Diarmuid didn't say much more to Jinbe. After a few simple instructions, he waved his hand, signaling that Jinbe was free to go.
With a heart full of gratitude, Jinbe saluted Diarmuid once more before turning and leaving the office.
After Jinbe had gone, Hina looked at Diarmuid, who was sitting silently on the sofa, and asked, "Admiral, is this a good idea?"
"What do you mean, 'is this a good idea'?" Diarmuid asked with a small smile.
"Letting Jinbe become a Warlord of the Sea. Is he a suitable candidate?" Hina clarified.
A grin spread across Diarmuid's face. He nodded and said, "Suitable? He's the most suitable candidate there is."
After a brief pause, Diarmuid continued, "Go get Jinbe's file and put it with Smoker's. Then, promote him to Rear Admiral of Marine Headquarters and list his file as a Level 1 classified secret."
"Yes, Admiral," Hina replied, then turned toward the door.
Just as she was about to open it, Hina stopped and looked back at Diarmuid. "Admiral, when Smoker left, did you really say that to him?"
"Say what?" Diarmuid asked.
"My heart and actions are as clear as a mirror; all my deeds are righteous!" Hina repeated.
Diarmuid smiled and waved his hand. "No."
Hina was visibly surprised. "Why not? I thought that was a great line."
"Because Smoker doesn't need it. I've never once doubted that guy's justice and conviction," Diarmuid said without hesitation.
Hina nodded at first, then looked at him with a hint of surprise. "So you... have doubts about Jinbe's justice?"
"Is that not normal? How long has he even been a Marine?" Diarmuid said calmly. After a pause, he continued, "He's not the same as Smoker."
"Then you're still letting him join this plan? This is..." Hina said, a bit hesitant.
"This has nothing to do with justice," Diarmuid said first, then added, "Jinbe's sense of benevolence will make him a great Warlord of the Sea. I'm just giving him another reason to hold onto it."
It was clear Diarmuid didn't want to talk about it anymore. He waved his hand and said, "Go do your job. Stop dawdling."
Hina let out a frustrated huff, opened the door, and walked out.
Just as Diarmuid had arranged, Marine Headquarters Captain Jinbe left a letter the following day, angrily denouncing the Marines for their unfair treatment of the Fish-Man race. He then led the recently formed Fish-Man special unit in a brazen defection from Marine Headquarters.
This left many Marine officers completely bewildered, as Jinbe and the other Fish-Men had been treated exceptionally well in the Marines. Where was this talk of "unfair treatment" coming from?
Gradually, the discussion devolved into contempt for Jinbe, with many calling him an ungrateful dog. They said Admiral Diarmuid had poured so much effort into cultivating him, only for Jinbe to repay his kindness this way.
Not long after, the Intelligence Division reported that Jinbe had joined Fisher Tiger's Sun Pirates with a group of Fish-Men. This news only fueled the outrage against Jinbe within the Marines.
That guy must have wanted to betray the Marines all along, right?
And he used such a shameless excuse!
Admiral Diarmuid was reportedly furious. He publicly condemned Jinbe on multiple occasions for his lack of character, and Marine Headquarters issued a new bounty for Jinbe, raising him to a pirate with a staggering bounty of 100 million Berries.
A simple defection from Marine Headquarters wouldn't be enough to warrant a 100 million Berry bounty. This figure was a blend of Diarmuid's personal sentiment, Marine Headquarters' contempt for Jinbe, and their fury over him joining the Sun Pirates.
However, against the backdrop of Captain Jinbe—an officer of low rank but highly special and scrutinized identity—another defection occurred at Marine Headquarters.
Marine Headquarters Commodore Diez Barrels, accompanied by a group of Marine scum, hijacked a warship during a mission and fled to the North Blue, degenerating into a pirate.
This kind of thing happens every year. Many Marines defect for various reasons, so there was nothing to be concerned about. Besides, he didn't have any special identity. His rank was only slightly higher than Jinbe's. He was just an ordinary Commodore with no powerful faction backing him up, practically a nobody at Headquarters.
So, Diez Barrels' defection caused no ripple in Marineford. It didn't even catch the attention of the Vice Admirals, let alone Admiral Sengoku and the others.
Only Diarmuid paid attention to him.
This guy... isn't he the father of "Red Flag" X Drake? Somehow, he later got his hands on the Op-Op Fruit somewhere in the North Blue.
This guy didn't realize how incredibly powerful and coveted the Op-Op Fruit was. He found out about the black market price of 5 billion Berries for the fruit, as marked by the World Government.
He wanted to sell the Op-Op Fruit to the World Government through Doflamingo, a broker in the underworld, hoping to make 5 billion Berries and retire.
Unfortunately, when Doflamingo learned about the Op-Op Fruit, he immediately decided to abandon his principles and ethics as a broker, planning to rob the guy instead.
But the World Government quickly found out and immediately ordered the Marines to retrieve the Op-Op Fruit. This mission was assigned to Sengoku.
Sengoku planned the Minion Island incident, with Tsuru personally overseeing the operation.
