Do You Expect Me to Sail a Pirate Ship and Rob Marine Warships?
After delivering Katakuri to the G-5 base commander's office, Ortolan returned to rest.
When the Momonga and that guy Yixiao came to see Ortolan, they found Ortolan lying on the sofa, singing a little tune he'd heard somewhere!
"Back when my team had just started out~" Ortolan was singing enthusiastically when Momonga and Yixiao pushed the door open and came in.
He quickly sat up, somewhat embarrassed and annoyed, and said, "Why didn't you say hello before coming in?"
"I knocked on the door for ages, but you didn't hear me. You were having so much fun singing here that you probably ignored us," the Momonga said matter-of-factly.
Before Ortolan could even offer a few excuses, the Momonga asked with great curiosity, "How did it go? Was that batch of garbage disposed of?"
"What garbage!? How can you describe those superior warships that survived battles with our Marine warship like that!?" Ortolan said with a look of exasperation, "Watch your words, and don't describe our products like that again!"
"Hey, did that batch of top-quality goods sell?" The Momonga was too lazy to argue with Ortolan about the wording and gave a perfunctory reply.
Ortolan shrugged and said, "Our Bane has connections in both the legitimate and Big Mom Pirates will come and take over with us."
While saying this, Ortolan appeared to be grinning, but in reality, he was carefully observing the Momonga and Issho's state.
This time, he openly summoned Katakuri to G-5 without any attempt to hide it from anyone, which was actually a test of Momonga and Issho.
Let's see if there's any room for negotiation in their sense of justice. Take, for example, the Momonga and Issho. They are the kind of super-righteous Marines who can't tolerate even the slightest imperfection, are upright and unyielding, and would rather die than get involved with pirates.
On the surface, Ortolan would agree to never do such things again, but secretly, he would have no choice but to reluctantly transfer the flying Momonga and Yixiao out of G-5.
However, before actually probing in this way, Ortolan had already conducted some verbal probing and conceptual indoctrination.
Those tests made him realize that neither Momonga nor Issho were actually the kind of super-righteous Marines people who couldn't tolerate even the slightest imperfection.
Take Momonga for example. He's a veteran Marines, several years more senior than Ortolan. Although he's only Rear Admiral and hasn't yet been exposed to the deeper levels of darkness, it's impossible for him to be completely oblivious to any rumors or stains. Yet Momonga has mentioned these things, showing that he has his own standards and understands a lot.
In the original story, Momonga later became Elite Vice Admiral in the Marines and served in that position for many years. He participated in things like the Buster Call and even experienced many darker missions.
If he can accept such a dark side of the World Government to a certain extent, how could he find it unacceptable because of Ortolan's borderline grotesque behavior?
As for Yixiao, Ortolan was actually less certain about him, mainly because his knowledge and contact with him were relatively short, and Yixiao was still very young, not the Admiral he had in mind.
Considering his past record of 'closing his eyes' because he had seen too much darkness, Ortolan was actually worried that Xiao wouldn't be able to accept this situation.
After Ortolan finished speaking, the Momonga's face immediately lit up with a happy smile. "That's fine then. Once the weapons arrive, we won't have to worry about not being able to get new recruits to handle live-fire operations. As long as there are enough weapons and ammunition, we can train them into skilled veterans even if we have to feed them! Veterans on the front lines are completely different from novices, and their chances of survival will be much higher."
Clearly, there's no need to worry about the Momonga for now. He's willing to 'collude' with Ortolan to some extent, and as long as he doesn't cross his bottom line on justice, there shouldn't be any major problems.
Ortolan had no intention of crossing his bottom line. In fact, Ortolan believed that bottom lines were flexible and could be developed step by step. Selling weapons might be your bottom line today, but who knows, maybe in a couple of years, taking bribes would be your bottom line?
After receiving Ortolan's answer, Yixiao breathed a sigh of relief, but he still couldn't help but caution him, "Ortolan, you've been a bit too reckless this time. If headquarters finds out you let pirates into our base to buy and sell warships, it could seriously affect your future. In the future, be more discreet about doing things like this, or we could handle it for you..."
Upon hearing Yixiao's words, Ortolan felt relieved. It seemed that Yixiao was not a stubborn person, and even knew how to share the burdens of his superior. Ah, truly amazing!
Now he felt relieved. He could continue to engage in these kinds of illegal activities step by step, and see if he could gradually lower the bottom line of these two people, eventually making them core members of his little gang... cough, team.
