Since the Gorosei believed he had "compromised," Diarmuid naturally wouldn't cause any trouble.
Upon entering the room, he saw the five elders sitting in different seats, all looking at him.
Diarmuid immediately stood at attention and gave a textbook-perfect military salute. "Marine Admiral, Rodriguez Diarmuid, reporting to you, my five lords!"
As Diarmuid expected, the Gorosei were here to win over the Marines this time and wouldn't make things difficult for him.
As soon as Diarmuid made his gesture of deference, smiles appeared on the faces of all five elders.
"There's no need to be so formal. We've always had a special admiration for capable people, and you, Diarmuid, are exactly that. Please, have a seat," the elder with the long mustache said with a laugh, gesturing for Diarmuid to sit down.
The elder with blond hair glanced at Stussy and gave her a signal. Stussy nodded knowingly and did not linger.
Her only task was to bring Diarmuid here. Nothing more.
So, Stussy turned and left, closing the door behind her. As the door shut, a flicker of disdain crossed the Queen's eyes. "Just as you said, Diarmuid... CP will never be able to compare to you Marines. You are soldiers, fierce tigers, while we are just guard dogs," Stussy whispered to herself.
From an administrative standpoint, her status was similar to Diarmuid's within the World Government, yet the Gorosei were kind and gentle to Diarmuid, while they often couldn't be bothered to say more than a few words to her.
The gap was already very clear.
"This is probably for the best," Stussy chuckled softly and walked away.
Inside the room, Diarmuid didn't act reserved or modest. When the Gorosei told him to sit, he did so without hesitation, in a confident and relaxed manner.
The Gorosei showed no change in expression and continued to smile.
"Diarmuid, you've been an Admiral for how long now?" the elder with the long mustache asked.
"Seven years. This is my seventh year," Diarmuid said with a firm voice.
He had become a Marine Admiral in the year 1503 of the Marine calendar, and now it was 1510. Seven years had passed in the blink of an eye.
The elder with the long beard seemed a bit sentimental. He smiled and said, "Yes, seven years. How time flies. In these past seven years, we haven't summoned you. Do you have any resentment?"
Diarmuid shook his head. "It's impossible to say I have none, but later, Admiral Sengoku reprimanded me, saying that as long as I do my job well, you five lords will know sooner or later that I am the right person for this Admiral position. He said you would meet and acknowledge me then. Now that I have waited for this day, I naturally have no resentment. I am honored to have gained your recognition in seven years."
Diarmuid's words gave the Gorosei great face and sounded incredibly sincere. He even managed to give Sengoku a boost.
The Gorosei were very pleased to hear this.
See? Even though our relationship with the Marines has been a bit strained these past few years, we are still one family that has worked together for centuries. Any conflicts we have are internal. It's normal. How could an organization of this size not have internal conflicts? But conflicts aside, we are still one entity.
Seeing Diarmuid's savvy response, the Gorosei were even more delighted.
"To be honest, we were in the wrong. As you know, you became an Admiral because there was a conflict and disagreement between you Marines and our World Government regarding the Warlord of the Sea plan. You took advantage of that opportunity to rise to power, and we were indeed displeased. But now that we think about it, we were being petty and not very accommodating, which caused you some grievance. The Warlord of the Sea matter did harm the interests of the Marines, but at the end of the day, you Marines are our people, aren't you?" the elder with the long beard said with a smile.
This remark made Diarmuid hold the Gorosei in higher regard. They were able to openly admit their "wrongdoing." Regardless of whether this was a feigned effort to appease him or a genuine apology, they had lowered their stance.
It proved that the Gorosei were people who could both act and let go. They weren't as muddled as he had imagined.
"You speak too highly of me, my lords. As you said, the Marines and the World Government are one body. There may be conflicts and disagreements, but we are both the guardians of order, and neither can exist without the other!" Diarmuid stated once more.
"Very good. Guardians of order." A glint appeared in the blond-haired elder's eyes.
This was far more effective than if Diarmuid had talked about justice or injustice. The World Government didn't care about issues of justice.
Next, both sides continued to exchange pleasantries and probe each other for a while. The meeting became much smoother, losing its initial stiffness.
In truth, the Gorosei had no pressing business with Diarmuid this time. They just wanted to meet him and show their goodwill, and that would be enough.
Diarmuid also came with the intention of meeting Queen Stussy, so he had no plans to discuss any serious matters with the Gorosei, either.
Besides, he didn't think he could have a genuine conversation with them.
However, the Gorosei soon began to ask some questions.
"Speaking of which, not long after you joined the Marines, in the year 149-something, we heard of your great cleverness and wisdom. Later, you made great contributions to the Roger Pirates' incident, but after that, we gradually drifted apart," the blond-haired elder said.
Diarmuid nodded but didn't speak.
It's true. I heard you guys had a good impression of me before, but we still ended up falling out.
"You have always been both brave and resourceful. We have a few questions we'd like to consult you about, to see what your insights are," the elder with the long beard said.
