Tsuru had a very good temper and didn't seem to mind that Diarmuid had made a mess of her office. The weather was nice, so she didn't even bother to deal with the broken window. After calming down a nearly hysterical Diarmuid, they both straightened up the sofa and pushed the two halves together. They'd use it for now and get a new one later.
"I'm really sorry, Chief," Diarmuid said, sitting on the patched-up sofa with a teacup in his hand, feeling a bit awkward.
Tsuru smiled and waved her hand. "It's nothing. Dealing with that Garp, I've wanted to kill him more times than I can count."
Diarmuid nodded in agreement. "Before I came to Marineford, I always admired Vice Admiral Garp. After all, he's the Marine Hero…"
It was the truth. Before he actually met Garp, Diarmuid thought Garp was a very interesting person: approachable, incredibly powerful, and funny. He was certainly funny, but when you're the one he's messing with, it's hard to stop yourself from trying to kill him!
"Once you spend more time with Garp, you might get used to it…" Tsuru said, thinking for a moment.
"Is there no way to change him?" Diarmuid asked.
"Everyone has tried… He's still the same," Tsuru said helplessly.
Of course. The Marine's number one rascal lives up to his reputation. He had managed to annoy everyone into just accepting his behavior. Diarmuid highly suspected that if Garp weren't so incredibly powerful, the Marines would have killed him long ago.
As Diarmuid was thinking about this, Tsuru continued, "While Garp is unreliable in many ways, you have to admit that when it matters, he's a trustworthy comrade."
Diarmuid didn't say anything. He just nodded. That was true. Garp was a pain, but he was reliable.
Thinking of this, Diarmuid's heart ached again. The good reputation and bright future he had built for himself over the past two or three years had been completely destroyed by that bastard Garp in just a few days.
He wondered how the Fleet Admiral was feeling right now? Probably wanted to kill Garp even more than he did.
Seeing that Diarmuid didn't want to talk about that maniac anymore, Tsuru smiled. "Alright, enough about that guy. Diarmuid, since you're out of the hospital, let's talk business."
At the mention of this, Diarmuid straightened his back. "Yes, Commodore Rodriguez Diarmuid of Marine Headquarters reporting for duty!"
"I'm not accepting a Commodore's report," Tsuru said with a teasing smile.
Diarmuid's eyes lit up with anticipation. Just as he expected, Tsuru took a document out of her desk drawer and handed it to Diarmuid. "Congratulations, Rear Admiral Diarmuid."
He took the document and opened it. Inside was his promotion approval, along with a pair of Rear Admiral epaulets. The document was stamped with Fleet Admiral Kong's seal. This meant that as of this moment, he was officially a Rear Admiral of Marine Headquarters.
Looking at the document, Diarmuid felt both happy and a little bit bitter. He was happy that he had been promoted again. He had reached the rank of Rear Admiral after only one mission. He hadn't fought so hard for nothing. The Marines were a good place to be. If you put in the work, you were rewarded. If this were anywhere else, you could risk your life and still get nothing in return.
But he also felt a sense of bitterness. Thanks to that piece of work, Garp, this promotion might be the last he would ever see for the next ten years. Vice Admiral… seemed so far away.
He knew that with his current experience, he couldn't realistically be a Vice Admiral yet.
"Thank you, Vice Admiral. Everything is for justice," Diarmuid said with a sigh.
Tsuru smiled. "You're welcome. I didn't do anything to earn this for you."
After a few more minutes of small talk, Tsuru said, "Diarmuid, what is your opinion on the current situation on the seas? What are your thoughts on our plans and goals for the New World? If I were to create a new intelligence division, what kind of ideas would you have?"
Diarmuid knew that Tsuru was testing him with these questions. She was trying to get a read on him to decide what kind of work to assign him. So, Diarmuid thought for a moment before speaking. "The current situation on the seas can be described as a fragile balance. This balance could be broken at any moment. If it is, I think our strategy for the New World will be completely disrupted, and even…"
He stopped there, feeling he had said enough. After a short pause, Diarmuid continued, "As for our plans and goals in the New World, I have no opinions to add. It is the correct course of action, given the current situation."
He didn't answer the third question.
Tsuru didn't seem to be waiting for his answer. She just nodded. "Is that so? Then what kind of event do you think would break this fragile balance you speak of?"
Diarmuid pondered for a moment before saying, "The birth of a new pirate overlord."
Tsuru's eyes lit up, as if she completely agreed with Diarmuid's assessment.
