Marineford was a truly magnificent island.
The fortress of justice that had stood for who knows how many years was impressive and gave off an unyielding feeling.
It was as if this place would never be taken over by evil.
At the same time, Marineford was also the strongest island in the entire sea.
This was because most of the Marines' high-ranking forces were gathered there.
It might have been a false impression, but just by looking at the island, you could almost hear a phrase.
It was…
"We Marines are the only ones who can bully others. No one dares to bully us!"
That's right, it was that arrogant and overbearing!
But all of this had nothing to do with Diarmuid for now. As soon as he got off the ship, he was sent straight to the Marineford infirmary.
Perhaps it was due to the special care from Admirals Sengoku and Zephyr.
Diarmuid was placed in the advanced infirmary.
This infirmary was built specifically for high-ranking Marine officers. Regular Marine soldiers weren't qualified to stay here.
You had to have the rank of at least a Commodore to receive treatment here.
Diarmuid was placed on the second floor of the infirmary in a double room. His bed was by the window, and he could see a lawn outside, which was the infirmary's backyard.
Many Marine officers were walking around. Some had casts on their arms, some were using crutches, and some were in wheelchairs.
These were all high-ranking officers in the Marines.
From this, you could see that while the Marines looked glorious on the surface, with the attitude of sea lords, that glory was bought with the lives and blood of countless people.
Being a Marine was probably never a good job.
The brat Rosinante seemed to be attached to Diarmuid. Even though Diarmuid had slapped him on Minion Island, he didn't seem to mind at all.
He considered Diarmuid his savior.
According to Zephyr, while he was unconscious on the ship, Rosinante stayed by his side every day to keep an eye on his condition.
And now, Rosinante still came to visit his savior every day, sitting quietly by the bed, pouring Diarmuid a glass of water, and peeling a fruit for him.
To be honest, if it were a cute girl doing this, Diarmuid would have been more than happy to accept.
Unfortunately, Rosinante was a young boy, and what was worse, he was a jinx!
But because of Rosinante's status as a "government son," Diarmuid couldn't do anything about it.
On the other hand, with a runner like Rosinante, it was much more convenient for him to be in the hospital.
"Ugh… is it noon already?" a lazy voice came from the other bed.
The patient who had been sleeping finally woke up.
"Oh, Diarmuid, I envy you. You have such a good kid taking care of you. If you're not going to eat that, do you mind giving me that peeled apple? I just woke up, and I'm a little hungry…" the patient asked without any hesitation.
Diarmuid gave him a helpless look and picked up an apple from the fruit bowl, throwing it over to him.
"Heh…" The guy caught the apple and started eating with a chuckle.
Three days ago, Diarmuid, who had been alone in the room, was joined by a new patient… Rear Admiral Kuzan.
That's right, the person lying on the other bed was none other than the future Marine Admiral, Aokiji Kuzan.
To be honest, Diarmuid had thought of many ways he would meet powerhouses like Kuzan, but he never expected to meet him in a hospital room.
Kuzan had always been a lazy person who didn't stand on ceremony. Even though he didn't know Diarmuid before, they had built a rapport over the past three days. They got along pretty well.
"Don't you get bored of eating and sleeping every day?" Diarmuid asked.
Kuzan chewed the apple and said with a full mouth, "What do you want me to do? Go play soccer?"
As he said this, Kuzan lifted his leg slightly. His right leg was in a cast.
It seemed he had suffered a serious injury.
"That leg of yours has had it rough. Is it because you don't usually sit properly?" Diarmuid said with a smile.
"I never cross my legs or prop them up. How could my posture be bad?" Kuzan rolled his eyes.
"Maybe that's why…" Diarmuid muttered.
Before Kuzan could respond, Diarmuid couldn't hold back his curiosity anymore and asked, "By the way, Rear Admiral Kuzan, you're called one of the Marines' 'Monsters,' right? How did you break your leg?"
Diarmuid hadn't asked this question for three days.
Mainly because he wasn't very familiar with Kuzan yet and didn't want to be too blunt. But now, after three days of being together, Diarmuid felt that he and Kuzan were familiar enough to ask.
As soon as he heard the question, Kuzan looked frustrated. He swallowed the apple and shook his head. "Diarmuid, it's very important to have a good boss, especially one who's reliable. So, if you ever get the chance, don't follow in my footsteps. I was… misled by the word 'hero'."
