After chatting briefly with a few acquaintances, Ortoren suddenly darkened his expression and shoved his way into the crowd, clearly looking for trouble.
The other marines were taken aback by the sight, but none of them dared provoke the Admiral. They quickly stepped aside, only to see Ortoren grab Vice Admiral Garp, who had been hunched over and hiding among the marines while repeatedly shouting, "Standing above the heavens!"
"You old bastard, are you done yet?" Ortoren snarled, slinging an arm around Garp's shoulder and glaring at him.
Garp wasn't the least bit afraid. After being dragged out, he laughed so hard that tears nearly came out, patting Ortoren on the chest as he spoke.
"Not bad, not bad. Truly worthy of a man who's reached the very end of strength and crossed to the other shore."
Ortoren was thoroughly infuriated by this thick-skinned old man, yet there was nothing he could do about it. He couldn't exactly beat Garp to death.
With the excitement over, and seeing the Admiral and Vice Admiral mixed together, the marines who had gathered to watch quickly dispersed and went back to their own duties.
Just like that, Ortoren and Garp walked side by side toward the Fortress of Justice at Marine Headquarters.
As they walked, Garp suddenly spoke.
"You've really done quite a lot in the New World…"
"The New World isn't like the other seas," Ortoren replied with a relaxed smile. "It's unpredictable and dangerous. Without some real capital, how could anyone keep things under control?"
Ever since he had launched that live broadcast, publicly rallying over a hundred thousand elite New World marines and wiping out the Whitebeard Pirates, there was no hiding many things anymore.
Garp let out a soft sigh. After taking a few more steps, he spoke again.
"You shouldn't have come back, Ortoren…"
"Hm?" Ortoren laughed. "What's that supposed to mean? Is headquarters planning to assassinate me?"
"Headquarters doesn't think that way," Garp said slowly, giving Ortoren a meaningful look. "But the people in Mary Geoise might. You were too strong in the New World. Strong enough to scare some people."
"They're afraid you'll slip out of control and become a disaster."
Ortoren puffed out his chest and spoke righteously.
"How is that possible? Who doesn't know that I, Ortoren, am famous for my loyalty? Back then, even the Five Elders praised me for being loyal, righteous, and brave. How could I possibly become a threat?"
"Is there any point saying that to me?" Garp shot him a sidelong glance.
You're loyal, yet you secretly worked with my rebel son on who knows how many schemes.
You're loyal, yet you inexplicably stationed hundreds of thousands of troops in the New World.
You're loyal, yet you privately set up factories in the New World and built massive numbers of warships.
If Fleet Admiral Sengoku were here, he'd probably be complaining alongside Garp right now.
You're loyal, yet you set Mary Geoise on fire.
You're loyal, yet you framed and killed the former Commander-in-Chief.
Ortoren listened to this, rubbed the bridge of his nose a little awkwardly, then asked,
"So how far has this gone?"
"The Five Elders have told Sengoku to find a way to transfer you out of the New World," Garp said frankly, without hiding anything. "Ideally, they want you to swap positions with Sakazuki. Sakazuki takes charge of the New World, and you sit at headquarters. After a few years, once your influence in the New World fades a bit, they'll consider what to do next…"
Before Ortoren could respond, Garp continued,
"Honestly, I don't think this is completely unacceptable. You—"
"I can't accept it," Ortoren shook his head. "I can't leave the New World. It's like a fish leaving the water."
"Huh?" Garp froze, about to say something.
Ortoren chuckled softly.
"Don't misunderstand. What I mean is, I'm the water."
"The New World is the fish?" Garp frowned.
"Exactly," Ortoren laughed. "If the New World lost me, that would be a real problem."
With that, he said no more and stepped into the Fortress of Justice.
Garp watched his back for a moment, then shook his head.
"I really don't know whether bringing you into the Navy back then was the right choice…"
Back then, Garp had simply been impressed by Ortoren's dazzling talent. He wanted to secure a future Admiral-level powerhouse for the Navy.
Who could have imagined that this kid would be so restless, growing to this point and making even the Five Elders uneasy?
Garp didn't chase after him. He had already said everything that needed to be said.
After standing in front of the Fortress of Justice for a while, Garp suddenly chuckled.
"Ah, whatever. In the end, the ones with a headache aren't me. It's Mary Geoise."
Muttering to himself, Garp turned around and left with an easy stride.
...
On the other side, Ortoren quickly took the elevator to the top floor. He stopped in front of Fleet Admiral Sengoku's office and knocked.
Sengoku's voice soon came from inside.
Ortoren didn't hesitate and pushed the door open.
Sengoku was wiping his glasses with a lens cloth. He didn't actually have serious vision problems. He wore glasses mostly because, when he was young, people praised him as a brilliant strategist. To distinguish himself from rough types like Garp, he had quietly started wearing them.
"You're back?" Sengoku glanced at Ortoren, then returned his attention to the glasses. "Sit wherever you like."
Ortoren didn't sit. Coming here felt like coming home. He was completely at ease.
Smiling, he said,
"I still have a pair of gold-rimmed glasses I treasured back in the day. If you like them, I'll bring them next time and give them to you, Fleet Admiral."
Sengoku was so annoyed he almost laughed. He shot Ortoren a glare but didn't reply.
Unfazed, Ortoren strolled over to the desk, casually picked up a blank sheet of paper, and waved it back and forth in front of Sengoku's sheep like he was teasing a small animal.
"Don't tell me you came back just to mess with my sheep again," Sengoku said helplessly, finally putting his glasses on and tapping the desk.
"Fleet Admiral, if you don't eat soon, you'll get old," Ortoren said with a look of deep regret. "And then you won't be tasty anymore."
"I'll eat you instead," Sengoku snapped, pulling the sheep into his arms to stop Ortoren from teasing it further. Then he said,
"With your connections, you've already heard the news, haven't you?"
Sengoku never doubted Ortoren's reach in Mary Geoise. Without that kind of influence, he couldn't have made things this big in the New World.
Ortoren turned around, dropped onto the sofa, and calmly poured himself a cup of tea.
"Of course I have. Those five want to transfer me out of the New World, right?"
"And you still came back?" Sengoku picked up his own teacup and took a sip.
He had contacted Ortoren earlier, telling him to return to headquarters for commendations and such. But after that, he never once urged him to hurry back. That was why Ortoren had been able to drag things out from late September all the way to the end of the year.
Sengoku's stance was already clear.
"If I didn't come back, wouldn't that put you in a difficult spot?" Ortoren replied with a smile, dropping two sugar cubes into his black tea and stirring gently. "And wouldn't that make me look disloyal?"
Hearing this, Sengoku felt a brief warmth in his chest, though his tone remained dissatisfied.
"I'm not so fragile that a bit of pressure would crush me. If you'd just given me any halfway reasonable excuse, I'd have grounds to brush the Five Elders off…"
After a short pause, before Ortoren could speak, Sengoku continued,
"Right now, those five both like you and fear you. Their feelings are complicated. But precisely because you're strong enough, they don't dare push you too hard. They're afraid of turning nothing into something serious."
The logic behind Sengoku's words was simple.
When the Five Elders believe you might rebel against the World Government, and that you possess the power to inflict devastating damage, even destruction…
Then you'd better truly have that power.
If you don't, they'll crush you without hesitation. But if you do, they'll sit down and talk to you calmly and politely.
That was exactly the current situation. The Five Elders didn't even want to face Ortoren directly, afraid that things might turn ugly and everyone would lose face.
So they started with Sengoku instead, hoping he could mediate. Whether it succeeded or failed, at least it wouldn't immediately tear the veneer of civility apart.
...
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