Wishful thinking

Galan stood outside of the building and looked at the sky, he inhaled the fresh air from the sea breeze, sighing to himself as he turned from the sky, surveying the Marines walking around.

His face was flat but his mind was all over the place. If he truly wanted things to change, he would have to change. Use less of his muscles and more of his brains… He sighed again and walked away, but he happened to pass by a flower shop.

He stopped and looked at the flowers before picking some up, smiling gently at the clerk. The little lady smiled sweetly and Galan paid for the flowers before walking in a certain direction.

Galan passed various paths before coming to a house. He looked around and felt Tsuru in the back. He walked by the side to see Tsuru in her backyard, but he froze as he looked at the little girl Tsuru was teaching.

Galan pressed his lips together and tossed the flowers into the trash before disappearing from the spot. There was only 1 reason such a young girl was here at the Marine base, Tsuru brought her daughter along with her…

Galan flickered to a different part of Marineford and forced a smile on his face, he was being naive. It had been 10 years since he turned her down, why would she wait for him? Who was he?

He looked at the house in front of him and laughed at himself before walking inside.

A while later

Tsuru brought Doll into the house and happened to notice a bouquet of flowers in the garbage as she walked by. She was confused as there was nobody within her Observation range the whole time she was out with Doll!

Actually, this wasn't Tsuru's fault. If someone's Conqueror's Haki was strong enough, they could negate the Observation Haki of people near them.

Galan didn't want anyone to know that he was going to visit Tsuru, plus if she was busy he wasn't going to bother her… Obviously it was the right choice, he didn't want to complicate Tsuru's life and he vaguely felt that people like him shouldn't be allowed to have a happy life…

He was broken the moment he was born, there was no reason to complicate things.

Tsuru came to the flowers and froze before grabbing them and shooting off, leaving Doll in the house for a second.

She came to Kong's office in an instant and asked "Where's Galan?!" Kong looked up and frowned "Left." Tsuru asked quickly "Where did he go?!" Kong narrowed his eyes and said "Who the fuck do I look like? A slave that answers questions all day?! You rat fuck, get back to work, he left Marineford!"

Tsuru froze and teared up, leaving the office.

Kong snorted "Fuckin' kids…"

It was true!

Galan was currently sailing away from Marineford, by himself. He put on a Black suit and threw on an Admiral coat before leaving and his destination was Mariejois.

He forced himself to forget about Tsuru. He figured that he was better off alone, nobody would be dragged into the shit he caused now.

The reason he was going to Mariejois was very simple!

He applied for a Celestial Dragon bodyguard job.

The reason for why was even more simple… Galan, first of all, wasn't an idiot. He was actually extremely intelligent. He only forced his way through fighting situations instead of planning them out because he didn't care too much. However, now he didn't have a choice, he had to care.

So, here was the situation. The goal is to become Fleet Admiral. The process is complicated to say the least.

The way Galan understood things was, the 5 Elders need good dogs that don't question orders. Dogs that bark when they say bark, and hold in piss until they allow you to release it.

So that's what he would do, become a puppy dog that the 5 Elders loved the most. That way, it would be a very simple choice for the next Fleet Admiral. This not only gave him more leverage in the future, but he could manipulate things behind the scenes and have more control around the things that went on.

Becoming Fleet Admiral wasn't a goal, it was a necessity. Essentially, Galan had to play the part of a wolf in sheep's clothing. Hence the reason he took a job to escort Celestial Dragons, and he would smile the entire time!

Plus, this way, he could manage the Celestial Dragons themselves.

Galan looked in a mirror and smiled before muttering "Wrong." and again and again, over and over until he arrived a few days later.

Galan stepped on the 'holy soil' of Mariejois, smiling gently as he approached a group. He bowed deeply "Saint Corithess." The man in the Bubblesuit shouted angrily "I've been waiting here for 10 minutes, you damn slave!" Galan kept his bow, smiling all the same, "My apologies, Saint."

Corithess snorted and shot Galan in the shoulder, saying with disgust, "Next time it's your head, you filthy creature!" Galan didn't even flinch, nodding "Yes, Saint. Shall we depart?" Corithess scoffed, "Not yet, I have to wait for my daughter."

Galan straightened out as blood dropped from his hand, he didn't do anything about it.

Another hour passed slowly

A woman in a bubblesuit slowly showed up, riding a naked man covered in scars and shackled with chains. He was crawling on the ground like an animal as the woman, smiling happily "Daddy!" Corithess smiled sweetly "You're early! How was your party, my little angel?"

The Woman smiled sweetly, saying "Great as always, but Daddy! Rothoss has a better slave than mine! He beat one of mine to death!" Corithess smiled gently, replying "We're going to buy new slaves today! Happy birthday!"

The woman's eyes lit up and she said "Really?!" before glancing at Galan, who didn't drop a smile, however he wasn't bleeding anymore. He looked at the girl, she was much shorter than him… she was also probably not even 14 yet.

She looked up and asked "Did you buy this one for me, daddy?" Corithess waved his finger and said "No, angel. This dog is here to protect us from those disgusting creatures under us! What if one of them loses their mind and tries to attack us? That's what he's here for!" The girl pouted and said "But I want him!"

Corithess sighed and replied "You'll find a better one." before turning around and saying angrily "Hurry up, filth!" Galan smiled gently, "Of course, Saint." as he walked away, as though they weren't talking about him just now but someone else.

The Celestial Dragons followed him to a ship as Cipher Pol got on as well, saying "Admiral." Galan smiled and nodded, "CP." the leading agent nodded and explained "This is your first escort mission, we're required to inform you of the process and rules. Firstly, you are, under no circumstances, allowed to interfere with the actions of Celestial Dragons. Secondly, other than becoming a slave yourself, you are required to follow the orders of all Celestial Dragons to the letter. Naturally, you are protected from Slavery being an Admiral."

Galan nodded with a smile, asking "Is that all?" the CP leader nodded and Galan smiled gently, "I understand." before sitting down on the ship, waiting in silence. The CP agents walked away, surveying the ship and watching the waters, but nothing came up, the entire ride was smooth.

A few days later

They arrived at Sabaody.