Over the past two years, Diermude's physical abilities had continuously broken through their limits.
Even he himself was somewhat surprised.
Although he still hadn't figured out what exactly the black core inside his body was, he clearly knew one thing—
The reason he had managed to break through his limits several times was because of that mysterious thing.
However, at this point, his strength could no longer improve rapidly.
He had gone from traveling on a high-speed highway to walking along a steady upward path.
This was perfectly normal.
No one could maintain explosive growth in strength forever.
At the beginning, when someone had a large reserve of potential, their strength naturally increased quickly.
But once that potential gradually turned into real power, the base shrank, and the rate of improvement would naturally slow down.
According to Teacher Zephyr, once someone reached their level, progress became a matter of slow and steady polishing.
Unless some special opportunity appeared, improvement would happen step by step.
There would be no sudden leaps in power anymore.
In fact, if one wasn't careful, their strength might even decline.
After understanding this, Diermude naturally didn't feel frustrated about the slowdown in his growth.
At the same time, he knew he had already accumulated considerable strength.
It was about time to undergo real combat trials.
Having strength alone wasn't enough.
Only through rich combat experience, forged through blood and steel, could someone truly become a strong fighter.
Diermude never doubted this.
Over the past two years, he had mastered all Six Powers (Rokushiki) techniques.
However, he hadn't completely perfected them yet.
From what he learned—and what Zephyr told him—the true essence of Rokushiki lay in fully mastering every aspect of one's body.
When that level was reached, one could even completely control their body, including their injuries.
This was the legendary state known as "Life Return."
Among the people of his generation, only Onigumo had mastered Life Return.
Onigumo could freely manipulate his hair through Rokushiki, enabling him to wield Eight-Sword Style combat.
Aside from Rokushiki, Diermude had also fully mastered Armament Haki.
As for Observation Haki, he had already reached the beginner stage.
However, he had not awakened the rare Conqueror's Haki, nor was he even sure whether he possessed it.
Haki itself also had stages—from beginner to mastery, and even advanced extensions.
For example, the advanced extension of Armament Haki was the power known in Wano Country as Ryuo.
This technique allowed attacks to strike from a distance and damage enemies from the inside.
Observation Haki had even more variations.
Diermude knew of two.
The first was the ability possessed by Charlotte Katakuri, allowing someone to briefly foresee the future.
The second was even rarer than future sight—
The ability to hear people's hearts.
Diermude had never seen anyone in the Marines with this power.
He didn't even know whether top figures like Zephyr or Garp possessed it.
However, he knew that in the future Enel, with the assistance of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, would combine it with Observation Haki—known as Mantra—to achieve such a feat.
At present, among pirates, only "Red Count" Balorik Redfield possessed this ability.
And his was innate from birth.
Aside from that, Diermude had also made considerable progress in swordsmanship.
He was no longer the half-baked swordsman who only knew basic techniques.
Although he still couldn't match Gion, he was already quite skilled.
However, there was one regret.
There were not many swordsmanship schools within the Navy, and the Marines also lacked true top-tier swordmasters.
Even Admiral Zephyr, who was excellent at teaching, couldn't provide much help in that area.
Most Marine swordsmen relied purely on natural talent.
Someone like Gion, if she had a truly powerful swordmaster as a teacher, would probably be even stronger.
Therefore, to be honest, Diermude didn't place too many expectations on his swordsmanship.
As long as it was good enough, that was fine.
In addition, he had learned a combat fighting style from Zephyr.
This was one of Zephyr's signature skills.
Because of his fondness for Diermude, Zephyr had taught it to him without reservation.
However, Zephyr also warned him that one should never blindly imitate others.
In hand-to-hand combat, it was especially important to develop one's own style.
Only techniques suited to oneself were truly effective.
Finally, there was the matter of Diermude's Devil Fruit ability.
Unfortunately, up until now, he hadn't developed any particularly overpowered techniques.
Back then, he had promised Zephyr that he would improve himself in all aspects, ensuring he had no weaknesses.
So even though the Gravity Fruit was extremely powerful, he had not focused solely on developing it.
At the same time, he had also accepted some of Zephyr's philosophy.
Devil Fruit abilities were merely one tool among many.
Only when one's own physical strength was solid could the ability truly shine.
Both had to complement each other to maximize strength.
Moreover, perhaps due to the influence of the future Fujitora in his memories, Diermude subconsciously believed that he needed to master Observation Haki first before fully unleashing the power of the Gravity Fruit.
After all, his Observation Haki had only just reached the beginner level.
Even if he could develop the fruit to the point of pulling meteorites from the sky, like Fujitora—
Without the ability to accurately sense and lock onto targets, it would be useless.
Therefore, in terms of ability development, he hadn't pursued any fancy techniques yet.
For now, he mainly used direct and powerful applications.
Just like the strike he used against Gion earlier.
