At Marine Headquarters, Marineford, Fleet Admiral Kong's office was filled with the serious atmosphere of a meeting. Kong, Sengoku, and Tsuru were all gathered, deep in conversation.
"That's the long and short of it. I've already told Diarmuid that if anything goes wrong, he'll be held fully responsible," Sengoku said, taking a sip of his tea.
Kong stroked his chin and clicked his tongue. "That reckless kid is too bold. Moving prisoners from Impel Down? If something goes wrong, he won't get off without a scratch!"
Tsuru smiled to herself, listening to them. If they were truly against the idea, they wouldn't be acting this way. Kong, especially, would already have been on the Den Den Mushi, chewing Diarmuid out. There was no way he'd just say the boy was "bold."
Tsuru understood their behavior—they were just paying lip service to the rules, but their bodies were honest.
With the advent of the Great Pirate Era, all Marines agreed that life would be difficult for a long time to come. The number of pirates would only increase, and the pressure on the Marines would grow. To cope with this, they needed to find a way to increase the strength of the Marines.
There were many ways to do this, but the most fundamental one required a huge amount of military funding. Not long ago, Kong had already submitted a report to the World Government, hoping they would raise next year's budget by 20% to serve as a reserve fund to deal with the Great Pirate Era.
But the World Government had not agreed. They didn't outright refuse, either, only saying they would "consider it and see how the situation develops." After all, even though everyone felt a storm was coming, it hadn't truly arrived yet. What if it wasn't so serious? What if it calmed down quickly? There was still some wishful thinking at the top.
If the higher-ups wouldn't provide the money, the Marines would have to find a way to save it themselves. But due to many regulations, the Marines had no way to make money, so for now, their only option was to cut non-essential expenses as much as possible.
Impel Down was a subordinate agency of Marine Headquarters, and while the Marines commanded it, they also had to take responsibility for its upkeep.
Impel Down was a one-way street; nothing ever came out, and it was a complete financial drain that created no value. Every year, it consumed a huge amount of the military budget just to keep it running. But Impel Down's function was too important for the Marines to stop pouring money into it.
No one had thought of a solution before, but now Diarmuid had a crazy idea: to use the pirates inside in a form of labor akin to slavery, putting them to work for the Marines. This instantly opened up a new way of thinking for Sengoku and the others.
If this plan worked, the Marines wouldn't need to hire construction crews to build new bases. They could just use these captured pirates instead.
Given the sheer size of the Marines, who knew how much money they could save in a year? Impel Down's value would finally be developed. It would no longer be just a money pit; it would be a way to support the Marines. Wasn't that a great thing?
That was why Sengoku hadn't immediately stopped Diarmuid's insane plan. Instead, he tacitly allowed it, wanting to see if Diarmuid could pull it off. In a way, he was using G-7 as a pilot program. If the plan succeeded, the benefits for the Marines would be immense. It wouldn't just be a matter of hundreds of millions or billions of Berries saved; it could lead to trillions in savings.
"That kid's mind is a bit out there. He might actually pull something off, and if he does, it would be a good thing for us," Tsuru said with a smile.
"But he's failed before. That 'non-existent organization' and his 'Special Combat Unit' he put together not long ago, didn't they both fall apart? I sent him to G-7 to get him to stay grounded and not always think of underhanded schemes…" Sengoku said, still a little worried.
Diarmuid had many strengths, he would never deny that. He was truly smart, and he had accumulated a lot of merit. But it was also a fact that Diarmuid's mind was too unconventional. Many of his ideas might have had good intentions, but they just didn't work out, like the two examples he just gave.
Tsuru's expression stiffened. "The non-existent organization is doing quite well. What do you mean, 'fell apart'?"
"Ahem…" Sengoku was rebuffed and had nothing more to say. But Tsuru also knew that the organization's results were far from what they had initially hoped for, so after her brief retort, she didn't press the issue.
"Let him try it first," Kong finally said. After a brief pause, he added, "He's only allowed to use prisoners from the first and second levels. That way, even if something goes wrong, we can contain it. I don't want that kid to ruin his future with this crazy idea."
The first and second levels of Impel Down held pirates with bounties below 50 million Berries. They were true small-fry, but there were tens of thousands of them.
That's right, Impel Down's prisoner count was enormous. The prison itself was a massive island that went straight down into the seabed, so it could hold an unimaginable number of people.
These low-level pirates weren't important. It wasn't like Diarmuid could take out thirty or fifty thousand at once. In Kong's view, Diarmuid would probably take a maximum of one or two thousand, or maybe just a few hundred. If anything went wrong, Diarmuid's own troops could easily suppress them. And if a few of them escaped, it wouldn't be a big deal; it wouldn't cause an uncontainable incident.