When it comes to violations and wrongdoing, what needs to be done must be done, and the banner of justice must be raised. We must never let this banner fall. If this banner falls, then people's hearts will truly be scattered, and the team will no longer be able to be led.
Therefore, the methods, techniques, and final results are very important. We need to make people like Momonga and Ichisho truly see that although they are working together to cause trouble, they have indeed strengthened the G-5 team and the righteous forces of the Marines!
"Don't worry, I was just reporting to Admiral Sengoku Katakuri. The Admiral has already given me a lot of authority. He said that as long as I don't betray the Marines or commit serious crimes, if I can get G-5 up and running under these circumstances, he can take responsibility for these minor violations!" Ortolan said confidently.
Upon hearing that none of the Admiral Sengoku objected to Ortolan's actions, Yixiao felt completely relieved, realizing that there was indeed no problem.
After this exchange, Ortolan, Momonga Squirrel, and Yixiao have actually become a small group with relatively good rapport.
It was no longer a simple friendship, or a superior-subordinate relationship between Marines officers.
Instead, it is... perhaps not yet apparent, but it is very likely to gradually evolve into the original group of the pro -Marines faction!
And this G-5 is where they started!
Ortolan has decided to treat G-5 as his base. If he can form a deep bond with Momonga in the future, and if he leaves G-5 to return to headquarters in a few years, he will strongly recommend Momonga to succeed him as the base commander of G-5!
Develop this place as the birthplace of the 'New Marines'. If they really fall out with the government of the mortal realm in the future, he can raise his arm and bring people here to start anew!
"So next, we need to make a sustainable long-term plan for our G-5..." Ortolan clapped his hands, diverting the attention of the Momonga and Yixiao, and continued, "First of all, because of its special nature, our G-5 is different from a conventional Marines, so in terms of logistics and supplies, we must try our best to be self-sufficient. I think we should put aside weapons, ammunition and other military supplies for now, and we need to have the ability to build our own Marines warships!"
"Huh?" The Momonga paused for a moment, then said, "Even headquarters doesn't allow people to have that kind of qualification..."
The Marines's warships are basically ordered by the Marines based on its requirements. The government of the world Water Seven then place the order, and the navy will build the warships according to the order and deliver them to the Marines.
So theoretically speaking, the Marines does not actually have the capability to build warships... but to be precise, it has the relevant technology. After all, the Marines has a lot of logistics and maintenance personnel who have been repairing warships for so many years, they must have mastered the technology. It's just that they are not allowed to build warships on their own.
The reason why the Momonga was surprised was because the headquarters did not allow the construction of warships on its own. Was it appropriate for G-5 to do this?
"When I was talking to Admiral Sengoku on the Admiral Sengoku Den Den Mushi just now, he said something quite interesting. He said that if you, Ortolan, could build 50,000 elite troops and 50 warships for G-5 without the support of headquarters, then as long as I don't betray the Marines or commit any unforgivable crimes, he's willing to take responsibility for the details... What do you think he meant by that?" Ortolan asked with a meaningful smile.
Yi Xiao, being a man of the night, wasn't as shrewd as some others, so his political awareness was relatively low, leaving him somewhat bewildered.
On the contrary, the Momonga, after pondering for a moment, looked at Ortolan with a surprised and suspicious gaze and said, "You mean, the Admiral Sengoku also hinted that we should do these things?"
"Admiral Sengoku has always hoped that the Marines could have greater autonomy. Previous plans for the Marine Headquarters and the establishment of Science Unit have made efforts in this regard, but the World Government has changed all the parts involving autonomy, resulting in no real progress. I think Admiral Sengoku has also realized that relying on such formal means is unlikely. And our Marines is about to face the wave of the Great Pirate Era. I'm afraid the Admiral also wants to make some such efforts in other areas... And that's why we've arrived at G-5. And that's also why G-5 is a Marine trash can, always obeying orders but not decrees, and greatly separated from headquarters. Therefore, things that headquarters cannot do, we can do very easily!" Ortolan said, stroking his chin.
Are you kidding me? Sengoku said he didn't need support from headquarters, and asked Ortolan to build fifty warships on his own. How am I supposed to do that if headquarters doesn't provide support? Can I just conjure them out of thin air? What other way is there besides building them myself? The implication is pretty clear, isn't it?
We can't expect him, Ortolan, to sail his G-5 pirate ship and rob other people's ships, can we?