May 21, 1503, Age of the Sea Circle
On the morning after the celebration banquet, Orion and Gloriosa finally bade farewell to the Kingdom of Kano, having successfully completed their involvement in the civil war.
In the end, after a brief conflict in which Orion had nearly obliterated the entire place due to Chichilisia's proposal to arrange a marriage between his daughter and him, both parties had managed to reach an agreement regarding the fiancé of the young woman with the "extraordinary" beauty.
The subordinate Orion had chosen to receive such an honor was none other than Capone Bege, the young mafia leader who was steadily rising in notoriety throughout the West Blue.
Even though Chichilisia had no information whatsoever about this young man Orion had put forward as a candidate to become the future husband of his beloved daughter, he was not overly concerned, since the girl already had twenty fiancés.
Even if the "talented young man" introduced by Orion turned out to be a poor match for her, there were still plenty of other husbands who could successfully continue the family line among the twenty remaining candidates.
This marriage arranged by the fleet chief and Orion was, above all, a method to forge a closer political connection between both sides. After all, Chichilisia was not as naïve as the leader of Green Kamakiri, and during the last two weeks he had clearly noticed just how exceptional Orion was.
Individuals like him, possessing such power and potential, needed to be kept as allies, as they could prove invaluable if another conflict like this civil war were to arise in the future.
It was for that very reason that Chichilisia had already arranged twenty marriage engagements for his treasured daughter, and had he possessed more children, he would have done exactly the same with them. Unfortunately, he had suffered a severe injury in his youth, which had left him unable to father additional children.
Even so, Uholisia was enough to keep the family line alive, and although a male harem was not as efficient as a female one for producing descendants, it was still perfectly acceptable for a noble like him, determined to preserve his clan's power in the years to come.
Through the engagement between his daughter and Capone Bege—Orion's subordinate—the shrewd military officer had secured a powerful new ally for the future.
On the other hand, Orion harbored similar intentions. Beyond the fact that he had indeed developed a certain friendship with Chichilisia, he was also highly interested in the great strength of one of the most formidable fleets in the Kano kingdom, since he knew that one day, when the time came to confront the World Government, he would need every troop he could gather.
As for Capone Bege, he had been unfortunate enough to end up in a marriage with someone whose beauty was so… "unique," yet considering the mafia boss's personality, he would likely be satisfied with Orion's arrangements.
After all, this marriage would give Bege a very real chance to gain access to a vast and powerful fleet, and the cunning, ambitious mafia leader was unlikely to let such a marvelous opportunity slip away.
Still, Orion was not even slightly worried about what Bege might do with this advantage, since he did not believe the mafia boss could ever represent a threat to him—not even with Chichilisia's great fleet factored into the equation.
In a sense, this engagement Orion had arranged for Bege was almost like a test, allowing him to observe how Bege would behave in such a peculiar situation.
When Orion had called to inform him about the engagement with Uholisia, Bege had displayed a positive and proactive attitude, worthy of a truly loyal subordinate, even though both knew it was nothing more than a façade.
In the future, Orion would receive information about Bege's activities through the Western Revolutionary Army under Kuma, though he knew such tasks were not exactly that organization's strong suit.
Orion was planning to establish his own espionage agency similar to Cipher Pol, and he had been postponing this matter for a long time. Once he returned to Pacific Kingdom after his current journey, he intended to found this organization without any further delays.
He had not yet decided whom he would place in charge of such an important institution, but he still had several months to think it over carefully and choose wisely.
…
"Orion, I wish you a safe journey! I hope you can come visit me soon!" said Chichilisia with a smile at one of the largest ports under his control.
Orion was about to depart alongside the rest of the Green Kamakiri mercenaries, and Chichilisia had come here specifically to see him off.
"Thank you, Chichilisia. I'll certainly return as soon as I have the chance, and perhaps then we can visit the Chinjao family," Orion replied with a smile.
The Chinjao family was another of Kano's noble families, though with a far more turbulent past than Chichilisia's. They had been pirates, and they had earned their noble title only thanks to the great power of their fleet, which rivaled Chichilisia's and was considered one of the strongest in Kano.
On this occasion, Orion had planned to pay them a visit, as there were three Named Characters among them, but unfortunately, they had left the kingdom on the very same day Orion had arrived to join the civil war.
Orion had been able to catch a glimpse of their location at the very edge of his system's identification range during that first day, although afterward he had not had another chance to come into contact with them.
For that reason, Orion wanted to return to this kingdom in the future and, besides continuing his political relationship with Chichilisia, visit those Named Characters he had been unable to meet this time. He even thought it would be good if he could establish a connection with that family, which controlled a fleet as powerful as Chichilisia's, since it would be an excellent addition to his future plans.
…
After saying goodbye to Chichilisia, Orion boarded the ship with the rest of the mercenaries, and Daz Bonez quietly followed behind him. The young man had accepted becoming his subordinate, so his mutually beneficial arrangement with his previous mercenary company had come to an end.
