As Gion and Kuzan walked in, they naturally plopped down on the sofa, showing absolutely no deference to Diarmuid, the Admiral.
Diarmuid wasn't annoyed, just as he didn't treat Fleet Admiral Sengoku with undue formality either.
Everyone was so familiar with each other; when there were no outsiders around, it was inappropriate to put on airs or use official jargon.
As soon as she sat down, Gion asked excitedly, "Do we have a mission?"
"Yep, the New World," Diarmuid nodded.
Kuzan, however, looked completely helpless. "I just got back from the New World a few days ago... Can't a guy get a decent vacation?"
"What vacation? I'm a Marine Admiral, and I'm on duty twenty-four hours a day, three hundred and sixty-five days a year. How dare you talk about vacation to me?" Diarmuid glared at Kuzan.
"I heard about you and that CP agent in Mariejois..." Kuzan suddenly began.
Diarmuid's expression immediately changed. The glare turned into a strained smile as he abruptly cut Kuzan off. "Aiya, I know you've worked hard! I originally wanted to stick Sakazuki with your place, but what could I do? The Fleet Admiral insisted I take you. New officials always have to make their mark. I wouldn't dare talk back to him. Stop complaining to me, if you've got the guts, go argue with the Fleet Admiral..."
While saying this, Diarmuid was mentally cursing Kuzan to death. Is that something you can talk about here? Can't you see Gion is still around? When we get to the New World, I'm going to kill this bastard...
Kuzan seemed to realize his slip-up. He genuinely hadn't meant to, so he dared not press the issue, nodding quickly. "Forget it, forget it. It's all for the sake of Justice, right?"
Diarmuid and Kuzan were feeling guilty, but Gion didn't care about the issue at all. She had Hina, her little secretary, completely wrapped around her finger; why would she be afraid of Stussy, who rarely even saw Diarmuid?
Hmph!
"When are we leaving?" Gion asked quickly.
"Have you packed your things? We're heading to the Sabaody Archipelago in a bit. Jinbe will pick us up, and we'll secretly enter the New World via Fish-Man Island to give those pirate bastards a surprise," Diarmuid smiled and said.
Gion nodded. "Hina told us to pack our bags before we came. I'm all set. Your things, mine, and Hina's luggage have all been sent to the small merchant ship that the Marineford residential area uses for stocking goods."
This was the benefit of Hina's detail-oriented secretarial ability; she was much more careful than Diarmuid. Diarmuid hadn't even thought to remind Hina not to take a Marine warship. After all, they were trying to infiltrate the New World secretly, sailing a warship to Sabaody and then disappearing from there would be a huge giveaway.
But Hina had handled all those arrangements without prompting, saving Diarmuid the trouble. This was why Diarmuid had always been reluctant to let Hina go to the front lines—he felt that if she left, his side of the administration would instantly fall into chaos.
Kuzan waved his hand when he heard this, actually pulling out a toothbrush from his pocket. "I'll just use this..."
"Magnificent," Diarmuid gave Kuzan a thumbs-up.
If you called him sloppy, he was still refined enough to bring a toothbrush. If you called him refined, all he brought was that single toothbrush.
After quickly discussing the next steps in the office, Diarmuid, Kuzan, Gion, and Hina all changed into plain clothes and headed toward the Marineford residential port.
When Diarmuid arrived at the port, he saw Bellemere, Nami, Nojiko, Luffy, and Ace repeatedly unloading boxes of goods from their small merchant ship.
Bellemere, with an unlit cigarette dangling from her mouth and her usual dashing hairstyle, looked heroic and spirited. Diarmuid always felt she had missed out by not continuing her career in the Marines.
Ace was a strapping youth now. Both he and Luffy were exceptionally gifted, possessing astonishing strength since childhood. Ace had somehow scrounged up a half-worn, standard-issue Marine Justice coat and, from a distance, truly looked like a Marine soldier.
Diarmuid knew full well that the boy hadn't been officially approved to join the Marines yet, though he frequently received instruction from Sakazuki and Zephyr. That coat was beloved by many of the kids whose families lived at Marineford, as most of those who grew up there idolized the Marines and hoped to join. The coat was exactly the same as the ones most Marine soldiers wore, just without the epaulets.
Ace was effortlessly carrying three boxes stacked taller than himself down the gangplank, without a hint of being winded. As for Luffy, he clearly wanted to carry three like Ace, but due to his height, he had to settle for two.
When Diarmuid had ruined Shanks, he brought back the crumpled straw hat and casually gave it to the boy. The little guy seemed genuinely destined to wear the hat, crying and pleading with Bellemere to repair it for him, and now wore it every day. He looked nearly identical to the image of his younger self in the original story. The only difference was that back then, he constantly shouted about becoming the King of the Pirates and got severely beaten by Garp. Now, he constantly shouted about becoming some "King of the Marines"... and was still severely beaten by Garp.
That's right, the Marines don't have a king. Garp always felt there was something wrong with Luffy's brain... he was afraid the boy was an idiot.
Luffy was wearing a simple white tank top with the character for "Justice" scrawled crookedly across the back. Diarmuid knew Nami had written it for him. After Ace got the Marine coat, Luffy wanted one too, but after crying and fussing to no avail, aside from occasionally borrowing Ace's for a day or two, he begged Nami to write "Justice" on his little tank top.
