At the port of Marine Headquarters, Marineford, Diarmuid, with his cloak of justice draped over his shoulders, stepped off his battleship. He was holding a cigar in his mouth and scratching his head in frustration.
Behind him followed Rear Admiral Gion. As soon as they hit the port, Garp's figure also descended from a dog-headed battleship nearby.
Two Lieutenant Commanders at the port quickly walked up to them and presented them with a file. Diarmuid didn't even look at it, took a pen, and signed his name on the document.
"Vice Admiral Diarmuid, thank you for your hard work," the Lieutenant Commander said with a smile as he took the file.
"Haha, no problem. Have Zephyr-sensei and Kuzan returned yet?" Diarmuid asked with a grin.
"They came back yesterday," the Marine Lieutenant Commander replied.
Battleships entering and exiting the Marineford port had to be logged, and that was the document Diarmuid had just signed, which was why he had asked.
"So they're all back. Looks like something big happened," Diarmuid mumbled. He had been working in G-7, providing support to G-16, when he suddenly received an order from headquarters to return to Marineford for a meeting.
Diarmuid found it strange, as he usually participated in online conferences from G-7 unless there was an extremely serious situation.
"Could it be a retaliation against the Whitebeard Pirates?" Gion asked, standing behind Diarmuid.
Diarmuid was taken aback. He rubbed his chin and said, "I don't think so. We don't have the foundation for a retaliatory strike right now. The New World is a mess; a small action could trigger a huge reaction. Besides, isn't the intelligence community a complete mess? We shouldn't start a war if we can't even sort out our intelligence..."
Just then, Garp walked up, having also finished "checking in." He wore his dog-head hat and was munching on a donut.
"Hey, Diarmuid," Garp called out. When Diarmuid looked over, Garp asked, "I heard you guys had a fight with that Whitebeard guy?"
Diarmuid nodded, a little helpless. "Can you not bring that up? You know about the disastrous defeat, don't you?"
"I know, but not clearly," Garp said, eating his donut. "But that's not what I'm here to ask about. How's Tsuru doing?"
Before Diarmuid could speak, Gion quickly replied, "The trial at Enies Lobby is over. Chief of Staff Tsuru was stripped of her honorary title and received a major demerit. She cannot be promoted for two years. As for the Intelligence Division, two Rear Admirals and six Commodores have been sentenced to death."
Of course, there were many other lower-ranking officers and even regular enlisted Marines in the Intelligence Division who would be held accountable, but they weren't under the purview of Enies Lobby's trials. Enies Lobby didn't have the time to deal with officers below the rank of Commodore.
Garp breathed a sigh of relief. "As long as she wasn't sentenced to prison... I thought I'd have to go to Impel Down to see her again."
"How could that be? If a highly decorated figure like the Chief of Staff were to be sentenced to prison for one failure, one mistake, we Marines would have long since torn down Enies Lobby. The World Government wouldn't dare to do that; they would lose the morale of the military," Diarmuid said with a laugh. He hadn't been worried about the Chief of Staff's fate from the beginning.
"She's not the Chief of Staff anymore, you..." Garp paused, then said, "Never mind. She'll be Chief of Staff again sooner or later. Call her whatever you want."
Though Tsuru was stripped of her honorary title, she held a lot of prestige within the Marines. While they might not say it openly, they still privately referred to her as "the Chief of Staff."
Changing the subject, Diarmuid asked with a hint of curiosity, "Garp, have you ever fought against that Newgate guy?"
"Is that a stupid question? I fought that scoundrel more than twenty years ago," Garp said, giving Diarmuid a blank stare.
Diarmuid was taken aback for a moment, then laughed at himself.
That's right. During the God Valley incident twenty years ago, Garp and Roger teamed up to defeat the Rocks Pirates. Whitebeard, Edward Newgate, was a member of the Rocks Pirates at the time. How could Garp not have fought him?
And thinking about it now... he might have even won? Even if Newgate probably didn't plan on fighting the Marines to the death and the Rocks Pirates had fallen apart, and everyone was looking for a way to escape... ultimately, Garp did win.
"That was a stupid question," Diarmuid said self-deprecatingly.
"Glad you know it," Garp said, continuing to eat his donut.
Diarmuid's eye twitched slightly. He knew he couldn't be friendly with this guy; if he gave Garp a good face, he'd be dead from frustration in no time. Diarmuid snatched the bag of donuts from Garp's hand and began eating them himself.
Garp was stunned for a moment, then his expression changed to one of shock. "Hey, you scoundrel, stop! I haven't slept in two days and two nights. I'm trying to break the record for most donuts eaten in a row! This is the 463rd one! Don't ruin my streak, or I'll have done it all for nothing..."
"I don't care," Diarmuid said with a mouthful. He then crushed all the donuts in the bag into crumbs, lifted the bag, and poured them all into his mouth, eating every last bit.
