The Marine Academy was formerly the Marine Officer Training Camp. Now, it was a fully formalized, large-scale military academy.
Currently, the academy operated in two main modes: one for advanced studies, where excellent officer candidates from the entire Marine hierarchy were brought in to further enhance their various skills, just like Diarmuid and his peers.
The other mode was for cultivating new officers from scratch, training them step by step. Diarmuid and his group fell into the first category, while Smoker was in the second.
Momonga and the others had already left to attend to their own business, so only Diarmuid and Gion were heading to the academy. They were familiar with the way and walked straight through the school corridors toward Zephyr's office.
"Speaking of which, if we hadn't sent Lucci away, he could've been another candidate for the Warlord of the Sea," Diarmuid said with a touch of nostalgia.
"Things don't always go as planned," Gion said with a smile, comforting him.
"That's true. How's he doing with Newgate? I didn't see him back on St. Poplar," Diarmuid asked curiously.
In truth, Whitebeard's entire Second Division hadn't been there, and even Teach hadn't shown his face.
Gion shook her head. "I don't know. All I know is that he joined the Whitebeard Pirates and was assigned to the Second Division, but I haven't heard from him since."
After a brief pause, Gion asked with some worry, "Do you think Lucci will betray us?"
"He won't," Diarmuid said with a firm tone. Then he smirked. "I don't have any evidence, but I have a strange confidence in him."
"Hehe, if you're confident, that's all that matters," Gion said, smiling and nodding.
"It's normal for him to have lost contact. He's just a rookie right now; he needs time to grow. There's no point in keeping in touch right now, anyway. Besides, I never expected him to give me information on the Whitebeard Pirates. It's not necessary. He just needs to keep an eye on Teach for me and wait for one specific thing to happen," Diarmuid said, waving his hand nonchalantly.
Gion didn't ask any more questions.
As they turned a corner, they saw a beautiful girl, who looked to be about fifteen or sixteen, standing in front of Zephyr's office door. She had long pink hair and a delicate, lovely face that immediately caught the eye. A bit awkwardly, she was holding a cigarette holder, though she wasn't smoking.
"Well, look at that, a natural beauty. Gion, in a couple of years, someone might challenge your title as the Marine's fairest flower," Diarmuid said with a chuckle.
Gion didn't seem to care. "Anyone who's prettier than me isn't as good in a fight, and anyone better in a fight isn't as pretty. Do you really think I'm concerned about that?"
As they talked, Diarmuid and Gion walked closer, and the girl standing outside the office looked over at the sound of their voices. She was startled at first, then immediately stood at attention and saluted. "Vice Admiral Diarmuid, Rear Admiral Gion!"
Diarmuid stood in front of her with a smile. "A student?"
"Yes, I'm Hina, a student from the 1501 Class of the Marine Academy!" the girl said quickly.
"Hina… a nice name," Diarmuid said, complimenting her. It was indeed Hina, Smoker's "good friend."
"Hina, what are you doing here?" Gion asked curiously.
Hina gave an embarrassed laugh. "My friend, Smoker, seems to have made the chief instructor angry. He's inside being lectured, and I'm a little worried, so I'm waiting for him."
"Hahaha, I see," Diarmuid laughed. He then asked, "When do you graduate?"
"Me?" Hina was surprised, then her face lit up. "Next year. The academy is a three-year program, and I'll graduate in 1504."
"Has Zephyr-sensei made any plans for you after graduation? And how are your grades?" Diarmuid asked softly.
Gion gave Diarmuid a strange look but didn't say anything. She didn't believe Diarmuid was the kind of person to be "charmed by beauty." If he were that flirtatious, the fact that she hadn't succeeded with him yet would make her look completely incompetent.
Diarmuid wasn't just interested in Hina because she was pretty and he wanted her to work for him.
Well… of course, that was part of the reason. After all, his subordinates couldn't all be rough guys like Doberman. Both Gion and Doberman would eventually need to be sent out; keeping them by his side forever would not be good for their careers. And he would need new lackeys.
Having a beautiful girl as a subordinate would be great, wouldn't it? Besides, Hina's skills and talent were probably excellent, and with proper training, she would become a valuable asset.
"The chief instructor hasn't made any arrangements yet. As for my grades, I'm currently the top student of the 1501 Class," Hina said proudly.
"Top student?" Diarmuid was taken aback. "What about the Smoker inside?"
"Smoker is one class ahead of me; he's from the 1500 Class. Even though he joined midway, he worked hard and became the top student of his class," Hina explained.
"Joined midway, huh? Just like you did back then," Gion said with a smile.
"Exactly," Diarmuid said, laughing.
After that, he looked at Hina again and said, "Work hard and keep your top student position. When you graduate next year, I'll speak to Zephyr-sensei and have you assigned to my command."
Hina's face lit up with joy.
Who didn't know that Diarmuid was currently the most promising person among the new generation of Marines? His strength was immense, he was handsome, and his legendary achievements spoke for themselves.
Just one of his opponents, Roger, Shiki, or Patrick Redfield, would have been amazing, but he had fought them all.
Of course, lowly Marines like Hina weren't privy to the behind-the-scenes details, so they only knew what the public was told. And the public image of Diarmuid was perfect. So being scouted and trained by a big-shot like Diarmuid would mean an unlimited future for her.
