Promoted

Galan was clad in pure white standing next to Kong in front of the 5 Elders. They nodded and said "In lieu of your excellent service, we are promoting you to Commander-In-Chief of the World Government. You will enjoy special privileges unobtainable to normal people as well as residency in Mariejois."

Kong nodded, "Okay." They turned to Galan and announced "As for Admiral Black Raven, you shall be promoted from Admiral to Fleet Admiral in charge of the Marines. You will take on Commander-In-Chief Kong's role and oversee all Marine operations answering only to us. We expect the same excellency and loyalty you've shown in the past."

Galan smiled gently, an excited yet submissive look full of reverence and loyalty as he saluted quickly, nearly exclaiming "Yes, sir! I will do my absolute best to accomplish the task of eliminating filth!" The 5 Elders smiled slightly nodding in reply, "Of course, Fleet Admiral." before adding "Commander-In-Chief, you have a month to get your affairs in order and arrive back here." Kong nodded, replying simply "Okay." The Elders waved, "That'll be all. You may retire."

Kong turned around and Galan bowed deeply before stepping out of the room with excited steps, awe and reverence on his face.

They left the room and Galan said happily "The 5 Elders are so kind! I can't believe I became Fleet Admiral! Hahaha! I can brag to my friends for the rest of my life!" Kong glanced at him and stayed silent as Galan nudged him, saying happily "Aren't you excited, Kong? You're Commander-In-Chief now! How amazing! Do you think I'll ever get promoted that high?!"

Kong sneered at him, saying "In your dreams, kid." Galan laughed happily, "I hope so! Hahaha! I can't wait to get started, I'll end piracy for sure!" as they walked further and further away, Galan continued chattering.

He was congratulated by the guards at the bottom of the Red Line. He excitedly shook their hands and laughed, making promises of bringing drinks next time to celebrate. All the Guards laughed happily and the atmosphere was joyous and festive.

Galan and Kong got on the small ship alone as he slowly sailed away, Galan waving at the guards, shouting "See you all next time! Joseph, don't forget to say hello to your family for me!" before he turned around and tilted his head happily from side to side, walking to the other end of the ship, out of sight.

His face changed instantly, going back to blank and dead as he stared at the waves while standing next to Kong, who looked at him and snorted "That's not tiring? I didn't expect you to hide so deep. Thought you were just a good dog, but you even made me think I was the one being fooled from the beginning."

Galan replied slowly, "Maybe in a different life, I would be so excited." Kong rolled his eyes and said "There he is. The piece of shit I pulled out of the ash heap, nice to have you back." Galan blinked and said "I had a dream last night. Just before we got here."

Kong raised a brow and asked "A good dream?" Galan nodded and described it, "I was covered in blood, the entirety of Mariejois entrenched in blood and flames. In front of me there were 4 corpses and one final Elder alive. This one I had a good time with as he begged for his worthless life…" he held out his hands, imagining the scene again, adding "When I was done with him, there weren't even teeth left. It was great."

Kong looked at him for a moment before laughing "Oh god! Gahahahaha! You are one fucked up kid! GAHAHAHAHA! Broken since the moment I found you, how amazing! Gahahahah! Did you cry when you woke up?! GAHAHAHAHA!" as he wiped his eyes, holding onto the ship's taffrails.

Galan was expressionless, nodding "Then I returned to the nightmare." Kong slapped his back and laughed as the ship slowly sailed back to Marineford.

Around 10 days later

The ship arrived back at Marineford and Galan got off as Kong said "You start tomorrow, go home." the Marines looked at Galan in awe as he nodded and walked past them, going back to his home, getting congratulated and saluted by every Marine on his way.

He ignored them and continued walking, taking off his coat as he started getting to the less populated area, all the Marines watching him. He walked alone on the road, getting further away from the Marines behind him until he disappeared down the street.

Kong watched him go and sighed to himself, going to the Headquarters Building.