Diarmuid hadn't visited the children often lately, and even Garp, their grandfather, hadn't been by much. This was mostly due to a sense of security, his own busy schedule, and the fact that watching the kids, especially Ace and Luffy, was truly exhausting. Only Sakazuki, apparently, visited them whenever he had time, mainly to see Ace.
So, Diarmuid hadn't seen the children in quite a while.
Standing at the Marineford residential port now, watching the children help Bellemere work and seeing the story's trajectory tangibly altered, a look of satisfied relief spread across Diarmuid's face.
It was good. Looking at these little ones, he inexplicably felt happy.
It seemed there wasn't much cargo left on the ship. Bellemere leaned against a wooden dock post, lit her cigarette happily, and exhaled a puff of smoke. She watched Ace and Luffy compete to see who could unload more boxes, while Nami and Nojiko cheered them on and quietly slacked off themselves. It had to be said that she was likely good friends with the "Smoking Mistress" Hina because they shared the same hobby.
Just then, a voice reached them.
"You're such a big boss, yet you're still down here personally unloading cargo," Diarmuid said with a smile as he approached with Kuzan, Gion, and Hina.
Nami's eyes lit up when she saw Diarmuid, and she happily ran toward him with her arms outstretched.
Diarmuid, who was very fond of the cute little girl, scooped up the pouncing Nami, laughing as he asked, "How have you been lately?"
"I passed the Marine Headquarters Second-Class Navigator exam! Isn't that awesome!?" Nami said excitedly.
"You really are a little genius!" Diarmuid praised with a smile.
After a slight pause, Diarmuid asked, "So, are you thinking about joining the Marines soon?"
"Oh, sigh. What can I do? Luffy and Ace are both idiots. If I let them join the Marines like this, they'll probably get lost at sea one day. I have to be the older sister who helps them out... It's all so worrisome," Nami said with a deliberately mature shake of her head.
Ace had already run back to the ship to unload the last box, or he would certainly have argued with Nami, as he was older than her.
After chatting with Nami for a couple of minutes, Diarmuid looked at Bellemere, who was talking with Hina, Kuzan, and Gion.
"Belle, will it mess things up if we take the boat?" Diarmuid asked.
"Mess up what? It's not like you're going far, is it? It's just the Sabaody Archipelago. You can make several round trips in a day," Bellemere waved her hand. "I've got enough stock here to last the bar three or five days, so it's fine."
She paused, then smiled again. "Besides, you and Garp-san are the real owners. I'm not."
She was joking. A couple of years ago, Diarmuid and Garp had each given Bellemere a portion of the bar's shares. In reality, Diarmuid only kept a tiny bit now, just for sentimentality, and Garp was similar. Bellemere was the bar's main owner.
There was no need to discuss business operations or whether this arrangement was appropriate. Diarmuid never treated it seriously; it was just a bar, and he had simply given away the shares.
However, Bellemere insisted on distributing profits according to the original division every time. In her words, Diarmuid and Garp had already helped her so much that she felt it would be wrong to take more. She intended to hold on to the "shares" the two men had forced upon her and distribute them to Ace, Luffy, Nami, and Nojiko later.
While Diarmuid and the others stood there chatting, Ace brought the last box of cargo off the ship and stacked it with the others. He and Luffy started comparing who had done more work, and Ace ultimately won.
Ace then ran over to the adults. He looked longingly at Nami and Nojiko, who were being held by Diarmuid and Gion respectively, before climbing up Kuzan's long leg and settling onto his shoulder, much to Kuzan's bewilderment.
Luffy tried to climb up Hina's leg, but Hina wasn't about to indulge the boy. She kicked him away lightly. In retaliation, Luffy bravely snuck in a kick to Hina's shoe, after which Hina chased him furiously around the dock, caught him, pinned him over her knee, and spanked his bottom soundly.
The group burst into laughter at this sight. No one felt that Hina was bullying or neglecting Luffy, as they all knew that Hina was normally the kindest to Luffy, often buying him all sorts of strange snacks. They had an incredibly close relationship. Of course, the rascal Luffy was often beaten by Hina, too.
Ace gripped Kuzan's shoulder and looked at Diarmuid. "Diarmuid-jichan, thank you!" His expression was very serious.
Diarmuid was momentarily stunned, then remembered what he was referring to. He smiled and asked, "How is it? Are you satisfied? With your abilities?"
"Satisfied!" Ace nodded happily, then extended his small hand and unleashed a burst of flames with a whoosh.
That's right, the boy was now a Logia-type Flame-Flame Fruit user. After Diarmuid brought the Devil Fruit back, he casually handed it to Sakazuki, who then eagerly arranged for Ace to eat it. Later, whenever Sakazuki mentioned the matter, he wore a look of immense satisfaction, as if Ace were his own son and he had found an heir to his legacy, which gave Diarmuid the chills.
"Work hard. Don't let down our goodwill," Diarmuid said with a warm smile.
Just then, Luffy, who had been soundly spanked by Hina, ran back for some reason. "That's not fair, Diarmuid-jichan! I want to be an ability user too! I can't fall too far behind Ace!"
"Hahahaha, you want to be an ability user too? What kind of power do you want?" Diarmuid roared with laughter.
Luffy looked at Ace, thought of Sakazuki, then looked at Diarmuid, and finally stated firmly, "I want a Paramecia ability just like you, Diarmuid-jichan!"