As for the presence of this famous rookie, the leader of Green Kamakiri did not pay much attention to him. He was a rather carefree man, and frankly not very suited to lead an organization. Fortunately for him, Green Kamakiri was a small company and no one was plotting against him. Otherwise, he would have already died without knowing how.
"Guys! We've got a new job! This time it's a custody mission. We have to escort a prisoner, and we'll be getting a big reward for our participation this time!" said Kiko once the ship set sail.
The mercenaries on board had not been very pleased with the sudden mission their leader mentioned, but once they heard that the rewards were better than usual, they simply nodded without making any comments.
After all, almost all mercenaries were in this line of work for the money, and as long as there was a reward good enough at stake, nothing else mattered.
Kiko noticed that his subordinates' response had been much more lukewarm than he expected, and with a somewhat forced smile he lowered the arms he had raised excitedly. After signaling Orion and his daughter Kat, he headed into his private cabin.
Orion raised his eyebrows slightly at Kiko's signal, and leaving Daz Bonez behind, he followed Kiko along with Kat and Gloriosa. Although the mercenary leader had not explicitly invited the pink-haired girl, everyone knew Gloriosa never separated from Orion, so her presence was tacitly accepted by Kiko.
Once they entered the mercenary leader's cabin, Orion saw that Kiko was cheerfully smoking as he stared out the window toward the horizon. If there was something Orion admired about this mercenary leader, it was that despite everything, he always maintained a positive attitude toward life.
"Orion, Kat, I want to talk to you about our current mission. This time it's a bit special," said Kiko as he turned around, focusing his gaze on the newcomers.
Over the last month, Orion had become quite close with the mercenary leader, to the point where he had become a sort of confidant for Kiko, or at least someone with whom he could discuss specific matters related to Green Kamakiri's missions.
"What's so special about it, Dad? Is it another mission involving bikini contests?" asked Kat, who didn't expect her carefree father to bring up anything too serious.
However, in this case, the situation was truly special.
"No, unfortunately the bikini championship won't be held this year… Ahem! I mean, this time the situation is serious!" said Kiko, trying to look like a serious leader, even though he failed miserably.
"An old friend, the leader of the Black Panther mercenaries, called me to take part in this mission. According to him, all we have to do is be present during the escort of the prisoner, and we'll be able to earn a large amount of money easily!" said the mercenary chief with an enthusiastic smile.
Even though the situation seemed quite suspicious at first glance, Kiko showed no distrust whatsoever toward the sudden invitation from the leader of Black Panther to participate in this prisoner-escort mission.
Orion immediately thought that the situation was a bit irregular, but he didn't pay much attention to it, since even if this mission ended up being a trap set by Black Panther, he trusted in his own abilities to resolve any problem that might arise.
In reality, the leader of Black Panther, Mark, had no intention of harming Kiko—quite the opposite. Many years ago, when he had been a rookie entering the mercenary world for the first time, he had been on the verge of death during a mission in a civil war.
Back then, Mark had wandered through a desert for days until he finally encountered Kiko just as he was about to die of thirst and exhaustion. It had been the leader of Green Kamakiri who saved his life on that occasion, and since then they had been friends.
Still, due to the great difference in personalities and ambitions between the two men, the friendship they maintained was not a "normal" one, even though it was true that Mark felt a debt of gratitude toward Kiko. Despite being a ruthless and bloodthirsty man, the act of saving his life had been significant enough for him to treat Kiko with respect for the rest of his life.
Now that he had a lucrative opportunity at hand, he thought he could throw a bone to his old benefactor by giving him the chance to earn some extra money.
On this occasion, they had to transport the user of the Ope Ope no Mi to the Grand Line, where Doflamingo's subordinates would meet them.
Technically, Green Kamakiri didn't need to do anything more than show up at the designated place, and Kiko could demand a higher payment for the participation of two mercenary companies. In the dangerous Underworld, there were certain rules by which buyers and sellers abided, and it wasn't complete chaos.
It wasn't unusual for more than one organization to take part in "transport" jobs like this one, and etiquette dictated that an additional fee had to be paid for involving a second mercenary company during the transfer.
Obviously, this didn't mean one could simply add countless mercenary companies just to inflate the selling price, but adding a second company was a very common practice and was already accounted for when purchasing a product such as the user of the Ope Ope no Mi.
Even though Doflamingo was a powerful and influential figure in the Underworld, he couldn't simply ignore the rules, since that would affect his ability to conduct business in the future. Even among the most despicable criminals, there was a moral code they followed, which demonstrated the human tendency toward organization and structure.
This time, aside from the two mercenary companies from the West Blue, there would also be several corrupt marines involved, men who had connections to the Underworld and would help them cross the Calm Belt without issues in order to carry out the transaction.
