Marine Headquarters · Marineford.
In Admiral Sengoku's office, he was reading through an application sent from G-5.
"Relieving Impel Down's pressure? Friendly cooperation between sister units?" Sengoku muttered as he scanned the document, momentarily stunned.
Why does Ortoren need so many pirates?
According to the request, the first batch demanded that Impel Down transfer at least 20,000 pirate prisoners to the G-5 base in the New World. After that, every year, G-5 would require at least 15,000 more, with the number fluctuating based on demand.
To be honest, in all his years as Admiral, Sengoku had seen plenty of outrageous requests from base commanders. But this—asking for pirate prisoners, and in such massive numbers? This was a first.
Still, judging from the current situation and the sheer number of pirates, the request wasn't impossible to fulfill. In fact, it wouldn't even be difficult. Day after day, countless pirates were captured and sent into Impel Down from every Marine base around the world.
With that thought, Sengoku began flipping through the pile of documents on his desk until he found one from Impel Down.
Two weeks earlier, Magellan, the Deputy Warden, had submitted a report requesting funds from Headquarters to expand the prison and increase the number of guards to handle what had become an overcrowding crisis.
The report even hinted at Magellan's "unspoken measures"—that in order to quickly thin out the number of pirate inmates, they would resort to less humane methods.
Reduced rations, harsher torture, worsening prison conditions.
Twenty years later, Impel Down would indeed become a living hell—prisoners starving, grotesque tortures, countless deaths. It was precisely these ruthless, systematic methods that prevented the prison from collapsing under the massive surge of pirate inmates.
For most pirates, unless they were of special importance, survival beyond two months was rare.
Thinking of this, Sengoku decided not to dwell on why that bastard Ortoren wanted so many pirates. He picked up his Den Den Mushi and called Magellan.
Magellan answered almost immediately. "Admiral Sengoku?"
"Magellan, I've read the documents you sent," Sengoku replied calmly.
"Excellent! So what's Headquarters' response? Has our request been approved?" Magellan asked eagerly. He was at his wit's end with the overcrowding at Impel Down.
"Ahem... With the financial strain of the Great Pirate Era, Headquarters' expenses are already stretched thin. Expanding Impel Down or adding more guard units... is not feasible," Sengoku said quietly.
Magellan froze for a moment, then asked, "So... you mean we'll have to resort to harsher methods to ease the pressure?"
"We can't leave Impel Down to shoulder everything alone," Sengoku replied. "I've already contacted the G-5 Marine Base in the New World. They've agreed to take some of your pirate prisoners. For now, prepare to transfer twenty-five thousand. Transport ships have already been dispatched to you. Hand all of them over once they arrive. After that, you won't need to worry about it."
"Twenty-five thousand!?" Magellan exclaimed. "That's nowhere near enough! Can't we double it? Fifty thousand would be closer to what we need! Admiral, Impel Down is averaging nearly two hundred new pirate inmates a day—that's six thousand a month at the bare minimum! Last month alone, we received almost ten thousand... We simply cannot contain them all anymore!"
"Is it really that severe?" Sengoku was taken aback.
He had always known the Great Pirate Era had far-reaching consequences, but he hadn't realized just how much pressure it was putting on Impel Down.
"It's no exaggeration," Magellan said bitterly. "This is the total from all over the world. And that's not even counting the time lost in transport. We've executed plenty ourselves just to keep up. Otherwise, we'd already be beyond breaking point."
"I see..." Sengoku hesitated, then said, "Hold on. I'll reach out to Vice Admiral Ortoren at G-5 and see if he's willing to take in more of your prisoners. I'll try to ease your burden as much as possible."
"Yes, yes, thank you!" Magellan said gratefully, relieved that the Admiral himself was giving the matter such attention.
What he didn't know was that, if not for Ortoren's request, Sengoku wouldn't have had the time to bother with Impel Down at all.
After ending the call with Magellan, Sengoku immediately tried calling Ortoren. But the line was busy. He couldn't get through.
Sengoku sighed in frustration and considered calling Momonga or Issho, only to realize he didn't even have their Den Den Mushi numbers.
Of course not. A Rear Admiral and a Commodore were far too low-ranked to be in direct contact with him.
Thinking it over, Sengoku instead dialed Gion. If he remembered correctly, she was stationed at G-5 as well.
This time, the line wasn't busy, and the call connected right away.
