"The Rumble-Rumble Fruit!? The invincible Rumble-Rumble Fruit?!" A jolt of shock ran through Gion.
"What else?" Diarmuid replied with a raised eyebrow, a hint of teasing in his voice.
"Where did you get that information?" Gion asked quickly.
"It was years ago. I was still in the North Blue at the time, and I heard someone mention it while I was drinking. I actually set the Rumble-Rumble Fruit as my goal, planning to get it one day, but the fruit is on a sky island, and there was no way I could get up there.
"After I came to Headquarters, I had a chance encounter and ate the Gravity-Gravity Fruit, so I naturally dropped that pipe dream. But now, I'm going to Skypiea anyway, so I'm going to look for it. Maybe I'll find the Rumble-Rumble Fruit," Diarmuid said, spinning a tale.
Gion didn't press him for details, only looking a little disappointed. "So it's just a rumor. I thought you had some solid intel…" But a moment later, her spirits lifted. Better to be safe than sorry. What if Diarmuid actually found the Rumble-Rumble Fruit? Wouldn't that be a massive win for her?
Now, Kuzan, Sakazuki, and Borsalino were all Logia-type users, and their abilities were incredibly powerful. It was proof of the advantage a Logia-type ability gave you. The Rumble-Rumble Fruit was said to be an invincible ability, and every user who had appeared on the seas had been incredibly strong.
But the fruit had been missing for almost a hundred years; no new user had ever appeared. Who knew where it was hiding? If Gion could get her hands on it, her strength would surely skyrocket!
Diarmuid was thinking it through. He had to get the Rumble-Rumble Fruit. To just leave it on a sky island, only for Enel to eat it and take it to the moon… would be a complete waste.
He had genuinely considered trying to find the fruit on Skypiea and eating it himself. But he never had the chance, and after he got to Headquarters, he was lucky enough to get the powerful Gravity-Gravity Fruit, so he no longer needed to consider that.
So, once he got the fruit, what would he do with it?
A powerful Devil Fruit like this had to be given to someone with immense potential. And that person should be one of his own. Gion's potential was undeniable. Don't let her current strength fool you; in twenty years, she would be an Admiral candidate for Marine Headquarters, part of the Marines' elite force.
Her potential was huge; it just hadn't been fully developed yet. She was also his direct subordinate, so cultivating her was no problem at all. With the power of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, combined with her own strength, she would definitely become an Admiral-level top-tier fighter once she fully mastered the ability and her potential.
This would be a good thing for both the Marines and for Diarmuid.
Besides, the codename "Momousagi" (Gion's later codename) wasn't imposing at all. But "Gion the Thunder Fist"? Now that sounded cool. The thought made Diarmuid want to laugh. His own embarrassing nickname, "Bane of Evil," would finally have some company. At least he wouldn't be the only one with a ridiculous title.
Half a month later, a huge Marine warship slowly pulled into the port of Jaya Island in the first half of the Grand Line. At the dock, many people were watching the warship with hateful, hostile expressions.
Jaya Island was a chaotic, lawless island. It didn't belong to any allied country, and there were no Marine bases nearby, so it had become a haven for pirates, a "Pirate Paradise."
In reality, there were many such "Pirate Paradises" throughout the seas, with the most famous being Jaya Island and Hachinosu in the New World. Hachinosu would later be taken over by Marshall D. Teach and turned into his base. Jaya Island stayed as it was.
"What Marines dare to land on Jaya Island? Are you not afraid of death?!" A pirate standing on the dock shouted fiercely as he watched the warship pull in.
A moment later, a gangplank was lowered, and Gion and Diarmuid led a squad of Marines down.
"Jaya Island…" Diarmuid looked up at the sky. He couldn't see anything in the sky, but he knew Angel Island was up there.
"We'll restock our supplies and take a short break, then it's time to go up," Diarmuid said with a smile to Gion. He didn't need to wait for a Knock Up Stream. With his current abilities, while he wasn't as skilled as a Float-Float Fruit user, he could easily lift a warship into the sky.
"Understood. What are you doing?" Gion asked.
"I'm going to the tavern to try the cherry pie. I heard it's delicious," Diarmuid said with a smile.
Just then, a group of pirates surrounded them. "Hey, you two! Get your people and get out of Jaya Island! This is a pirate paradise, and you Marines aren't welcome!"
Diarmuid looked at the man in surprise. Were pirates this arrogant now? He was docking a warship, and they not only didn't run, but they were telling him to get out?
"Are you pirates all this brave now?" Diarmuid asked.
"Hmph. This is the Great Pirate Era…" the pirate sneered.
"Good!" Diarmuid immediately applauded him. "I admire brave people like you. Looking at how big you are, you must be strong, too, right?"
The big pirate was confused. 'Is this Marine crazy?'
"Enough talk! If you don't leave, I'll chop you up!" The big pirate pulled out a large cutlass from his waist. Just then, one of his lackeys looked closely at Diarmuid and said, a look of horror on his face, "Captain, I think he's that Diarmuid… the Bane of Evil…"
"What Diarmuid?" The big pirate was stunned for a moment, but the nickname "Bane of Evil" made him suddenly remember something. His arrogant expression instantly shriveled. 'The one who captured Roger?'
