During the voyage of the Dog-Head Warship, Ain no longer dared to sneak into Vic's arms while he was training, because Vic was now constantly tempering himself with lightning, whether he was training in Haki, swordsmanship, or developing his Devil Fruit abilities.
The spectacle was somewhat frightening, and even Ain was afraid of being struck by lightning. Every day, she would look at Vic's figure as he practiced with a wronged expression. Only Rebecca vaguely knew the secret behind it.
She and Gion were both present when Vic obtained the Divine Staff. Although Vic didn't mention it, she could guess that Vic's Rumble-Rumble Fruit was closely related to the Divine Staff, because it was too much of a coincidence that he found Devil Fruit related to lightning in such a short time.
Moreover, besides Vic himself, only Rebecca knew that Vic had eaten two Devil Fruit. Although they hadn't said it outright, they understood each other implicitly. Rebecca was no longer a naive little girl; she could now distinguish right from wrong, which made Vic very happy.
The Dog-Head Warship did not take the same route back to the East Blue via the Grand Line, but instead crossed the Grand Line and the Calm Belt directly back to the East Blue.
Even in the Calm Belt, no Sea Kings came out to attack the warships. I don't know if it's because the current Vegapunk has developed the technology to Seastone to the bottom of the warships, or if the old man himself has a great deterrent effect on the Sea Kings!
The journey was safe, and we returned to the East Blue by following the edge of the Red Line. If we continued along the Red Line, we would pass through the Calm Belt again and reach the Twin Cape, the starting point of the Grand Line.
The Goa Kingdom is located on the edge of the East Blue, not far from the Red Line. So, the warships approached the Goa Kingdom after a short voyage. This is also why Garp often returns to Foosha Village to see his grandson.
After visiting his grandson, Garp would circle the East Blue, then enter the Grand Line from the Calm Belt near Reverse Mountain, causing many pirates in the East Blue to suffer. This was Garp's usual strategy.
With these repeated exploits, the East Blue has become the weakest sea. Pirates are eliminated by legendary figures before they can even grow strong. It's hard to say whether to call it an honor or a tragedy.
"Grandpa, we can watch our grandson anytime! We should go to the New World and do a heist with Big Mom right now. With her growing power, she'll be the next Pirate Emperor! Our Navy only has one Marine Admiral, and he can't leave Admiral often. This won't be good for us!"
Although Vic knew that the Navy would soon have several new Admiral, there was no official notification from within the Navy, so he decided to pretend he didn't know. It would be good if the old man could go and cause trouble for Big Mom.
He also wanted to see just how strong Big Mom really was, what else she had besides the Iron Balloon, and whether her Conqueror's Haki Coating was something she could withstand. He didn't expect the old man to kill Big Mom outright; he just wanted to know his enemy.
"Silly boy, what could be more important than taking care of your grandson? Luffy's father is a bastard; he just dumped the kid on me and then abandoned him. He's completely irresponsible."
Children who don't receive love-based education from a young age will grow up to be misguided.
Big Mom has become a force to be reckoned with; she's not so easy to take down. Launching a war rashly will only cause suffering to the common people.
We can't easily take action against people like them who have territory. From now on, follow me and learn well. Being my lieutenant won't be a disgrace to you, hehe! Thunder God!
The old man has a good overall perspective and sees things very clearly. Although there is no rule that requires headquarters' approval to fight the Emperor of the Sea now, his thinking has reached that level, and he still sees things very clearly.
The old man was annoyed by Vic's flamboyant appearance and wanted to beat him up to vent his anger. "Everyone calls you Thunder God, right? I'll beat up Thunder God. There's no one more handsome than me on my Dog-Head Warship. You can keep your pig-head face then. No matter how good your appearance or how handsome you are, you'll still have to take my Fist of Love. I'll beat you without hesitation."
Vic knew this old man was a bit of a rascal. Everyone else treated him, a newly minted Logia user, with utmost respect, but this old man was beating him with Iron Fist. Although it was helpful for his training, didn't he have any pride?
He was destined to become Marine Admiral and Fleet Admiral, but his perfect image was completely shattered. Fortunately, this only happened on the Dog-Head Warship; his legend still circulated elsewhere. Although he couldn't defeat the old man, his strength was still boundless, and he was still respected by the soldiers on the warship.
"Grandpa! Have you thought about Luffy's future when you beat me like this? He's still so young, you don't want him to live in my shadow forever, do you?"
Vic's meaning is simple: if I can't beat you, can't I at least beat your grandson, the future Pirate King? Taking me to see your grandson now isn't a wise choice! Besides, Ace is in Foosha Village too, so helping him establish a correct outlook on life shouldn't be too much to ask!
"I know who you are, you think you'd bully a child?"
The old man also knew about Vic's visit to Tashigi that day. Even though he was so angry, he didn't lay a hand on the child, so he wasn't bullying the weak; it was just empty talk. The old man was very certain of this.
" Luffy is a kid now, but he'll grow up someday. Then I won't be bullying a kid anymore, just like Grandpa and I are now. Even though there's an age gap, we're both adults. Grandpa shouldn't feel bad then!"
Vic continued, "Although I won't get the better of you, old man, I'll still say some tough things."
"Then I won't interfere. Whoever gets beaten up can only blame their own incompetence. But my grandson is going to be a Marine in the future, and I'll train him to be the strongest Marine. Then, who knows who will beat whom! Hahaha!"
The old man didn't care at all; he had great confidence in his grandson.
Rebecca watched the two bickering on the bow of the ship, exasperated. They were acting like two children, one Rear Admiral, the other a lieutenant Vice Admiral. It was understandable for the old man to act this way—it had always been his style—but Vic wasn't like this before. Where had his composure and wisdom gone?
Did he reveal his true colors in front of the old man, or did he get his brain damaged? Rebecca remembered when they first arrived at headquarters, Vic also frequently went to Zephyr to get beaten up, and he was just like that.
Vic didn't want it to be like this, but Headliners. What could he do besides gain some verbal advantage? After being beaten for so long, even the best mentality would crumble. Only by having absolute control of the situation or overwhelming strength can one remain calm and wise.
He couldn't control the two old men at all. As for Zephyr, who was all alone, that was another story. As for Garp, who had sons and grandsons, he would naturally have to retaliate with his words, otherwise, wouldn't the beating have been for nothing? He just didn't know that this might invite an even harsher beating. He was recklessly testing the limits of his own life.