After several uneventful days of sailing, God Valley was finally within reach.
Within this massive fleet, the flagship was the personal warship of a Marine Admiral.
By status alone, a "mere" Marine Admiral naturally could not compare to the noble Celestial Dragons, but what could be done? Saint Saturn had chosen this ship as his quarters.
...
Inside the warship's command room, two Marine Vice Admirals stood guard at the entrance. Within the room were three figures.
Seated on the sofa were Saturn and Valthior, while the current Marine Admiral,"Steel Bone" Kong, stood nearby pouring tea for them.
After placing two cups of tea on the table before Valthior and Saturn, Admiral Kong spoke respectfully, "Saint Saturn, Saint Valthior, please."
"No need to trouble yourself. Sit," Saturn said, giving the Admiral some face.
It was as if he were the true master of this warship.
Hearing this, Admiral Kong felt slightly relieved. He sat down respectfully on the opposite sofa, not daring to relax in the slightest—only half his body rested on the seat, giving off a capable and disciplined demeanor.
Over the past few days, although Saturn and Valthior had been aboard, aside from a brief conversation on the first day, they hadn't appeared again. He had no idea what they wanted to discuss today.
"I've heard your two colleagues are planning to step down from the front lines?" Saturn asked casually after taking a sip of tea.
Admiral Kong immediately nodded. "That is correct. Seniors Shedel and Salon are both advanced in age. After years of fighting for the Marines, their old injuries have been flaring up more frequently. They do indeed intend to retire from active duty."
Among the current three Marine Admirals, Kong was the youngest—relatively speaking.
The position he filled was the vacancy left eighteen years ago, when a "civilian admiral" was mortally wounded by Rocks in the Holy Land and later died from his injuries.
However, Kong didn't immediately take the position. It wasn't until nearly six years later—twelve years ago—that he became a Marine Admiral, at the age of forty. During that interim, the Marines' standing had been somewhat awkward, with only two Admirals remaining—the very two just mentioned.
Since then, the Rocks Pirates had run rampant across the seas, clashing with the Marines frequently and plunging the world into chaos. That era was known as the "Rocks Era."
In such turbulent times, the pressure on the Marines was immense. Those two Admirals had been constantly deployed and frequently injured.
Now, after years of warfare and strain, coupled with their age, their bodies could no longer endure it.
"I see. The two of them have given their all for the World Government. Their contributions are indeed significant…" Saturn said, offering a rare show of acknowledgment.
This, too, was part of his method of managing subordinates.
But before he could finish speaking, Valthior—who had just taken a sip of tea—suddenly changed expression and spat it out with a "Pfft!"
"Hot, hot, hot… damn, that's hot…" he hissed, sucking in air.
The tea he spat splattered across the table—and quite a bit landed on Admiral Kong's suit and Saturn's trousers.
Admiral Kong was startled, immediately jumping to his feet and apologizing, "Saint Valthior, my deepest apologies, I—"
He had brewed the tea himself, and now it had burned a Celestial Dragon's mouth. It sounded ridiculous, but if the other party decided to pursue it, he'd have no way to defend himself.
Saturn glanced at his tea-stained trouser leg, frowning slightly as he said with mild displeasure, "Careless. What are you doing?"
"Sorry, Grandfather," Valthior said awkwardly. "I've noticed these past few days that my tongue has become extremely sensitive to heat. Even slightly warm things feel like boiling water. I wasn't paying attention just now…"
"Oh?" Saturn raised a brow. "A side effect of the Devil Fruit? Any other issues?"
By "side effects," he didn't mean the well-known weakness to the sea or inability to swim.
Rather, each Devil Fruit could come with unique, individual quirks.
For example, the Paramecia-type Hobby-Hobby Fruit grants an incredibly broken ability, but it also freezes the user's physical appearance at the moment it's consumed. If eaten in one's prime, that's one thing—but if consumed as a child, like Sugar, the user is left trapped in the body of a little girl forever.
