New World, Mosliku Island.
This was just an ordinary island in the New World, home to a small village of about eighteen hundred people.
But today, disaster struck. The village was smashed to ruins. The lucky ones fled into the mountains, while the unlucky were caught in the chaos and died on the spot.
Amid the wreckage, Shichibukai "Crusher Fist" Slekemind lay coughing blood, sprawled in the rubble. Not far away, Katakuri, Cracker, Oven, and Daifuku stood watching.
"Can't get up now, can he?" Oven said thoughtfully, stroking his chin.
Cracker clutched his arm as Daifuku wrapped a bandage around it—it looked like a fracture. Hearing Oven, Cracker muttered, "That guy's no joke. If it had just been me, I wouldn't have stood a chance."
"Good thing big brother Katakuri was here..." Daifuku said in his muffled voice.
In his view, without Katakuri, the three of them might not have been able to take down Crusher Fist Slekemind. No wonder this guy had the guts to attack the Whitebeard Pirates and repeatedly provoke the Beast Pirates. Were all the new pirates this vicious now?
As they spoke, Slekemind struggled upright, leaning against the rubble. His eyes burned with fury as he shouted, "Katakuri! I've got no grudge with the Big Mom Pirates. I've never plundered Totto Land, never even set foot there! I often raid the Whitebeard Pirates and the Beast Pirates—we should have common ground! Why the hell did you ambush me!?"
Katakuri's expression was cold as ever. To outsiders, he always was. Warmth was reserved for family.
Without a hint of emotion, he replied, "In this business, reputation matters. You don't pay your debts, you pay the price."
Slekemind froze.
Debt!? Since when the hell did I owe anyone money!? I plunder for a living—what would I need a loan for!?
But before he could argue, Katakuri casually slammed a massive mochi right onto his face, knocking him out cold.
"Alright, pack it up. I'll take him to G-5 and hand him over to Ortoren. You three head back first." Katakuri walked over, hefted the unconscious Slekemind under his arm, and left.
...
Two weeks later, at the G-5 Marines base port, Issho shook his head at the sight of the battered Slekemind being dragged off a ship, bound in Seastone chains.
"Seriously, was this worth it? If you'd just come back with me that day and settled your debt, none of this would've happened."
Slekemind glared at him in outrage. "Issho, you bastard! I thought you were an upright Marine. Who would've guessed you're colluding with pirates!? I completely misjudged you!!!"
Issho scratched his head, baffled. "I know you're a pirate, so why would I ever think you're my colleague? Do you even have the right to say that?"
After tossing out that jab, Issho turned to Katakuri. "Mr. Katakuri, our Base Commander will be here any moment..."
Right then, Ortoren came rushing out from the base, waving from afar with a grin.
"Katakuri~"
As Ortoren drew near, Katakuri rolled his eyes. "On the Den Den Mushi, you kept calling me Second Brother. Now that it's done, I'm back to just Katakuri, huh?"
"Hahaha..." Ortoren laughed shamelessly, then added, "Thanks for the help, Second Brother."
"No big deal." Katakuri waved it off calmly.
After a pause, he said, "Since this is a Marine base, I won't linger. Mama might be holding a tea party soon. Would you be free?"
"Free? Of course!" Ortoren answered without hesitation.
Normally, as a Marine, he had no business attending a pirate's tea party. It would tarnish his image if word got out. But Ortoren valued profit above reputation.
Big Mom's tea parties drew powerful figures from every walk of life, a prime chance to expand connections. Many from the underworld—who rarely showed themselves in public—would also attend.
Now that Ortoren was preparing to establish his own ventures in the New World, he needed channels to build ties with all kinds of people. This tea party was the perfect opportunity.
Katakuri had only mentioned it offhand, fully expecting Ortoren to turn him down. To his surprise, the man actually agreed. A faint smile touched Katakuri's eyes.
"Mama will be so happy when she hears this."
Ortoren exchanged a few polite remarks on the matter, then, without sparing Slekemind a glance, pulled Katakuri aside.
