This was Diarmuid's first time in the New World. To be honest, he never thought he would be here so quickly.
With his current strength, he could probably get by in the first half of the Grand Line, but in a strongman's paradise like the New World, he was nothing more than a small fry.
The Marine ships were fast. The fleet, led by Admiral Sengoku, didn't need to be coated to cross Fish-Man Island.
They went straight from Marineford to Mariejois, where they switched ships and boarded a new one at the New World port, quickly entering the heart of the New World.
On the deck of the ship, Borsalino was chatting with Diarmuid.
Diarmuid hadn't been very familiar with Borsalino before, and if he had a choice, he would have preferred to hang out with Kuzan.
Unfortunately, Kuzan and Vice Admiral Garp were on Tsuru's ship. The fleet led by Admiral Sengoku included Borsalino and Sakazuki.
Sakazuki hadn't come out of his cabin since they entered the New World.
And when they met before, he had a very aloof demeanor. Even though he was a user of the scorching Magma-Magma Fruit, his aura was colder than Kuzan's.
But Diarmuid didn't feel any resentment towards Sakazuki for his neglect and coldness.
He felt that if he were Sakazuki, he probably wouldn't have much to say to a small fry like him in the Marines either.
"So our control over the New World is very weak. But if that's the case, then why haven't the World Government-affiliated countries in the New World left the World Government?" Diarmuid asked, a little curious.
That's right. He was talking to Borsalino about the New World.
Although he hadn't been familiar with Borsalino before, after spending some time with him, Diarmuid realized that Borsalino was a very approachable person. He wasn't arrogant because of his strength and was quite humorous at times, even more interesting than Kuzan.
And Diarmuid was the type of person who knew how to talk to anyone. With the knowledge and ideas from his previous life, he could talk about things that were right up Borsalino's alley.
At first, Borsalino was only paying a little attention to Diarmuid because of Sengoku.
But now, he genuinely enjoyed chatting with Diarmuid.
Borsalino's sense of justice was ambiguous. You could even say that no one could guess what he thought or how he defined the word "justice."
And Diarmuid hadn't found his own justice yet. If he had to say, he was also an ambiguous person.
Therefore, unlike with Kuzan, he and Borsalino didn't have any ideological conflicts.
Diarmuid said directly that he hoped to have more power, higher status, and more authority, and Borsalino didn't see anything wrong with that.
"Because they have no other choice," Borsalino said calmly.
After a slight pause, Borsalino continued, "Of course, many of the World Government-affiliated countries in the New World have, to a certain extent, accepted the protection of big-name pirates, and the World Government has turned a blind eye to this. We Marines are too lazy to get involved right now. But at the end of the day, Diarmuid, you need to understand one thing: the New World countries and pirates can never truly unite like the countries and the World Government can."
"Is it because of the position of justice and evil?" Diarmuid asked with a frown.
Borsalino smiled, but with his face, his smile, despite not having any deep meaning behind it, still looked sleazy.
After the smile faded, Borsalino shook his head. "Diarmuid, things like justice and evil aren't so easy to distinguish. Also, many things in this world aren't defined by justice and evil at all…"
Diarmuid nodded. He, of course, understood this principle. He wasn't a naive person who simply divided the world into black and white.
"Well, what I'm about to say are just some of my own thoughts… Just take it as me talking nonsense," Borsalino said after a moment's thought.
He also hadn't fully figured out many things yet, which was why he hadn't fully committed to the neutral faction.
"In my opinion, justice and evil aren't the essence of things. They are just a facade covering a position. If I had to define it, I would rather define it as 'Chaos' and 'Order.' As I said before, the New World countries can never truly unite with the pirates. The reason, at its core, is that the New World countries represent Order, and the pirates represent Chaos. Therefore, no matter how much our power, the power of the World Government, over the New World declines, these affiliated countries can never fully rely on pirates. On the contrary, they need a strong force of Order as a backup, and we just so happen to be that Order…" Borsalino said thoughtfully.
As he spoke to Diarmuid, he was also thinking about his own words.
Diarmuid looked at Borsalino with a hint of surprise. He didn't expect him to say something like this.
But he also vaguely understood what Borsalino's future position would be.
An ambiguous justice. Did Borsalino have justice in the future?
Without a doubt, he did, but he didn't value justice as much as he did "Order."
