At the port of Vicura Island, Diarmuid sat on a stone block, dressed in casual clothes, holding a Den Den Mushi. He was smoking a cigar while chatting with the person on the other end.
"Yep, his strength is just terrible. He's completely undeserving of his reputation. There was no need for me to handle him personally; you could've just sent Tokikake, and he would have taken him down." Diarmuid said with a laugh to the Den Den Mushi.
"Really? It seems we overestimated him because of his past victories. Tokikake would be angry if he heard you say that, haha," Sengoku said on the other end.
"I don't care if he gets angry. He can't beat me anyway. But after capturing that Craster, I actually regretted it a little. It would have been perfect to have him as a Warlord of the Sea since he's so useless. It would be easy to deal with him later," Diarmuid joked.
"Hehe, that's not the point. He might not be all that now, but he could grow stronger in the future. After all, his Devil Fruit ability is still very powerful, isn't it?" Sengoku said with a chuckle.
"Hmm… That's true." Diarmuid said after thinking for a moment.
Right now, Craster was a complete rookie, with a big name but little strength. He would crumble when faced with a real expert. But if they didn't deal with him now and gave him some time, he might actually grow into an excellent great pirate.
It was better to just lock him up in Impel Down and treat him as a potential Devil Fruit. That way, he wouldn't cause any more trouble in the future.
"Where are you now?" Sengoku suddenly asked.
"Vicura Island. Two days ago, we ran into a massive storm with hail, and two of our warships were severely damaged. We happened to be passing by Vignola, where the Marines have a rest area, so I'm having the ships repaired there. It should take about a week. It was too boring there, so I decided to take a spontaneous vacation. I just got off the boat and am about to enjoy the beautiful scenery here." Diarmuid puffed out a mouthful of smoke.
"You decided to take a spontaneous vacation?" Sengoku asked, a little dumbfounded.
"As a Marine Admiral, isn't it perfectly reasonable for me to take a vacation?" Diarmuid replied with a laugh.
"You're a bit too laid-back, aren't you?" Sengoku complained.
"Come to think of it, I haven't had a vacation in two or three years…" Diarmuid looked at the bustling port and chuckled.
Sengoku was silent for a moment before saying, "That's true. Then you should get some good rest."
"Okay. Anything important going on at headquarters?" Diarmuid replied and then asked.
"Nothing important. I was going to ask you to come back and help me sort through the documents Kong sent down, but… forget it. You enjoy your vacation." Sengoku said with a laugh.
"I think you should take a vacation, too, Admiral. I remember you haven't had a vacation in five years. If you keep working so hard, you'll die from overwork. That would be a huge loss for the Marines," Diarmuid said with a teasing laugh.
"Are you cursing me, you brat?" Sengoku grumbled. But soon, he laughed again. "I'm used to it. I'm a lonely old man. If I took a vacation, I wouldn't know what to do. I might as well just keep contributing to the Marines."
"You could try asking the Chief of Staff out? I hear the scenery in Fish-Man Island is great. You should check it out," Diarmuid said with a raised eyebrow and a mischievous tone.
Sengoku fell silent for a moment before saying, "Do you think you can get away with anything now that you're an Admiral?"
"Hahahaha, how could I? I have the utmost respect for you, Admiral Sengoku!" Diarmuid said with a big laugh.
"I'll show you when you get back," Sengoku muttered. After a slight pause, Sengoku continued, "New Year's will be in two days. Don't stay out too long. We Marines have a lot to arrange at the beginning of the year."
"Ah, I know. You need to assign escorts for the Reverie, right? But I don't think an Admiral needs to be deployed for that?" Diarmuid asked.
"No, but we Admirals also have to represent the Marines and participate in the Reverie. Don't be absent," Sengoku said.
"Don't worry, I'll be there. I'll come back as soon as the ship is fixed…" Diarmuid stopped mid-sentence, his eyes showing a hint of surprise.
Sengoku asked curiously, "What's wrong?"
"Ah, nothing. Just saw a beautiful girl in a bikini at the port…" Diarmuid lied casually.
Sengoku didn't bother with him and hung up after a few more words of warning. Diarmuid put away the Den Den Mushi, his gaze still fixed on a group of people who had just disembarked from a newly arrived ship at the port.
Diarmuid had taken a private boat directly from the Marine post in Vignola, so there was no warship at the port. Since he was on vacation, he wasn't wearing his Marine uniform. He wore a checkered shirt, a pair of baggy beach shorts, and flip-flops. He even had a pair of sunglasses and a sun hat on.
To be honest, no one noticed that he was a Marine Admiral. They just thought he was a tourist since Vicura Island was a famous hot springs resort with many tourists coming and going. His height, which was a little out of place, wasn't so obvious now, and it didn't draw any attention to him.
The reason he had paused during his conversation with Sengoku was that he recognized the ship at the port. It was a ship with a dragon figurehead, with no flag, and it looked like an ordinary tourist boat. In reality, it was the ride of the Revolutionary Army leader, Dragon!
"Admiral, here's your frozen juice!"
Just as Diarmuid was watching Dragon and his group, wearing hoods, walk off the ship, a voice called out to him from behind. Diarmuid turned around with a laugh. "I told you not to call me Admiral right now. I'm on vacation."
"I know, Admiral," Hina said with a smile. It was clear she had no intention of changing what she called him.
