Holy Land, Mariejois. Inside the Gorosei's office.
The Five Elders were currently deliberating over a pressing issue.
"We only managed to capture Cobra. That Crocodile is truly a piece of work," the bearded Elder said with a hint of indignation.
"Pirates are inherently untrustworthy. We had no prior cooperation with Crocodile to begin with. In retrospect, we were perhaps too impatient and abrupt in choosing him for this..." the blonde Elder remarked with a steady tone.
"It couldn't be helped. At the time, Crocodile was our only viable option," the bald Elder added.
It was evident that while the Gorosei were annoyed, they weren't in a state of total despair. It seemed the final outcome hadn't completely spiraled out of control.
"Nefertari Cobra carries the bloodline of the Twenty Kings, a lineage we in Mariejois have long lacked. Being able to bring him back is a significant success in itself," noted the Elder wielding the sword.
"Fortunately, Dr. Vegapunk's Lineage Factor technology has yielded some results. With Cobra in our hands, it should indeed be enough," the blonde Elder nodded.
Indeed, even though a major incident had recently struck the Marine Special Science Group, leading to the ruin of Punk Hazard and the loss of vast amounts of research, the timing had been fortuitous. Just before that, Vegapunk's Lineage Factor research had achieved several breakthroughs. The Gorosei had already begun to master this technology in secret.
The 'Celestial Dragon Blood' required to activate the Ancient Weapon Uranus no longer needed to be sourced in such massive quantities. With Cobra captured, they could use the Lineage Factor technology to crack his bloodline. Once decrypted, they could replicate it as much as they pleased!
…
After several transfers, Diarmuid and his group finally left Alabasta, a country now in shambles, and returned to Marine Headquarters, Marineford.
In the end, Nico Robin did not follow Hancock back to Amazon Lily to serve as the Vice Captain of the Kuja Pirates. This girl's mind was now entirely consumed with planning how to get Admiral Diarmuid to pull some strings for her. She wanted a promotion to Vice Admiral so she could arrange a pardon for her mother at Impel Down.
"Let me tell you, even if you do get your mother out of Impel Down, you have to keep a close eye on her. No more Poneglyphs, and absolutely no researching Ancient Weapons. Also, as for that Ohara grudge, drop it if you can. If you can't, you'd better keep it bottled up tight," Diarmuid instructed Robin as he stepped off the warship.
Robin was perfectly agreeable. Personally, she had moved past the tragedy of Ohara. As she had said before, while there might be some lingering regret, she had no desire for vengeance.
However, her mother, Olvia, had been a radical scholar back then, incredibly stubborn. She had been locked in Impel Down for so many years, and Diarmuid had never interacted with her. He had no idea what her current mindset was, so he had to warn Robin to prevent any embarrassing scenes from unfolding.
"I understand, Admiral. I will definitely talk some sense into her," Robin nodded.
"Mm, I trust you. But have you thought about what to do with her afterward?" Diarmuid asked.
"I was thinking... maybe she could live in Marineford?" Robin said hesitantly.
Surprisingly, despite her rush to bail her mother out of Impel Down, Robin hadn't actually considered a suitable long-term arrangement.
As soon as she spoke, Diarmuid shot her a look. "No. Your mother cannot stay in Marineford. It wouldn't be good for anyone..."
Undoubtedly, aside from Saul, Olvia likely had zero positive impressions of the Marines as a whole. Keeping her in Marineford would be asking for trouble and awkwardness.
"Then how should we arrange it?" Robin asked, her head starting to ache.
"How about this..." Diarmuid pondered for a moment before saying: "Aren't you on good terms with Hancock? Send your mother to Amazon Lily. It's safe, isolated across the sea, and free from outside interference. As a scholar, she can just focus on her research and stop meddling in dangerous affairs..."
Robin's eyes lit up. "That's an excellent idea!"
Diarmuid stopped paying attention to Robin at that point. He stood on the harbor, looking left and right, and frowned. "Huh? Gion didn't come to meet me? Is she not at Headquarters?"
He looked around further. It wasn't just Gion, it seemed like no one had bothered to come and welcome him back.
What's the deal? I'm a Marine Admiral! I've been away for nearly a year; don't any of you miss me? How cold!
While Diarmuid was grumbling inwardly, he suddenly spotted a familiar figure walking toward him. A smile broke out on his face. "Borsalino! I knew it! You're my best friend!"
Indeed, the man walking toward him from a distance was Borsalino.
Hearing the familiar voice, Borsalino, who was currently fiddling with a wiretapping Den Den Mushi on his wrist, snapped his head up and looked at Diarmuid. "Eh? Diarmuid? You're back?"
Diarmuid: "???"
So you weren't here to meet me?
His face twitched slightly before he spoke: "Yeah, just got in. Why, didn't you get the message that I was returning?"
