Marineford.
Having completed the conferral ceremony under Aokiji's guidance, Dillon finally had a cloak and a separate office.
Bellemere's file was also pulled from the Marine archives, and with Aokiji's help, the re-enlistment procedures were completed very smoothly.
She was re-granted the rank of Lieutenant Commander.
"What is this!? Can this even be considered 'Marine Justice'? Bastard! What's the difference between this and pirates!?"
A roar echoed through the large corridor. Aokiji massaged his forehead in annoyance.
"Arara, really..."
Slam!!
A door slammed open, and a short-haired, white-haired man with a cigarette hanging from his mouth stormed out of the office.
"Smoker, did you argue with the people from the Inspector General Division again? Don't you ever wonder why you're still a Lieutenant Commander?"
Because he was too weak.
Dillon looked at the guy walking towards them with a "no-one can tell me what to do" stride—the number one Punching Bag for the Pirate King—the "Shame of Logia"—Smoker.
"Military rank..." Smoker nonchalantly blew out a large puff of smoke.
Walking up to the two, Smoker looked at Dillon, who was already wearing a Vice Admiral's cloak. "You're the guy Kuzan is always talking about? Looks pretty scrawny."
"Arara, this guy..."
Aokiji glanced at Smoker with a headache, then said to Dillon: "He's my friend, so go easy on him."
"Bastard Kuzan! Are you looking down on me?"
Smoker was furious. Although he was still a Lieutenant Commander, as a Logia-type user with considerable merits, he had been stuck at the rank of Lieutenant Commander for several years due to being too willful.
After all, the "Mad Dog Marine" wasn't called that for nothing.
But Dillon didn't give Smoker time to react. Before Smoker could finish his sentence, a dark arm grabbed his collar.
"Wh... Mmph!"
"Powers aren't everything." Dillon slammed Smoker against the wall.
The powerful Armament Haki completely suppressed Smoker's Element Intangibility.
"You bastard..." Smoker drew his Kairoseki Jitte.
Kuzan had told him that this guy was also a Logia user.
Although Haki could grab him, as long as the Kairoseki touched him, it could instantly imprison his power.
The jitte whistled as it struck towards Dillon. Aokiji's eyes narrowed slightly.
Kairoseki? How to deal with it?
Dillon held Smoker with his left hand, and tightened his right hand, instantly completing the Haki coating.
"Kairoseki... is also not omnipotent!"
The dark right hand fearlessly met the jitte inlaid with Kairoseki.
"Wh... What!" Seeing the tip of the jitte being caught by Dillon, Smoker's anger disappeared, replaced by a look of shock.
He had tried to touch himself with Kairoseki before, and it basically made him lose strength instantly, and his powers would be imprisoned.
Crack! A cracking sound came from the tip of the jitte.
Smoker's shock turned into terror, and Aokiji's eyes also narrowed slightly.
"Woah, really?"
Snap!
Dillon twisted his hand holding the jitte, snapping off the part inlaid with Kairoseki.
Then, Smoker and Aokiji saw Dillon's palm clench, and small metal fragments fell from his palm.
"Kairoseki is indeed very hard." Dillon released the completely stunned Smoker, and after studying the small piece of Kairoseki in his hand, he threw it back to Smoker. "Here, go reforge a weapon."
"A newcomer? What remarkable skills."
"Puhahaha, if Kuzan wasn't recruiting him all the time, I would have wanted to keep him in the East Blue. It would have made things easier for me."
Sengoku, Garp, Akainu, and Kizaru walked towards the three in a line at the end of the corridor.
"Very powerful strength. Have you considered coming under my command? I've learned about your past, your style is very similar to mine, you shouldn't be under a lazy guy like Kuzan."
Akainu looked at Dillon.
He greatly appreciated Dillon's attitude towards pirates, and Kuzan... hmph!
"Arara, Sakazuki, are you blatantly poaching my subordinates like this?"
"Puhahaha." Garp laughed as he stuffed a donut into his mouth: "Forget it Sakazuki, this kid is different from you."
Sengoku glanced at Garp in confusion.
This guy has basically not been at Marine HQ in recent years, and rarely asks about things there. Why would he directly reject Sakazuki's opinion as an Admiral?
"Hmph!" Hearing Garp speak, Akainu didn't persist, he snorted and left ahead of everyone.
