The Holy Land of Mariejois is undoubtedly the current center of the world. It's located on the Red Line, connecting the first and second halves of the Grand Line, and also linking the Four Seas. Its geographical location is quite excellent.
It's also the political center of the World Government.
Thanks to the World Government's authority, it has been quite peaceful and safe for hundreds of years.
This peace and safety have led to a highly developed economy and sufficient consumption power—from the Celestial Dragons, the great nobles from all over the world, and the vast bureaucracy of the World Government.
While it sounds unpleasant, you have to admit that most of the world's knowledge and culture are in the hands of the nobles. As a result, this is also the center of cultural prosperity for the entire world, and its status is far beyond that of a "holy land" like Ohara.
For hundreds of years, Mariejois has been known as the political, economic, and cultural hub of the world.
But under all that light, there is a dark shadow. There are far too many heinous things happening in Mariejois. We don't need to go into the details. But on the surface, at least, it can indeed be called a true "Holy Land."
One can ride a bubble elevator all the way from the port at the bottom of the Red Line to the top. At this moment, Diarmuid was standing inside the elevator, looking at a manual in his hand. His young secretary, Hina, who was standing next to him, was curiously looking at the scenery outside the elevator.
The manual in Diarmuid's hand was a list of the main topics for the upcoming Reverie. Unsurprisingly, the first one was about the Revolutionary Army. The rest had little to do with him. Just as Fleet Admiral Kong had said before, the Marines would basically be like a ghost in this conference.
"Admiral, have you been to Mariejois before? Have you met the Gorosei?" Hina asked Diarmuid curiously after pulling her gaze away from the scenery.
Diarmuid didn't even look up. He was still flipping through the manual, learning about the important matters of various countries and looking for any details he might have missed to get a better grasp of the world situation. But when he heard Hina's question, he said, "I've been here many times. When we have to carry out missions, we Marines often pass through Mariejois to get to other seas. As for the Gorosei, I've never met them once."
"Even when you were promoted to Admiral, the Gorosei didn't summon you?" Hina asked with some surprise.
"Nope. It seems they used to appreciate me, but now they don't seem to like me very much," Diarmuid said with a laugh, turning the page.
"Huh?" Hina was stunned for a moment, then asked, "Did you do something?"
"No, it's just the way things are. It's my position as a Marine Admiral, and it's their position as the Gorosei. We've never even met, so how could we have any grudges?" Diarmuid closed the manual, looked at Hina, and waved his hand.
As soon as he finished speaking, the bubble elevator stopped. When the doors opened, the magnificent sight of the Holy Land appeared before everyone. Diarmuid stepped out of the elevator, and Hina looked around like a curious child.
"I should have brought you here to see the sights the last time we went to the New World, seeing as you're so naive..." Diarmuid grumbled.
The last time, he used his ability to fly his ship directly over the Red Line, so he didn't pass through Mariejois at all, and Hina hadn't had a chance to visit.
Hearing Diarmuid's "disdainful" words, Hina's face flushed, and she puffed out her cheeks, no longer speaking.
But soon, her annoyance dissipated as she followed Diarmuid into Mariejois. She became excited again, looking around and occasionally asking some silly questions.
"Admiral, what kind of technology is this automatic walkway? It looks so advanced," Hina asked in amazement, stepping on the moving walkway.
Diarmuid grinned, revealing a mischievous smile. "Do you know Observation Haki?"
Hina looked a little awkward. She nodded, then shook her head. "Not very well."
"Then forget it. What's under your feet is probably a large group of slaves pushing you forward. This so-called automatic walkway, which looks full of technology, is actually just a human-powered machine. It's not that the World Government isn't capable of better technology. This phenomenon is precisely proof of their privilege and decadence," Diarmuid said, curling his lips.
"Slaves?" Hina was shocked and seemed a little embarrassed to be standing on it.
Diarmuid's expression, however, didn't change at all. He didn't have any moral hang-ups and remained firmly on the automatic walkway. He said, "Just feel this evil. Light and shadow are never seen separately. The prosperous Holy Land you see is built on who knows how many piles of flesh and bones…"
"Didn't they abolish slavery a long time ago? Isn't this an illegal act?" Hina asked nervously.
"Law?" Diarmuid laughed. Just as he was about to speak, he suddenly stopped and frowned. On the other side of the automatic walkway, a Celestial Dragon, riding on the back of a tall slave, was swaggering toward them, protected by a group of guards.
"See? Can you talk about law with a scumbag like that?" Diarmuid said with a disdainful smile.
Hina was a little flustered. She tugged on Diarmuid's sleeve. "Admiral, it's a Celestial Dragon. Don't we have to bow?"
"I have no intention of bowing to those worthless people. Are they worthy?" Diarmuid said with great disdain.
"Then let's just avoid them? To prevent unnecessary conflict," Hina quickly said. After a moment, she whispered, "Admiral, at least in Mariejois, don't always call them worthless. It will cause trouble."
"Hmph…" Diarmuid grunted softly, clearly annoyed.
He stomped his foot lightly on the automatic walkway.
