Marine Headquarters, Marineford.
A large, blue-skinned fish-man, wearing a Marine captain's greatcoat over his shoulders, strode into the Fortress of Justice.
It was Jinbe, without a doubt.
As soon as he entered the fortress, he was met by two Marine Vice Admirals.
Jinbe politely moved to the side of the corridor, made way for them, and saluted.
The two Vice Admirals smiled when they saw him. "Hey, Jinbe, back from your mission?" one of them greeted.
"Yes, Vice Admiral Yamakaji and Vice Admiral Momonga," Jinbe replied with a smile.
Initially, Jinbe had been reluctant to join the Marines at Marineford. The way Diarmuid looked at him was a little too earnest, which made him feel uneasy. This was compounded by his own aversion to surface-dwellers, a sentiment common among most fish-men on Fish-Man Island.
Before arriving, he'd steeled himself to face discrimination and ridicule. Instead, he found the complete opposite. The atmosphere at Marineford was incredibly friendly. This was especially true for him and the other fish-men who had joined the Marines under Admiral Diarmuid's command; the high-ranking officers were exceptionally kind to them.
For example, the two Vice Admirals in front of him were Diarmuid's direct subordinates, holding very high positions. Yet, on the occasions they had gatherings, they'd always invite a mere Marine Captain like him to join.
Through these gatherings, Jinbe had even met Marine Hero Garp, former Admiral Zephyr, and a few of Garp's grandchildren.
In short, Jinbe and his fellow fish-man Marines had a good life at Marineford. They weren't just treated fairly; they felt like they were getting preferential treatment.
"Don't be so formal. You'll make things awkward," Momonga said, patting Jinbe on the shoulder with a chuckle.
"It's not after hours yet," Jinbe replied good-naturedly.
They were all roughly the same age, and Jinbe's upright and chivalrous nature made him get along famously with Momonga. As for Yamakaji, his character was impeccable, and it was rare to find anyone at Marine Headquarters who couldn't get along with him.
In the year since he'd arrived, Jinbe's initial resistance had completely vanished. He even started to like it here. Being a Marine seemed like a good path, and becoming a Vice Admiral like Momonga or Yamakaji seemed like a fulfilling goal. And if he worked hard enough, he might even become an Admiral candidate someday.
Or perhaps... he could be the first fish-man to ever become a Marine Admiral?
If he could achieve that, it would do wonders to mend the rift between Fish-Man Island and the surface world.
Thinking about it, Jinbe felt a small thrill. He finally understood the painstaking efforts of Queen Otohime and the good intentions of Admiral Diarmuid and the others towards the fish-men.
After chatting for a bit, Jinbe continued his way into the fortress. He took an elevator to the highest floor of the building, which only held four offices: the Fleet Admiral's and the three Admirals' offices.
As soon as he stepped out of the elevator, Jinbe noticed that Admiral Sakazuki's office door was open. Hina, Admiral Diarmuid's secretary, was walking out of it.
Sakazuki's voice followed her out. "Hina, go tell Diarmuid that if he doesn't approve this funding, I'll have the frontline kill all the pirates we capture in the New World on the spot! We'll just go down with the ship!" Sakazuki said, clearly annoyed.
Hina turned back and replied, "Admiral Sakazuki, if you kill all those pirates, the manpower in the Calm Belt will be even more stretched, and our Admiral will be even less likely to give you the money."
"That's why I said we'll just go down with the ship!" Sakazuki said, waving his hand dismissively.
Hina could only roll her eyes in frustration. "Fine, I'll pass along your message to the Admiral..."
In the hallway, Jinbe watched the scene unfold with curiosity. He'd been here for nearly a year, but the complex relationships among the high-ranking Marines were still a mystery to him. This exchange gave him some insight.
It seemed that Admiral Sakazuki and Admiral Diarmuid had a very bad relationship. Were they at odds?
Their offices were on the same floor, yet they communicated through an intermediary, even spouting off such harsh words as "go down with the ship."
Was that really okay?
Wouldn't it affect the internal solidarity of the Marines?
As Jinbe was pondering this, Hina was about to close the door to Sakazuki's office.
Suddenly, Sakazuki called out again. "Oh, and Hina, ask him if he wants to go out for a drink tonight. I'm taking Ace to the Marine Club tonight for a lesson, and if he's interested, we can all go grab a drink."
Hina smiled and said, "Alright, I'll tell the Admiral. You really do like Ace, don't you?"
"Hahaha, Ace is a man who's going to become a Marine Admiral! I like any kid with ambition," Sakazuki roared with laughter.
Jinbe was completely baffled. What was going on? One second, they were threatening to "go down with the ship," and the next, they were making plans to go drinking together? And Ace—of course Jinbe knew Ace, he's Garp's grandson; Jinbe had met him a couple of times. But he had no idea that Admiral Sakazuki liked the kid so much.
After closing the door, Hina noticed Jinbe and waved with a smile. "Boss Jinbe, are you here to see the Admiral?"
Jinbe was the captain of the fish-man Marine Special Ops team, and his subordinates all called him "Boss Jinbe." Hina and the others had picked up the habit just for fun, and Jinbe didn't mind.
At her question, Jinbe smiled. "Yeah, I want to ask the Admiral for some leave."
After a brief pause, he asked in a low voice, "Is the Admiral not on good terms with Admiral Sakazuki?"
