Diarmuid had a unique perspective on many things, and Tsuru was one of the few top strategists in the Marines. Because of this, they often got together to talk about what was happening on the sea.
As they were enjoying their chat, Sengoku knocked on the door and walked in. When he saw Diarmuid, he stopped short. "You haven't gone back to G-7?" he asked.
Diarmuid rolled his eyes. "Can you show some consideration for your subordinates, Admiral? You just extorted so much gold from me and sent me off on a suicide mission. My butt hasn't even warmed up yet, and you're trying to kick me out? You're that heartless?"
He thought to himself, 'Don't tell me I'm interrupting you and Tsuru's little reunion? I've known for a while that you two have a history. You think I'm an eyesore, don't you? Well, I'm not going anywhere!'
Sengoku had no idea what Diarmuid was thinking. He just laughed at his words. "There's a lot of work at G-7, so I thought you'd be heading back. I'm not kicking you out! If you don't want to leave, I can just transfer you back here."
"Let's not go there. I'm fine at G-7. I'd be even better if no one tried to rob me," Diarmuid quipped again.
"Hahahaha! You're still holding a grudge, you brat!" Sengoku roared with laughter. He didn't mind Diarmuid's comments at all. In fact, he found them endearing. This kind of talk made him feel closer to Diarmuid. He felt that Diarmuid was one of his own.
Diarmuid continued, "Actually, with Gion and Doberman holding down the fort at G-7, there aren't many important things for me to do. The real work will start after the new recruits arrive. That's when I'll begin developing the Calm Belt. I hope the geological survey experts bring me some good news."
"I hope so, too. We're all hoping you can pull this off," Sengoku said, nodding. This project would benefit the entire Marine organization, not just Diarmuid. If Sengoku weren't worried about attracting the attention of the World Government, he would have gone and done the research himself.
At that moment, Tsuru also chimed in. "Why are you here? Is something wrong?"
Sengoku nodded. "I was going to call you to my office, but I figured you might be busy, and I had just finished up my work, so I came to talk to you here. I'm glad this kid Diarmuid is here too; he can give us his opinion."
Tsuru nodded and asked, "What's the matter?"
"It's not a major crisis, but we need to handle it properly," Sengoku said as he sat down on the couch. Though Diarmuid always complained about his superior, he naturally poured him a cup of tea. Sengoku secretly nodded in approval and said, "Kuzan went to capture Crocodile, but he failed…"
Diarmuid chuckled. "That's not a big deal, is it? It's normal to fail sometimes, especially when you're dealing with someone as famous as Crocodile…"
Crocodile might not be an unstoppable force at this stage, but he was a famous fighter who could hold his own against many top-tier opponents. So, fighting Kuzan to a standstill wasn't out of the question.
"I don't think it's a big deal either. But the reason Kuzan failed was because of an outside interference. Douglas Bullet, for some reason, showed up in the first half of the Grand Line. He's gone crazy, causing more chaos than ever before. He's already destroyed half of the Jerrys Kingdom and forced its royal family to seek refuge in Mariejois. Then he ran into Kuzan and Crocodile, interfered with their fight on Unveil Island, and turned the whole place into a mess. Crocodile escaped, and Kuzan didn't catch anyone," Sengoku said with a frustrated tone.
Douglas Bullet was a former member of the Roger Pirates, known as the Demon Heir. His strength was said to be on par with Silvers Rayleigh, the Dark King. Of course, that was just a rumor.
Diarmuid, Sengoku, Chief of Staff Tsuru, and all the other top-tier Marine officers didn't believe it. They thought the rumor had been exaggerated.
Douglas Bullet might have fought Rayleigh, but to say that he could fight him evenly at this point was a stretch. It was a well-known fact that Rayleigh and Roger's strengths were very similar. Garp could testify to that.
Rayleigh might be a little weaker than Roger, but he was still one of the best fighters on the sea. Douglas Bullet challenged Roger many times and lost every time, which proved that he was no match for Roger. So, how could he fight Rayleigh evenly? It was a joke.
They figured Rayleigh probably held back because Douglas Bullet was his former crewmate. Besides, if Douglas Bullet could fight Crocodile to a standstill, that would mean Crocodile was as strong as Rayleigh!