"Please, my lords, ask away," Diarmuid said seriously.
"Hmm. In today's world, there are two major problems. First, pirates. But that's your Marines' area of expertise, and from what we've seen, you've been doing a good job these past few years, so there's no need to ask more about that. The second is the Revolutionary Army. You're aware of the Mariejois incident, correct?" the elder with the long beard said.
"Yes, I have already been briefed on the details," Diarmuid replied in a military-like manner.
Of course, I know everything. You guys have no idea, do you? I planned the whole damn thing myself!
"We don't have any questions about pursuing the Revolutionary Army or the arson at Mariejois. Diarmuid, what we want to ask is, if it were you, would you have a way to completely solve the Revolutionary Army problem?" the elder with the long mustache asked.
"Yes," Diarmuid answered without hesitation.
His confident tone surprised the Gorosei.
They had only asked a random question, hoping to see what they might get.
And you're telling us you have a way?!
"Diarmuid, the Revolutionary Army problem is not a simple one. You must consider your answer carefully. These past few years, we have been cracking down harder and harder on the Revolutionary Army, but they have only grown stronger... Do you truly have a way?" the bald elder asked seriously.
"I do!" Diarmuid said in a low, firm voice.
"Tell us," the bald elder said with a very serious expression.
"The leader of the Revolutionary Army, Dragon, is a friend of mine," Diarmuid said first, and all the Gorosei's eyes flashed with astonishment.
It might have been a fact, but within the World Government, no one was willing to be on friendly terms with Dragon at this stage, and certainly no one would dare to mention it in front of the Gorosei.
But before they could question him, Diarmuid continued, "Therefore, I understand Dragon's thoughts and ideals relatively well. In addition, I have gained some insights from observing the Revolutionary Army over the years."
At this, the Gorosei no longer bothered with Diarmuid's "frankness" and instead focused on his words. "What insights?"
"The soil in which the Revolutionary Army thrives is one that we gave to them ourselves!" Diarmuid said with a heavy voice.
"What do you mean?" the elder with the long beard asked.
"I believe that to completely dismantle, crush, and solve the Revolutionary Army problem, the World Government must focus on two things," Diarmuid said seriously.
"What two things?" the blond-haired elder asked with anticipation.
Could there be an unexpected gain today?
"First, we must strictly address the corruption within the World Government and clean up the atmosphere. We must employ capable people who do real work instead of engaging in corruption. Second, we must resolve the fundamental conflict between the interests of the nobles and the interests of the common people. We must ease this class conflict and provide the populace with a more stable living environment," Diarmuid said without hesitation.
After a brief pause, Diarmuid added, "As far as I know, the Revolutionary Army's path is clearly that of the masses, not the nobles. Therefore, the Revolutionary Army has always rallied the power of the people to fight against our World Government. So why are they able to rally the people? It's because many people cannot survive under our World Government's rule! As long as we solve this problem, we can destroy the soil in which the Revolutionary Army thrives. Without that soil, they will no longer be an unsolvable opponent!"
The Gorosei all looked at Diarmuid with strange expressions.
Did what Diarmuid say make sense?
Yes, it made a lot of sense. He was right. As long as the problems of the common people were solved, the Revolutionary Army wouldn't be able to rally public opinion, and they couldn't stir up any major trouble.
After all, if everyone was well-fed, and their lives were going great, who in their right mind would put their head on the chopping block to start a revolution?
Those who joined the revolution did so because they couldn't survive otherwise.
The truly idealistic and ambitious members of the Revolutionary Army were a minority. Most were there because they couldn't live without them!
However...
Diarmuid's reasoning was too "noble" and not at all practical.
Of course, we know that if we can accomplish those two things, the Revolutionary Army problem will be mostly solved.
But we can't do it!
We were just asking if you had a simpler solution!
Why are you telling us this?
However, the Gorosei couldn't deny anything at this point. After all, Diarmuid was being "loyal." What kind of person would dare to criticize the World Government's corruption and the incompetence of the nobles so directly?
Only a truly loyal and upright subject would dare to say such things. Would those sycophants who only knew how to flatter them dare to say such words in front of the Gorosei?
So, even though Diarmuid's words were too "noble" and out of touch with reality, they weren't dismissed as empty platitudes.
Instead, the Gorosei's impression of Diarmuid improved. At the very least, this person dared to face a problem, dared to bring it up, and dared to say such "treasonous" things to them.
As the helmsmen, the Gorosei certainly didn't want the World Government's ship to be full of people just waiting to die. Of course, they hoped for more capable and honest people like Diarmuid.
Therefore, after Diarmuid said what he did, they trusted him even more.
And that was exactly why Diarmuid said those useless but impressive-sounding things.
Simply put, he was establishing his character with the Gorosei. He was portraying himself as an honest Marine who can't tolerate injustice, speaks his mind, and isn't afraid of offending people.
If he could establish this persona, it would make it easier for him to do things in the future.