"Dual abilities?" Fleet Admiral Sengoku stared at Diarmuid, looking a bit dazed. Has this kid had one too many drinks?
He had received some intel from Alabasta mentioning that Diarmuid had used some sort of darkness-based power. However, Sengoku hadn't thought much of it, assuming Diarmuid had simply developed a new application of his existing fruit. After all, Diarmuid had already pushed the Gravity-Gravity Fruit into all sorts of strange directions.
Between gravity, darkness, and devouring, there were enough thematic overlaps that Sengoku assumed his "Abyssal Devourer" technique had just evolved further.
But then Diarmuid walks in and claims he's a dual-ability user?
"That's right. It was a stroke of luck. I ate the Logia-type Dark-Dark Fruit," Diarmuid said, nodding seriously.
Sengoku was well-informed, so he hesitated and asked, "The same Dark-Dark Fruit that caused that incident in the New World recently? The one where a Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates died?"
"Yeah, that's the one. Oh, and I also caught the guy from the Whitebeard Pirates, Teach," Diarmuid added with a smirk.
Sengoku had never heard of Marshall D. Teach before the Thatch incident, but he'd learned a bit since. After all, the person Newgate sent out to hunt the killer was Teach himself. As it turned out, not only was the killer not caught, but Newgate had lost three "sons" in the process?
Whitebeard has been having a run of exceptionally bad luck these past two years. Nothing seems to go his way.
At this moment, the Whitebeard Pirates either hadn't received the news yet or didn't understand the full picture. Teach had been missing for some time, but Newgate hadn't made a major move yet. The last intel he had was that Teach had followed the Warlord Doflamingo to Alabasta. Then Alabasta turned into a chaotic mess, and Doflamingo clearly got embroiled in other affairs and stopped tracking the Dark-Dark Fruit.
With Alabasta in such shambles, finding a missing person like Teach was a nightmare, especially since the Whitebeard Pirates' intelligence network had always been lackluster. Newgate didn't suspect Doflamingo; he knew Doflamingo had been the one robbed of the fruit to begin with. From Doflamingo's perspective, there was no reason to backstab Teach, especially since the Warlord was later summoned to war.
Furthermore, Newgate would never have dreamed that the Navy was behind it. He likely assumed Teach had discovered something in Alabasta or got caught in a mishap. Thus, the Whitebeard Pirates remained relatively quiet, only searching for leads in the shadows.
Since Whitebeard wasn't making a scene, Sengoku hadn't given it much thought. Now he realized Diarmuid had secretly kidnapped the man's son. And then he just "happened" to get the Dark-Dark Fruit? Sengoku wouldn't believe it wasn't a setup if his life depended on it.
However, Sengoku trusted Diarmuid implicitly. The man was reliable and capable, so he didn't pry into the "how" and instead focused on the dual-ability mystery.
"How did you eat the Dark-Dark Fruit? This... this is preposterous. Or have you made a breakthrough in the secrets of Devil Fruits?" Sengoku asked curiously.
Research into Devil Fruits had never stopped over the centuries. Scholars from all walks of life were obsessed with it. It was only recently that Dr. Vegapunk had achieved breakthroughs like feeding fruits to inanimate objects or developing artificial Devil Fruit powers based on Lineage Factor technology.
Sengoku wondered if Diarmuid had discovered a secret to bypass the lethal side effects of eating two fruits. If he had, could this secret be scaled? Dual fruits...
Ahem, I, Sengoku, am an old man with dreams too. If I could eat a Monkey-Monkey Fruit on top of this, could I become a literal Fighting Buddha? Just thinking about it is delightful.
Before Sengoku could finish his daydream, Diarmuid waved a hand. "Pure luck. Honestly, I gambled my life on it. That Teach guy..."
Diarmuid then gave Sengoku a rundown of how he became a dual-ability user. He included his "special body structure"—which was, of course, a complete fabrication. He mostly focused on hyping up the Dark-Dark Fruit as being the most unique and viable for such a feat, adding a bit about Teach's ambitions.
Hearing the explanation, Sengoku didn't doubt him. As absurd as it sounded, it was more believable than Diarmuid discovering a universal method to eat two fruits. He also knew Diarmuid wasn't the type to be stingy with such secrets if they were shareable.
"You brat, you really don't value your life," Sengoku said with lingering fear. "You're a grown man, yet you still gamble like this. If you had lost..."
