Two weeks later, the New World, Admiral headquarters in Ortoren.
Inside Ortoren's office, Gion was busy showing off.
"Admiral candidate, you get it? That means if anything happens to Sakazuki or Kuzan, I can step up and become an Admiral right away!" She shook the flower tassels on her shoulder, looking at Ortoren with a faintly provocative grin.
She had just returned from Marine Headquarters today, officially granted the status of Admiral candidate.
Ortoren looked at her, amused, and said, "Amazing, amazing. You're really something."
"What kind of reaction is that!?" Gion shot him a glare. But she didn't continue flaunting her new title. Instead, she added, "There's something else. I've become a Devil Fruit user."
"Huh?!" Ortoren was genuinely surprised this time. "Why didn't you tell me earlier?"
"I wanted to come back and surprise you," Gion said with a cheerful smile.
"You ate that Mythical Zoan fruit?" Ortoren asked at once.
Gion shook her head and smiled. "If I wanted to be a Zoan-type user, I would've eaten one long ago. Why wait until now? Didn't I tell you before? I wanted a Devil Fruit that could complement my swordsmanship. The reason I stayed at headquarters for so long was because Tsuru-san helped me find a suitable ability. Shipping it over took some time…"
As she spoke, Gion took a Devil Fruit out of her small bag. It was the same one Ortoren had given her before, the Mythical Zoan, Pink Dragon… Dr. Vegapunk's artificial Devil Fruit.
"Here, give it back to you. Save it for someone who needs it more. You're an Admiral now. I heard Yamakaji and the others have already come over to your side, right? You can use it as a reward for them in the future." Gion placed the Devil Fruit on the desk.
In truth, she felt a bit reluctant. After all, it was a gift from Ortoren. But she touched the Konpira hanging at her waist, the hilt adorned with a tassel. One gift was enough. A Devil Fruit like this was better used to boost overall strength. Leaving it with her would just mean letting it collect dust.
Ortoren didn't stand on ceremony. He put the fruit away, then asked with clear curiosity, "So what ability did you eat?"
Gion's lips curved into a confident smile. She raised her hand and flicked it through the air. A burst of wind pressure bloomed at her fingertips, invisible and intangible, yet frighteningly sharp. With a light swipe, it sliced through the corner of Ortoren's desk, cleanly severing it.
"Paramecia, Kama Kama no Mi!" Gion said, raising an eyebrow.
Ortoren stared at the cut-off corner of the desk, his face twitching. "Hey, hey! That's a brand-new desk! Genuine Dragon Pool wood! Do you have any idea how much that cost? Six million Belly!!!"
"Huh?!" Gion froze, embarrassment spreading across her face. "I didn't mean to…"
Ortoren wasn't really angry. Seeing how apologetic she looked, he shook his head. "Forget it. It was looted from Mary Geoise anyway…"
That was right. The desk was part of the goods Dragon had fenced. After passing through Ortoren's hands, he'd moved anything useful into his own office, since the place had been far too bare.
Not just this desk. Some of the office decorations that looked understated, and even the bookshelf behind him, were all rare treasures. Private collections of the great nobles of Mary Geoise.
Blatant embezzlement and corruption, no doubt. But then again, when it comes to an Admiral, can that really be called greed?
After all, only with a high-quality and comfortable working environment can an Admiral devote themselves more fully, handle more critical matters, and contribute to justice, right?
Setting the matter of the table aside, Ortoren did have some recollection of Gion's ability. In the original story, this power had belonged to some insignificant nobody from the East Blue. How it had ended up in Gion's hands ahead of time was anyone's guess.
That small-time nobody had only developed the ability in a very crude way, never showing anything impressive. But Gion was a great swordsman to begin with. Paired with this ability, the result would be terrifying.
"This ability is extremely rare. You could call it a special Paramecia. It can't elementalize, but it's close enough to be considered half a Logia," Gion said happily. "I can already summon violent winds and turn them into razor-sharp slashes. In short, I haven't developed it much yet, but it's already improved my strength quite a bit."
The winds she could summon right now weren't particularly powerful. They lacked the overwhelming, world-shaking presence typical of a Logia, and could only linger around her body. But that was simply because the ability hadn't been fully developed yet.
Gion was convinced that if she could one day push this power to awakening, it would be utterly terrifying.