In the next second, the ground of the automatic walkway where the Celestial Dragon and his entourage had just stepped on suddenly shattered. Everyone fell down as if they had fallen into a pit. The scene was chaotic. The guards who hadn't gotten on the automatic walkway yet all cried out their "Saint's" name, trying to rescue him.
Meanwhile, Diarmuid and Hina walked past them from the side, ignoring them completely.
"Admiral, you were behind that, weren't you?" Hina asked cautiously after they had walked away for a while.
"Don't talk nonsense, little girl. I'll sue you for slander if you don't have evidence. Attacking a Celestial Dragon is a capital offense. Do I have the guts to do something like that?" Diarmuid said, raising an eyebrow.
Hina just chuckled and didn't ask any more questions.
Soon, Diarmuid arrived at the Pangaea Castle in Mariejois and happened to run into Sengoku, who was also with a few Marines.
"Yo, Admiral Sengoku. I haven't seen you back at Headquarters for two months. Have you been busy here in Mariejois?" Diarmuid waved and greeted him from afar.
Sengoku also saw Diarmuid. He stopped and said with a chuckle, "I've gone back two or three times, but I didn't stay long, so I didn't get to see you. Although the Marines aren't planning to voice any opinions at this conference, I still have to personally oversee the defenses of Mariejois."
"Admiral Sengoku, it's been a while," Hina said respectfully, standing next to Diarmuid.
Sengoku gave her a gentle nod, then said, "Hina, don't let this guy, Diarmuid, corrupt you."
"What are you talking about? I was trained by you personally, Admiral Sengoku. If Hina is corrupted by me, who corrupted me? The root of the problem lies with you…" Diarmuid said, giving Sengoku a sideways glance.
Then all three of them laughed.
After chatting for a while, they walked into Pangaea Castle together. Diarmuid then asked in a low voice, "Admiral, any luck? The thing I asked you to look for, did you find anything?"
Sengoku glanced at Diarmuid, then asked, "Why do you suddenly need a Devil Fruit? If I remember correctly, don't you have two Devil Fruits already?"
"I only have one. I turned in that Horse-Horse Fruit a long time ago. As for the other one, I still don't know what its ability is. It's been with Gion all this time, and I haven't touched it. If you want it, I can give it to you," Diarmuid said with a laugh.
"No need," Sengoku said, not caring at all.
At their level, Devil Fruits weren't that rare anymore, especially for Devil Fruit users who were no longer interested in them.
Speaking of which, Sengoku took a list out of the folder under his arm and handed it to Diarmuid. "Here, this is the list you wanted. These are the Devil Fruits I was able to get information about that are stored in Mariejois. Any others might be in the hands of some Celestial Dragons, but I can't access those…"
"Thanks," Diarmuid said with a chuckle, taking the list. He looked at it for a few seconds, then pointed to a Devil Fruit on it. "The Paramecia-type Love-Love Fruit. This is the one I want. Can you get it for me?"
Sengoku glanced at Diarmuid and said with some surprise, "What do you want this fruit for? But yes, I can get it for you…"
The Devil Fruits stored in Mariejois basically had two destinations. One was for the Celestial Dragons to play with. That's right, for that ridiculous reason, they just took them to play with, feeding them to slaves and whatnot.
The other destination was for them to be distributed to various organizations under the World Government if no Celestial Dragons took them to play with in a short period of time.
The Marines were naturally one of those organizations. However, the Marines usually had their own channels for getting Devil Fruits and didn't use these, so the majority of them were taken by the Cipher Pol agencies.
In the original story, Spandine requested some Devil Fruits for Kalifa and a few others at Enies Lobby, and they came from here.
Diarmuid was just taking a shot in the dark, asking Sengoku, who happened to be in Mariejois, to keep an eye out for him. His goal was to see if he could get his hands on the Love-Love Fruit.
"I'm planning on training a new good seedling," Diarmuid said with a smile.
Sengoku looked at Hina next to Diarmuid and said with a smile, "Is it for Hina? It would be a great fit for her."
But Hina was stunned for a moment, then shook her head. "Admiral Sengoku, I know I might not look like it, but I was already a Devil Fruit user before I graduated from the Marine Academy."
"Oh?" Sengoku was a little surprised, then said with some regret, "Is that so? Then I was overthinking it."
The Love-Love Fruit, needless to say, was for Boa Hancock. The power of this fruit was ridiculous, and its strength was determined by the charisma of the user. At the same time, there was also a potential bonus. The more charismatic the user, the stronger the fruit's power. On the other hand, if the user's charisma was too low, the fruit would be useless.
In Diarmuid's opinion, there were probably two people who were suitable for this fruit. One was, of course, Boa Hancock, the future most beautiful woman in the world. The other, although a little strange, was Cavendish, twenty years later, who seemed to be a very good fit for this ability.
Sengoku obviously also knew about this fruit, which was why he thought Diarmuid was preparing it for Hina. After all, Hina was also a pretty young woman. She might not be able to maximize the fruit's ability, but she wouldn't be a disgrace to the Love-Love Fruit.
Without saying anything more to Diarmuid about the fruit, the two Admirals started talking about other things and walked into the castle.
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