Therefore, as long as the Order he wanted to maintain wasn't in danger, he didn't care much about anything else.
Of course, this was just Diarmuid's speculation about Borsalino.
At the same time, upon thinking about it carefully, Diarmuid actually agreed with what Borsalino said.
Justice and evil were just facades of a position. Order and chaos were the true essence.
Seeing Diarmuid's thoughtful expression, Borsalino smiled and continued, "Maybe it's too early to tell you all this. You have to experience the world yourself to find your own answers."
"Maybe so," Diarmuid nodded. After a pause, he looked at Borsalino and laughed. "But Vice Admiral Borsalino, what you just said isn't really appropriate for a Marine."
"Hehehe, is that so?" Borsalino laughed weirdly, not caring.
"I'll keep your secret, hahaha," Diarmuid joked.
Borsalino didn't care if his words were problematic, but he still nodded with a smile. "Well, thank you, Lieutenant Commander."
After ending the topic, Diarmuid asked, "So, when did we, the Marines, or rather, the World Government, lose control over the New World?"
"That's a long story. The World Government has never truly controlled the New World for over 800 years. The powers of justice and evil have risen and fallen on these seas, so it's not the first time the Marines have lost control of the New World… So, it's not strange at all," Borsalino said first.
Diarmuid nodded seriously. That was true. The Marines hadn't lost control of the New World for the first time, so the current situation wasn't that bad. Or rather, the Marines had experience with this and weren't in a hurry at all.
"It was about fifteen, almost twenty years ago…" Borsalino suddenly said.
Diarmuid looked at him, and Borsalino continued, "I hadn't joined the Marines yet, so I don't know much about it, but based on the current situation, our Marine control over the New World began to decline at that time and has continued until now…"
A glint flashed in Diarmuid's eyes, and he seemed to have thought of something. He asked, "The legendary Rocks Pirates?"
Borsalino laughed when he heard this. "You know a lot, kid. That's right, it was the Rocks Pirates. Because of the rise of that powerful pirate crew, our Marine strategic deployment in the New World completely collapsed. The previously stable Order in the New World also began to fall apart.
"Although the Rocks Pirates were completely defeated at God Valley, their crew members were not to be trifled with. They went their separate ways and seemed to have become even crazier. This madness caused our Marine power in the New World to shrink severely, leading to the situation we have today."
"I see. It's pretty much what I guessed," Diarmuid said after a moment of thought.
Soon, Diarmuid seemed to understand something else and continued, "So, it looks like this mission is really important to us Marines?"
"Of course," Borsalino said, nodding in agreement, seeming to appreciate Diarmuid's cleverness.
"Whether it's Admiral Sengoku or Fleet Admiral Kong, we Marines are all hoping to regain control of the New World that we've lost. This has been a goal we've been working towards for the past ten years. And this time, it's a great opportunity.
"The Roger Pirates may not have a lot of members, but they are all elite. And Golden Lion Shiki is the most powerful pirate in the New World right now. If the two of them fight, it won't be a simple fight. If we can make it in time and take them both out in one fell swoop… it will be a huge blow to the pirate power in the New World. In that case, we might be able to reverse this unfavorable situation and…" Borsalino paused here.
Diarmuid quickly finished his sentence. "And sound the horn for a full-scale counterattack on the New World?"
"You're right," Borsalino said, nodding with satisfaction.
Just then, a Marine Captain walked over and saluted Borsalino. "Vice Admiral Borsalino, Admiral Sengoku would like you to come to the command room for an important discussion."
Borsalino nodded at him. "I understand."
After that, he looked at Diarmuid. After a moment of thought, he said, "You come along, too, Lieutenant Commander Diarmuid."
Diarmuid was a bit stunned at first, but then he didn't hesitate. He responded seriously, "Yes, Vice Admiral."
He was completely unqualified to participate in a meeting of this level, but now, Sengoku was clearly looking out for him, and Borsalino was getting familiar with him. So, a little backdoor entry was no problem at all, as long as no one made a big fuss about it.
And right now, they were on Sengoku's ship. Who would dare to make a fuss about what this big shot was doing?
Of course, Diarmuid also knew that Borsalino bringing him along wasn't because he expected him to contribute to the strategy. It was probably out of goodwill, to let him experience the atmosphere among the high-ranking Marines early.
In any case, Diarmuid secretly remembered this favor in his heart.