Hina was also dressed like a beach beauty. She was wearing a slitted white sarong that covered one leg, while the other was completely exposed from the calf down. On top, she wore a rose-red crop top. All in all, she looked very pleasing to the eye.
She was also wearing sunglasses, a cigarette in her mouth, and holding two cups of frozen juice. It was clear that Diarmuid had sent her on an errand while he was talking to Sengoku.
"I told you, you're too young to smoke. That's not something a child should be doing." Diarmuid stood up, took a cup of juice, and grumbled.
"Even though I'm only sixteen, I'm already a Marine Commander at Marine Headquarters. I've participated in three live combat trainings and personally captured a pirate with a 27,000,000 Berry bounty. My kill count is over thirty. Are you saying I can kill people, but I can't smoke, Admiral?" Hina bit the cigarette in her mouth and puffed out a mouthful of smoke, rolling her eyes at Diarmuid.
This made Diarmuid speechless. In the end, he could only say in exasperation, "Why are you getting more and more sassy, you little brat? Are you disrespecting me, your Admiral?"
"It's a vacation right now. You just said so yourself," Hina said with a wave of her hand, looking disgusted.
Too lazy to bicker with Hina anymore, Diarmuid bit down on the straw, took a sip of the cold juice, and stared in the direction Dragon and his group had gone. After thinking for a while, he said, "There are so many handsome guys on this island. You don't have to stay with an old guy like me. Go find a romantic encounter. I'm going to go to the hot springs. Ta-ta."
Hina was stunned for a moment before quickly asking, "Then when and where should we meet up?"
If Diarmuid was going to go shopping, Hina would have gone with him. After all, Diarmuid was a genuine handsome guy. Even though he was an "old guy," he was a handsome old guy. But since Diarmuid had made it clear he was going to the hot springs, Hina felt too embarrassed to follow him.
"Whenever. We can just use the Den Den Mushi to contact each other. Who knows, maybe I'll have a romantic encounter myself…" Diarmuid said with a wave of his hand.
With that, he walked away in his flip-flops, with his sun hat, a cigar in one hand, and juice in the other. Hina was stunned for a moment before she shouted, "I'll tell Gion-nee on you!"
"You little brat, don't forget that I'm your boss. If you talk nonsense, I'll make sure you don't get a promotion…" Diarmuid didn't even look back, just waved his hand casually. Soon, his figure disappeared into the crowd.
Hina took a few sips of her juice, took a puff from her cigarette, and didn't bother looking for Diarmuid. She turned and walked in the direction of the shopping street.
Diarmuid continued to sip his juice, trailing behind Dragon and his group from a distance without being noticed. After following them for a while, he saw Dragon and his group enter a large hot springs inn.
Seeing this, Diarmuid shamelessly walked in as well. Once inside, however, Dragon and his group were nowhere to be seen. Diarmuid thought about it for a moment but didn't care.
Although he was curious about what Dragon was doing here, he had lost them, so he didn't bother to look for them. Now that he was here, why not enjoy the hot springs?
He bought a ticket, grabbed a small wooden bucket with a towel, soap, and other items, and walked into the bathhouse. He took off his clothes, rinsed himself off, and wrapped a white towel around his waist. He then opened the door to the outdoor hot springs and walked in.
The hot springs were terraced, covering a large area, like a sports field. There were about ten people already soaking in the springs. Diarmuid didn't want to be a part of the crowd, so he walked to the hot springs in the corner, sat down in the warm water, and covered his face with his towel. He let out a comfortable sigh and leaned back against the wall, ready to take a nap.
As a Devil Fruit user, his weakness to water had not been removed. Soaking in the hot springs, he felt a weakness spread throughout his body. At the same time, this weakness, washed over by the hot springs, was so comfortable and lazy.
"This is a great place…" Diarmuid murmured softly, his voice full of weariness. Unconsciously, in this lazy state, Diarmuid quietly fell asleep.
About half an hour later, two more figures walked into the hot springs bathhouse. One of them was Dragon. Like Diarmuid, he was bare-chested with a pure white towel wrapped around his waist. His face, however, had an extra red tattoo.
Dragon looked at the people in the bathhouse and didn't seem to care about exposing his identity. He also didn't notice Diarmuid, who was sleeping soundly in the corner with a towel over his face. He walked to a hot springs pool and sat down.
The person with him looked much more exaggerated. Even in the hot springs, he was wearing heavy makeup. This person was one of the Revolutionary Army's top executives, Emporio Ivankov.
"Are you sure it's okay for you to be in the men's bath?" Dragon said, teasing Ivankov as he soaked in the water.
Ivankov didn't care at all and waved his hand. "If you want, I can give you an injection, and you can go to the women's bath next door openly."
"Hahaha, I think I'll pass," Dragon said with a laugh.
"Why did you choose the bathhouse as our meeting spot?" Ivankov asked after soaking for a while.
"Here, we can be completely open and honest. It makes it seem more sincere," Dragon said with a laugh.
"Oh, that. I know. It's one of the gang cultures in the West Blue. The gang bosses like to talk business in places like this. You've learned a lot." Ivankov said with a laugh.
That's right. Talking business in a bathhouse was one of the gang cultures. Because in a bathhouse, everyone was open and honest. They couldn't hide any weapons on their bodies, so it could show their sincerity to the maximum extent.
Of course, if you could stuff a knife in your crotch, then my words don't count.
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