Diarmuid had just finished speaking when Kong began. "Fish-Man Island connects the first half of the Grand Line and the New World. Its geographical location is extremely important, as it's a necessary route for pirates entering the New World. If we can forge a friendly relationship with Fish-Man Island and establish a Marine base there, it would be incredibly significant for our strategy to eliminate pirates."
Sengoku then added, "Not only that, if we can improve our relationship with Fish-Man Island, the deployment of our military forces in the New World would become faster and more effective."
At this, Momonga hesitated and asked, "Improving relations is necessary, but Admiral Sengoku, isn't deploying military forces to the New World from Fish-Man Island too dangerous?"
Before this, the Marines mostly entered the New World from Mariejois, and they didn't often use the Fish-Man Island route. This was partly because their relationship with Fish-Man Island wasn't great, but also because the route through Mariejois was far safer.
Fish-Man Island is 10,000 meters deep underwater. If you're a human and not a Fish-Man or a Mermaid, your life is in the hands of the sea once you go down there. Your survival depends entirely on the ocean's mood.
If they encountered an underwater current, a rampaging Sea King, or a large-scale attack by sea beasts, even a warship would be largely helpless in the deep sea. When the Marines used to transport warships to the New World via this route, ten ships would often only result in seven or eight making it through. It was rare for all of them to arrive safely and intact. So, Momonga's concerns were perfectly normal.
As soon as he finished, many Marine officers nodded and began discussing the issue. Why didn't the Marines like to use the Fish-Man Island route? This was precisely the reason. Unlike pirates, who had no other choice, the Marines could choose the Mariejois route. They were all fighting for justice, so while they weren't afraid of death, they didn't want to die pointlessly in such a way. It would be incredibly tragic to head to the New World with great passion, only to drown in the deep sea halfway there.
As the Vice Admirals chattered away, Diarmuid took a sip of tea, pulled out a cigar, lit it, and exhaled a puff of smoke. He then gently tapped on the table with his finger. The sound wasn't loud, but the arguing in the conference room quickly subsided. Momonga and the others all turned to look at the Marine Admiral.
It was only then that Diarmuid spoke. "Your concerns are valid, which is why we must find a way to minimize the risks. But should we retreat and hesitate just because of danger and difficulty? Since when have the Marines become afraid of the sea? What? Is Fish-Man Island not a member of the World Government anymore? Is it not within our protection? A route a pirate can take, we Marines can't?"
After Diarmuid's speech, Momonga and the others had no rebuttal.
After a brief pause, Diarmuid tapped the ash from his cigar and continued, "By improving our relationship with Fish-Man Island and recruiting some Fish-Men to join the Marines, we can give them escort duties. When our headquarters warships need to pass through Fish-Man Island, they can protect our journey underwater, which would greatly reduce the threat. Second, this force deployment is mainly for warships. The troops can be sent separately, entering the New World from Mariejois and then rendezvousing with the warships. Although some people are still needed to escort the warships, if something goes wrong, our personnel losses won't be too great. Once mutual trust is built up, we can even let the recruited Fish-Man soldiers be responsible for escorting the warships, further reducing the risk. As for whether we might lose a warship or two, the loss is acceptable compared to the ability to quickly deploy forces to the New World!"
Even though he had secretly arranged for Smoker to build warships in the New World, you can't put all your eggs in one basket. They needed another way to solve these issues.
When Diarmuid finished, Momonga and the others' eyes lit up. Right, if we do it that way, it would be much better!
After a short pause, Diarmuid continued, "Therefore, my proposal is to take advantage of Queen Otohime's friendly attitude toward the surface world. We should quickly contact her and build a friendly relationship between the Marines and Fish-Man Island. What you need to be discussing now is this proposal, not whether the Fish-Man Island route is dangerous. Alright, now that the topic is set, give me your opinions."
With that, Diarmuid said no more. He leaned back in his chair and calmly smoked his cigar.
Meanwhile, the Marine officers began discussing the matter.
"Fish-Man Island flies the Whitebeard Pirates' flag, after all…"
"But they're also a member of the World Government. Are we Marines afraid of Whitebeard's flag?"
"That's not what I meant! Are you underestimating me?"
"Stop arguing. Didn't the Intelligence Division say that King Neptune of Fish-Man Island harbors a deep-seated prejudice and hostility toward humans on the surface?"
"It's not that he's hostile toward us. In reality, most people on the surface have a lot of hostility toward Fish-Men and Merfolk, and toward Fish-Man Island. This is how the animosity is nurtured."
"Unless we fix the chaos on Sabaody Archipelago and the slavery of Fish-Men and Merfolk in Mariejois, I don't think we can establish any kind of friendly relationship with Fish-Man Island!"
"Sabaody Archipelago is simple enough. We just need to wipe out the evildoers there and crack down on the slave trade. But we can't control what happens in Mariejois."
While the Marines were in a heated discussion. Sengoku leaned closer to Diarmuid and asked, "What they're saying is true. How do we solve the problems on Mariejois and Sabaody Archipelago?"
Diarmuid exhaled a puff of smoke. "The problem with Sabaody Archipelago is pretty easy to solve."
"How?" Sengoku asked.