"Don't be in such a rush to leave. Actually, we at G-5 have a major business deal we want to discuss with you."
"Another batch of pirate ships seized?" Katakuri asked casually.
"Those are trivial matters." Ortoren waved dismissively before speaking in a serious tone. "We at G-5 have drawn up a commercial expansion plan. We've established close cooperation with the Donquixote Family in the North Blue, giving us a steady supply of all sorts of goods from there. My plan is to sell them directly to Totto Land."
He began explaining the details of the cooperation.
To be honest, Katakuri could only make sense of part of it. Fighting and killing came naturally to him, but finance was not his domain. Worse yet, Ortoren loved to show off, tossing around all kinds of flashy jargon he'd picked up from Tesoro, leaving Katakuri's head spinning.
Before Ortoren could finish describing his grand business vision, Katakuri quickly cut him off.
"Stop, stop, stop. I can understand the words coming out of your mouth, but I have no clue what you're talking about. When you attend the tea party on Whole Cake Island, explain it directly to Mama. She has financial experts by her side who'll understand you perfectly..."
Being interrupted mid-speech left Ortoren feeling unsatisfied, but seeing that Katakuri truly didn't understand, he dropped the subject. With a smile, he nodded.
"Fine, I'll bring it up then. It'll take some time for the goods from the North Blue to arrive anyway. The timing works out perfectly."
Katakuri, ever decisive, exchanged a few more words with him, then left the G-5 Marine Base without even touching his tea.
Watching the Sweet Donut sail off into the distance, Ortoren let out a sigh.
"Ah, my second brother really does look out for his brothers..."
Slekemind, standing nearby, froze in disbelief.
That's your brother!?
You're a prince of Totto Land, and you joined the Marines? Are you insane!?
Before he could process the shock, Ortoren turned to him with a cold grin.
"So you're the one who became a Shichibukai but refuses to pay the guarantee fee, huh?"
"What guarantee fee? I've never heard of such a thing!" Slekemind shouted furiously.
"I say it exists, so it exists! Anyone who wants to hold the position of Shichibukai must pay G-5 a 20 billion Belly guarantee fee. If the money doesn't come through, I've got plenty of ways to kill you."
Ortoren stepped forward, grabbed him by the hair, and yanked his head back.
"Your Shichibukai trial card has expired. Give me a straight answer—are you renewing or not?"
Issho, smiling broadly at his side, added, "If you renew, have your men send the 20 billion right away. We'll escort you out of G-5 and let you continue your Shichibukai reign in the New World. But if you don't..."
"Then we'll reluctantly collect payment for your trial card," Ortoren finished, wearing an expression that screamed, this pains me too.
"What trial card payment!?" Slekemind demanded angrily.
"How can you be so dense? Your head, worth 360 million Belly, of course." Issho looked at him with exasperation.
Being extorted like this made Slekemind tremble with rage. He struggled, roaring, "I, Slekemind, would rather die here today! I'll throw myself into the sea and drown—"
"Good, good. Looks like you don't want to renew." Ortoren cut him off at once. "Issho, string him up on the dock as an example..."
"I'm a Shichibukai! You Marines have no right—" Slekemind's voice cracked with panic.
Before he could say another word, Ortoren slapped him hard across the face.
"So what if you're a Shichibukai? I'm a Vice Admiral—do you think that makes me proud? Let me tell you something. This is G-5. Not even the gods can touch us here. I hang you today, and tomorrow I file a report saying you were ambushed by the Big Mom Pirates. A Shichibukai who died a heroic death. You think Marine Headquarters will bother asking if it's true?"
As Issho approached with a grim smile, readying a noose for his neck, Slekemind's bravado crumbled.
"Twenty billion! Twenty billion is fine!!! Just give me a Den Den Mushi—I'll have it delivered right now!!!"
The moment Ortoren heard the word "money," his expression flipped. Smiling warmly, he called out,
"Quickly, Issho, tell Momonga and the others to brew some tea. Don't you see? One of our World Government allies, Shichibukai Crusher Fist Slekemind himself, has graced us with a personal visit. Bring out the finest tea!"