Admiral Sengoku listened to Ortoren's compliment and let out a casual laugh before continuing,
"Before I returned from Holy Land, those five already spoke to me about it. The CP agencies performed far too poorly this time. After this incident, the Revolutionary Army may seize the momentum and rise in full force. Traditionally, our Marines focused on pirates. Matters involving the Revolutionary Army weren't really our concern. But now, CP Headquarters has been crippled. A large amount of classified intel is suspected to have leaked. The Commander-in-Chief has died. Even Farenkordel, the CP Director, will be removed. It's foreseeable that within the next few years, the CP agencies simply won't be capable of handling the Revolutionary Army…"
Ortoren raised a brow. "So those five intend for the Marines to share part of that responsibility?"
"Times aren't what they used to be," Sengoku said with a sigh. "When the Great Pirate Era began, the Marines were overwhelmed. To survive that tidal wave of chaos, we had no choice but to throw in everything we had. But now, while the number of pirates hasn't gone down much, the overall situation has stabilized. No one can deny that."
Ortoren nodded. Indeed, six years had passed since Sea Circle Calendar 1498, when the Great Pirate Era began. Pirates still roamed the seas in large numbers, but the world no longer shook like it did when the era first exploded.
The Four Seas were steadily improving. Pirates in the first half of the Grand Line were rampant, but Marine bases maintained sufficient control, preventing major threats.
And the New World was relatively stable. The Whitebeard Pirates, Beast Pirates, and Big Mom Pirates formed a three-way balance. Though they competed, none intended to start a massive war.
If a new upheaval were to come, Ortoren figured it would only happen once a new force emerged capable of challenging those three. Judging by the current state of things, that might be the Red-Haired Pirates.
Even so, the Marines had enough power to keep all this turmoil confined within the New World. In fact, Ortoren was confident that G-5 alone could handle it.
After all, the Red-Haired Pirates had wandered all over the New World, but not once had they dared step into G-5's territory.
Once Ortoren took charge of the New World as a Marine Admiral, Shanks would likely keep an even lower profile.
Overall, the Navy had steadily regained control over the seas.
"Precisely because of that," Sengoku continued, "the higher-ups believe we now have spare capacity. From here on out, we must take the Revolutionary Army more seriously."
"Understood," Ortoren replied with a nod.
Whether or not the original timeline had a phase like this, it made perfect sense now. After the Revolutionary Army set Holy Land on fire and inflicted a severe blow on CP, it was only natural that the higher-ups wanted the Marines to shoulder part of the responsibility.
"So I was thinking," Sengoku said, "if you still intend to follow through on the idea you mentioned earlier, why not bring it up directly with those five when you go to Holy Land? Say it's something you've been racking your brain over these past few days. Once you become an Admiral and take charge of the New World, you can use your position to connect with these royal families—explain the stakes clearly and encourage them to voluntarily form a force similar to what you described, aimed at stopping Revolutionary Army infiltration. I imagine those five wouldn't refuse. Once they know your plan, you'll also be free to act openly in this regard."
Ortoren thought it over and nodded. "Got it. If the topic comes up, I'll mention it to them."
But Sengoku quickly added, "Of course, there are pros and cons. If you were to do everything without notifying Holy Land, there would be risks—but the benefit is that you could move freely without giving explanations. But since you intend to discuss this with the Five Elders, you must show real results afterward. Otherwise, after enough time passes, they'll doubt you. They aren't fools."
"That's true…" Ortoren smacked his lips.
But his mind worked quickly, and in just a moment he already had an idea for how to produce "results" for the Five Elders.
For anyone else, achieving measurable progress against the Revolutionary Army would be difficult. But him? He was Dragon's close brother.
A little coordination between them—an occasional staged drill or mock battle—would easily do the trick.
As for the "results," all he needed to report was the "number of Revolutionary Army members eliminated." Of course Dragon would never betray him, but Ortoren didn't need actual betrayal. He only needed the numbers on paper.
And padding the numbers? He had corpses for that.
Those pirate slaves—when they die, they're dragged back to work anyway. Attrition is inevitable. Nothing lasts forever. So each year, gather up a batch of the worn-out bodies, touch them up, fire a few shots, add a couple cuts, and present them as "enemy casualties." Report it to Holy Land as the fruits of suppressing Revolutionary Army activity. Perfect.
Then, as Admiral Ortoren, leading an anti–Revolutionary Army coalition in the New World, he could claim to eliminate a set number of Revolutionary Army members every year—an impressive achievement to boast of.
"Good. As long as you're clear on that, I won't say more." Seeing that Ortoren seemed to have his own grasp of the situation, Admiral Sengoku dropped the topic of the Revolutionary Army and shifted the conversation. "In the incident at Mary Geoise this time, Fish-Man Island was involved as well, correct?"
"It's not accurate to say Fish-Man Island itself was involved—only its criminal underworld. Based on my intelligence, that guy Dragon teamed up with the island's gang boss, Fisher Tiger—the so-called big shot who commands the ten thousand fishmen of Fish-Man District—to launch the terrorist attack on Mary Geoise." Ortoren didn't hide anything and spoke directly.
Sengoku didn't dwell on the details. He continued, "This development has made Holy Land a bit uneasy. I'm not sure if you've received the related intel, but recently, Fish-Man Island…"
"Poseidon, right? I heard something from a friend," Ortoren replied immediately.
"Exactly. A new Poseidon may be born soon. Holy Land is very concerned about it. For over two centuries, every time a Poseidon appears, relations between Holy Land and Fish-Man Island become relatively harmonious. This time is no different. So those five hope to establish some stable, unofficial communication with Fish-Man Island to prevent any future conflict from spiraling out of control," Sengoku explained.
"I don't quite understand what you mean," Ortoren said after thinking it over.
"Simply put, Holy Land does not intend to hold Fish-Man Island accountable for this terrorist attack. Instead, they want to quickly establish an unofficial channel afterward. For now, the Five Elders have tentatively chosen the 'Shichibukai' system as that channel. And since forming the Shichibukai has always been closely tied to the Marines, the responsibility falls to us. Among all Marines, the one with the closest ties to the Shichibukai is you, Ortoren. And from what I see, you have a decent relationship with Fish-Man Island as well. Therefore, I'm assigning this task to you. Pick a suitable candidate from Fish-Man Island to serve as one of the Shichibukai," Sengoku instructed.
"Admiral, what do you mean 'close ties'? You can't just smear my reputation out of nowhere! Everyone knows that I, Ortoren, am upright, incorruptible, just and unyielding, an enemy of evil itself. Even those five praised my loyalty and valor, right? How could I possibly associate with those scoundrels of the high seas? I'm being framed!" Ortoren instinctively protested.
"Oh? So you're claiming you have no ties with them?" Sengoku shot back without hesitation. "Very well. Aside from Crocodile, as far as I know, you collected guarantee fees from the other four Shichibukai—three hundred billion berries each. If that's the case, bring the one trillion two hundred billion berries to Headquarters, and I'll assign someone else to handle this matter."
"Three hundred billion? I only took two hundred billion!" Ortoren blurted out immediately.
"Oh? And you still say you have nothing to do with the Shichibukai!?" Sengoku latched onto that slip instantly, his tone sharp.
"You set me up!?" Ortoren stared at Sengoku in disbelief.
But faced with Sengoku's expression—either hand over the money or take the assignment—Ortoren's face twitched. "Fine, fine… finding a fishman to be a Shichibukai, right? Small matter. I'll take it."
"This time, don't you dare accept any ridiculous 'guarantee fees' under the table. This is a political mission," Sengoku warned sternly.