Ortoren was genuinely intrigued by the technology.
If he could get his hands on it, developing the Calm Belt would become far more practical. Instead of randomly modifying resource-rich islands here and there, he could convert them and cluster them in one region for concentrated development. That would save a lot of effort.
And what about the G-5 Marine base? Couldn't the same be done there?
G-5 was the frontline base of the Marines, the very tip of their spear in the New World. Wherever the front line shifted, G-5 had to move with it.
In recent years, there hadn't been much change, so the base stayed put. But if things shifted again, G-5 would have to relocate and rebuild from scratch.
That was a massive waste of time and manpower. But if Moria's technology could turn G-5 into a battleship, then he could simply take the base wherever it was needed—fight as he moved. Perfect.
And in the future, the same technology could be applied to Tesoro's Golden City. That place had serious potential. Originally, it was built on two colossal island turtles. Modifying it into a mobile island warship would be ideal.
With that thought, Ortoren's savage expression eased, replaced by a warm smile. He pulled Moria up from the ground and said cheerfully, "See? Why didn't you say you had something this valuable earlier? If you had, you wouldn't have had to suffer like this."
Moria stared at how fast Ortoren's face had changed and nearly blurted out a complaint. But in the end, he didn't dare. Instead, he muttered resentfully, "I panicked and forgot... Vice Admiral Benn, could this at least cover the Shichibukai guarantee fee?"
"No." Ortoren shook his head without hesitation. "At most, I'll value it at twenty billion Belly. You haven't developed this technology yet, so no one knows if it's real, whether it works, or how effective it is. Counting it at twenty billion is already me giving you face. Don't you agree?"
Moria opened his mouth to argue, but Ortoren's reasoning was airtight.
"If I sink resources into it and it turns out useless, I'll take an even bigger loss. So, twenty billion at most. That leaves you owing me a hundred and eighty billion Belly. What do you say?" Ortoren brushed the dust off Moria's coat with a friendly smile.
"I..." Moria hesitated for a moment, then clenched his teeth. "I still have forty billion Belly saved in the Dark World's exchange house. That's all I've got left. Could I owe you the rest for now? Don't worry, the moment I have the money, I'll pay you back."
"Hahahaha, of course! We're all part of the World Government's big family—I believe in your word." Ortoren laughed heartily, slapping him on the shoulder.
Moria finally let out a breath of relief. But before he could fully relax, Ortoren added, "That said, I've got an even better cooperation plan. Interested?"
"Huh?" Moria was completely baffled. How could they be trying to kill each other one second, and talking about cooperation the next?
"That Kage Kage no Mi of yours can control corpses, right?" Ortoren asked.
Though confused, Moria nodded. "Yes, it does. I was planning to develop that ability further. My goal is to build a zombie army to fight Kaidou. For that, I've even arranged a partnership with a well-known doctor named Hogubak. He's fascinated by the study of life and death and agreed to work with me..."
"Kaidou can wait," Ortoren cut him off with a wave of his hand. "I've got industries that need a massive supply of cheap labor. If you're willing to cooperate, I'll erase the debt you owe me. And if our partnership goes well, we could become real allies. I'm a fair man—if the profits turn out good, I'll even cut you a share."
What do you mean, 'Kaidou can wait'?
Moria wanted to complain, but the image of Kaidou flashed in his mind, and the old fear crept back. He'd always talked big about revenge but never taken action, simply because he had no real way forward.
Now, with Ortoren giving him this excuse, he finally had a step down. After a brief silence, Moria decided to take it.
What's more, Ortoren was the kind of man with a two-faced smile. On the surface, he seemed polite, talking about cooperation and acting like he was open to your opinion.
But who could say what would happen if you refused him? Would he flip on you again?
That was exactly why Moria didn't dare turn him down.
"What kind of cooperation? I'm very interested," Moria said quickly, steadying his voice.
"Mining!" Ortoren leaned in as if sharing a secret. "Flevance in the North Blue… there's a high chance that place will face major problems soon, disrupting the mining of Amber Lead. You know about Amber Lead, don't you?"
Amber Lead was infamous. Moria had heard of it and immediately nodded.
"That stuff is poisonous to mine. Flevance will almost certainly be destroyed by Amber Lead Syndrome after generations of mining. But Amber Lead is a precious metal, essential for advanced military industries. Its demand won't go down—if anything, it'll only grow as the era descends into chaos. So, Donquixote Doflamingo and I are planning to take over the Amber Lead trade after Flevance falls. Of course, we'll need a huge labor force for the mining…" Ortoren explained.
He had no intention of exposing the Calm Belt development plan to Moria. Sengoku had ordered strict secrecy, and Ortoren wasn't about to trust Moria that far.
But trust could be built step by step. The Amber Lead venture would be a test run. If it went smoothly, their ties could deepen. And later, when the time was right, he might bring Moria into the Calm Belt project as well.
"Since mining Amber Lead causes poisoning… you mean to have my zombies do it?" Moria asked blankly.
What kind of insane business mind was this? So his Devil Fruit's greatest potential wasn't combat, but productivity?
For a moment, Moria even thought that if he'd met Ortoren earlier, maybe he wouldn't have become a pirate at all—he might have turned into a capitalist, a merchant king.
"Exactly," Ortoren said earnestly. "I'll provide a large supply of cheap pirate labor—imported from Impel Down. Send them to the North Blue for mining. But they can't work nonstop, so here's the idea: during the day, they rest while their shadow-driven corpses mine. At night, after they've rested, they work alongside the corpses. That way, efficiency doubles. Same number of workers, twice the profit!"
Moria gaped, speechless.
Ortoren went on, "Once this operation is running, with Amber Lead's output and price, the debt you owe me won't even matter. In fact, with the dividends, you might become one of the richest men on the seas. Then, taking revenge on Kaidou will be easy. Put a bounty of hundreds of billions—or even a trillion—on his head. There'll be no shortage of people eager to go after him. Even if they can't kill him, they'll wear him down."
Moria didn't think Ortoren's numbers were exaggerated. Even if he didn't know the exact value of Amber Lead, he knew Flevance had become the wealthiest kingdom in the North Blue solely because of it.
That was the wealth of an entire nation—the richest in its sea.
And if that kind of wealth was concentrated in private hands? That was beyond belief.
Moria snapped out of his daze. He looked at Ortoren, wanting to ask whether the Marines were even allowed to do things like this.
But after remembering Ortoren's smugness earlier and how he had blatantly extorted a Shichibukai, he realized the question was meaningless. Whether the Marines allowed it or not, Ortoren clearly didn't care.
While Moria was still processing these thoughts, Ortoren suddenly threw an arm around his shoulder with a laugh. "Come on, come on! As they say, no fight, no friendship. This isn't something we can settle in a few minutes. Let's head back to the restaurant, eat, and talk it over properly."
Moria: ??? The restaurant you wrecked to pieces—how's it even supposed to be open?