A moment later, the conference room door opened again. Diarmuid put away his Den Den Mushi and walked back inside. The room was still silent, and everyone looked at Diarmuid with a strange expression.
He quickly sat back down in his chair and slammed his hand on the table. "As a Marine Admiral, I, Rodriguez Diarmuid, absolutely forbid the moral standards of the Marines from falling to such a level! Enough! I'm tired of hearing about this matter!"
Kong stared at Diarmuid with a strange look for a while, then said in a slow, drawn-out voice, "Since Admiral Diarmuid is so adamantly opposed, then we'll drop the matter. There's no need to discuss it further."
Sengoku also nodded. "Alright, let's pretend this never happened."
After all, Diarmuid was in charge of the Marines' finances… so his word carried a lot of weight in this area. Besides, the guy was being so shameless, what else could they say?
"Then let's move on to the next topic, regarding Crocodile becoming one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea…" Sengoku began softly.
Meanwhile, in Water 7, Smoker hung up the Den Den Mushi, feeling a bit baffled. He rubbed his chin, his expression full of confusion.
Beside him, Spandine was there and asked, "Smoker-san, did the Admiral have any orders?"
"Yeah…" Smoker nodded, then said, "I need you to take care of things in Water 7 for me. I have to leave for the North Blue immediately."
"The North Blue?" Spandine was surprised for a moment, then nodded. "Don't worry, Smoker-san. It's just about hiring some shipwrights. I'll handle it for you. The people will be ready for you to take with you when you get back."
After a short pause, Spandine asked again, "Did something big happen in the North Blue?"
"Not really, but the Admiral wants me to buy lead…" Smoker looked at Spandine strangely. What's going on?
Spandine was also confused. Why buy lead? But even though they were both baffled, neither Smoker nor Spandine delayed. When the Admiral gave an order, they simply followed it.
At the end of the year 1507 of the pirate era, Marine Headquarters Admiral Candidate Sakazuki was officially promoted to Marine Admiral at Marineford, with the code name Akainu.
With Sakazuki taking on the rank of Admiral, the issue of Diarmuid's code name, which had been set aside for a few years, was brought up again by the Marines. It seemed the Marines intended to formalize the code names for the Admirals.
Before this, there were no set standards for Admiral code names. Admiral Sengoku had nicknames like "The Resourceful General" and "Sengoku the Buddha." Admiral Zephyr was known as "Black-Arm Zephyr," and Diarmuid was called "Ferocious Tiger."
There had actually been a proposal for a code name when Diarmuid was first appointed, but it was shelved. With Sakazuki's appointment, the issue was brought up again, and he quickly received the code name Akainu.
Fleet Admiral Kong wanted to reassign code names to both Sengoku and Diarmuid, but Sengoku immediately said he didn't need one and suggested they give Diarmuid one first. Diarmuid didn't care much and, just as he did before, told them to discuss it among themselves and he would pick one afterward.
In early 1508 of the pirate era, "White Hunter" Smoker, a Warlord of the Sea, partnered with Donquixote Doflamingo of the North Blue, and the two secretly bought up huge quantities of lead together.
At the same time, Admiral Sengoku and Fleet Admiral Kong proposed releasing the Fish-Man and Merfolk slaves in Mariejois to ease tensions with Fish-Man Island in the deep sea. However, the World Government rejected the proposal.
Also at the same time, Marine Admiral Rodriguez Diarmuid departed from Marineford and headed to Sabaody Archipelago. He single-handedly wiped out the slave trade there, freeing countless innocent slaves. He then took a group of Fish-Man and Merfolk slaves, had his ship coated on the Sabaody Archipelago, and headed for Fish-Man Island.
In the same year, following the promotions of "White Hunter" Smoker, "Tyrant" Bartholomew Kuma, and "Hawkeye" Dracule Mihawk, the fourth Warlord of the Sea, "Sir" Crocodile, was appointed.
The seas were in turmoil, and the already tense situation grew even more peculiar.
Meanwhile, 10,000 meters below the surface, under the Red Line, on Fish-Man Island.
Diarmuid's warship slowly docked at Coral Hill Harbor. This was Diarmuid's first time visiting Fish-Man Island. Before this, whether he was entering or leaving the New World, he always passed through Mariejois, and he often just flew there himself. On the way, he was a bit worried about sinking in the deep sea, but he made it to Fish-Man Island safely.
The Royal Family had received word of Admiral Diarmuid's visit in advance, so they had already taken down the Whitebeard Pirates' flag that was flying over Fish-Man Island. It would be an insult to the Marine Admiral if they had the pirate flag flying brazenly when he arrived. If he got angry and destroyed the island, they would have no one to appeal to.
What's more, according to the news they had received, Diarmuid and the Marines were very friendly toward Fish-Man Island. The Marines had even clashed with the World Government over their cause. There was no reason for them to give Diarmuid a hard time.