The Navy would have lost an Admiral. As a senior figure, the thought of Diarmuid dying made Sengoku feel a pang of grief. Sensing the concern in his voice, Diarmuid just nodded sheepishly and mumbled something about "it worked out anyway."
"This Dark-Dark Fruit has the potential to help the Navy's power reach the next level. Also, I harvested some interesting technology in Alabasta..." Diarmuid continued.
He described how he dealt with Crocodile and obtained the Sand-Sand Fruit, then moved on to the Devil Fruit "inheritance" technique Vergo had secured from the country.
Sengoku was astonished by the Dark-Dark Fruit's ability to strip powers and was genuinely excited. This seemingly kind-faced old man immediately thought of the same thing Diarmuid had:
Impel Down.
The Great Prison had a special significance. Capturing great pirates and locking them up served a purpose—to prevent their terrifying abilities from circulating back into the world and causing more harm. Though it wasn't the only reason; people like Straw Hat Shanks and Rayleigh were still dangerous even without fruit powers. However, the Dark-Dark Fruit's effect naturally made one think of the prison's inhabitants.
The two schemers whispered about their plans for Impel Down before Diarmuid brought up Vergo's tech again. Diarmuid looked quite proud of himself; this tech seemed incredibly valuable to the Navy. In the future, if Sakazuki, Kuzan, Borsalino, or even Diarmuid himself reached the end of their lives, their loyalty to the Navy would likely make them willing to pass their abilities down to the next generation. That alone was a monumental shift in power.
But after listening, Sengoku's expression turned slightly awkward. "Ahem... about that. You might be overthinking it. It's my fault for not mentioning this to you before..."
Diarmuid frowned. "What do you mean?"
"That technology from Alabasta... it does indeed originate from the Nefertari family. However, the Navy obtained that same tech a long time ago, about a hundred years ago, through a trade with them. It's just... it's not very useful," Sengoku said helplessly.
He continued, "It's not just us. Many factions have likely obtained this technology from the Nefertaris over the years, but in the end, it's proved worthless."
Diarmuid wasn't actually that surprised. The Nefertaris weren't particularly powerful; the fact that they held such a power (clearly manifested in their Falcon and Jackal guardians) was a beacon for the greedy. It would be a miracle if they hadn't been forced to share it.
What surprised him was that the tech was "useless."
Did I do all that work for nothing? Even if it didn't take much effort...
"Why is it useless?" Diarmuid asked.
"You probably don't know the specifics. First, it only works on Zoan types. Second, the success rate is abysmal. Once it fails, you can't try again with the same fruit. Third, if it fails, the technique forces the Devil Fruit to reincarnate immediately..." Sengoku explained.
Diarmuid realized the catch. That sounded incredibly underwhelming. The first two points were manageable, but the third was a dealbreaker. If the fruit vanished upon failure, you couldn't risk it on rare abilities. An Ancient Zoan or Mythical Zoan is hard enough to find; who would risk losing it forever to a failed experiment?
No wonder Alabasta only had a Jackal and a Falcon after all these years. No wonder Sengoku said it was useless.
Seeing Diarmuid's disappointment, Sengoku consoled him. "Don't let it bother you. Let's talk about your Dark-Dark Fruit. How are the powers? Why don't you let this old man experience it firsthand?"
Truth be told, Sengoku was genuinely curious. Diarmuid's eyes lit up, but he hesitated. "Is that a good idea? My power is quite vicious..."
"How vicious can it be? I just want a taste. We'll just spar a bit right here, keep it civil," Sengoku said casually.
"Then let's try it!?" Diarmuid said enthusiastically.
Meanwhile, outside the Fleet Admiral's office, Chief of Staff Tsuru was holding a stack of documents, about to knock. She heard familiar voices from inside.
"Dark Water!"
"Buddha—Ow! Hey! My eyes! Diarmuid, you brat, you dared to hit me?"
"Didn't you say you wanted to spar?"
"Why, you little—!"
Tsuru: "???"
Diarmuid is back? Judging by the voices and Sengoku's yelling, he was. But what were they doing? Why were they fighting!?
…
At the same time, in the New World, Gion and Zephyr were chatting on the deck of a warship. They looked out to see a pirate ship in the distance... riding the waves with extreme arrogance, sailing straight toward them.
"Are pirates these days all this brave?" Zephyr asked, looking at the ship with a puzzled expression.
"Ah... I suppose so?" Gion replied, equally confused.