Diarmuid was confused.
As if sensing Diarmuid's confusion, Kuzan whispered, "What I'm saying is, if you ever have a choice, don't choose Garp-san as your boss!"
"Hahahaha…" Diarmuid suddenly burst out laughing.
So Kuzan's leg was the result of being jinxed by Garp?
"What happened? Is it okay to talk about it?" Diarmuid asked, trying to hold back his laughter.
Kuzan looked like he had suffered a lot and sighed. "There's no reason not to talk about it. Not long ago, we got news that the Roger Pirates had reappeared in the first half of the Grand Line. Garp-san seems to have a lot of obsession with Roger, so as soon as he heard the news, he couldn't wait to go after them. As his assistant, I naturally had to go with him. But it was a disaster… We had a big fight with the Roger Pirates at sea. Garp-san was completely fine, but I got my leg broken in the chaos."
Listening to Kuzan, Diarmuid looked at him with sympathy. It was true, you had to pick a reliable boss, or the risk factor would increase a lot.
And as everyone knew, Vice Admiral Garp was notoriously unreliable in the Marines!
Among the Marines' new generation, there were three very outstanding individuals, known as the "Monster Rookies."
Even though they were called rookies, they had actually been in the Marines for a few years and had all been promoted to the rank of general (Commodore and above).
Kuzan was the lowest-ranked of the three.
The other two were the future Marine Admirals, Akainu Sakazuki, and Kizaru Borsalino.
Based on what he had learned in the past few days, Diarmuid had some information about them.
For example, Borsalino was Admiral Sengoku's aide and was currently a Vice Admiral. And Sakazuki, surprisingly, was Admiral Zephyr's aide.
But since Zephyr had nominally retired from the front lines and only kept his Admiral rank, Sakazuki was in a unique position. He was basically the boss of his own unit now.
Of course, he was also a Vice Admiral.
"Well, that's what happened. What about you? I heard you fought Golden Lion? You've got a lot of guts, Diarmuid," Kuzan said with a smile.
Diarmuid gave a helpless look at the jinx Rosinante. He reached out and tapped him on the head. "If it weren't for this kid, I wouldn't have had to risk my life so much, and I wouldn't be lying here."
Hearing Diarmuid's words, Rosinante lowered his head in embarrassment.
"Hahahaha, but you are very brave. It seems that Zephyr-sensei thinks highly of you. You'll be my junior soon," Kuzan said with a laugh.
Zephyr's Marine Officer Training Camp had already produced many talented individuals for the Marines.
But only a few were acknowledged by Kuzan as his "juniors."
Diarmuid didn't hide anything. He looked around and asked in a mysterious tone, "So, Rear Admiral Kuzan, do you think I have a promising future?"
"Hmm?" Kuzan was a little surprised, then he asked, "What kind of future?"
"The kind of future where I become a big shot," Diarmuid said with a laugh.
"Hahahaha, well, that depends on your abilities," Kuzan laughed.
Some ambitions couldn't be hidden, especially from so many high-ranking Marine officers.
So Diarmuid didn't plan on hiding anything. He leaned back against the headboard and said with a sigh, "Before, Zephyr-san asked me what my justice was. I couldn't answer. Maybe I'm lost. I still don't know what kind of justice I have, or if I even have any. But after coming to Marineford, I'm sure of one thing…"
Kuzan picked up a glass of water from the table and blew on it, turning it into ice water.
He took a sip, looked at Diarmuid, and asked, "What are you sure of?"
"I want to stand at the top! I want more power, a higher position, and more authority…" Diarmuid said softly.
After a short pause, he turned to look at Kuzan. "Rear Admiral Kuzan, do you think these ambitions of mine go against justice? Are they too opportunistic?"
Kuzan was silent for a moment. He drank the rest of the ice water and shook his head. "Who can say what justice is? As for your ambitions… they might be a little opportunistic, but there's nothing wrong with them."
Although Diarmuid's ambitions didn't align with his own, Kuzan didn't think there was anything wrong with them.
Wanting more power, a higher position, and more authority.
Wasn't that normal?
"Sengoku-san once said that a Marine who doesn't want to be a Fleet Admiral isn't a good Marine…" Kuzan said at last.