The return trip was uneventful, smooth sailing all the way, and Ortoren soon arrived back at his command center.
The moment he disembarked, he spotted his secretary, Hina, already waiting for him.
"Welcome back, Admiral," Hina greeted him with a smile.
"Oh, Hina. It's been a while. How have things been lately?" Ortoren replied casually.
"There's a huge backlog of work. I'm almost overwhelmed," Hina said with mock resentment. "If you hadn't come back soon, I was about to call you on a Den Den Mushi to urge you home."
"Ahahaha…" Ortoren laughed a little awkwardly. "Is it really piled up that badly?"
"Of course. There are many matters that need your final decision," Hina answered. As she spoke, she moved to Ortoren's side without giving him a moment to breathe, pulled a document from the folder she was holding, and handed it over. "For example, this one. It's a report from Vice Admiral Cancer, applying for funding to establish a new Marine base."
Ortoren took the document and skimmed it while walking toward the office building, a hint of confusion on his face.
"Weren't these matters already handed over to Tesoro?"
"Mr. Tesoro only has the authority to verify, not to approve," Hina explained. "According to Marine regulations, only you, Admiral, have the authority to approve the allocation of these military funds. Alternatively, they could submit it to headquarters for approval by another Admiral or the Fleet Admiral. But since you're the Admiral governing the New World, no one would dare bypass you on something like this."
"I see…" Ortoren nodded, then raised his hand slightly.
Hina immediately understood and passed him a pen.
Ortoren didn't read the document carefully. He flipped straight to the last two pages, checked the signatures, and saw that Tesoro had already signed off on it, confirming the verification was complete.
Without any further hesitation, he signed his own name on the final page and handed the document back to Hina.
Hina didn't care whether Ortoren had read it in detail. She put it away and immediately passed him another document.
"This one was submitted by Rear Admiral Vergo from Dressrosa," she said as she handed it over. "It includes the plan for establishing the Marine Police force and the corresponding funding requirements. Mr. Tesoro has already verified it as well."
This time, Ortoren read it more carefully.
The Donquixote Family was indeed efficient in these matters. Although Doflamingo had been absent, having gone on a mission with Ortoren, Vergo had still ensured that the plan was implemented smoothly.
At present, twelve kingdoms in the New World had signed agreements to participate in the Marine Police plan. Seven of them were member nations under the World Government, while the rest were unaffiliated.
But as always, Ortoren didn't particularly care whether they were officially aligned with the World Government or not. As long as they were within the New World and within the reach of his forces, he treated them all the same.
Because of this, in recent years, several New World member nations had begun to wonder why they were still paying Heavenly Tribute to Mary Geoise every year.
In the past, that tribute was paid in exchange for the World Government's protection and the Marines' defense, to avoid being ravaged by pirates.
But now, Admiral Benn was clearly a man with a strong sense of justice. Even if you weren't a member nation, as long as you were willing to cooperate with him and support his policies in the New World, he would still place you under his protection.
Which meant that even without paying Heavenly Tribute to Mary Geoise, as long as you paid protection fees to Admiral Ortoren, you could still live quite comfortably in the New World.
Over the past two years, some of the member nations have quietly begun wondering whether they should cut off the Heavenly Tribute altogether. Stop renewing it.
So far, however, no one has dared to take that first step. They all understand that doing so would be tantamount to slapping the World Government in the face. And if the World Government were to issue some kind of order to Admiral Benn because of it, wouldn't that put him in an awkward position? If even the Admiral were put in a difficult spot, how could they possibly come out unscathed?
Fortunately, over these years, thanks to Ortoren's various favorable policies and the overall stability within his jurisdiction, every kingdom has been developing in a positive direction. Their finances are far healthier than before, and for now, they can still afford to pay the Heavenly Tribute.
The proposal Vergo sent this time outlined the overall plan for the Marine Police force. Twelve kingdoms were expected to contribute ten thousand men each, bringing the total to one hundred and twenty thousand.
At the same time, the Donquixote Family would begin recruiting manpower in the North Blue, with an initial plan to bring fifty thousand people to the New World to join the Marine Police force.
With that, the first phase of the plan would be complete. By this time next year, Vergo estimated that the newly formed Marine Police force would reach a strength of one hundred and seventy thousand.