As the two of them were talking, there was a knock on the office door. Ortoren answered, and a beautiful Navy Lieutenant Commander with long pink hair and a slightly youthful air stepped inside.
This was none other than Ortoren's current secretary, Navy Lieutenant Commander Hina.
When Hina saw Gion, her eyes lit up like she'd just met her idol. She was about to strike up a conversation when she suddenly remembered why she was here. This was official business.
"Admiral!" Hina snapped to attention and saluted. "Commander Isshō from G-5 has sent over a briefing. Please take a look."
Ortoren nodded, took the report, and said casually, "What's happened this time…"
After reading a few lines, his brows drew together slightly. "Bone… Smoker's subordinate, right? I really hadn't paid much attention to him before…"
Over the past two weeks, G-5 had already conducted an investigation and made certain judgments based on the direction indicated by the Vivre Card.
To be honest, the disappearance of a Navy Lieutenant Commander wasn't something that needed to reach Ortoren at all. He was a Marine Admiral. If he had to handle every trivial matter like this personally, he'd never get a moment of rest.
But this situation was indeed special. After some investigation, Isshō discovered that Lieutenant Commander Bone was very likely being held on Hachinosu.
Normally, even at this point, there would have been no need to trouble Ortoren. But Isshō wasn't Smoker. He was fully aware of Ortoren's broader plans and knew that Ortoren had already been preparing to make a move against Hachinosu.
Now, a perfect excuse had been laid right on the table. So once the investigation was complete, Isshō reported the matter directly to Ortoren.
"Heh…" After reading the briefing, Ortoren let out a feral laugh. "I was already planning to move on Hachinosu once you got back. I was still thinking about what excuse to use, and now that bastard Ochoku just handed me one himself. He's got some real nerve, touching my men and locking them up on Hachinosu. Is he trying to provoke me?"
After venting his anger at Ochoku, Ortoren turned to Hina. "Make the arrangements. Order Tokikake to return and hold the fort here. Then prepare the ships. I'm going to G-5."
Among Ortoren's many Vice Admirals, Tokikake was one of the few who hadn't been assigned base commander duties. Part of it was because he had no interest in that sort of work. After all, he'd picked up some bad habits from Garp and now preferred acting as a tough, unrestrained enforcer.
More importantly, Ortoren needed someone capable of keeping things under control while he was away. Once Ortoren moved out, Tokikake would stay behind to stabilize the rear and prevent any major problems.
In practice, Tokikake now served as Ortoren's direct adjutant, replacing the role Momonga used to fill.
In the past, whenever Ortoren left, Momonga would step in to carry out his duties.
Hina immediately saluted. "Yes! For the sake of justice!"
Without even taking the time to say a word to her idol, Gion, she turned and left the office to pass along the orders.
Ortoren gathered the documents on his desk, tossed the briefing into the shredder, and stood up. Gion naturally reached over to the coat rack, took down Ortoren's Admiral's cloak, and draped it over his shoulders with practiced ease.
"Didn't we agree before to act together with Kaidou?" she asked. "Do we need to inform them?"
"That was before. Plans change," Ortoren replied without hesitation. "Back then, I was just the base commander of G-5. Now I'm an Admiral overseeing the New World. There's no need to move together with Kaidou anymore. It would only make things harder to deal with afterward. Still, I'll give them a heads-up. Have them get ready and seal off the waters behind Hachinosu so Ochoku doesn't catch wind of this and run."
In the past, he'd been G-5's mad dog, acting without restraint. G-5 operated outside normal regulations anyway. It was an exceptionally special Marine unit, so cooperating with Kaidou to hunt down Ochoku hadn't been an issue.
But now he was a Marine Admiral. Making his first major move after taking office by teaming up with Kaidou to deal with a great pirate would be embarrassing, and the aftermath would be troublesome to handle. There was no need for that.
Besides, Ochoku and Silver Axe were nothing more than two cornered dogs trapped on Hachinosu. Ortoren didn't consider them worthy opponents at all.
They might be strong, but Ortoren was a Marine Admiral, and there was no shortage of capable people under his command.
With powerhouses like Gion and Isshō, plus himself sitting at the center as an Admiral, how could they possibly fail to take down two defeated dogs?
...
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