That was impossible. If Crocodile were that powerful, he would have dominated the New World already. With his arrogance, would he have let Charlotte Linlin and Kaido become Yonko? They would have fought each other to the death.
Tsuru and Diarmuid didn't interrupt Sengoku. After a brief pause, he continued, "Based on our current assessment, this guy is out of control. Or, perhaps, he's just letting loose. I think Roger's death hit him hard and made him lose his purpose, and now he's just rampaging across the sea. Because of his madness and his immense personal strength, he's a huge threat. I'm thinking, maybe we need to find a way to eliminate him?"
The Marines weren't afraid of powerful pirates, because no matter how strong they were, they weren't stronger than the Marines. Look at Roger and Shiki; for various reasons, they were gone now.
The true ruler of the sea had always been the Marines. They had the resources to make many mistakes without suffering any significant losses. But for pirates, one wrong step could send them to the abyss.
The Marines were afraid of powerful pirates who went mad, and Kaido was the best example of this. He claimed to be unkillable and was always causing trouble, though he had been quiet in Wano for the past few years. He had caused the Marines no end of headaches in the past.
As for his unkillable body, Diarmuid thought it was probably an exaggeration, another way for a pirate to gain fame. But some things couldn't be denied. Kaido had been captured by Whitebeard and the Marines, yet he always escaped. It was absurd.
Because of this, many people on the sea believed he was unkillable. A lot of people even thought Kaido was stronger in a one-on-one fight.
Now that Kaido was quiet, Douglas Bullet was going crazy. When he got started, his destructive power was even greater than Kaido's. If he kept destroying member kingdoms and islands, who could stop him?
This was why the Marines feared madmen. Their destructive power was too great, and they could cause a massacre at any time. So, the Marines had to find a way to eliminate them as soon as possible. Otherwise, they wouldn't be able to answer to the public.
"You're right. We should find a way to get rid of him. If he keeps causing massacres and other horrible things every few days, it'll be bad for our reputation and our credibility," Diarmuid said, nodding.
"That's what I think, too. But this guy is a loner, just like Patrick Redfield back in the day. He has no purpose and just roams the sea, so he's hard to find and capture. I came here today to see if you have any good ideas," Sengoku said, nodding.
Diarmuid didn't say anything and looked at Tsuru. She pondered for a moment. "Without intelligence, it's hard to do anything. I don't have any effective measures right now. All I can say is that we should increase the Intelligence Division's efforts to track him down. We can use the underworld to offer a bounty on his location… Hopefully, we'll get something."
Her suggestion was standard but not wrong. Sengoku nodded and looked at Diarmuid. "You're a clever kid. What do you think? Do you have any good ideas?"
Diarmuid smiled and shook his head. "We can only take this one step at a time. I don't have any good ideas unless we get lucky and run into him. However, we could try to use the power of the Cipher Pol. Douglas Bullet is causing a lot of trouble, and we're not the only ones with a headache. He often attacks member kingdoms, so the World Government probably wants him gone as soon as possible, too. We can send a message to the World Government and mention it. Maybe they'll send a Cipher Pol unit to work with us."
"Cipher Pol?" Sengoku said, rubbing his chin. As an Admiral, he didn't have a good feeling about the Cipher Pol agencies. He always thought of them as mad dogs that would bite anyone. But when it came to intelligence and reconnaissance, they were miles ahead of the Marines.
He had also heard rumors of a new, major intelligence agency being set up, but the Marines had no right to question it. Sengoku only knew about it because of his position and his relationship with Kong.
After some thought, Sengoku nodded. "You're right. We can't let Douglas Bullet continue his rampage. This isn't just our problem. I'll go and talk to the Fleet Admiral."
After a brief pause, Sengoku looked at Diarmuid. "Speaking of which, that guy's ability is very tricky. You might have a way to counter it. If the opportunity presents itself, you might have to take him on."
Diarmuid was startled, but then he smiled and nodded. "Alright. If I see him, I'll take him out for sure."
Sengoku smiled. He had heard the reports from Borsalino and seen the video footage recorded on the warship, which confirmed that Diarmuid could fight Charlotte Linlin without being at a disadvantage. Because of this, he didn't doubt Diarmuid's boastful words.
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