As soon as he got off the warship, Diarmuid saw the scene at Coral Hill. There were many beautiful Merfolk women, a rare sight on the surface, everywhere. He noticed that Merfolk women were naturally beautiful; when they were young, there was no such thing as an ugly one.
While the harbor was bustling, many of the Fish-Man and Merfolk citizens looked at Diarmuid and the Marines with fear and resentment. The fear was because of their Marine identity, and the resentment was for the human race itself.
"Admiral, have you been to Fish-Man Island before?" Hina asked softly, standing next to Diarmuid.
Diarmuid shook his head. "No, I haven't."
"Hahaha, then you're just like me this time," Hina said with a satisfied smile.
Diarmuid couldn't be bothered with the airheaded girl. He looked at the group of people walking toward them. The one at the front was a tall man, as big as a giant, yet he was a Fish-Man. Although he looked much younger than Diarmuid remembered, he immediately recognized him. He was the King of Fish-Man Island, the great knight of the sea, King Neptune!
Next to Neptune was a petite Merfolk woman. Without a doubt, this was Queen Otohime, one of the few people on Fish-Man Island who was friendly toward surface-world humans.
Seeing the tall and short figures, Diarmuid's expression was a little strange. How exactly do you Merfolk pass on your bloodline? Don't you split your legs when you mature? That means you give live birth, right? And you probably have the same reproductive behavior as mammals, right? Then… how did this giant Neptune get together with Queen Otohime…? And not kill her? How did Queen Otohime then give birth to those giant children of hers?
This showed how deep the cultural gap was. Even a high-ranking Marine Admiral like Diarmuid didn't understand the culture and customs of Fish-Man Island. Not to mention the average people on the surface. They all just spread false rumors, saying that the people of Fish-Man Island eat humans and spread diseases. This only deepened their mutual fear and suspicion, further dividing their relationship. Fear, after all, often comes from the unknown.
Of course, Diarmuid wasn't afraid. Even though he had a bunch of questions in his head, he wasn't a fool like Luffy who would just walk up to someone and ask them if they poop. When Neptune and Queen Otohime approached Diarmuid, he hid his confusion and put on a brilliant smile. "It's a pleasure to meet you, King Neptune, Queen Otohime."
"Admiral Diarmuid, it's a pleasure to meet you. Welcome to Fish-Man Island," Neptune said with a smile. Although he was wary and hostile toward surface-world humans right now, the Marines had freed some of their slaves on Sabaody Archipelago and had angrily confronted the World Government in Mariejois, showing considerable goodwill toward Fish-Man Island. On top of the Marines' immense power, Neptune didn't dare be disrespectful to Diarmuid, even if he had some reservations.
In contrast, Queen Otohime enthusiastically stepped forward and grabbed Diarmuid's hand. "…I often communicate with your Fleet Admiral, Kong-san, through Den Den Mushi and letters. I can feel the goodwill you Marines have for our Fish-Man Island. Kong-san also told me that these were all your ideas, Admiral Diarmuid. Thank you so much for everything you've done these past few years. If it weren't for the Marines' help, I wouldn't have been able to make any progress on Fish-Man Island…"
Diarmuid smiled and nodded, shaking Queen Otohime's arm. "I'm not worthy of your praise. This is just what we Marines should do. It is with great shame that I admit that even though Fish-Man Island joined the World Government over 200 years ago, neither the World Government nor we Marines have been able to properly protect Fish-Man Island. You've endured a lot of hardships and received a lot of unfair treatment. We are truly sorry."
Hearing Diarmuid's words, Neptune, who was still a little awkward, felt a little emotional. His impression of Diarmuid improved greatly.
The harbor was not a place to talk, so after a brief greeting, Neptune and Queen Otohime led Diarmuid and his group toward the Ryugu Palace. On the way, Diarmuid looked at a guard next to Neptune.
It was "Knight of the Sea" Jinbe!
But at this point, Jinbe hadn't become a pirate because of Fisher Tiger's incident. He was currently the captain of the guards at Ryugu Palace and Neptune's personal bodyguard. This guy was powerful and was one of the few gentle-hearted Fish-Men who could suppress his rough and aggressive nature.
One of Diarmuid's main goals on this trip was to see if he could convince Jinbe to join the Marines. Crocodile's actions had disrupted Diarmuid's plans for the Seven Warlords of the Sea, so he was trying to make up for those losses.
If he could get Jinbe to join the Marines before he became a pirate, then Fisher Tiger's future actions could be a perfect opportunity for him to join the Seven Warlords. This way, the Marines would have another ally among the Warlords, and it would further improve and maintain their relationship with Fish-Man Island. It was a win-win situation.
Jinbe was a small fry compared to Diarmuid, so he was very confused. Why was this Marine Admiral always smiling at him? Is this guy a pervert? I'm a man, and a Fish-Man at that! Do you not have any standards? Are all humans this weird?
However, it wasn't the time to speak. Before entering Ryugu Palace, Diarmuid gave Jinbe a friendly smile and a nod, then walked into the palace. But to Jinbe, that so-called "friendly" smile was just creepy.
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