Since this matter was related to the overall interests of the Marines, Kong couldn't just let Diarmuid charge ahead alone. He wanted to offer him some protection. Even if Sengoku said that Diarmuid would be held fully responsible, would he really refuse to help if something went wrong? Sengoku was only saying that to push Diarmuid to be more careful. It was a form of encouragement.
Seeing that Sengoku and Tsuru had no objections, Kong nodded. "Good. No one is to discuss this matter after we leave here. I won't report it to the World Government, either. Just the three of us will know. We'll wait and see if Diarmuid can pull it off."
Tsuru then spoke. "There's one more thing I think we should look into."
"What is it?" Sengoku asked, taking a sip of tea.
"When Diarmuid was working under me, he was always researching the Calm Belt. Now that he's chosen the G-7 base, which is near the South Calm Belt, and plans to take prisoners from Impel Down to do hard labor, I have to wonder if he has an interest in… developing the Calm Belt," Tsuru said softly.
Kong and Sengoku both froze. Develop the Calm Belt? What kind of crazy plan was that?
But Sengoku quickly spoke. "That might be a good idea. But our Marines are primarily for combat. We don't have the manpower for that kind of development. We can't just conscript our soldiers to go develop the Calm Belt. If the World Government found out, they would surely stop us.
"But if he uses prisoners from Impel Down… then it would be within the rules. There might be something to it, but are there any benefits in the Calm Belt? Would the risks outweigh the rewards?"
Sengoku was smart, but he didn't know everything. The Calm Belt was a blind spot in his knowledge.
Kong smiled. He supported any plan that could strengthen the Marines at this stage. "We can just contact the kid and ask him, can't we?"
Without another word, Kong took out his Den Den Mushi, fiddled with it, and called Diarmuid.
Meanwhile, Diarmuid was at Impel Down, watching over two thousand prisoners, his first batch, being herded onto the warships.
This was a manageable number. He had over 10,000 soldiers, so suppressing these unarmed, non-Devil Fruit users shouldn't be a problem.
The warships had a strong carrying capacity. Their standard complement was 1,000 Marines, but since the trip was short, just half a day, Diarmuid hadn't brought any supplies.
The 1,000-person capacity was for their own soldiers, so what rights did prisoners have? They would just be crammed into the ship's hold for the ride back. Two warships, each with a thousand prisoners, was no problem at all.
As he watched them being taken aboard one by one, Maxcas still felt a little nervous, despite having already made the deal. He kept glancing at Diarmuid.
Just then, Diarmuid's Den Den Mushi rang. He picked it up, and a look of surprise crossed his face. "Fleet Admiral Kong? Could something be wrong?" He looked up at the prisoners and clicked his tongue. "I hope he's not calling to cancel my plan."
Without overthinking it, he answered the Den Den Mushi. "Fleet Admiral, what can I do for you?"
"Are you at Impel Down?" Kong asked directly.
"Yes. I guess Admiral Sengoku already reported my idea?" Diarmuid wasn't too surprised. He was just worried that the Fleet Admiral was going to stop his plan.
"Yeah. Be careful with what you're doing, and don't touch the lower levels. Those are the troublemakers. Just take people from the first and second levels," Kong said with a sigh.
Diarmuid felt a warmth in his heart and smiled. "I know. Warden Maxcas also suggested the same thing. We only took prisoners from the first and second levels, and all of them are non-Devil Fruit users."
Maxcas could finally relax completely. With the Fleet Admiral himself giving his nod of approval, who would dare report them? It would be useless!
"Good, as long as you know what you're doing. Be careful. This is a big deal, but not so big. You should know the weight of this. I won't say anything more. The reason I'm calling is to ask you something…" Kong said again.
"Please ask, Fleet Admiral," Diarmuid replied.
"Tsuru said that you're very interested in the Calm Belt. Do you have a plan for it?" Kong asked.
Diarmuid was stunned for a moment. He said, "Chief Tsuru is truly brilliant. I've never even mentioned it, and she figured it out?"
"Hmph. You're not the only smart one," Kong said with a laugh.
Diarmuid chuckled. "I do have some ideas, but I haven't put them into action yet."
"We don't know much about the Calm Belt, and you've researched it extensively. You must have learned something. Tell us all about it," Kong said.
"Yes, Fleet Admiral," Diarmuid nodded. Developing the Calm Belt might be one of the key ways to unshackle the Marines in the future. Diarmuid felt it was time to talk it through with the Marine leadership.
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