"Ah… what is this?" Dragon watched the execution platform in a daze. He had expected the Marines' power to grow by executing Roger, but in the blink of an eye, the situation had been completely turned on its head.
The people in the plaza were all cheering and shouting, as if they were all about to set sail to become pirates and search for Roger's treasure.
He didn't expect the Marines to be outmaneuvered by Roger in his last moments. Instead of demoralizing the pirates, this would only drive them to greater madness.
At this moment, Dragon felt a new era arriving. It wasn't a new era for the Marines; it was a new era for pirates!
Diarmuid glanced at Dragon and said, "I don't have time to talk. Something has come up. Goodbye!"
With that, he kicked off the clock tower, flying through the air and landing directly on the execution platform.
He looked at Roger, who was still sitting cross-legged and upright, even though he was no longer breathing. Without hesitation, Diarmuid pulled out a spare broadcasting Den Den Mushi and connected it to Loguetown's broadcast frequency.
"Silence!" Diarmuid's voice boomed. His shout seemed to pull everyone back from their excitement.
Most people stared at him in surprise. Even Doflamingo, Crocodile, and Mihawk, who were preparing to leave, turned to look at the platform once more.
"I am Vice Admiral Diarmuid Rodriguez of Marine Headquarters! On behalf of the Marines, I warn the world: Pirate King Roger is dead. You are free to go look for his treasure, but remember, the Marines will be watching your every move. The seas are dangerous, and breaking the law will come with consequences.
"To find Roger's treasure, you can be an adventurer, a treasure hunter, or even form a team—you don't have to become a pirate to do it! If anyone insists on choosing the path of piracy, be careful, because our Marine swords will fall on your heads!" Diarmuid said in a deep voice.
His words did dampen some people's enthusiasm, but he didn't know if it would have a lasting effect. Most likely, even if it did, it wouldn't be much. Good advice is lost on those who won't listen. He had said his piece. If anyone still chose to seek death and ran into him, he wouldn't hold back.
After a brief pause, Diarmuid gave a small smile and spoke to the broadcast Den Den Mushi. "I would also like to announce some breaking news. Golden Lion Shiki of the Flying Pirates was secretly captured by the Marines a week ago. The Pirate King Roger is dead, and the Pirate Overlord Golden Lion has been captured. This is proof that we Marines are qualified and capable of delivering a powerful blow to the evil group known as pirates.
"From now on, the Marines will continue to uphold justice, purify the seas, and protect the people. If any of you have too much energy and nowhere to release it, why not join the military!?"
Taking a deep breath, Diarmuid faced the world and declared, "Justice may be delayed, but it will never be absent! In ten years or twenty years, we Marines will never allow this world to fall into the hands of you evildoers and anarchists!"
As his words ended, Diarmuid clenched his fist, raised them up high, and shouted to the crowd, "Justice Will Prevail!"
Instantly, the Marine soldiers in the plaza seemed to be galvanized by Diarmuid's words. They all shouted in unison, "Justice Will Prevail!"
On the clock tower, Dragon's eyes widened in surprise. He hadn't realized Diarmuid had such outstanding rhetorical and speaking skills. In a short time, he had managed to control the chaotic situation and even salvage the Marines' position.
"But the tide of a new era is coming, and it cannot be stopped by a single person, Diarmuid… Farewell," Dragon whispered. As his voice faded, his figure vanished like the wind.
At the same time, the top brass in the Marine base breathed a sigh of relief. Tsuru's expression softened. "It's a good thing Diarmuid had the quick thinking to do that. But what's done is done. Everyone, prepare to welcome a new tide. Roger's final words won't be so easily erased by Diarmuid."
"Justice Will Prevail," Gion said suddenly.
Sakazuki nodded in agreement. "Diarmuid has said all the warnings that need to be said. If there are still those who refuse to listen, we will not show mercy. We will kill every last one of them!"
Tsuru sighed. Regardless of what happened, they had to return to Headquarters first. She stood up and waved her hand. "Prepare to sail. We are heading back to Marineford. We'll need the Fleet Admiral and the elders to make a decision on this."
Soon after Diarmuid returned to his unit, the Marine battleship slowly sailed out of the Loguetown harbor.
Roger's final declaration, through the live broadcast and the next day's newspapers, swept across the world.
Just as Dragon had said, the tide of an era could not be resisted by a single person. Even though Diarmuid had made a last-minute addition to show the Marines' determination, as time went on, the storm grew even more terrifying.
Countless people raised the Jolly Roger, and at the call of the new era, they plunged into the new tide. In an instant, a thousand sails raced and a hundred boats vied for supremacy across the seas; there were pirates almost everywhere.
The chaos and evil quickly disrupted the world's order. Even the World Government was overwhelmed, receiving dozens of requests for help from member nations within a week.
Marineford, Marine Headquarters.
Fleet Admiral Steel Bone Kong sat at the head of the conference room table. Admiral Sengoku stood in front of a projection, holding a small pointer and gesturing at a world map. Diarmuid and the other high-ranking Marine officers had returned from Loguetown and were seated, ready for the meeting.