"I didn't," Borsalino shook his head, then added: "Sigh, you have no idea how unlucky I've been lately. It's lucky you were in Alabasta; otherwise, if that Caesar and Crocodile had actually killed all those people with poison gas, our Special Science Group would have been finished. I would've been a dead man."
Diarmuid gave a forced smile and then asked, "Where's Gion?"
"Gion?" Borsalino rubbed his chin. "If I remember correctly, she headed out with Zephyr-sensei a month ago. Something about participating in the Marine Academy's field combat exercises..."
That's a thing? Why wasn't I told?
Suppressing his confusion, Diarmuid nodded and asked, "If I recall, Ace has joined as well?"
"Yeah, they went together. I don't know the details, but I heard the little guy is doing quite well. Along with another of Zephyr-sensei's disciples, he's being called the top contender of this year's class," Borsalino said.
"Oh? There's someone else who can compete with Ace?" Diarmuid asked, somewhat surprised.
In his memory, although Ace died young, his talent and ability were top-tier—he inherited Roger's bloodline, after all. And in this world, he had been "nurtured" by a crowd of Marine powerhouses since childhood. Sakazuki even viewed him as the future and successor of the hawk-faction Marines. One could imagine how excellent Ace was; how could there be someone on par with him? Is it Whitebeard's actual son?
"Her name is Ain. I don't know much, but she apparently has the power of the Return-Return Fruit. That strange ability is quite formidable..." Borsalino added.
Ah, that girl. Diarmuid remembered her. She was the one who eventually chose to leave the Marines with Zephyr. She was incredibly loyal and idolized Zephyr, but her actual talent and strength didn't seem that impressive; her fruit ability was just decent.
But on second thought, perhaps she originally had great talent but was delayed by circumstances in the original timeline? Or maybe the Academy just liked to hype up internal rivalries. Regardless, Diarmuid didn't dwell on it.
However, just as he was about to bid Borsalino farewell, a flash of alarm crossed his eyes. "Field combat exercises?"
"Yeah," Borsalino looked at Diarmuid curiously. "That's a regular occurrence, isn't it? Why are you so surprised?"
If Diarmuid remembered correctly, when Zephyr took Ain out this time, they were destined to run into that idiot Edward Weevil, the self-proclaimed "Whitebeard Jr."! And because of that idiot, Zephyr would have his arm severed, leading to the eventual conflict with the Marines and his tragic end.
But thinking about it now, was it really a big deal? The Warlord of the Sea project had been derailed from the start. Furthermore, the New World had been stirred into such a mess that Smoker was already a Yonko. It wasn't a given that they'd run into a dimwit like Weevil anymore.
Finally, Gion had gone along. With Gion's strength and ability, she could hold her own even against Whitebeard himself in the New World, let alone Whitebeard's "son."
It should be fine. Diarmuid pushed his unease aside.
At that moment, Hina walked down from the ship and greeted Borsalino with a smile. Diarmuid followed up by asking: "Hey, Hina, did I not report my return to Headquarters?"
Hina looked at him strangely. "What is there to report? You're just coming back from vacation, aren't you? It's not like you're returning from a mission."
Diarmuid finally understood. After all that, nobody at Headquarters even knew he was back!
Sigh, I guess it makes sense. With my reputation and popularity as the 'Jade-Faced Gentleman' Diarmuid, how could no one come to meet me? I'd have to be as miserable as Sakazuki for that! It turns out they just didn't know. That's fine then...
Satisfied, Diarmuid stopped dwelling on the issue. He forgot about leaving and asked Borsalino instead: "Where are you heading?"
"To the Special Science Group," Borsalino said.
"Oh, isn't Punk Hazard finished?" Diarmuid asked.
"That's why we moved..." Borsalino said with a hint of resentment.
"Where to?" Diarmuid asked curiously.
"To your Calm Belt," Borsalino waved a hand dismissively.
"The Calm Belt?" Diarmuid was startled. He lowered his voice and asked, "Is the Fleet Admiral... letting himself go that much? The Special Science Group isn't a purely Marine unit..."
Borsalino gave Diarmuid a look full of hidden meaning and said: "Stussy-san will soon be taking over as the Director-General of the CP organization."
After saying that, Borsalino patted Diarmuid on the shoulder and left with a chuckle.
Diarmuid was left in a daze. What is going on? Is Stussy about to become a 'Chief Leader' essentially?
Thinking of this, Diarmuid could understand why Fleet Admiral Sengoku was getting a bit "cocky." If he were in Sengoku's shoes, he would be too!
But why am I always the last to know?
At the same time, he could feel Sengoku's resolve. Was the Fleet Admiral finally determined to break away from the World Government? His current style of doing things was getting quite brazen...
Turning to Hina and Robin, Diarmuid said, "You two go get some rest. I need to go see the Fleet Admiral."
With that, Diarmuid headed straight toward the Fortress of Justice. Along the way, many Marines were surprised to see him and quickly offered salutes.
Admiral Diarmuid, who had been traveling for nearly a year, was back!