can only attribute it to the effect of the Float-Float Fruit.

"Next..."

Bang!

Atlas plunged into the churning sea, wanting to confirm whether the Chicken Talisman had also brought the demonic curse of the Float-Float Fruit with it.

Splash!

Fortunately, he is not currently cursed by the sea; it seems the Horse Talisman has triggered its effect of removing negative influences.

P. S. The Chicken Talisman's performance in the original work should be similar to what I wrote. Anyway, I feel that the Chicken Talisman is clearly inferior to the Float-Float Fruit in terms of power.

Chapter 153 Nomination Candidate

Marine Headquarters, Marineford.

Sengoku Office.

Sengoku, Garp, and Vice Admiral Tsuru, three veteran naval officers, were gathered in this small office.

Oh, right, there's also Kizaru with a lazy look on his face.

"So, Atlas defeated the Golden Lion all by himself?"

After listening to Kizaru's report, Sengoku remained silent for a moment before slowly asking a question. Although he knew perfectly well that Kizaru had probably been slacking off at the time, he didn't bother to argue.

"Yes, I didn't expect Atlas to have such strength at such a young age. It's really terrifying." Upon hearing this, Kizaru shifted his attention from the fingernails to Sengoku's face and said with some surprise.

"Hahaha! As expected of the brat I've chosen, you've already acquired the strength to defeat Golden Lion so quickly."

Before Sengoku could say anything, Garp swallowed the Senbei in his mouth, a smug look on his face.

"Shut up, Garp! And put down that Senbei you're holding!"

Sengoku and Garp continued their love-hate relationship as always.

He snatched the Senbei from Garp's hand, gulped it all down in his mouth, and chewed it in a huff, as if in a fit of pique.

"Ah! My precious Senbei!!"

"Shut up, that's my Senbei! You bastard Garp!!"

Sengoku gritted his teeth and turned to Kizaru again to confirm, "Was that brat Atlas not seriously injured?"

Kizaru hesitated for a moment, "It can't be said that he wasn't injured. Golden Lion's last attack was still quite terrifying. However... Atlas healed on his own in just a short while."

"Such strong recovery ability?"

Sengoku was surprised. Although he had been impressed by Atlas's monstrous self-healing ability from Zephyr, it was not this outrageous. A powerful being like Golden Lion would not be able to withstand such a life-threatening attack so easily.

"So, shouldn't his position be reshuffled now?"

Vice Admiral Tsuru suddenly interjected.

Atlas's strength was far beyond that of an ordinary Vice Admiral, but due to a lack of outstanding achievements and the World Government's suppression of the Navy, Atlas had virtually no chance of promotion.

And now is a golden opportunity!

This would not only expand the Navy's influence, adding another codenamed Vice Admiral after the three monster Vice Admiral, but would also undoubtedly increase the Pirates' fear of the Navy.

Moreover, if someone like Golden Lion were eliminated by a rookie naval officer, regardless of the Five Elders' intentions, they would be unable to refuse Atlas obtaining his own codename. Otherwise, not only would high-ranking naval officers like Sengoku object, but the World Government's prestige among the mid-level naval officers would also be greatly diminished.

"Tsuru, you mean...?"

Sengoku looked at Vice Admiral Tsuru with some hesitation.

"That's right, just like you thought, that kid should have his own code name too!"

Vice Admiral Tsuru nodded slightly.

"But what about the Five Elders...?"

"The Five Elders cannot ignore the merit of killing Golden Lion, unless they want our Navy and the World Government to become alienated."

After a pause, Vice Admiral Tsuru glanced at Kizaru without leaving a trace and smiled, "Atlas's arrival might put some pressure on these three young men."

Kizaru's expression remained unchanged as he slowly said, pouting, "Yeah, young people these days are really scary. They put a lot of pressure on this old guy."

"Hahaha! That's perfect. Once that brat gets back, he can go straight to the New World and help me guard New World. It's been so long since I've been home to see my grandson!"

"Damn Garp! Didn't you just finish your vacation recently? Going back to the East Blue again? Dream on!"

Sengoku roared and ran to the East Blue every few days. Even though the situation in the New World is stable now, the risk of not having Garp in charge is still very high. If Whitebeard or some Emperor of the Sea suddenly decides to attack the Marine Base, the naval defenses will suffer great losses!

"So... shouldn't we agree on Atlas's codename?"

Perhaps out of guilt for watching Atlas get beaten so badly, Kizaru took the initiative to speak well of Atlas.

"Just give me the draft from the Staff Headquarters, and I will personally present it to the Five Elders."

"So, what should the format of the code name be?"

Vice Admiral Tsuru asked the question; as she was also a part-time staff officer at Marine Headquarters, it was easy for her to get a clear picture of Sengoku's thoughts before making her move.

"Let's add animals to the colors..."

The codenames are quite significant. The current generation of three Admiral Candidate are basically named after a color and an animal, like Akainu and Kizaru. However, the previous generation of Three Admirals didn't follow this rule. Their codenames were mainly based on a person's characteristics. For example, Zephyr's "Black Arm" was named after his powerful Armament Haki.

Therefore, this format means that Atlas is basically already a Candidate Admiral, but even if Sengoku Fleet Admiral in the future, the Marine Headquarters will only have Three Admirals positions.

Barring unforeseen circumstances, it is unlikely that an Admiral position will be created specifically for the increased number of Atlas, because Admiral not only represents a status and position, but also power. The most direct manifestation of this is that Marine Admiral has the authority to issue Buster Call!

Therefore, Atlas will have to compete with Akainu and the others for the position of Three Admirals!

"I do have an idea now..."

Upon hearing this, the three people present all looked towards Vice Admiral Tsuru's position.

"As for the color, let's tentatively go with white. That little guy happens to like wearing pure white Suit. As for the code name animal, I think 'Hou' is good. Vice Admiral White Hou!"

"Hou?" ×3

Seeing the three men's bewildered expressions, Vice Admiral Tsuru He calmly explained, "It's a legendary mythical Illusory Beast with antlers like a deer, a head like a camel, ears like a cat, hair like a lion, front paws like an eagle, and hind paws like a tiger. It feeds on dragon brains, and one Hou can fight three dragons and two Jiaolong. It has a domineering nature."

"Hahaha! This is a great name. I'm sure that brat Atlas will love it!"

Although he couldn't understand it, Garp thought it was very sophisticated.

The current three Candidate Admiral are described as "dog," "monkey," and "chicken," respectively, which is incredibly low-class compared to the title of Atlas.

"Don't rush to conclusions. The Staff Headquarters should draft several proposals for reference, so Atlas can choose from them."