"Currently, there haven't been any major changes in the New World, but we cannot be complacent. I have reason to believe that the tide has not yet reached the New World. Looking at the whole situation, I have come to the following conclusion: Roger's death has started the Great Pirate Era, and all four seas are in chaos.
"Our branch bases in the four seas have long been understaffed and undermanned, which has led to this unexpected situation. They are completely incapable of suppressing the chaos. For now, only the East Blue is somewhat stable; the other three seas have been severely impacted…" Sengoku said with a grim expression.
"Whatever the case, the number of pirates will continue to increase in the future. This is a very serious challenge for us Marines. I hope all of you will do your best to purify the seas as soon as possible," Tsuru said.
Diarmuid rubbed his chin and spoke. "Given the current situation, the chaos in the four seas is just the beginning. Once they finish fighting each other in the four seas, the strongest among them will emerge and inevitably charge into the Grand Line.
"They believe that Roger's treasure is in the New World, even though he didn't explicitly say so. They will follow Roger's example and pour into the Grand Line from the four seas. They will pass through the first half and enter the New World to find treasure, or to realize their own ambitions."
The other Marines all nodded. This was something they could have guessed even without Diarmuid saying it.
"Go on. Do you have any good suggestions?" Sengoku asked, looking at Diarmuid. He had always trusted Diarmuid's mind.
"Yes, Admiral." Diarmuid answered first, then stood up with his teacup and walked to the front of the projection. "The lack of combat power and manpower in the four sea branch bases is a long-standing problem that has been accumulating for years. We can't fix this in a short period of time. Therefore, given the current situation, as regrettable as it is, I believe we should abandon the idea of suppressing the pirates in the four seas in the short term…"
As soon as Diarmuid said this, the faces of some of the Marine officers changed. They seemed to disagree with his "appeasement" strategy. Sakazuki frowned, looking at Diarmuid and preparing to refute him. But just as he was about to speak, he felt something was off.
Diarmuid had always been a man who was brave enough to fight and kill. Sakazuki would never doubt that. A person like him shouldn't be a surrender advocate.
He thought about it again. Although Diarmuid's words were unpleasant, he was speaking the truth. The Marines were truly incapable of quickly suppressing the countless pirates in the four seas right now.
In fact, most of those people couldn't even be called pirates. Calling them "marauders" would be more accurate. A small rowboat or a leaky fishing boat, a few thugs and scoundrels—that's all it took to put up a Jolly Roger and go out to sea.
The beginning of the Great Pirate Era was truly chaotic, with all sorts of worthless thugs and ruffians daring to call themselves pirates.
This phenomenon would last for a few years until the initial hype died down and the real pirate surge began.
Sakazuki was already a representative of the hardline faction. He chose not to refute Diarmuid's statement, and the others who had been ready to move also chose not to offend him.
Diarmuid took a sip of his tea and continued. "Therefore, I believe our most urgent priority at this stage is not to fight these so-called 'pirates' in the four seas, but to quickly establish a defensive force in the first half of the Grand Line.
"We must prepare for their assault before these bastards can get out of the four seas. We will wait, rested and ready, for a tired enemy, to minimize the impact of evil and chaos. After we weather the first, largest, most complex, and most chaotic wave, we can begin to suppress the four seas again!"
Sakazuki rubbed his chin. He had to admit that Diarmuid made sense. Instead of a difficult and unrewarding effort to reorganize the four seas and fight a guerrilla war with those marauders, it would be better to strengthen the defenses of the first half of the Grand Line, create a front line, and blast them all to hell!
Fleet Admiral Kong also nodded. Diarmuid's proposal could be summarized as a trade of space for time.
Everything had happened too quickly, and the Marines had no counter-measures or preparations, so they had been caught off guard in the four seas.
Now, Diarmuid wanted to give up the four seas to buy time for the Marines to prepare the first half of the Grand Line, to avoid being caught helpless once again. Although the plan had many flaws, it sounded effective. It was worth a try!
"It seems no one has any objections?" Kong asked. Seeing no one speak, he nodded again. "Then we will proceed with this plan. We will adjust our focus to fully build a defensive line in the first half of the Grand Line. We will strive to eliminate all the pirates who will flood into the Grand Line on the sea lanes!"
"Yes! All for justice!" Sakazuki, Kuzan, and the other Marine officers responded in a deep voice.
After the matter was settled, Kong smiled. "Alright, there's no need to look so glum. The right thing to do is to get to work. Now, let's talk about the rewards for the capture of Roger and Shiki…"
As soon as Diarmuid heard this, he quickly sat down in his seat, a look of anticipation on his face.
'Here it comes. Am I finally getting my Admiral candidate promotion?!'
——————
Want to read ahead of schedule? Head over to my patreon ——— patreon(.)com/JuanFiction [remove the parentheses ( )]
There are over 100 advance chapters available for you!