Decades later, after the Great Pirate Era had been tamed, a historian would find evidence that during that period, the Marines acted as the world's largest "slave traders." The pirates, who were supposed to be a menace to the seas, had to a certain extent become the pioneers in the development of the Calm Belt. The irony was palpable.
At G-7 Marine Base, a large group of prisoners from Impel Down were excavating the foundations under the watchful eyes of a squad of Marines. They were dressed in rags, for the most part only wearing tattered pants.
This was one of Diarmuid's methods, designed to effectively prevent them from stashing weapons, like the shovels and picks they were using. If you had the guts, you could try to hide a tool where we can't search, but if you didn't, you had to work honestly.
To control their energy, Diarmuid only gave them two meals a day. In the morning, they could eat as much as they wanted, with a generous supply of Sea King meat. After they were full, they were sent to work, giving all their strength to the task. After dark, they would only be given thin porridge, just enough to keep them from starving, so they wouldn't have the energy to cause trouble at night.
Not far from the construction site, a pile of a hundred heads was on display. Bloody and brutal, they served as a deterrent for the pirate prisoners.
A few days ago, a few restless souls had tried to escape. In response, the Marines used collective punishment. Because no one had reported the plan, a hundred people from their team were all executed, even though only six had planned the escape. Of course, the six who tried to run didn't get away either. The Marines hunted them down and killed them.
Now, the two thousand prisoners brought from Impel Down were divided into twenty teams of a hundred people each. If anyone in a team dared to plan an escape or start a riot and no one reported it, the entire team of a hundred would be executed afterward. If a whole team dared to riot, every single prisoner brought from Impel Down would be killed!
With those hundred heads on display, the prisoners now believed that the Marines weren't joking. These so-called "justice-loving" scoundrels were nothing short of executioners in this matter. They were utterly ruthless. Their commanding officer, Rodriguez Diarmuid, was a genuine devil.
Because of this brutal deterrence, the prisoners were all very well-behaved and worked diligently according to the Marines' rules.
"Better a live coward than a dead hero."
Even if life was hard, at least they were alive and not part of a pile of heads used to intimidate others.
As the pirate prisoners worked, a Marine Captain walked up to them, pulled out a document, and announced in a loud voice, "Vice Admiral's order! The foundation excavation must be completed within three days! Any team that fails to meet the target will be executed!"
After he finished, the Marine Captain glared fiercely at the pirates and left. A few other Marines stepped forward, shouting and cracking their whips to urge them to work faster.
In his office, Diarmuid was sipping tea and looking over some documents. Soon after, there was a knock on the door. He answered, and Gion entered.
"How did it go? Has the second batch of prisoners arrived?" Diarmuid asked with a smile, putting down his teacup.
Gion smiled and nodded. "They're here. Another two thousand."
"Good. Let's keep the total at four thousand for now. With our current forces, it'll be no problem to suppress these scoundrels. Any more, and things might get chaotic. We can add more labor after I do some recruiting," Diarmuid said, nodding.
A force of four thousand was enough to start the G-7 base expansion. According to his plan, it could be finished in half a year.
Gion nodded but then hesitated. "Diarmuid, aren't we being too harsh? I heard you gave them an order to finish the excavation in three days. Our original estimate was five days. If we're too strict, won't they rebel? I'm worried it might cause a riot."
"I'm giving them a chance to riot. You don't think killing just one batch is enough, do you? Every time a large group of new prisoners comes from Impel Down, we have to find a way to kill a few to show the newcomers. And don't have any sympathy for them. We need to squeeze every last drop of value out of them. Finishing in five days was our estimate, but making them finish in three will drain them completely, leaving them with no strength to cause trouble," Diarmuid said coolly.
"You truly are a devil…" Gion muttered. But it was just a murmur. While she thought it was cruel that the Impel Down pirates had fallen into Diarmuid's hands, she didn't feel any sympathy for them. If she sympathized with these villains, who would sympathize with their dead colleagues and the innocent people they had harmed?
"Hahahaha! We should treat our own with the warmth of spring, but treat our enemies with the biting cold of deep winter!" Diarmuid laughed heartily.
After chatting with Gion for a bit, another knock came at the door. Diarmuid answered, and a man wearing a Vice Admiral's coat, Doberman, came in. He stood at attention and saluted. "Vice Admiral sir, you asked to see me?"
"Yes, Doberman. I've told you, you don't have to be so formal with me. Have a seat," Diarmuid said with a smile.
Doberman smiled in return. "Yes, Vice Admiral." He greeted Gion and then took a seat.
"I have something I need you to handle," Diarmuid said.
Doberman immediately replied, "Please give the order, Vice Admiral."
"Gion and I will be leaving G-7 in two days for an external mission. We'll be gone for a while, maybe one to three months. During that time, I'm entrusting all of G-7's affairs to you," Diarmuid said.