All of them would be new recruits.
To ensure the quality of personnel, Vergo also proposed cooperating with the New World Navy by recruiting sailors who wished to step back from frontline duty and transfer into the Marine Police.
Most of these soldiers were experienced veterans. However, due to age, lingering injuries, or post-war psychological issues, they were no longer suitable for high-intensity frontline service.
Moving them into a second-line role within the Marine Police, where they could train newcomers and help raise overall combat effectiveness, would be an excellent use of their experience.
Vergo hoped to recruit around thirty thousand such personnel. That meant his target was for the Marine Police force to reach two hundred thousand troops by this time next year.
After finishing the proposal, Ortoren looked up at Hina with some doubt.
"Hina, can our New World Navy really provide those thirty thousand people? Do we have that much leeway?"
"If we rely only on volunteers who are willing to step back from frontline service, as Mr. Vergo suggested, it probably won't be enough," Hina replied. "But we can make some adjustments. We can draw from the 'new recruits' stationed across various kingdoms and transfer some combat-capable reserves who are not formally part of the Navy into the Marine Police. That would cover the numbers. Once that's done, those royal families will likely start replenishing their so-called 'new recruits' on their own due to security concerns. We won't even need to push them."
"Then let's do it that way. You've got a sharp head on your shoulders," Ortoren laughed, signing his name on the document.
Hina blushed slightly and said, "I actually heard this idea not long ago when Mr. Tokikake and Mr. Isshō were discussing the matter."
"Has Isshō arrived here already?" Ortoren asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yes. He arrived half a month ago," Hina replied.
She took the signed document from Ortoren, placed it into her folder, and then handed him an internal bulletin.
"This is a compilation of the New World Navy's internal reports from while you were away. It records some of the major events that have occurred in the New World. You might want to take a look."
Ortoren hadn't paid much attention to New World affairs recently, so he took the bulletin and began reading.
The first item detailed recent movements of the Whitebeard Pirates.
Kaidou, for reasons unknown, had apparently gone on another drunken rampage. He went alone into Whitebeard's territory to stir up trouble and ended up running straight into the Moby Dick. A fierce battle broke out between the two sides.
The result was the destruction of Franky Island within Whitebeard's territory. Kaidou was defeated and fled.
Whitebeard, unwilling to let it go, led his fleet in pursuit, fighting all the way into Kaidou's territory. During the chase, he killed one of the Beasts Pirates' senior officers, Emperor Crocodile Nippurus. Only then did the conflict finally come to an end, with the Whitebeard Pirates looting the area before returning to their own domain.
"See? Having a reliable boss really matters," Ortoren said with a wry smile. "Look at that Nippurus. What a pointless death. Kaidou caused the trouble, and in the end, he paid for it with his life."
"Exactly," Hina replied with a soft laugh.
Ortoren continued reading. The second item reported unrest in the giant kingdom of Elbaph. Some kind of internal turmoil had broken out, and in the end, a super-giant named San Juan Wolf was expelled from Elbaph.
The Big Mom Pirates were currently searching for San Juan Wolf. The two sides had a brief encounter in the Stela Sea of the New World, but negotiations apparently fell through. San Juan Wolf ended up brutally beating Charlotte Daifuku, Katakuri's younger brother.
Katakuri was now searching everywhere for San Juan Wolf, determined to take revenge.
"That guy's really that arrogant?" Ortoren said in surprise, then snorted. "Daring to lay a hand on my second brother's little brother? That's the same as slapping me in the face. Tell our people to keep an eye out. If they spot that big bastard, make sure he gets a proper beating."
Hina hesitated slightly before asking, "Admiral, what level of attention should we give this? How far are we taking this?"
"Mobilize our intelligence division, CP, and our contacts in the underworld," Ortoren said. "Someone that big can't just vanish. As long as he hasn't completely cut himself off from society, we'll find him sooner or later."
"Understood. We'll dig him out as quickly as possible," Hina replied, nodding.
At the same time, she couldn't help but feel a trace of pity for Sanjuan Wolf. Was Elbaph really that isolated? Of all the people he could have provoked, why did he have to provoke the Admiral?
In the New World, the last person who had been this arrogant was Red-Haired Shanks.
And now, the grass on his grave was already two feet tall.