Achino Volcano Island.
A temporary camp had erected a three-story building here. It wasn't grand in the slightest. The exterior walls hadn't even been painted, leaving bare bricks and packed earth exposed.
Yet on the top floor of this small building, inside a rough, gray cement room, there sat a collection of luxurious furnishings completely out of place with the surroundings.
An office desk with refined artistic flair, a sofa upholstered in lavish fur, a liquor cabinet with an antique feel, and even several classical paintings hanging directly on the unfinished walls.
The combination made the space feel strangely mismatched, yet it carried an oddly distinctive beauty.
At this moment, seated at the head of the sofa surrounding the coffee table, Ortoren leaned back with a cigarette clenched between his teeth, calmly surveying everyone in the room.
To his left, in order, sat Doflamingo and Moria.
To his right, in order, sat Mihawk and Slekemind.
That's right. Ortoren was currently chatting with the Shichibukai.
Doflamingo and Moria were Ortoren's old subordinates. Neither of them showed the slightest restraint, both looking completely at ease.
Doflamingo, for instance, was lazily swirling a glass of red wine in his hand, his posture exaggerated to the point that he looked one step away from squatting on the sofa. A faintly wicked smile hung at the corner of his mouth, and behind his orange sunglasses, his eyes constantly flicked toward Slekemind across from him.
Moria, meanwhile, showed no courtesy at all as he shoveled snacks from the table straight into his mouth. An inexplicable grin sat on his face as well, his gaze occasionally sweeping over Mihawk and Slekemind.
Compared to those two, Mihawk leaned back against the sofa, one leg crossed over the other. The black blade Yoru that never left his side rested against the sofa, ready to be drawn at a moment's notice.
His expression was calm and composed. When Doflamingo's and Moria's gazes passed over him, he met them without the slightest ripple of emotion.
As for Slekemind, he was still as handsome as ever, though time had added a hint of weariness to his features. He was no longer as sharp and overbearing as he once was, giving him a more seasoned and mature air.
A stress ball sat in his hand. As he squeezed, it deformed into a strange shape, only to quickly spring back once he relaxed his grip.
"Hah…"
Ortoren slowly exhaled a mouthful of smoke, further clouding the already hazy air in the room. He casually tapped the ash into the ashtray, then smiled faintly as he looked at Mihawk.
"It's been a long time, Mihawk. These days, the seas call you the world's number one swordsman. Quite impressive."
Mihawk folded his arms across his chest, his expression unchanged. He shrugged lightly.
"In the New World, I doubt there's anyone more impressive than you. Why focus on me?"
"Ahahahaha… You're a lot colder than you used to be. I thought we were friends," Ortoren laughed.
Mihawk's expression shifted subtly, a hint of complexity flashing across his eyes as he looked at Ortoren.
"Friends…? I never imagined you saw me from that angle," he murmured softly.
Ortoren chuckled, took another drag from his cigarette, and didn't pursue the topic. Instead, he turned his gaze toward Slekemind.
"This should be our second time meeting, right?"
Unlike Mihawk's aloofness, Slekemind was far more enthusiastic. He smiled as he spoke.
"You're not mistaken, Admiral. I've always admired you, but I never had a suitable chance to pay you a visit before."
Ortoren nodded, then added,
"About the Red-Haired Pirates incident last time. You have my thanks."
"Not at all. I should be the one thanking you for your support afterward," Slekemind replied smoothly. "That Red-Haired guy brought it on himself. Who in the New World doesn't know your status and position? Some backwater pirate who popped out of nowhere thought he could provoke you? Ending up like that was only natural."
As he spoke, Mihawk frowned slightly, a trace of displeasure crossing his face, though he made no move to interrupt.
"Let's not bring up the past," Ortoren said with a casual wave of his hand, smiling. "That said, I always keep my word. I still remember that promise. By the way, do you have any dealings with Doffy?"
Doflamingo let out his trademark laugh.
"Fufufufufu… Admiral, I've worked quite a bit with Mr. Slekemind over the past two years. Of course we're in contact."
Slekemind nodded as well.
"That's right. Thanks to your support, I've done quite a lot of business with Doflamingo-sama these past two years. We've grown fairly close."
"Good," Ortoren nodded, then continued, "Doflamingo and Moria are my good friends. You should keep in touch more often. We're all on the same side here, no need to be distant. If something good comes up, don't forget about each other."
At those words, Moria's expression softened into a friendly smile as he nodded toward Slekemind.
