Marine Headquarters, Marineford, in the Fleet Admiral's office.
Sengoku, the newly promoted Fleet Admiral, was no longer wearing the overly formal attire of the past two days; at least, he didn't have a seagull ornament on his head.
He took a sip of tea and leisurely set down a document he was holding.
Then, Sengoku looked at Diarmuid, who was lounging on the sofa, and asked with some amusement, "I'm aware of the matter. I'll arrange for Jinbe to become one of the Warlords of the Sea soon..."
"Mhm, mhm," Diarmuid responded, saying nothing else, remaining sprawled out on the sofa, completely motionless.
Sengoku saw this and asked curiously, "Is there something else?"
"Nope," Diarmuid replied casually, not even looking at Sengoku.
"If there's nothing else, what are you doing loitering here? Have you forgotten you haven't been to work in three days? Go back and deal with your backlog of documents immediately!" Sengoku raised an eyebrow.
"Relax, relax. I don't have any backlog; I finished everything. You do your thing. Just pretend I don't exist. Let me lie here quietly for a while..." Diarmuid said, actually lying down on the sofa, acting completely impervious to any threats.
Sengoku glared fiercely at Diarmuid but didn't say anything more. He was just puzzled: What is this guy up to?
He put down his teacup and opened a new document, beginning to process it.
However, he still looked up occasionally at Diarmuid, who was squatting in his office.
Seeing Diarmuid squirming around on the sofa like a maggot, Sengoku soon became agitated. He slapped the document down on the desk. "Get out! Get out of here right now!"
Diarmuid looked at Sengoku with a blank face, "What's the big idea? I'm not bothering you, am I? I haven't said a word. Don't turn your back on old friends just because you became Fleet Admiral, okay?"
"What in the world are you playing at? If you don't explain yourself today, don't stay here. Get lost!" Sengoku roared.
"I'm not playing at anything," Diarmuid said with a hint of resignation.
"What is the actual situation? Why are you hiding out here?" Sengoku glared at Diarmuid.
Diarmuid sighed and then said, "I don't want to go back to my office. Just let me sleep here. I'll leave when work ends, and tomorrow I'll head to the North Blue. I promise not to bother you for a while..."
"The North Blue? Why are you going to the North Blue? War could break out in the New World at any moment. I was planning to send you to the front line," Sengoku asked, surprised.
"It won't delay anything. If necessary, I'll go straight into the New World from the North Blue. I'm going to finalize Doflamingo as the last Warlord of the Sea. This trip is to take care of him," Diarmuid said, waving his hand casually.
"Doflamingo?" Sengoku was taken aback. He currently held a strong negative opinion of Doflamingo.
After all, that man caused a total disaster on Minion Island last time. Naturally, Sengoku wouldn't place all the blame on Rosinante, his unfortunate son who was locked away. In his heart, Doflamingo was the scapegoat.
So, hearing Diarmuid was planning to make Doflamingo a Warlord of the Sea naturally surprised him.
However, the entire Warlords of the Sea initiative had been entrusted entirely to Admiral Diarmuid, with the exception of Bartholomew Kuma.
Therefore, Sengoku didn't feel right about interfering too much with Diarmuid's ideas, especially since Diarmuid's previous arrangements had been excellent.
"Yes. Do you have an issue with him?" Diarmuid asked.
"That goes without saying," Sengoku replied, then said, "Are you certain it has to be him?"
"Yes. That guy's power is controllable; he won't develop into someone difficult to deal with. Plus, he's clever and very competent. I've been studying him for years, and based on my and the Chief of Staff's analysis, while this man wears the skin of a pirate, he isn't actually committed to a life of piracy. He doesn't hold much hostility toward the Marines. On the contrary, his identity is unique, and he seems to hold a great grudge against Mariejois. Coupled with the higher-ups' indulgence and tolerance of him, I believe he must possess some secret that makes the Celestial Dragons wary... If we get a chance to leverage that in the future, it will be good for the Marines," Diarmuid said calmly.
After a slight pause, Diarmuid continued, "Of course, this guy is very ambitious. He's been eyeing the Warlord of the Sea position for a long time, but has lacked the opportunity. Since he values the title so much, he's bound to cause trouble using that identity once he gets it. I'm warning you now, you need to prepare yourself mentally for that..."
"You know he's going to cause trouble, and you're still letting him join?" Sengoku said after some thought.
"I have no choice. I don't have a suitable candidate right now, so I have to let him in first. With a scumbag like Crocodile already in the group, we might as well tolerate a jerk like Doflamingo. At least compared to Crocodile, Doflamingo is more willing to cooperate with us and is somewhat controllable," Diarmuid waved his hand.
Sengoku ultimately decided not to target Doflamingo solely because of the Minion Island incident. He nodded, "This has always been your responsibility. Since you've put it this way, let's proceed with your plan... But tell Doflamingo that whatever he does, he must do it cleanly, so we don't look bad. Otherwise, he'll be the one who suffers!"
"Understood," Diarmuid nodded.
After a slight pause, Sengoku asked again, "However, given his unique status, won't the higher-ups disapprove?"
"He'll have to figure that out himself. I'm only responsible for the Marines' side of things..." Diarmuid smiled.
"You make the final decision," Sengoku nodded again.
He then picked up the document he had slapped onto the desk. Just as he was about to read it, he seemed to remember something. He looked up at Diarmuid again, "No, you still haven't answered my question. What are you doing hiding out here? What's wrong with your office? Why don't you want to go back?"