"I hate it when people call me the Bane of Evil. You can call me the 'Ferocious Tiger of the Marines,' at least I can accept that," Diarmuid said softly. Then he turned to the Marine soldiers behind him. "Capture them alive. Lock them up on the warship. When we get back, we'll send them to mine."
"Yes, Vice Admiral!" The Marines responded immediately.
Diarmuid didn't pay any more attention to the pirates and simply walked past them. The moment the big pirate was about to say something, an invisible force of gravity slammed into them. The dozens of pirates all spat up blood and were forced to the ground, unable to move.
Diarmuid looked as if he had done nothing, leisurely walking into the town. After he had been gone for a while, the gravity on the pirates disappeared. They had lost all their will to fight and were quickly handcuffed and captured by the Marines.
"Rear Admiral Gion, there are many other pirates on the island. Should we capture them?" a Marine Lieutenant Commander asked Gion.
Gion shook her head. "We don't have time. And we can't capture all the pirates here. Just get our supplies. As long as they don't bother us, we won't bother them. But if anyone dares to cause trouble, capture them all and send them to the mines when we get back to G-7!"
"Yes!" The Marine Lieutenant Commander quickly replied.
As Diarmuid walked into the tavern, the entire place fell silent. It was a pirate bar, so there was hardly a good person inside. Everyone seemed to be a vicious pirate. But Diarmuid didn't see anyone valuable. They were probably all small-fry.
Too lazy to bother with them, he went straight to the bar and sat down. "One cherry pie, please," he said.
The bartender looked at Diarmuid, not daring to refuse, and quickly nodded. A moment later, a cherry pie was placed in front of him. Diarmuid took a couple of bites. It wasn't that good. Just okay. Seems like Teach has bad taste.
Just as he was thinking this, a laugh came from behind him.
"Fufufufu~ Vice Admiral Rodriguez Diarmuid, welcome to Jaya Island."
Diarmuid raised an eyebrow. Even without turning around, he knew who it was from the iconic laugh and unique voice. But he hadn't seen the Donquixote Family's ship at the port.
Sure enough, the person standing at the entrance to the tavern was Donquixote Doflamingo.
After Roger's execution in Loguetown, Doflamingo decided to follow the trend and become a pirate. Not long ago, he had arrived at Jaya Island and used the strength of the Donquixote Family and his own power to take it over, making it his territory.
He was doing a good job of being a pirate and making money at the same time. Even though he had set out to be a pirate, he hadn't given up his connections in the underworld. He saw Jaya Island as a perfect base—lawless and perfect for running his illicit goods.
"Donquixote Doflamingo… Ah, so you've become a pirate, too. By the way, do you have a bounty yet?" Diarmuid asked without turning around.
"Fufufufu, my bounty is 63 million Berries. I'm just a small pirate, Vice Admiral," Doflamingo replied with a laugh, strutting into the tavern.
"A small pirate is still a pirate. How dare you show your face to me?" Diarmuid said softly.
As soon as he finished speaking, Doflamingo's expression changed drastically. He felt as if he had sunk into a swamp. Everything around him became incredibly heavy, and he couldn't move.
The floor beneath his feet immediately cracked. He tried to lift his foot, but he couldn't. A look of shock flashed in Doflamingo's eyes. He hadn't even moved, yet he was frozen? How could he have this much power at such a young age?
After messing around in the North Blue, Doflamingo was very confident in his own strength. If it had been Admiral Sengoku here, he would never have shown his face. But with Diarmuid… even though he captured Roger, Doflamingo felt like it wasn't that simple.
On top of that, he had awakened his Conqueror's Haki as a child and had been training with Trebol and the others since then. He was young but had already mastered all three types of Haki and had finely developed his Devil Fruit ability.
Since leaving the North Blue, Doflamingo had never suffered a single loss. He was always the one bullying people, and no one dared to bully him. If Diarmuid hadn't shown up, he probably would have continued to be arrogant for a long time, until someone in the New World taught him a lesson and he started to shudder at the mention of Kaido's name.
"You know who I am…" Doflamingo said, his face grim.
Diarmuid slowly turned around while eating his cherry pie. He looked at Doflamingo and smiled. "Of course. A descendant of one of the twenty kings. A member of the Donquixote Family in Mariejois. But you've already been disowned, haven't you?"
Doflamingo still couldn't move, but his words were tough. "Even so, you Marines can't touch me."
Doflamingo knew that even though the Celestial Dragons had disowned him, he still held many privileges, and the Marines generally didn't dare to touch him.
But as soon as he said that, the floor beneath his feet completely caved in, forming a large crater. He was pressed into the hole by the immense gravity, looking incredibly pathetic. At the same time, Diarmuid's calm voice entered his ears.
"Who says?"
'And you think you can act tough in front of me? You must be out of your mind!'
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