Doberman was stunned for a moment. "Vice Admiral Diarmuid, what are you and Gion going to do?"
"We're going to make some money," Diarmuid said with a laugh.
When he was with the Marine Headquarters Intelligence Division, Admiral Sengoku had told him to find a way to make his own money to set up that "non-existent organization." Later, Diarmuid had tricked Garp into going with him to the Kano Country in the West Blue and stealing all the treasure the Happo Navy had hidden under the Jewel Ice Sheet.
He later heard that Don Chinjao nearly cried himself to death over it, but because Diarmuid and Garp had been so meticulous, Don Chinjao still had no idea who had raided his home.
Part of the treasure was used to form the "non-existent organization," bringing the planned organization into reality. Although it didn't quite meet Diarmuid's expectations, it was still a success. He was still one of the heads of the organization in name, but he hadn't been involved in its operations for a long time.
At the same time, he was still waiting for Stussy to establish the Pleasure District. The remaining treasure had been "swallowed" by Sengoku to develop other aspects of the Marines. Diarmuid had no complaints about that.
Now, at G-7, he had the manpower. There were four thousand prisoners from Impel Down working right now. Well, three thousand nine hundred, since he had killed a hundred. Doberman might even kill more.
But that small number could always be replenished from Impel Down to maintain the total of four thousand. He wasn't short on labor and didn't have to pay them, just feed them.
But to recruit new Marines, he couldn't just get them from Impel Down. So that would be a costly project, and unfortunately, he didn't have much money on hand. That's why he was preparing to go out with Gion to make some.
He hoped to make G-7 rich in one go so that it wouldn't lack money for future investments.
The target he had his eyes on was Shandora, the City of Gold near Angel Island in the sky. That place had an entire city made of gold. Its value was far more than hundreds of billions of Berries.
The two bags the Straw Hat Pirates took were worth two hundred million Berries alone. Based on that, Diarmuid guessed that the entire City of Gold held trillions of Berries worth of gold reserves. That would be enough for him.
At the current pace, it would be enough to fund G-7 for decades. Of course, he wasn't going to take the usual route. Recruiting, developing the Calm Belt, building a new city, and turning G-7 into a fortress base would all be costly. But even with all that spending, if Shandora didn't disappoint him, he wouldn't be short on money for at least five years, if not ten. That was enough!
"Make money?" Doberman was puzzled, but then he thought that G-7 really was short on funds, so it made sense.
He didn't ask any more questions. He had full faith in Diarmuid. If the Vice Admiral wanted to go make money, no matter the methods, he would definitely succeed. All Doberman had to do was guard G-7 and follow orders, ensuring nothing went wrong.
"Gion and I will be taking a thousand people with us. I'll leave ten thousand troops here at G-7 for you. The prisoner count will be maintained at four thousand, which should be no problem for you to handle. I hope to see significant progress on the construction when I return," Diarmuid said with a smile.
Doberman nodded. "Vice Admiral, don't you worry. I guarantee that G-7 will be in perfect order!"
"Hahaha, of course, I have faith in you. Do a good job!" Diarmuid laughed.
After giving Doberman his orders, he left to continue his work. Gion, with nothing to do, kicked back and relaxed in Diarmuid's office, drinking tea. Diarmuid, after approving a document, took out a blank sheet of paper and began to write.
It would be very safe for him to go to the sky island and cause trouble with his current strength. He could even find a way to take all of Shandora with him. These weren't problems for him to worry about.
He was currently thinking about something else: while he was on the sky island, could he find the Rumble-Rumble Fruit?
Thinking of this, he looked at Gion, who was almost lying on the sofa. "Hey, have you ever thought about becoming a Devil Fruit user?" he asked.
"A Devil Fruit user?" Gion sat up from the sofa. "I have thought about it, but I haven't found an ability I like. I don't want a common one. It has to be on the same level as your Gravity-Gravity Fruit, right? Otherwise, your strength would only grow further beyond mine."
"Do you think the Gravity-Gravity Fruit is as common as cabbage? An ability on my level would be something like Whitebeard's Tremor-Tremor Fruit or Shiki's Float-Float Fruit…" Diarmuid complained. After a pause, he continued, "Have you considered a Logia-type?"
"Of course, I have!" Gion said, her interest piqued. Before Diarmuid could speak, Gion said, "But Logia-type abilities are extremely rare. Headquarters doesn't have any right now…"
"This time, I might be able to find you a Logia-type Devil Fruit," Diarmuid said with a smile.
Gion's eyes lit up. "What ability? Do you have a lead?"
"You'll be shocked when you hear this. The Rumble-Rumble Fruit…" Diarmuid said, raising an eyebrow.
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