At Marine Base G-7, near the coastline, there was a small grave.
The grave looked unremarkable and plain.
Yet, three swords were plunged into it.
Two of them were broken blades. One was named Oto, while the other was the famous Nagasone Kotetsu.
The third was a perfectly intact Meito, known as Kogarashi.
Although no tombstone had been erected, the sight of two of these three swords was enough to tell anyone that the one buried here was none other than the Golden Lion, Shiki.
Not far from the grave, Diarmuid, clad in a Marine coat of justice, sat on a coastal reef with a liquor flask in his hand, gazing silently at the vast ocean.
Seven days had passed since the commotion, a small disturbance in the grand scheme of things, at Impel Down.
Shiki's prison break had been cut short; he died just one step outside Impel Down's gates.
As a result, it triggered no chain reactions, and the incident didn't even make it into the news.
Few people knew about it.
After all, the inmates in Level 6 were criminals meant to be buried by the currents of history. Unless something extraordinary happened, they would never again appear in the newspapers.
"Drinking here again?" Gion appeared behind Diarmuid at some point, asking with a slight smile.
"Huh?" Diarmuid was startled for a moment before he chuckled. "What do you mean 'again'? I just unconsciously ended up here."
"You've seemed preoccupied these past few days. What's wrong? It was just a Golden Lion, wasn't it? You killed him, so why are you moping?" Gion asked, her arms crossed over her chest, sounding a bit confused.
"Hahahaha, moping? Not a chance. Why would a Marine Admiral Candidate like me feel sentimental about that bastard pirate?" Diarmuid burst out laughing.
Gion didn't argue. She simply glanced at the grave and thought to herself, 'But you still gave him a grave. It's a good thing there's no tombstone, or that would be completely out of line.'
"I was just wondering, what was it that a man like Shiki lacked for him to die so easily?" Diarmuid mused aloud.
"Lacked..." Gion opened her mouth to say something, but the words caught in her throat.
What did Shiki lack?
He seemed to lack nothing. He had fame, power, status, and strength—and all of them were top-tier.
Yet, he had died so cleanly.
"Perhaps he just lacked a little bit of luck," Diarmuid answered his own question.
A look of understanding flashed in Gion's eyes. She said softly, "Yes, Shiki lacked nothing but a little bit of luck."
"Before he died, his last question to me was, 'Back then, if it weren't for that storm, what would this world have looked like?'" Diarmuid said with a faint smile.
"How did you answer him?" Gion asked, her curiosity piqued.
"I said, 'If it weren't for that storm, perhaps you, Shiki, would have been the one and only ruler of the world'," Diarmuid replied, his tone serious.
Gion was stunned for a moment, unsure what to say.
But then, Diarmuid chuckled again. "Looking back, I guess I was just trying to comfort a dying man. Or maybe, in that moment, I was impressed by the sheer arrogance of that bastard's willingness to face death. But if he were to ask me that question again today, my answer would be different."
"What would it be?" Gion asked once more.
"No matter whether that storm happened back then or not... he would have still been defeated by me!" Diarmuid stated without a moment's hesitation.
Gion first froze, then burst into laughter. "Hahahaha, now that's something Diarmuid would say. You're incredibly arrogant."
"This ocean is too small. It's barely enough for me to mess around in alone. If that's the case, how could anyone be worthy of me calling them the 'one and only ruler'?" Diarmuid said, downing the last of the liquor in his flask with a laugh.
"Isn't that underestimating the great figures of all four seas a bit too much? 'Only enough for you to mess around in?' Don't we count?" Gion asked, looking a bit miffed.
Diarmuid simply smiled and didn't reply.
After giving him a resentful look for a while, Gion finally gave up on arguing with the "arrogant one." She patted the Konpira at her waist. "I offered to lend you this sword, but you refused. And now you've given Nagasone Kotetsu to Shiki, so you don't even have a broken blade left. I think that Kogarashi is pretty nice. Why don't you take it for yourself? Leaving it at this grave is a bit of a waste, isn't it?"
Diarmuid turned his head to look at Kogarashi at the grave and smiled. "When Shiki first burst out of Impel Down, I actually had that thought. But by the time he died, I had completely lost interest."
"What do you mean?" Gion asked, confused.
"Everything he had should become a legend along with his reputation and never appear again. You don't know what I gave up just to kill him... so why would I care about one single sword?" Diarmuid said, waving his hand dismissively.
"So you killed Shiki at Impel Down, but you didn't get any benefits and even lost your own sword in the process?" Gion rolled her eyes.
"The Headquarters should at least give me some kind of reward, right?" Diarmuid said, stroking his chin.
After a brief pause, Diarmuid looked at Gion. "Didn't I perform a great service? If it wasn't for me, Impel Down's eight-hundred-year reputation would have been completely ruined."
"Well, yes and no. Because of our prisoner situation at G-7, Impel Down already has a lot of contact with us. From the Headquarters' perspective, you and Impel Down are 'integrated' to some extent. Furthermore, you were on-site and it's your duty to handle a sudden emergency like that, so how can you call it a 'great service'?" Gion analyzed.
Without waiting for Diarmuid to reply, Gion continued, "If you hadn't been an Admiral Candidate, you probably would have been given a great service award. But now, you're just one step away. How can the Headquarters reward you?"