Most of the Fish-Man Island residents who were sold into slavery were captured on Sabaody Archipelago. If they could solve the problem on the archipelago, the safety of the Fish-Man Island residents would be greatly improved.
"We can strictly crack down on the slave traders. The law allows for this. As long as we act fast enough, the World Government can't say a thing," Diarmuid said first.
Sengoku nodded, then shook his head. "Many slave traders are supported by powerful nobles and even Celestial Dragons. We can't completely wipe them out; they'll just reappear quickly. It'll only be a temporary solution…"
"Then we'll use a different method to eliminate them," Diarmuid said.
"What method?" Admiral Sengoku asked.
"We Marines can secretly support a slave trader and help him become the biggest slaver boss on Sabaody Archipelago, so we can control this dark market. That way, it'll be much easier for us to do whatever we want. We can then make it a rule to only sell pirates, criminals, and other scoundrels as slaves to Mariejois, and we'll strictly crack down on the sale of innocent people. It might be a bit underhanded, but it would still be doing good." Diarmuid said softly.
Sengoku was stunned. This guy must be addicted to slavery! He's been doing it with those hundreds of thousands of pirate prisoners in the Calm Belt, and now he wants the Marines to secretly support a slave trader? What the hell!
But while it sounded horrifying, upon closer inspection, it actually made a lot of sense. It was something they could even entrust to a Warlord of the Sea.
"What about Mariejois, then?" Sengoku asked.
"Mariejois is unsolvable. We Marines can't interfere there. What? Do you have the ability to make the Celestial Dragons release the Fish-Men and Merfolk they have as slaves and hand them over to us Marines?" Diarmuid asked with a laugh.
"If I had that kind of power, I wouldn't be sitting here. I'd be in the Gorosei's office having this meeting with you," Sengoku rolled his eyes.
"Hahaha…" Diarmuid laughed, then said with a little emotion, "We can't do anything about Mariejois."
"That makes it very difficult. How can we improve our relationship with Fish-Man Island if we can't solve the problem in Mariejois?" Sengoku said with a helpless sigh.
"I remember the Fleet Admiral asking me this same question many years ago. I've been thinking about it for a long time, and I've only recently come up with an idea," Diarmuid said.
Sengoku's eyes lit up. "Tell me!"
"We can just change the concept," Diarmuid said with a grin.
"What do you mean?" Sengoku asked again.
"When we address the issue of Mariejois, we can choose to stand with Fish-Man Island, communicating with them as fellow 'victims.' If our stances are aligned, wouldn't that make things much better?" Diarmuid explained.
Sengoku was at a loss for a moment. But after thinking about it carefully, he nodded. "I think I get what you mean. You're saying we Marines should express our opposition to the slave trade and other similar behaviors, then propose a motion to Mariejois. When Mariejois inevitably rejects it, we'll become the 'losers' and 'victims,' but we will have shown our stance. We can then use this shared experience as 'victims' to align our positions with Fish-Man Island and improve our relationship, right?"
"That's pretty much it. Let the Fleet Admiral make a trip to Mariejois to specifically bring up this matter. Once Mariejois rejects it, we can immediately head to Fish-Man Island and discuss these issues with them. There's a chance for success. We need to make them understand that we Marines are on their side," Diarmuid said.
"That makes sense. It's worth a try. After all, we don't have any better options," Sengoku said softly. After a pause, he looked at Diarmuid. "I'll go to Mariejois with the Fleet Admiral. So, I'll need you to go to Fish-Man Island. As a Marine Admiral, your presence would show more sincerity."
Diarmuid nodded. "Alright. Once you two go to Mariejois, I'll take a trip."
The two Admirals quickly reached an agreement. Sengoku went to explain the situation to Fleet Admiral Kong, and Diarmuid gathered everyone's attention again to present the plan. The Marines then discussed the proposal in detail and tentatively approved the method.
After Diarmuid's topic was concluded, Tsuru spoke. "I have something that needs to be discussed as well."
Chief of Staff Tsuru's title had been restored, and she seemed to be in a good mood lately. When she spoke, the conference room fell silent once more. Diarmuid took a sip of tea, waiting for the Chief of Staff's topic.
"Regarding Flevance in the North Blue," Tsuru began.
As soon as she said this, a look of shock appeared in Diarmuid's eyes. Had Flevance already gone down the drain? So soon?
"Recently, the price of lead on Flevance has been rising continuously. The Donquixote Family has also been lingering in the North Blue. Our Intelligence Division has been monitoring the Donquixote Family and found that they are buying large quantities of lead…" Tsuru said.
Borsalino stroked his chin. "Is there a problem with that?"
Why should the Marines care if they're just buying lead?
Tsuru said somberly, "Yes. Flevance may be about to be destroyed. We've received information about the Amber Lead disease…"
"The Amber Lead disease?" Sengoku mumbled in surprise. "Is there a problem with lead? Does it make people sick?"
If he remembered correctly, Diarmuid had given him a set of lead tableware a few years ago. He had been using it as a treasure, taking it with him for every meal.
Is that stuff poisonous? Diarmuid, are you trying to secretly murder me? Are you trying to become the Fleet Admiral early?