Rebecca became excited again after hearing Sengoku's words. She was proud and empathetic, and her initial lack of interest in the ceremony was now greatly aroused.
The audience was also shocked. Vic, not even twenty years old, could already fight on par with veteran Admiral? Was he already close to having the strength of Admiral? He was too young! It made them feel like trash, shattering even their pride!
"And Vic's military achievements are the highest among them. His first rank conferred was Marine Headquarters Rear Admiral, which is rare in history!"
Sengoku paused for a moment, waiting for his men to calm down before continuing.
" Rear Admiral! He became Rear Admiral right after graduation!"
"My lifelong dream, Vic achieved it in one go! Is this the world of monsters?"
"How long will it take him to become Vice Admiral? And how long will it take him to become Admiral? Could he be the youngest Marine Admiral in history?"
"I'm so envious! My mouth is watering. Could a female soldier come and wipe it for me?"
Upon hearing Vic's new rank, the crowd erupted once again. Vic's starting point was already the finish line for many, filled with envy, jealousy, and resentment. With such a beautiful childhood sweetheart by his side, his life was already perfect for them!
However, Vic's current enemy is Charlotte Linlin, and the pressure is truly immense, something they can't possibly know. Power comes with its own troubles and costs, and he can't stop moving forward at all.
" Vic has now been chosen by Vice Admiral Marine Garp the Hero, and will be assigned to his warship as his adjutant. Those who want to board Vic's ship should work hard; he can wait for you for a while. Now I will hand over Vic's epaulets and cloak..."
Before Sengoku could finish speaking, he was interrupted by a deafening clap of thunder, and then the clear blue sky above the Marine Headquarters was shrouded in a layer of dark clouds.
Thousands of thunderbolts surged and danced in the clouds, leaving Sengoku speechless at this extremely unnatural phenomenon. Although there were many abnormal weather events on the Grand Line, they all took time to occur. This sudden change made him feel that things were not so simple.
Sengoku became alert, as did the veteran generals, their faces grave. There were indeed some crazy pirates attacking Marine Headquarters.
Last time, Golden Lion attacked the headquarters with a floating island and a large ship. The soldiers left behind at headquarters suffered heavy casualties, and it was only with the help of Sengoku and Garp that Golden Lion was finally captured.
Today's scene is somewhat reminiscent of Kaido's actions. His Mythical Zoan possesses this ability, and Kaido's intense hatred for the Navy is also capable of such an attack. After all, the Navy once captured him and conducted research on him, which was Kaido's most humiliating moment. He is capable of taking revenge on the Navy.
Seeing the powerful figure on the stage looking at the sky with a solemn expression, the people who came to watch the ceremony below also felt that something was wrong, and they all looked at the dark clouds in the sky and the restless thunder within them.
They were terrified that lightning would strike at any moment, but their desire to escape was quelled by the powerful figures on the stage. These were the pillars of the Navy; if even they couldn't withstand it, where would the Marine Headquarters be safe?
The once bustling square fell silent, save for a smile on Rebecca's face. That smile seemed capable of melting ice and snow; thankfully, no one saw it, or they would have thought she was acting strangely. What kind of occasion was this? Was it appropriate?
Just as Grandpa Garp stood up to go up into the clouds to check the situation, countless Inazuma slowly gathered below the dark, shimmering clouds, where they intertwined and tangled into a giant humanoid light body.
Seeing this, Sengoku and the others became even more serious. The scene they had just witnessed was definitely staged. Coming to the Marine Headquarters to do this was definitely not a visit; it could only mean they were enemies!
Moreover, they chose this particular day because not everyone below them is as strong. There are quite a few ordinary clerical staff. After all, this is headquarters, and if a battle breaks out, it will inevitably result in heavy casualties, just like the Golden Lion incident.
The timing of this attack was incredibly cunning. Why would the attackers choose today? Did they know something beforehand, or was it just a coincidence? At this moment, Sengoku pondered many things.
Just as Sengoku was still pondering this, he saw a giant figure of light made of lightning in the sky absorb all the violent Inazuma from the dark clouds into its body. The dark clouds in the sky disappeared at a visible speed until they were completely gone.
The Thunder Giant slowly compressed its body, which Sengoku interpreted as a prelude to an attack, and he was ready to defend himself.
Sure enough, after the Thunder Giant shrunk to the size of an ordinary human, it suddenly transformed into a giant bolt of Inazuma and struck Rebecca on the platform. However, just before it got close, its speed suddenly increased several times, and it disappeared from Rebecca's sight.
"Cough cough cough..."
"Hehehe..."
Just as Sengoku's expression changed drastically and he was about to transform into Buddha Form, he heard a coughing sound and a little girl's innocent laughter beside him.
When he realized something was wrong and turned around, he suddenly felt a pang of anxiety, then relaxed. He recognized the person's face, but the current styling was somewhat exaggerated, making him seem to have a higher status than him, who was about to become the Fleet Admiral. Even the Five Elders, who were best at posing, couldn't compare.
The person who arrived was Vic. He finally made it in time for the conferment ceremony at the last moment, and he even developed a way of traveling that was faster than Geppo using the Rumble-Rumble Fruit.
This inspiration comes from Doflamingo, the Devil Fruit mastermind. Doflamingo uses the power of the String-String Fruit to hang on the clouds and fly, but Vic doesn't need to do that. He can directly transform into lightning and travel through the clouds at the speed of lightning, which is much faster Dofulaming's speed of flying through the clouds!
The sky was full of clouds, and for Vic, the two were perfectly intertwined—like a sports car speeding down the highway.
If Vic wants to go anywhere in this world in the future, as long as there are clouds along the way, he can get there quickly. Although it is not very suitable for combat, it is quite easy to evade pursuit and attacks.
It's not that Geppo is useless to Vic now, but Vic no longer needs to rely on Geppo to travel.
It's definitely not as fast as lightning, nor is it as convenient or effortless as lightning, but the advanced version of Geppo is still a very strong move for combat.
Techniques that allow for rapid flight to close the distance to the opponent are still indispensable. A swordsman like Zoro? His limitations are too great. It's really frustrating that he needs someone to push or shove him when he's about to strike. Knowing that it's his weakness, why doesn't he try to overcome it? Can Flying Slash instantly kill all enemies in the air? Others' Observation Haki isn't to be underestimated.