As for Valthior's Ice Zheng ability, its side effect was that his tongue had become extremely sensitive to heat. Even a sip of warm water felt like drinking boiling liquid.
Fortunately, it stopped there. When he first noticed it, he had feared it might affect his entire body, so he conducted several tests. In the end, he confirmed that only his tongue was affected. The rest of his body was fine—in fact, due to the frost attribute, it had become more resistant to high temperatures.
"No, just the tongue," Valthior replied, shaking his head.
Saturn nodded. "That's fine. It's not a major issue."
In fact, it was almost negligible.
After experimenting, Valthior found that while he couldn't eat warm food, his taste buds had developed a preference for cold food. Even plain ice tasted delicious to him. As for cooked meals, a quick breath of frost to cool or freeze them made them even more flavorful.
So while he couldn't eat hot food, it didn't hinder his enjoyment of cuisine.
And if he coated his tongue with Armament Haki, he could still eat hot food.
Wait... an Armament-coated tongue? Maffey must never find out about this!
Blowing lightly on the tea, Valthior rapidly cooled it down until it was nearly slushy ice. He took a satisfied sip, then smiled at Admiral Kong.
"My apologies, I gave you a scare. Don't worry about it; it was my own carelessness."
"No, Saint Valthior is magnanimous. I'm deeply grateful," Admiral Kong said respectfully, finally relaxing a bit.
Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that Saturn didn't seem to care at all about the tea stains on his trousers. This only reinforced the rumors—Saturn truly favored Valthior.
I must never offend this young Celestial Dragon in the future!
After the brief interruption, Saturn continued the earlier topic. "Are there suitable successors?"
Admiral Kong responded immediately, "Within the Marines, we've conducted preliminary evaluations. At present, Vice Admirals Sengoku, Zephyr, and Garp all possess the capability to take on the role of Marine Admiral."
"Sengoku, Zephyr, Garp…" Saturn repeated their names, pondering briefly before saying, "Very well. I understand."
He didn't comment further on whether they were suitable or not.
This was part of the unspoken understanding between the Marines and the World Government—under normal circumstances, even the Five Elders wouldn't interfere with the selection of Admirals.
However, the position of Fleet Admiral could not be decided by the Marines alone. It required approval from the highest authority of the World Government—the Five Elders.
As Valthior listened, he silently calculated.
If he remembered correctly, Zephyr should be thirty-six this year. Barring surprises, he would become a Marine Admiral at thirty-eight—the youngest in history.
In other words, while the transition had begun, it would likely take at least two more years to fully materialize.
Perhaps… it was also tied to the upcoming battle at God Valley?
After God Valley, the existing order would collapse. The Rocks Era would end, and the seas would once again enter a chaotic age of competing powers—with Roger rising as a leading figure and ushering in a new era.
During that time, with Rocks finally gone, the Marines wouldn't replace their top commanders in the middle of such upheaval. No matter what, those two Admirals would have to hold on until things stabilized before stepping down.
And within ten years, the man sitting before him—Admiral Kong—would naturally rise to become Fleet Admiral.
Judging from today's conversation, the Five Elders were clearly satisfied with him. Kong himself was obedient enough—he surely knew what would happen at God Valley, yet made no move to oppose it.
What kind of justice did he uphold?
The Marines really have it tough… Kong, Sengoku, Garp… they must all have their own struggles, Valthior thought.
Among all the forces on the seas, the Marines—despite being hailed as its dominant power—might actually be the most constrained, the ones walking the most difficult path.
Just as Valthior was lost in thought, the Den Den Mushi on Admiral Kong's desk suddenly rang loudly.
The sharp sound instantly made Kong's expression turn serious.
He had already given orders—during this voyage, his sole focus was protecting the Five Elder and Saint Valthior. Unless it was something extremely urgent, he was not to be disturbed.
Now that the Den Den Mushi was ringing—
Something had happened.