"Admiral?" Gion asked curiously when she picked up Sengoku's Den Den Mushi call.
"Is there a mission to assign?"
"No. I was trying to reach Ortoren, but his line isn't connecting. What's he doing?" Sengoku asked.
"Oh, he's on a call with Donquixote Doflamingo. I'll go get him," Gion replied calmly.
Admiral Sengoku: ???
A Marine Admiral can't reach his own subordinate because that subordinate is chatting with a pirate?
How is that reasonable?
...Oh, right. That subordinate is Ortoren. Never mind then.
A moment later, Sengoku heard a door open over the line, followed by Ortoren's voice.
"Yeah, yeah. You source the goods straight from the North Blue, then move them along your route to G-5. Leave the rest to me. I'll handle the Big Mom Pirates directly. We'll dump the cargo into Totto Land and split the profits—seventy for me, thirty for you!"
"Relax, I'll cover the costs with you. Do I look like the kind of guy who'd be unreasonable? Just deduct the cost of the first shipment from the 20 billion you still owe me for that Shichibukai guarantee fee."
"What? Already deducted? Impossible! Ah... oh, right, right! My memory's slipping. I completely forgot I had you handle that shipbuilding equipment purchase. Hahaha... If it's all used up, fine, just put it on my tab. When you come to G-5 later, I'll settle up face-to-face. Don't worry—we're in this for the long haul. You think I'd cheat you?"
"Don't worry, I won't forget. As long as you deal with those pests in Mary Geoise, I'll guarantee your spot as a Shichibukai. Our G-5 and your Donquixote Family—we're long-term partners, sharing in each other's rise and fall. Rest easy!"
On his end of the line, Sengoku listened in silence, deep in thought.
That Ortoren... he's one of ours, right? A Marine, yes?
So why are all his "business partners" pirates? How does that make sense?
And what's this "Shichibukai guarantee fee"? Two hundred billion? Why haven't I seen a single belly of it?
Just as Sengoku was mulling over this mess, Ortoren's voice cut in.
"Admiral? You were looking for me? Sorry, I was busy expanding G-5 and promoting justice!" he declared with righteous conviction.
Sengoku's face twitched. "Expanding G-5 by partnering with Doflamingo? Promoting justice alongside pirates?"
"Not just him. The Big Mom Pirates too," Ortoren said without a hint of shame.
He was so unapologetic that Sengoku didn't even know how to respond. After a pause, he said, "Listen... Rosinante has already infiltrated the Donquixote Family. Since you've established ties with Doflamingo, keep an eye on him. Make sure he doesn't end up in danger."
"Got it, got it. Don't worry. With me around, not only will Rosinante stay safe, but even if he's exposed, Doflamingo will have to give me face and call him a good brother," Ortoren answered boldly.
"By the way, I reviewed G-5's request about Impel Down. What do you need so many pirates for?" Sengoku finally asked.
"It's a long story. You told me to build ships, right? So I started working on it. But shipbuilding takes a massive workforce. Just the labor costs would be over 200 billion Belly a year. Where am I supposed to get that money? So I thought it over—why not use pirates as... ahem, labor. Keeping them in Impel Down just wastes food. Better to send them here as expendables. They can work off their crimes while building warships for the Marines—serving justice!" Ortoren explained without hesitation.
"Are you... actually a genius!?" Sengoku muttered in disbelief.
Pirates could be used like this?
Damn it, in the past eight hundred years, how many trillions have we lost by not doing this!?
"Twenty-five thousand won't cut it! Fifty thousand—I'll have Impel Down send fifty thousand over immediately!" Sengoku said, suddenly excited.
"Fifty thousand?" Ortoren exclaimed, thrilled. "Perfect! The more the better. Shipbuilding is just one part. I'll have them mining too—I hear that's profitable. As long as we've got an endless stream of pirates sacrificing themselves for justice, the Marines will reach financial freedom sooner or later! Admiral, when that happens, won't you be able to do whatever you want? What's Mary Geoise then!?"
"Ahem. Watch your words. How can you slander your superiors like that? We're not doing this for ourselves—it's for justice. For the whole Marine organization. Understood?" Sengoku corrected sternly.
"Right, right! You're the one with true vision! It's all for justice, for the Marines—not a shred of selfishness!!" Ortoren immediately thumped his chest in solemn assurance.
...
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