In any case, Orion knew nothing about this, because even Kiko did not know many details about the current mission. Mark had only told him that they had to transport a prisoner, without providing further information, so Orion had no idea that he had finally stumbled upon the trail of the Ope Ope no Mi that the system had indicated when sending him to the West Blue to investigate.
Had Orion known the full details of the operation, he would not only have thought Kiko was naïve, but that Mark himself was as well. It was obvious that he didn't have much experience in the Underworld, since otherwise he wouldn't have agreed to go all the way to the Grand Line to deliver the user of the Ope Ope no Mi.
It could only be said that even Mark, one of the most important mercenary leaders in the West Blue, had been blinded by the enormous reward Doflamingo offered for the Ope Ope no Mi.
…
June 4, 1503, Age of the Sea Circle
A few days after departing from Kano, Orion and the others had met up with Black Panther and begun their journey toward the Grand Line. Before reaching the Calm Belt, a large marine vessel had appeared to assist them.
The members of the two mercenary companies boarded the marine ship, leaving part of their forces behind with their respective vessels. For this mission, they would be traveling on this ship, which was surprisingly under the command of a vice admiral from headquarters.
This serious and quiet man was one of Doflamingo's contacts within the marines, although from Orion's perspective things were not that simple. The moment Orion laid eyes on him, he knew this man was very powerful, perhaps even stronger than he was.
Furthermore, out of curiosity he activated his Prism Eyes to analyze this vice admiral named Vidar Lund, discovering that his morality was positive. Clearly, that did not align with his status as a corrupt marine official who helped Underworld criminals carry out their transactions.
For this reason, Orion remained on alert throughout the trip, sensing that things might become complicated this time.
Now, two weeks had passed since they had departed from Kano, and they had just left the Calm Belt to enter the dangerous waters of the New World. The place where the transaction with Doflamingo was to take place was not far from their current position, so they would likely arrive within a day or two at most.
On the deck of the large marine vessel, Orion stood with Gloriosa, Daz Bonez, and Kat, watching the horizon. In this dangerous sea, it wasn't unusual for abnormal weather phenomena to appear suddenly, so Orion stayed relatively alert to his surroundings.
He still didn't know that the prisoner they were transporting was the user of the Ope Ope no Mi, although he did know that the buyer they were dealing with this time was Doflamingo, which made his interest rise sharply.
During the past week, Orión had attempted to interrogate the Black Panther mercenaries with Gloriosa's help and her hypnosis abilities, but he hadn't been able to obtain any information, since they knew nothing.
Although the mercenary leader Mark was somewhat naïve in trusting the Underworld's rules so blindly and coming all the way here for the transaction, he had been cautious enough not to mention any details about the Ope Ope no Mi to his subordinates—or at least to the ones present now on the marine ship.
On the other hand, Orion had tried to hypnotize Mark, but surprisingly his mental fortitude was quite high, and Gloriosa hadn't been able to succeed. Orion could have extracted the information from the mercenary leader through more forceful means, but that would have inevitably created major chaos, since he couldn't do so without resorting to torture.
For that reason, Orion had simply decided to wait patiently until the moment of the transaction with Doflamingo arrived, and without a doubt he would be able to obtain the information he needed then.
Even so, Orion had tried to inspect the prisoner they were transporting, but unfortunately Vice Admiral Lund had been in charge of watching over him day and night, remaining seated with his arms crossed inside the cell where the prisoner was being held, not moving at all throughout the several days the journey had already lasted.
Orion did not want to come into conflict with this mysterious vice admiral for now, so he had only been able to examine the prisoner from within his Pocket Dimension.
Even so, with his medical knowledge, it was not difficult for him to see that the man's condition was terrible, and it seemed that his mind had completely collapsed, probably from being exposed to great and continuous stress. Observing the still visible marks on his body, Orion easily deduced that this man had endured severe torture until his mind was completely broken.
But then, why were they transporting him? An individual in this state would not survive much longer, so he could not be useful as a slave. Why were they transporting him like a valuable commodity, to the point that they had sent a high-ranking vice admiral of the marines to oversee the process?
A conjecture appeared in Orion's mind, and thinking about the system's hint about joining Green Kamakiri to find the whereabouts of the Ope Ope no Mi, Orion couldn't help but think that perhaps the moment he had been waiting for had finally arrived.
Even so, he would have to wait until the moment of the transaction to act, since that would probably be the best time to "steal" the prisoner who until now had been under strict surveillance. Besides, he still needed to confirm that this was indeed the user of the Ope Ope no Mi.
Looking toward the horizon, Orion thought about his upcoming actions and considered whether he should send Daz Bonez and Kat back to Pacific Kingdom using his Space Gate. After all, if a battle were to break out, only Gloriosa would be able to participate in a fight of this level.
Just as Orion was contemplating all these things, new markers silently appeared on the system map without him noticing, and among them were a few familiar names: Whitey Bay (30), Catarina Devon (19), Vergo (23)
...
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