One thing worth mentioning, however—
With the power of the Gravity Fruit, he could apply gravity to his own body at any time.
This became an excellent training method.
It greatly enhanced his physical strength.
So from an outside perspective, Diermude seemed to know a bit of everything.
But in reality, he was more like someone who "knew a little of everything."
He had many skills, yet none of them stood out as overwhelmingly dominant.
This perfectly matched what Zephyr once warned him about—
The path he had chosen was far more difficult than that of most people.
Fortunately, Diermude wasn't impatient.
After all, real combat was the only true standard for testing strength.
From the sparring matches he had with his peers, at least for now, no Marine of his generation could defeat him.
Not Gion.
Not Tokikake (Chaton) either.
And this was only the beginning.
Once he fully integrated and mastered everything he had learned, he would inevitably enter another explosive stage of growth.
Gion didn't bother arguing about "cheating" anymore.
She wasn't obsessed with winning or losing anyway.
She clearly knew that in overall strength, Diermude was stronger than her.
Soon, the two opened their water bottles and sat on stone benches to drink.
"Did you hear?" Gion suddenly asked.
"Hear what?" Diermude replied, slightly confused.
You suddenly ask that—how am I supposed to know?
"Your leisurely days might be coming to an end," Gion said with a mischievous grin.
Diermude was indeed a special case, especially among the Sixth Officer Training Camp.
For two years, he hadn't gone on a single field mission.
Most of his time had been spent shining in the meeting rooms.
Meanwhile, Gion and the others had continued working normally, going out on missions as usual.
That was also why Diermude had so much time to train.
"Is that so?" Diermude responded calmly.
"You're not surprised at all?" Gion asked curiously.
"Not really," Diermude replied seriously.
"The reason I could stay at Headquarters training for so long was partly because I already earned enough merit."
"Another reason was that I was still technically a training camp cadet, which gave me a legitimate excuse."
"But now that the Sixth Class has graduated, everyone else has already moved out."
"I'm the only one left here half-in and half-out."
"I've just been staying here temporarily and occasionally helping Teacher Zephyr guide the junior students."
"But that situation can't last forever."
"Admiral Sengoku protecting me for two full years is already more than enough."
"The Marines aren't a place that raises useless people."
"I now have enough ability to protect myself."
"So it's time for me to do real work for the Navy."
Gion nodded.
"You've really thought it through."
"Anyway, I heard from Sister Tsuru that you might be reassigned soon."
A trace of curiosity appeared in Diermude's eyes.
"Did the Chief Staff Officer mention who I might work under?"
The Marines usually followed a senior-junior mentorship system, common in many professional militaries.
For example:
Admirals had Vice Admiral aides.
Vice Admirals had Rear Admiral aides.
Rear Admirals had Commodore aides.
Of course, this wasn't always fixed.
For instance, Kuzan had once wanted to recruit Diermude—who was still a Major at the time—as his aide.
So even though Diermude was now a Commodore, he didn't necessarily have to serve under a Rear Admiral.
"Garp said he wanted you to work under him," Gion said with a grin.
Diermude's face instantly darkened.
Clearly, he was extremely unwilling.
Garp was incredibly strong, highly respected, and the Hero of the Marines.
But being his subordinate?
That was basically risking your life daily.
When Garp got excited, he would do anything.
Combined with his reckless personality, he caused trouble almost as often as he achieved great feats.
If you served under him, not only would your life constantly be in danger, but you might also have to take the blame for his messes.
Thinking about it, Diermude suspected that the reason Kuzan still hadn't become a Vice Admiral might partly be because of his personality—
and partly because he was always cleaning up Garp's messes.
So Diermude had absolutely no desire to work under Garp.
"You don't like the idea?" Gion asked with amusement.
"Isn't that obvious?" Diermude rolled his eyes.
"Would you like it if you were sent there?"
"Of course not," Gion answered instantly.
Probably the only person in the Marines who enjoyed serving under Garp was Kuzan.
The great Hero of the Marines, disliked by both of them.
"Relax," Gion laughed.
"Sister Tsuru said Admiral Sengoku rejected Garp's request on the spot."
"Hahaha! The Admiral really takes care of me!" Diermude said with relief.
After a brief pause, Gion leaned closer and lowered her voice.
"I think… you might become Admiral Sengoku's aide."
"Hm?" Diermude blinked in surprise.
"What happened? Did something go wrong with Borsalino?"
Over the past two years, Borsalino's political stance had indeed shifted somewhat.
That was why Diermude suspected there might have been a conflict between him and Sengoku.
But Gion shook her head.
"No, nothing like that."
"Borsalino is going to take command of the Scientific Forces and lead his own unit."
"So he can'
t continue serving as Sengoku's aide."
"I see," Diermude nodded.
This was something he had actually heard rumors about long ago.
So it didn't surprise him very much.
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