Diarmuid's face twitched slightly, then he sighed, "Drinking leads to mistakes..."
"What exactly happened?" Sengoku asked curiously.
What else could it be? Hina was in his office, and Diarmuid was too embarrassed to face her.
He didn't want to explain this matter to Sengoku, though. After all, Sengoku wasn't Zephyr, who at least had some relevant experience.
Although Diarmuid occasionally called him 'Happy Buddha' behind his back, Diarmuid knew that Sengoku was a serious, lifelong bachelor.
It was pointless to tell him this; his advice wouldn't be helpful.
So, Diarmuid waved his hand and stood up from the sofa, "It's nothing, just my private business. Since you're not happy with me sleeping here, I'll leave..."
With that, Diarmuid turned and walked toward the door.
Faintly, Sengoku could hear small complaints like, "The world is going downhill, people's hearts are cold. He turns his back on you the moment he becomes Fleet Admiral; there's no sense of camaraderie left from when we were both Admirals."
This made Sengoku chuckle in exasperation. He didn't bother with the petty Diarmuid, shaking his head and focusing on his documents.
Diarmuid reached the door and put his hand on the doorknob. Seeing that Sengoku had no intention of asking him to stay, he felt a flash of irritation. You're going to lose an excellent subordinate if you act like this!
"I'm really leaving now..." Diarmuid tried again brazenly.
"What? Do you want me to personally escort you out?" Sengoku teased with a laugh.
"Seriously, what is wrong with Marine Headquarters? There's no human decency," Diarmuid grumbled, then opened the door and walked out.
Leaving the Fleet Admiral's office, Diarmuid originally intended to go downstairs and sit with Garp or Kuzan.
But after taking two steps, he decided that hiding was not a real solution. He hadn't been home or to work for three days, having holed up at Zephyr's place.
It wasn't until this morning, when he heard that Hina had gone to attend a meeting at the Secretary's Office, that he rushed to his office to handle the Jinbe matter and bolted to Fleet Admiral Sengoku's office before Hina's meeting ended.
He hadn't seen Hina at all these past few days. He truly felt like a scumbag.
"Fine, at worst I'll get slashed a couple of times. I refuse to believe she'll actually…" Diarmuid muttered viciously.
Pumping himself up, Diarmuid took a deep breath, straightened his chest, and walked with determined steps toward his office.
Pushing the door open, he saw Hina watering the potted plants on his windowsill.
Seemingly hearing the movement behind her, Hina turned her head and instinctively responded, "The Admiral isn't here today either. If you have any business..."
She stopped mid-sentence when she saw Diarmuid's face, which was alight with a brilliant smile. She froze.
Diarmuid was truly shameless. Since he was already inside, he acted as if nothing had happened, smiling cheerfully, "Yo, Hi—"
Hina was originally quite upset. This jerk is such a scoundrel, running away after getting what he wanted, acting like he doesn't want to take responsibility!
Hina had spent the last two days planning exactly how she was going to kill Diarmuid, and was even planning to buy two hatchets after work.
However, all her resentment and complaints melted away the moment she saw Diarmuid's radiant smile.
"Admiral!!!" Hina suppressed the joy in her heart, put on a stern face, and called out in a clearly disgruntled tone.
Diarmuid finally felt a little guilty. He quickly closed the door, then walked over to Hina with a flattering smile, taking the watering can from her hand, "How can I trouble our great secretary with such a small task? Here, here, I can do this myself."
"Hmph, you have the nerve to come back!?" Hina huffed in annoyance.
However, Diarmuid's attitude secretly delighted her.
"I..." Diarmuid hesitated, then smiled and shook his head, "I was just afraid you'd slice me with a knife..."
"If you hadn't come to see me today and kept hiding, I really was going to buy two hatchets and go to Zephyr's house after work to slash you!" Hina said viciously.
However, coupled with her feigned look of aggression, she only looked very cute.
"That's why I rushed over, didn't I?" Diarmuid replied with a grin.
But after that, neither of them seemed to know what to say. An awkward atmosphere filled the office for a moment.
Diarmuid didn't dare look at Hina's expression. He obediently watered the plants and finished arranging the other minor tasks.
He then took a deep breath and asked, "I'm going to the North Blue tomorrow. Are you coming with me?"
Hina, who hadn't known what to say or whether she should even bring up the events of that night, instantly brightened upon hearing Diarmuid's inquiry.
She said with an extremely joyful expression, "Yes, of course, I'll go!"
Diarmuid, seeing this, sighed in relief. He gradually rediscovered their original comfortable dynamic and pace, smiling as he said, "Good. Then go home tonight and prepare. Pack your bags and leave with me tomorrow."
"Admiral, what are we going to the North Blue for?" Hina asked curiously.
"To find Doflamingo," Diarmuid whispered.
"Oh? Should we arrange for Vergo to accompany us on the ship?" Hina quickly demonstrated her secretarial skills, reminding him.
"Yes, bring him along," Diarmuid said.
Following this, the two began discussing relevant matters, as well as the documents Hina had prepared over the last two days that only required Diarmuid's signature. They quickly returned to their usual working relationship.
However, both of them knew very well that the nature of their relationship had fundamentally changed. They just hadn't yet found a suitable way to navigate it. Slowly, they would get there. Things were good for now.