Hina was momentarily stunned, then laughed. "What makes you say that? I'd say Admiral Sakazuki's best friend in the headquarters is our Admiral."
This was true. Although Sakazuki's social skills had improved over the past few years, with his relationship with Garp getting better and things with Kuzan becoming less tense, his closest friend was undoubtedly Diarmuid.
"Really? But just now, Admiral Sakazuki said he was going to go down with the ship with Admiral Diarmuid..." Jinbe said, looking puzzled.
"Hahahaha, oh, that. That's totally normal," Hina said. "You know our Admiral is in charge of Marine finances and development. Three months ago, Kuzan, Vice Admiral Tokikake, Vice Admiral Onigumo, and Vice Admiral Dalmatian, along with over 30 Rear Admirals and dozens of Commodores, launched a large-scale clean-up operation in the gateway seas of the New World. It was a huge victory... we destroyed over sixty pirate crews, killed more than 20,000 pirates, and captured over 70,000 pirates and other criminals, bringing the entire gateway sea under our direct control..."
"I know all about that. I was a part of it," Jinbe said with a chuckle.
"Exactly. But even with a big victory, the Marines took a lot of losses. We lost over 30 warships, had more than 30,000 wounded, and had to pay out for the 6,000 fallen soldiers. Then there's the money to rebuild islands and our bases after the war. Our Admiral controls the Marines' purse strings, so of course he's going to be worried about spending money. So when Admiral Sakazuki asked for a huge sum to expand G-1 Base in the New World and start recruiting for three bases, our Admiral obviously said no. They were in a heated argument in a meeting a while ago. Admiral Sakazuki called our Admiral a penny-pincher who was holding back the Marines' expansion in the New World, and our Admiral called Sakazuki a warmonger who was trying to bite off more than he could chew, saying a single defeat would ruin everything the Marines had built in the New World. They almost came to blows..." Hina said with a laugh.
"Oh... I see," Jinbe mumbled, a little taken aback.
Given his rank, he only knew that the Marines had just won a major battle and that he'd played a small role in it, earning some merit. But in a battle with over 100,000 people involved, his small team of 200 couldn't do much, so his contributions weren't huge. He hadn't had access to the high-level discussions that came after, and he never imagined that behind a great victory, two Admirals nearly fought each other.
"Hahaha, it's fine. It's totally normal. Different leaders and factions have different goals, so it's a regular thing for there to be disagreements in Marineford," Hina said with a smile. "But it doesn't affect their friendship. Take Admiral Sakazuki and our Admiral, for example—in a meeting, they'll point fingers and curse at each other, even throw cups and papers, but after the meeting, they might go out for a drink and a chat that same night. It's nothing, we're all used to it."
After a few more words, they arrived at Diarmuid's office door.
Hina had the privilege of not needing to knock, so she pushed the door open without a second thought, and Jinbe followed her in.
Inside, Jinbe saw Admiral Diarmuid sitting behind his desk. He was leaning back in his chair with a lit cigar in his mouth, reading a document. Standing in front of his desk was a young woman who looked no older than 15 or 16.
The young woman was also wearing a Marine greatcoat, and her shoulder patch marked her as a Major.
"Applying to go to the New World frontline?" Diarmuid asked, ignoring Hina and Jinbe and looking up from his document with a hint of confusion.
The female Marine Major standing in front of the desk said, "Yes, Admiral, please let me go to the frontline."
"You're under Gion's command. You should talk to her about this," Diarmuid replied, looking at the young Major.
She looked a little embarrassed. "Gion-nee didn't agree..."
"Hahaha, I knew it. Alright, Major Robin, tell me why you want to go to the New World frontline," Diarmuid said with a big laugh.
That's right, the young Major was none other than Nico Robin. She had joined the Marines at G-7 and, with Gion's help, she hadn't had to start as a chore boy. Since she studied military strategy, she was much smarter than the average recruit. So from the start, she had been an Ensign.
After a few years, she became a commissioned officer and then followed Gion to Headquarters. Not long ago, she was promoted to Marine Headquarters Major.
"The gateway seas of the New World may have been cleaned out and we've won, but the pirates will undoubtedly launch a counterattack. There will be continuous battles..." Robin analyzed.
Diarmuid nodded. "And?"
"I've concluded that the fighting on the frontline will be low-intensity and long-term, lasting for three to five years. If I go now, I'll be able to participate in battles often, which means more chances to earn merit and get promoted quickly. I want to earn as much merit as possible as soon as I can," Robin said without hesitation.
"So, you're not going for the sake of justice? You just want to earn merit?" Diarmuid asked, chuckling.
"That's right," Robin replied, nodding.
"Hahahaha, what you're saying makes a lot of sense, and you're very honest. But Robin, you're not strong enough for the frontline right now. Gion was right to deny your request. Before you came, she had already arranged a new position for you, and I can't really go against her decision. So, coming to me won't help you. Hahahaha," Diarmuid said with a big laugh.
Robin's face fell, and she asked, "Then what did Gion-nee arrange for me?"
"The Intelligence Division. She and Chief of Staff Tsuru have a good relationship. You'll be transferred to a desk job in the Intelligence Division. At the very least, you'll be safe. Once you get stronger, you can think about the frontline again," Diarmuid said, blowing out a puff of smoke.
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