"Hahahaha, so it turns out I got promoted too fast?" Diarmuid burst into laughter.
It wasn't hard to understand. At his current rank, he had one foot in the door of the Admirals' ranks.
Therefore, from a certain perspective, his relationship with Marine Headquarters was no longer a simple superior-subordinate one.
It was a relationship of equals.
They rose and fell together.
Merits and achievements no longer mattered. Because the one thing he lacked to become a full-fledged Admiral wasn't merit, but the final approval from the top brass.
From this point of view, it really wasn't necessary to give Diarmuid any more accolades. After all, did you ever see Admiral Sengoku get any rewards for his many years of dedicated service?
No!
Why?
Because Admiral Sengoku had already reached the point where he was the one giving out rewards. And while Diarmuid might not have the official title, in practice, he was at a similar level to Admiral Sengoku.
Rewards no longer held any meaning for them.
What they should now be pursuing, as they rose and fell together, was to continuously strengthen the power and interests of Marine Headquarters. This was their true purpose.
The stronger the Marines became, the more power they held and the more they could achieve.
After his laughter died down, Diarmuid's gaze became more deep.
Shiki's death had given him a lot to think about.
Most notably, Shiki's last moment of sheer audacity deeply affected Diarmuid's mindset.
It made him wonder if he had been too cautious.
Always so careful in how he dealt with the world.
Previously, he had only considered intervening in the matter of the Seven Warlords of the Sea. But when he thought about it carefully, what were the Warlords, anyway?
Twenty years from now, when Admiral Fujitora took office, he would unabashedly declare his intention to abolish the Warlord system.
How bold was that?
And Diarmuid already possessed enough power to stand on his own in this world, so why should he be so cautious?
The Seven Warlords were just the first step. The second step, perhaps, should be to take down those so-called Yonko?
Maybe there was no need for this ocean to have a Yonko system at all?
This ocean only needed the voice of the Marines. Wasn't that enough?
And he just happened to be a part of the Marines!
But Diarmuid quickly dismissed the thought. Perhaps it should be that way, but for now, he should focus on becoming an Admiral first.
"Speaking of which, the situation in the New World is constantly getting worse. Borsalino lost another battle," Diarmuid complained.
Not long ago, while Diarmuid and his team were causing trouble in Ohara, Borsalino had a surprise encounter with the Big Mom Pirates in the New World. Or rather, he was ambushed.
Back on Hogley Island, Borsalino and Diarmuid had teamed up to set up Charlotte Linlin.
After that, Diarmuid immediately returned to G-7. No matter how much courage or ability Charlotte Linlin had, she couldn't extend her hand all the way here.
But she still needed to vent her anger.
As a result, that anger was unleashed upon the unfortunate Borsalino. If he hadn't been fast enough, he and his entire fleet would have been wiped out in the Big Mom Pirates' ambush.
"It's not just the New World. The order in the first half of the Grand Line is also collapsing. Vice Admiral Veslan was killed, and the entire Marine Base G-16 was completely destroyed. Over twenty thousand Marines lost contact, and even the St. Poplar fell... and this might only be the beginning," Gion said, her expression grave.
"A tidal wave of pirates... and there are always one or two dazzling ones who jump out of it..." Diarmuid sighed.
Diarmuid had never even heard of the person who destroyed Marine Base G-16.
His name was Craster, and his current bounty was 460 million Berries. He had formed a formidable grand fleet with nearly seven thousand pirate subordinates.
His Devil Fruit ability was also said to be very strange. He was a Paramecia-type Blood-Blood Fruit user who could supposedly control blood.
It was said that Vice Admiral Veslan was caught off guard, and Craster opened a small cut on his body, causing his blood to instantly gush out, draining him completely. It was hard to imagine how bizarre and dangerous this ability was!
And it wasn't just this "Craster." On the seas today, there were far more arrogant and powerful new rookies than just the ones Diarmuid knew, like Doflamingo or Gecko Moria.
Besides them, there were countless other powerful and ruthless rookies everywhere.
New pirates with bounties over 100 million Berries were a dime a dozen.
Just as Diarmuid was lamenting all this, the Den Den Mushi he was carrying suddenly rang. He took it out and was surprised. "It's Stussy from CP..."
Gion's expression turned slightly sour. She let out a "Hmph" and said, "That vixen."
With that, she ignored Diarmuid and turned to leave.
Diarmuid looked at Gion's retreating back with a chuckle, then answered the Den Den Mushi. "Is that you, Stussy-san? Do you have any orders for me?"
Hearing Diarmuid's teasing, Stussy laughed on the other end. "I wouldn't dare give orders to a great man like you, Diarmuid-san... Speaking of which, I have two pieces of good news for you today."
"What's the good news?" Diarmuid's eyes lit up.
"First, I've become the head of the CP-0 special external organization, the Pleasure District. From now on, I can be called a 'great person' myself," Stussy said, sounding a bit excited.
The corner of Diarmuid's mouth curled into a smile. "Well then, congratulations, Queen Stussy."
"'Queen'? Hehehe, I quite like that title," Stussy said, sounding a little giddy.
But she quickly regained her composure. She wasn't one to lose her head. "The second piece of good news is about the Meito you asked me to find, Diarmuid-san. I have some information..."
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