From the Marine's plan, everything should have gone smoothly. Since the Op-Op Fruit was involved, the World Government, a rare occurrence, even approved the Marines' operation to capture Doflamingo. According to the original plan, the Marines should have not only secured the Op-Op Fruit but also captured Doflamingo at Minion Island.
But then, Rosinante's aura of bad luck activated. He almost got Doflamingo killed on Minion Island, then completely ruined Sengoku's entire plan.
The final result was that Rosinante himself was killed by Doflamingo on Minion Island, the Op-Op Fruit ended up in Trafalgar Law's stomach, Sengoku's entire scheme fell through, and the whole Marine mission ended in failure.
And because the Op-Op Fruit wasn't secured, Sengoku was harshly reprimanded by the World Government...
From the outcome of this incident, Doflamingo's reputation was destroyed, and he was forced to kill his last remaining blood relative. In the end, he didn't even get the Op-Op Fruit, losing both his family and his prize.
Rosinante died on the spot.
Sengoku lost a son and failed his mission, leaving the situation in complete disarray.
Only Trafalgar Law could be considered the sole beneficiary. Not only did he eat the Op-Op Fruit, becoming a Devil Fruit user and opening the door to becoming a powerful figure, but his Amber Lead Syndrome was also cured.
All in all, in the entire Minion Island incident, Diez Barrels was the fuse, Doflamingo was the catalyst, and Rosinante was the one who ultimately detonated the entire event, leaving everyone with heavy losses.
This also shows just how absurd Rosinante's actions were.
As a Marine, he betrayed the trust Sengoku placed in him and, for the sake of a child and his own self-redemption, completely botched the Marine's plan.
I wonder if this guy has changed anything this time?
Diez Barrels' defection didn't cause any waves in Marineford, but Diarmuid knew that, barring any surprises, the events set to unfold at Minion Island had already begun.
He didn't interfere. He simply told the Intelligence Division to keep a close eye on Barrels.
Then, in early 1510 of the Marine calendar, Stussy, the Queen of the Pleasure District, returned to Mariejois and took over the position of CP-0 Chief. From an administrative rank perspective, Stussy had essentially reached the same level as a Marine Admiral... once again catching up to Diarmuid.
At the same time, because Queen Stussy had received accurate information from Diarmuid before the incident at Mariejois, she had subtly withdrawn her factions from the coming storm.
As a result, after the incident at Mariejois, the entire CP organization was purged. Only Queen Stussy suffered minimal losses from the event, and she gained even more importance in the eyes of the Gorosei and the World Government.
After taking on the position of CP-0 Chief, the Queen fully cemented her standing within the CP organization. From then on, no one could easily threaten her position or safety.
Her power had once again reached a new peak.
However, this didn't satisfy Queen Stussy's ambition and lust for power. She quickly contacted Diarmuid to inform him that her next goal was the position of Director-General of the entire CP organization!
If the CP-0 Chief position was equivalent to a Marine Admiral, then the Director-General of the entire CP organization was equivalent to the Fleet Admiral.
In other words, Queen Stussy now had two more steps to climb. The first was to become the Director-General, and the second was to compete for the Commander-in-Chief of the Entire Military, just like the guy named Pask, who was beheaded by the Gorosei after becoming Director-General.
It was obvious that even though the current Director-General of the CP organization was reprimanded by the Gorosei, he hadn't lost their trust or his position.
It would be impossible for Queen Stussy to climb to the position of Director-General in the short term, let alone Commander-in-Chief of the Entire Military. But, having ambition is always a good thing.
Her telling Diarmuid this immediately was a way of putting his mind at ease.
Both of them knew that the foundation of their cooperation and alliance was their shared ambition. If Stussy had been satisfied with her position as Chief, there would be no basis for their collaboration. If Stussy was content, what was there left to cooperate on?
At that point, Diarmuid would surely have chosen to part ways with Stussy, or even... take a darker route.
Stussy clearly didn't want that to happen, which is why she contacted Diarmuid right away.
Diarmuid, of course, understood what Stussy meant and found it a bit amusing. What kind of person does she think I am? As long as she didn't pull any tricks and didn't harm his interests, Diarmuid had no intention of doing anything ruthless to her. He wouldn't even mind if she decided to quit now.
But since she had shown her sincerity, Diarmuid quickly reassured Queen Stussy and told her he would visit her at Mariejois soon.
After all... Diarmuid wanted to meet the Gorosei as well.
As the various reconstruction efforts at Mariejois gradually got back on track, the Gorosei, who had been busy for several months, finally had some free time.
They finally remembered Admiral Diarmuid.
At the Gorosei's summons, Diarmuid quickly left Marine Headquarters, Marineford, and headed for the Holy Land, Mariejois.
As Diarmuid rode the elevator up to Mariejois, he was filled with emotion. The last time he came to Mariejois, the place was lively, incredibly prosperous, and had an air of luxury.
This time, what he saw was a massive construction site...
He heard that the World Nobles on Mariejois, unable to stand the environment, had all chosen to go on vacation.
Looking at the current progress of the reconstruction, such a large-scale project would take at least three or four years to complete.
Diarmuid suddenly understood why the World Noble who shelled Sabo and the one from the Donquixote Family who caused trouble on Fish-Man Island were out and about at this particular time.
So it was all that guy's fault!
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