"Right now, all the big pirates in the New World are ambitious. If nothing unexpected had happened, Shiki would have been in a position to unite the pirates more than two years ago. If that had happened, this fragile balance would have been broken a long time ago," Diarmuid said.
In his view, if Shiki had won the Edd War two years ago, whether by defeating Roger or by taking him in, the New World would have changed drastically.
If someone like him had taken the top spot, he wouldn't have hidden. The world would have been in chaos right now. The Marines wouldn't be talking about re-conquering the New World; Shiki would probably be attacking Marineford itself.
"Thankfully, Shiki was severely injured at the Edd War. These past two years have given us some time while he recovered his strength. But I think a new pirate overlord in the New World could appear at any time. Whether it's Roger, Newgate, or a revitalized Shiki, whichever one of them reaches the top will bring a different kind of change to the world. And that change will inevitably break the current fragile balance," Diarmuid analyzed.
Tsuru nodded solemnly. "That's very similar to what we think." After a moment, Tsuru continued, "You might not know this, but we are already preparing for this future."
Diarmuid was taken aback. He honestly hadn't known, but after a moment of surprise, he wasn't surprised anymore. There were too many smart people in the Marines. It was only logical that they would think of this. As for himself, he was simply drawing from a higher perspective and his memories of the future.
The reason he didn't know about the high command's preparations was also logical. Before this, he was only a Commodore. While he had entered the stage of the high command, he was still on the periphery. He only attended regular meetings and was sometimes lucky enough to be called to a "small meeting" by Admiral Sengoku to learn about more profound matters.
He couldn't be so arrogant as to think the Marines would include him in every high-level meeting. It was only natural that the Marine leaders and even the World Government's top brass, like the Gorosei, would make these plans in private.
Before Diarmuid could speak, Tsuru continued, "One of these preparations is to reorganize the Intelligence Division and build a more complete and efficient intelligence agency, and I'm in charge of that."
Here, Tsuru looked at Diarmuid. "After all, if a new pirate overlord does appear, our current intelligence capabilities might not be able to provide the most timely response."
Diarmuid nodded. "That's true. No matter how the situation changes, intelligence will always be one of the most important forms of power."
He had understood a lot by this point.
The Marines were making two preparations. One was to conquer the New World. If they could pacify the New World before a new pirate overlord was born, everything would be great. But it seemed the Marines also felt that time was running out, and such a thing wasn't so easy to do. So, they were secretly making preparations so they would have the means to respond if the situation got worse.
Diarmuid didn't know what Admiral Sengoku and the others were doing, but he knew that the Chief of Staff, Tsuru, was in charge of strengthening the Marine's intelligence capabilities. In the coming months, he would most likely be working on this.
"I'm glad you understand. You truly are smart. It was worth stealing you from Sengoku," Tsuru said with a smile.
Diarmuid smiled as well.
After a few laughs, Tsuru said, "So, what's the answer to the last question?"
Diarmuid thought for a moment before saying softly, "First, we can no longer stay isolated. We need to cooperate with various World Government agencies on intelligence work, like the CP agencies…"
Tsuru nodded in agreement.
The Marine's Intelligence Division currently operated independently, which was a deep-rooted issue. This was because the Marines had always had a poor relationship with the CP agencies, another World Government organization of the same rank. They were in a state of competition.
It was rumored that the position of Commander-in-Chief of the World Government's entire military was rotated between a Marine and a CP agent. The current Commander-in-Chief was from the CP agencies, but this was just a rumor. Diarmuid had never truly verified it.
In terms of strength, the CP agencies were no match for the Marines. But they had a huge advantage: they reported directly to the Celestial Dragons and the Gorosei. In some ways, they were closer to the World Government.
The Marines, on the other hand, had more autonomy. So, perhaps for political balance or other reasons, the World Government's top brass, like the Gorosei, had ranked the CP agencies on the same level as Marine Headquarters. The two organizations were in a state of competition.
Of course, the CP agencies didn't rely on this alone to compete with Marine Headquarters. Militarily, they were no match for the Marines, but in terms of intelligence, assassination, and all sorts of dirty work, they were miles ahead. So, they each had their own specialties.
Diarmuid remembered that in the future, Marine Headquarters did indeed cooperate with the CP agencies on intelligence and various missions, but right now, the Marine Intelligence Division hadn't started that yet.
Based on the current situation, it seemed that Tsuru's reorganization of the division was what would lead to this change.
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