"Oooh~ What a terrible strength~ These young people nowadays~"
Kizaru glanced at Dillon with a crooked smile, but didn't say much. After greeting Kuzan, he also left.
As for the Punching Bag, Smoker?
A mere Lieutenant Commander; Akainu and Kizaru didn't even bother with him.
It wasn't that they didn't recognize him, but Smoker had a bad reputation within the Marines. Moreover, his rank and strength weren't enough for the two Admirals to take him seriously.
This severely hurt the Marine mad dog's pride.
"Am I really that weak..."
Light flashed under Sengoku's glasses. Although Smoker's strength wasn't good, as a Logia-type Devil Fruit user, he still had potential.
He couldn't let him give up on himself easily.
"Smoker! You are also Zephyr's student, you should know that there are many ways to fight. On this sea, almost no one can develop Body Arts, Swordsmanship, Haki, and Devil Fruit to the extreme at the same time."
"So you have to choose what you are best at..."
"Puhahaha... there are some, Newgate and Linlin are not like this?"
Garp laughed and interrupted Sengoku, then turned to look at Smoker. "But Sengoku is right, if you want to become strong, you need to recognize yourself first, and find your own path. After all, monsters with outstanding abilities in everything have been rare throughout history."
Garp glanced at the "Shura" slung around Dillon's waist, thinking silently: "Maybe there will be one more now."
After listening to Garp and Sengoku's words, Smoker fell silent. Although Logia-type Devil Fruits were powerful, his level of development was indeed very poor. In terms of Body Arts, because he had the power of the fruit, he had almost never practiced the Rokushiki. He had no swordsmanship skill at all, and as for Haki…
Up to now, he hadn't even mastered Armament Coating, and still relied on the Kairoseki inlaid on the top of his jitte to fight against power users.
"I understand, Mr. Garp, Fleet Admiral. I will seriously think about my path."
Faced with Garp and Sengoku, even the arrogant Smoker lowered his head humbly and accepted their opinions.
Sengoku turned to stare at Dillon. "What about you?"
"Me?"
Dillon didn't quite understand what Sengoku meant.
"To be honest, after you accepted Aokiji's summons to come to Marine Headquarters and obtain the Goro Goro no Mi, Headquarters conducted two rounds of investigation on you."
"Confirmed that you were born into a merchant family in West Blue. Later, your family's merchant ship was attacked by pirates, and you were stranded in East Blue. You have done a good job in East Blue over the years, maintaining Garp's style, allowing East Blue to continue to be called the "Weakest Sea"."
Dillon smiled, but didn't answer.
East Blue wasn't as weak as he imagined. During his decades of cleansing, he had encountered many potential guys.
And he couldn't guarantee that he could completely clean East Blue. After all, an area of sea was so large, relying solely on branch warships, it was difficult to take care of everything. Something like Krieg was almost claiming to be a king.
"Your strength is strong enough. Although you are currently under Kuzan, you can choose to become a Vice Admiral directly under Headquarters, or we can exceptionally dispatch you to become a Branch Base Commander."
"Of a base in the Grand Line, not West Blue."
"Arara! Sengoku-san, that wouldn't be fair to me."
"Kuzan, you, I know you have doubts in your heart. You still have doubts about the Navy and the government's actions, but for the peace of most people, sometimes some sacrifices are necessary."
Aokiji scratched his head and looked at Garp.
"How about this, I am willing to accept the position of Branch Base Commander, but the location needs to be of my own choosing, and I am still under Kuzan. I will take on missions for him, but..." Dillon continued, looking at Sengoku's increasingly serious expression:
"I need you to agree to the promise Aokiji gave me, that is, I still need enough Operational Autonomy."
"What do you mean by Operational Autonomy?" Sengoku frowned slightly.
He had heard about this young man's style. His attitude towards pirates was almost the same as Sakazuki's. If he put this guy in the New World...
No, even in the first half of the Grand Line, this guy would definitely cause a stir among the pirates, and even spark a war.
"Just as you think, Mr. Sengoku." Dillon chuckled.
"But you don't have to worry too much. I'm not crazy. Even if I want to start a war, I will wait for a good opportunity."
"An opportunity..." Sengoku looked at Dillon, showing a meaningful smile: "Then, where is the place you chose?"
"G-5!"