Galan approached his house and heard dull bangs. He paused at the door and walked to the side of the house, loosening his tie as he stepped towards the training grounds. He looked inside to see Olvia in her little training outfit, kicking a steel pole half of her slender legs coated in Haki.

She grit her teeth and grunted, hopping off the ground with her left foot, shooting out a kick at the steel pole. The Pole bent briefly before snapping loudly, sending the upper half shooting across the training grounds, hitting the Seastone block.

She turned in the air and landed on the balls of her delicate feet, her back turned to the steel pole as he let out quick breaths, clenching her fists, staring wide eyed at the ground.

She opened her mouth slightly and uttered a shout-like grunt, however unlike the pure rage fueled ferocity of Galan, her shouting-grunt was delicate and short.

Galan looked at her, holding his coat folded over his arm, she was… copying him? For what purpose? Her grunts were strange, making him feel weird.

Olvia suddenly swept out her leg and did it again, this time an invisible air slash flew off her leg, cutting the steel pole further, sending the cut portion into the air. She landed on her right foot and whipped her left leg covered in Haki, smashing the portion, shooting it out of the training ground.

She turned around to see Galan holding up his hand, the cut portion being caught by him quite easily. Olvia froze and asked "You… How long have you been there?" Galan replied slowly "Since the training pole was one piece."

Olvia's face turned pink and she collected her books, "Sorry, I have to use the washroom." before rushing into the house out of embarrassment. He watched her run away in confusion until she slammed the door to the bedroom and jumped on the bed face first.

He didn't understand what her embarrassment was. It was just a steel pole.

He walked into the training grounds and pulled the steel pole out of the ground, collecting the pieces together. He had bought a furnace for a reason. He simply melted the steel down and rebuilt the steel pole again, wondering what was wrong with Olvia.

Was she embarrassed because she copied his grunts?

There was nothing to be embarrassed about, screaming after or during tough exercises increases adrenaline and relieves pressure. It's good for the body. Though, his variant of shout-grunting was a bit different.

It was mostly to release everything from inside. All the rage that bubbled inside of him. He felt that it made him stronger as he just… let go.

Galan forgot about it, he wasn't sure why and he felt he thought of everything so he let it go. She was her own person, it was none of his business to begin with. He took off the white suit and walked up the stairs.

He walked into the bedroom and ignored Olvia peeking from the covers. He took off the entire suit, putting it in the closet as he stood there in compression underwear. Olvia looked at his back and tilted her head, he was very muscular, yes, however she was confused.

There was a black skull tattoo without a lower jaw in between his scapula in the middle of his back just under his neck. Impossible to notice unless he was sitting here doing something.

Actually, Olvia realized that she rarely saw Galan's tattoos, even living here for so long. She could imagine that many Marines probably have no idea that their Fleet Admiral has more tattoos than gangsters do.

She came out of the covers and touched his back slowly, asking "What's this one for?" Galan froze and turned around, grabbing her hand extremely quickly. Olvia winced from the pain and he looked at her like a wild animal saying "Don't touch me."

He let her go before frowning and turning back, grabbing a shirt and shorts, leaving the room. Olvia was caked with sweat and didn't know what she did wrong, this wasn't the first time she touched him.

They made contact every day during their fights…

She frowned, was it because she touched the skull tattoo? She felt a strong curiosity to find out what it was all about. Clearly not taking herself as an outsider.

Why should she though? Although Galan said all these things to her, she could tell he was purposely pushing her away. The thing was, she was quite literally, not going anywhere anytime soon.

He lied to her when she was blindfolded, stimulated her to continue getting back up and fighting with mental tactics. She was not an idiot. Quiet, somewhat reserved, and observative, but nowhere near moronic.

Quite the opposite, she was extremely intelligent. One of the many things that carried over to Robin.

From her observations and experience with Galan, she was 100% certain he would never hurt her maliciously.

Push her away with the brutal truth? Yes.

Lie to her face? Yes.

Demonstrate horrifying acts of violence and cruelty on criminals to scare her? Yes.

Maliciously inflict pain out of personal pleasure? Never.

She was willing to bet her life on that certainty.