As a Cat-Cat Fruit, the Ice Zheng's form resembled a mix between a tiger and a leopard. This also meant it possessed extremely powerful explosive force.
However, Valthior couldn't yet fully test just how strong that explosiveness was. What he could clearly feel, though, was a significant boost in speed.
At the same time, his reflexes had become sharper as well—perhaps another benefit of the Cat-Cat Fruit.
Tomorrow, they would set sail, following Saturn to God Valley. To most people, this was nothing more than the routine "study tour" held every three years—nothing special.
But Valthior knew very well that once they arrived at God Valley, it would become the highest-level battlefield on the seas.
Even the future Paramount War at Marine Headquarters—Marineford—would pale in comparison to God Valley.
Even someone stronger than him, like Garling, would be nothing more than a speed bump there—fodder to be casually cut down by the true monsters of the sea. As for Valthior himself, it went without saying.
Clearly, that wasn't his stage.
At God Valley, once the great battle broke out, he would be nothing more than background noise—a small fry.
In a war of that level, someone like him wouldn't be much different from Saint Sheper, who had just passed by his residence earlier. The aftershocks of clashes between top-tier fighters alone would be enough to overwhelm him.
So, in this extremely limited time, Valthior focused his ability development on two main directions.
One: increasing defense.
Two: improving speed.
In short—survival first, opportunistic gains second. Blend in if possible, run when necessary.
God Valley clearly isn't a stage where I can stir up trouble yet. But if I can upgrade my Sharingan to the Mangekyo level through Haki in the future... once I pop Susanoo and overlay it with this Mythical Zoan frost power, won't I just slaughter everyone in my path? Valthior thought to himself with a hint of satisfaction.
While thinking this, his hands didn't stop moving. This time, he wasn't doing endurance training, but developing another application of his ability.
"Frost Mirror Domain," he murmured.
A surge of frigid energy erupted from beneath his feet, spreading at incredible speed. In the blink of an eye, the training ground—roughly the size of two football fields—was completely covered.
The ground froze solid. Moisture in the air condensed into countless ice crystals, slowly falling. Jagged ice pillars and spikes rose irregularly from all directions, each radiating biting cold, forming a chaotic, menacing landscape.
Truly worthy of a power said to freeze thousands of miles in a single burst of rage, turning all things to mournful ice.
Valthior felt that with further development, the speed and intensity of this freezing ability could rival Aokiji's Logia—Ice-Ice Fruit.
Perhaps, as a Mythical Zoan, its frost power might even surpass natural ice itself.
But Frost Mirror Domain wasn't just about freezing the environment.
Valthior brought his hands together in front of his abdomen, palms facing each other. A layer of frost condensed rapidly between them, forming a smooth, mirror-like surface that reflected streaks of cold light.
The moment that light aligned with a distant ice pillar—
Valthior's figure vanished instantly, leaving behind only a trace of frost.
The next moment, over a hundred meters away, the ice pillar shattered as his figure emerged amidst the exploding shards.
This was a high-speed movement technique he developed, inspired by the Ice Release of Haku from his past life memories, as well as Borsalino's "Yata no Kagami" ability—the man who would one day become a Marine Admiral and who shared the same birth year as him.
For now, his trajectory could still be vaguely traced by the lingering frost, and the range was limited—about two hundred meters at most.
But with further development, its potential was enormous.
Who knew—maybe one day it could truly become long-distance instantaneous movement.
That he could develop such a technique in such a short time already proved that Valthior had considerable talent in developing Devil Fruit abilities, even if this technique was still immature.
"Whoa… amazing, Master!" Bartholomew Kuma couldn't help but exclaim when he saw Valthior vanish and reappear over a hundred meters away as if he had teleported.
Valthior just smiled at the praise, not looking particularly proud.
Truth be told, Kuma was the real master of teleportation.
That is… assuming he still ended up obtaining the Paw-Paw Fruit this time around.
...
Time passed quickly.
Early the next morning, Mary Geoise became lively with activity.
The gates of God's Domain opened wide, and large groups of Celestial Dragons began leaving in droves, heading toward the Red Port bound for the West Blue.
The entourage was massive. Each Celestial Dragon brought along dozens of servants, making the entire procession a sprawling crowd of countless figures.
At the very front were the members of the Holy Knights.
Leading them was Saint Figarland Garling. While he was busy imagining himself claiming the beauty, becoming the user of the Azure Dragon fruit, gaining massive strength, and dominating the four seas, he scanned the surroundings.
Then, he asked with a slight frown of confusion, "Why haven't I seen Valthior?"
As a core figure of the Holy Knights, Garling was undoubtedly one of the most outstanding among the younger generation of Celestial Dragons. At one point, he believed there would be no one in his generation worthy of being called his rival.
Until a few years ago, when Saint Valthior of the Jaygarcia family began to rise.
In terms of current strength, Valthior couldn't compare to him. But in terms of talent, Valthior had displayed even greater potential than Garling had at the same age, earning repeated praise from Saturn.
And everyone in Mary Geoise knew how much Saturn favored him.
Especially since it was said that just two days ago, Valthior had personally been granted a Mythical Zoan by Saturn.
Even Garling himself didn't yet possess a Mythical Zoan!
So he took Valthior seriously. According to his father, if changes occurred within the Holy Knights in the future, Valthior could very well become a strong contender for his position as commander—or even compete with him for the future role of Supreme Commander.
He might even attract Imu-sama's attention, affecting Garling's own standing in Imu's eyes.
Yes—as the current commander of the Holy Knights, Garling had signed the Deep Sea Contract and was among the few Celestial Dragons aware of Imu's existence.
He knew clearly that while the Holy Knights appeared to be the blade protecting the Celestial Dragons, in truth, they were Imu's weapon.
Of course, although he saw Valthior as a potential rival, Garling's pride prevented him from suppressing him at this stage.
It wasn't that he hadn't considered it—but neither he nor his father could afford to offend Saturn. In this era, the Figarland family still fell short of the Jaygarcia family.
Thus, in the eyes of others, Garling played the role of a supportive senior—someone who welcomed rising talents, fostered unity, and displayed magnanimity.
As his question lingered, a man walking half a step behind him—Saint Shepherd Somarz, a core member of the Holy Knights—grinned and said, "He boarded the Marine Admiral's warship with old man Saturn early this morning. He won't be traveling with us."
Though Somaz held a lower position within the Holy Knights than Garling, his broader status was actually more prestigious.
Garling wouldn't dare call Jaygarcia Saturn "old man"—he would respectfully say "Saint Saturn" or "Lord Saturn."
But Somaz could.
The reason was simple: he was of the direct bloodline of the Shepherd family—one of the Five Elders—and was their Young Master, holding the same status in his family as Valthior did in the Jaygarcia family.
As fellow members of the Five Elders' families, the five young masters could use more familiar terms to address the five holders of supreme authority.
Garling felt a slight prick of annoyance at the news, but on the surface, he acted relieved. "That's good. Traveling by sea always carries risks. I was going to suggest he stay by our side for protection, but it seems he has a better option. That puts my mind at ease."
With both a Marine Admiral and Saturn on the same ship, the level of security and strength was obviously far superior.
Somaz didn't hold any particular feelings toward Valthior. In fact, they got along fairly well—after all, they were both heirs of Gorosei families.
If his own grandfather were attending God Valley instead of Saturn, Somaz would probably be on that same warship too.
Just boarding the ships took nearly half a day before all the noisy Celestial Dragons were finally settled.
By the time it was close to noon, the Celestial Dragon fleet—escorted by multiple Marine warships—slowly set sail toward God Valley.