"Yes, thank you, Vice Admiral Diarmuid! Hina will work her hardest!" Hina said excitedly, saluting him.
Without saying anything more to Hina, Diarmuid knocked on the door. After hearing Zephyr's voice from inside, he and Gion opened the door and entered.
Hina seized the chance to sneak a peek inside. She saw her good friend Smoker standing in front of Zephyr's desk, getting a lecture. But in an instant, the door closed again.
'I hope Smoker also gets noticed by Vice Admiral Diarmuid!' Hina wished in her heart.
In fact, Smoker had already been noticed.
As soon as he entered, Diarmuid saw the young man. He was indeed seventeen, a bit immature, and seemed annoyed and prickly. He had a mess of short white hair and was quite handsome. He wore a Marine vest with the word "Justice" written on the back. A cigar was tucked behind his ear, and he looked like a hoodlum.
Overall, if not for the jacket, this kid would look like a pure delinquent.
Hearing the sound behind him, Smoker turned around with a scowl, then froze. His eyes lit up with surprise and admiration, and he stood at attention. "Vice Admiral Diarmuid!"
As for Gion, he seemed to ignore her entirely.
Smoker truly admired Diarmuid. He had seen Roger's execution and witnessed Diarmuid's declaration from the scaffold. It was from that moment on that he decided to make Diarmuid his idol and become a pillar of the Marines.
"You're Smoker, right? Zephyr-sensei talks about you all the time," Diarmuid said with a smile, sitting down on the sofa with Gion.
Smoker's face brightened. "It's an honor to be in your thoughts!"
Diarmuid nodded, then looked at Zephyr. "Sensei, did you tell him?"
"Not yet. I was just in the middle of lecturing him. This punk causes me nothing but trouble at the academy…" Zephyr said, waving his hand.
Smoker was smart enough to figure out from their conversation that Vice Admiral Diarmuid was here for him, probably to give him some important task, maybe even an early graduation.
He was a student from the 1500 Class, so he was supposed to graduate this year, but it was still only the beginning of the year. He had a few months to go. The thought made him a little excited.
"Then just expel him!" Diarmuid said without hesitation.
Zephyr nodded in agreement. "That's what I was thinking. I was just about to scold him and then kick him out of the Marines so I don't have to deal with him anymore."
Smoker, who had been excited a moment ago, was now completely bewildered. "What the…?"
"No! Chief, I haven't caused any trouble these past few days!" Smoker said in a panic.
"Last week, you got into a gang fight, and two students were hospitalized because of you," Zephyr said firmly.
"I was punished for that and apologized, wasn't I? I thought it was all settled?" Smoker said quickly.
Zephyr was momentarily stumped by Smoker's comeback. He wasn't as brazen as Diarmuid.
Diarmuid started laughing. "Smoker, when you walked into the office just now, did you step in with your left foot or your right?"
"My left… I think?" Smoker hesitated. How could anyone remember something like that?
"Your left foot? You have some nerve!" Diarmuid's smiling face suddenly turned grim. He slammed his hand on the coffee table, almost startling Gion beside him.
Smoker stared at him. "Is this a joke?"
"You dared to enter Zephyr-sensei's office with your left foot first. That is a great sign of disrespect to your Sensei. The Marines don't want a bad kid like you. You are hereby expelled, effective immediately!" Diarmuid yelled.
Smoker was completely dumbfounded. 'Is he for real? The chief instructor's reason was at least somewhat normal, but this is ridiculous. Is he intentionally targeting me?'
"Even if you're a Marine Vice Admiral, you can't expel me for such an absurd reason!" Smoker said, snapping back to reality and shouting in anger. His prickly nature had finally erupted. Even though Diarmuid was his idol, he felt nothing but disappointment now.
"You…" Diarmuid looked at Smoker with a dark expression. "Are you questioning me?"
As he spoke, a bit of his aura flared, and that alone was enough to make Smoker tremble with fear. White smoke instinctively billowed from his body as his Devil Fruit power subconsciously activated as a defense mechanism.
Regaining his composure, Smoker took a deep breath and looked directly into Diarmuid's eyes. "Yes!"
"Interesting…" Diarmuid stood up, taking two steps forward with an immense pressure that forced Smoker to take two steps back. But even so, Smoker's gaze remained fixed on Diarmuid's eyes.
"Defying authority, is that your justice?" Diarmuid asked.
"Yes!" Smoker said without hesitation.
"Even if it costs you your life, will you hold on to that justice?" Diarmuid asked again.
"From the moment I came to Marineford, I never thought about giving up!" Smoker replied, not faltering.
After they held each other's gaze for a while, Diarmuid suddenly retracted his aura and smiled at Zephyr. "Just as you said, Sensei, his justice won't waver."
Then, Diarmuid looked at Smoker. "You've passed, Smoker!"
Smoker was completely bewildered. "What did I pass?"
"I have a confidential mission that requires a Marine with a strong and unshakeable sense of justice like you. If you accept this mission, I will immediately promote you to Rear Admiral in my name. A seventeen-year-old Rear Admiral…" Diarmuid said with a smile.
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