Garp was dumbfounded, looking as if the world was ending. His hands trembled, and tears welled up in his eyes as he nearly fell to his knees in despair.
"Ah, what a refreshing snack!" Diarmuid said with a burp, patting Garp on the shoulder in high spirits.
"I'm going to kill you, you scoundrel!" Garp roared, wrapping his arms in a powerful layer of Armament Haki.
But before he could strike, Gion, who was behind Diarmuid, smiled and pulled out a bag of donuts. "Garp-san?"
Garp's face changed in an instant. The moment he saw the donuts, his expression brightened, and the powerful aura around him vanished. He snatched the donuts from Gion's hand and laughed. "I was just joking with you guys! Hahahaha! You young people really don't know how to respect your elders!"
Diarmuid and Garp didn't linger at the port and began walking into Marineford. The meeting wasn't until tomorrow, so there was no rush to check in.
Diarmuid planned to see his sensei Zephyr, whom he hadn't seen in a while. Garp also had nothing to do. He was technically still on vacation. It was normal for him to take a long leave after his two-year mission in the South Blue, but his vacation was cut short when he was called back for a meeting. Since he had nothing to do, he joined Diarmuid on the walk to Zephyr's house.
"Since you've fought him, Vice Admiral Garp, give it to me straight. Who is stronger between you and Newgate?" Diarmuid asked as they walked.
With his mouth full of donuts, Garp looked at Diarmuid and said, "Didn't you feel an insurmountable gap?"
"Pretty much... you know, I've fought Charlotte Linlin. She's definitely a powerful monster. At the time, I could barely hold my own against her. Now, I'm confident I can stand against her without falling behind. If I can seize the opportunity, it might even be possible to defeat her. But... facing that Whitebeard guy, I can't even imagine how to win," Diarmuid said openly, not hiding anything.
"The reason you can't imagine how to beat him is because he is the World's Strongest Man," Garp muttered.
Diarmuid frowned slightly. "So you're saying you can't beat him either?"
"It's not that I can't beat him. I am known as the 'Strongest Marine'!" Garp said haughtily.
That's right, Garp also held the title of "Strongest Marine." It was one of the "World's Strongest" titles and, in terms of reputation, was not inferior to "Strongest Man."
"And?" Diarmuid asked.
"And when people like us fight, victory and defeat can't be measured by strength alone. We know each other inside and out, so it's unlikely a major weakness would appear. Therefore, the outcome depends on a variety of factors, but overall, it can be summarized as... whoever has better luck will win," Garp said, chewing his donut.
"I see. You said all that to summarize that you're an even match, right?" Diarmuid said, giving Garp a sidelong glance.
Garp shot him a glare. "Are you looking down on an even match? There aren't many people in the world who can go toe-to-toe with Newgate and me."
"Hahahaha," Diarmuid laughed. He didn't deny it.
The Marines were full of powerful figures, like Kong, Sengoku, and Zephyr. There were also Sakazuki, Kuzan, Borsalino, Gion, and Tokikake. If you wanted to count more, there were also hidden powerhouses like Jonathan, who was also incredibly strong.
But in reality, the ceiling of the Marines' combat power was an unspoken consensus: Garp, the Marine Hero.
It was widely acknowledged that no matter how strong a Marine was, they were never stronger than Garp. And Garp had always held this position with his exceptional strength, so no one ever doubted it. Even Diarmuid, who often argued with Garp, agreed.
Listening to Diarmuid's laughter, Garp patted him on the shoulder. "It's okay that you can't beat him now; that's normal. But I have high hopes for you. In my opinion, you have more potential than Sakazuki and the others... it's not impossible for you to surpass that Whitebeard guy in the future."
"Is that so? You think so highly of me, hahahaha. I'll take that as a good omen," Diarmuid said with a big laugh.
"Speaking of which, how's Ace?" Diarmuid changed the subject.
"Oh, he's doing great, hahaha. That little guy has so much energy. If it weren't for Sengoku rushing me back, I would have stayed there longer..." Garp laughed.
"For a Marine Hero, you sure don't do much work," Diarmuid said, giving him a look.
"I was on a continuous two-year mission before this!" Garp said with a look of disdain.
As they chatted and laughed, the three of them, Gion, Garp, and Diarmuid, arrived at Zephyr's house.
The courtyard was as tranquil as ever. Just by looking at it from the outside, you could tell that the owner was a person of great elegance. The front door was wide open, which was normal for Zephyr's house since no one would dare to cause trouble at his doorstep in Marineford.
They walked inside, crossed the lawn, and entered the courtyard, where they saw Zephyr sitting cross-legged on the veranda, reading a book. He seemed to have heard the movement at the gate, looked up, and a smile appeared on his face. "So you're all back?"
"Yeah, long time no see, Zephyr!" Garp replied casually.
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