Slekemind, meanwhile, was genuinely delighted.
Ortoren had used the phrase "our own people." What did that mean? It meant he had finally earned this big shot's recognition.
From here on out, he could move from the outer circle toward the inner one. And it was obvious that, given his identity, the Admiral was deliberately having Doflamingo and Moria guide him, helping him understand how to integrate into Ortoren's circle as a pirate, just like Doflamingo and the others had.
At this point, Ortoren himself had begun giving Slekemind some serious thought.
To be honest, at the very beginning, he hadn't taken this guy seriously at all. Slekemind wasn't a pirate Ortoren remembered from his original impressions of the seas. In other words, under normal circumstances, he likely wouldn't have lasted long in the New World before disappearing for one reason or another.
Either the Navy would have dealt with him, another pirate would have killed him, he would have retired on his own, or he might have died in some sudden climate disaster. In any case, he never appeared in the original story.
So back then, Ortoren didn't pay Slekemind much mind. He treated him as nothing more than a lucky small fry. After squeezing two hundred billion Belly out of him as a Shichibukai guarantee fee, he more or less forgot about him.
But later on, Slekemind's performance genuinely surprised him.
This guy was no ordinary figure. His Paramecia-type Masu Masu no Mi was indeed formidable. Relying on his position as a Shichibukai and his own strength, he repeatedly provoked the Whitebeard Pirates and still managed to come out stronger. That alone was proof of his ability.
Then came the destruction of the Red-Haired Pirates, which brought Slekemind back into Ortoren's field of vision once more.
From that point on, Ortoren stopped ignoring him. He began paying attention, even letting him taste some of the benefits from the outer circle.
Up to this stage, it had all been Ortoren testing Slekemind, gauging what kind of mindset and ambitions this man truly had.
And the results were clear. This kid knew what he was doing.
Back then, Ortoren had found him somewhat unruly and arrogant. But after all these years, he had clearly matured. He knew how to flatter, how to speak smoothly, and how to handle himself.
That pirate's defiant edge was still there, of course. Otherwise, he never would have reached his current position. But he knew when to restrain himself in Ortoren's presence, and that was enough.
In a world defined by the sea, no matter how prosperous the Navy became in the future, pirates would never truly disappear. One could even say the Navy itself wouldn't allow that to happen. Otherwise, how would the Navy justify its own existence?
The New World was even more so.
The Whitebeard affair was merely the beginning. Just as Charlotte Linlin had anticipated, once Whitebeard was dealt with, Ortoren would move on to the Beasts Pirates and the Big Mom Pirates next. Only after bringing the entire New World under his control would his work be considered complete.
Even then, he still wouldn't be able to stop pirates from sprouting endlessly across the New World like weeds.
Pirates could never be completely eradicated.
Ortoren understood this better than anyone. That was precisely why he needed to cultivate a controllable figure, someone loyal to him, to become the pirate overlord of the New World, even a new king among pirates.
A Sword of Damocles hanging over the heads of every nation in the New World.
There were many things the Navy couldn't do conveniently, but pirates had far fewer restraints.
That new pirate king couldn't be Charlotte Linlin, because she wasn't suitable. It couldn't be Kaidou either, because Kaidou was uncontrollable.
Doflamingo was actually well-suited for dirty work like this, but since he had already started washing himself clean and stepping ashore, Ortoren had no intention of pushing him back into the mud.
Besides, Doflamingo's strength was genuinely lacking. He wasn't powerful enough to suppress the pirate world.
Moria was even less suitable.
And so, Slekemind became Ortoren's current top choice.
Slekemind himself also seemed more than happy to maintain his pirate identity. After all, while Doflamingo and the others were busy washing themselves clean, Slekemind had done the opposite after the Hachinosu incident, aggressively expanding his pirate nature and influence.
That alone reflected his mindset.
On top of that, he knew how to read the situation. He might not be as crafty or smooth as Doflamingo, but he was far from stupid. For Ortoren, that was enough.
Most importantly…
He was strong enough.
Among the four Shichibukai present, Slekemind's strength clearly surpassed both Moria and Doflamingo by a wide margin.
In fact, he might even be capable of competing with someone like Mihawk, the world's greatest swordsman.
Otherwise, there was no way he could have held onto his position as the leader of the fourth-largest pirate force in the New World's crushing environment.
And there was no way he could have remained locked in a long-standing stalemate with the Whitebeard Pirates, preventing Newgate from ever twisting his head off.