Ortolan: What Do Those Scum in Mary Geoise Take Us Marines For!?

End of the year 1499 in the Marine Era.

Marine Headquarters, Marineford: The warship Ortolan slowly anchored here.

He disembarked with some confusion, wondering why headquarters had suddenly summoned him back. Had something happened to him at G-5? That seemed unlikely; recruitment hadn't reached the point where headquarters was wary of him.

He had originally planned to meet with Doflamingo in the New World, but now it seems that plan will have to be postponed.

Instead of heading straight to the Fortress of Justice to find Admiral Sengoku, after disembarking, Ortolan went to the Officer Training Camp to meet with Teacher Zephyr and find out what was going on.

Speaking of which, it had been a long time since Ortolan had been to this Officer Training Camp. It was still the same low building, and upon entering, he inexplicably felt a sense of familiarity.

When he arrived at the classroom door, he saw Teacher Zephyr standing on the podium giving a lecture.

A large number of Marines officers sat below, but compared to the first session, their rank insignia were not as dazzling. Most of them were Lieutenant Commander or Commander, and there wasn't even a Commodore among them.

Ortolan had also heard that the Officer Training Camp seemed to have undergone some modifications. It seemed that nowadays, graduating from here would at most result in a promotion of one rank, without any mention of being at least Commodore or Rear Admiral.

The selection criteria have been relaxed, and are not as strict as in the previous two sessions.

While observing, Ortolan spotted a white-haired kid whose age seemed out of place in the classroom, as he looked too young and only wore Lieutenant's epaulets. Although the kid was unfamiliar, Ortolan recognized him as Smoker.

His deskmate, who looked like a little girl with pink hair and a bright, lively spirit, could only be Hina.

"You joined the Marines so early?" Ortolan, somewhat puzzled.

Smoker is one thing, he looks about fifteen or sixteen, I could barely fool him. But this Hina, she looks like she's only eleven or twelve, and she's already sitting here taking Teacher Zephyr's class? Could she be the child of some general?

Ortolan was right. Hina was the daughter of a certain Marine Admiral who had recently been killed in action. She had previously lived in the Marineford residential area and, after her father's sacrifice, vowed to join the Marines to avenge him.

The recruitment office initially refused Tina because she was too young, but the girl was stubborn and refused to leave. In the end, after Teacher Zephyr found out about this, he personally intervened and recruited Hina into the Marines, intending to let her "learn" from him for a few years until she was old enough to graduate.

Ortolan did not disturb Teacher Zephyr's class; he waited in the hallway.

About an hour later, Teacher Zephyr finished his lesson, announced the end of class, and walked out of the classroom.

He wasn't surprised to see Ortolan, and said with a smile, "I just saw you loitering outside the door."

"Hehe." Ortolan chuckled, then asked Guan Yu, "Teacher, how have you been lately?"

"It's the same old story, what else can we do? We're not living a happy life, but we're not going to die either." Zephyr waved his hand and left with Ortolan, chatting as they walked.

"The doctor said that your condition requires conservative treatment. It would be best to quit smoking cigars and other such things to help control the disease..." Ortolan couldn't help but remind him.

"This is the only hobby I've ever had. If I were to give it up, what would be the point of life?" Teacher Zephyr said nonchalantly.

As he said this, he casually took a cigar out of his pocket and put it in his mouth.

However, after rummaging through his pockets for a moment, he said somewhat helplessly, "Don't you have any common sense? Can't you see I didn't bring a lighter?"

Ortolan laughed, a spark of electricity flashing from his fingertips as he touched Teacher Zephyr's cigar and lit it.

"How's Lucci doing lately?" Ortolan asked casually.

"Everything's fine, and your family situation is fine too, there's no problem," Teacher Zephyr nodded and said.

And so, the two chatted as they entered his office. Ortolan was very outgoing; as soon as he entered the office, he took out the best tea leaves from Teacher Zephyr's cabinet and brewed a pot of them with relish.

Teacher Zephyr was furious, but it was no use.

"How's it going with G-5?" Teacher Zephyr asked casually as he sat on the sofa.

"It's still underway. We've just gotten on track, but we don't have enough manpower and warships. I'm trying to figure something out, so you don't need to worry about me," Ortolan said with a smile.

"Looks like you're quite capable, kid. You haven't encountered any problems you can't solve," Teacher Zephyr said with a reassuring smile.

"It's all thanks to your excellent teaching, teacher," Ortolan said, seizing the opportunity to flatter him.

Then he asked, "But I'm still busy on my end, and the department suddenly summoned me. What's going on? Has the plan changed or what?"

"It wasn't just you they summoned; several elite Vice Admiral were summoned as well. This is a big problem." When Teacher Zephyr spoke of this, his eyes darkened considerably, and his face turned grim.

Ortolan breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that it wasn't his G-5 that had been launched, but the headquarters that had!

"Looks like there's going to be a big meeting? What is it about? And why are we, the expatriates, going to participate?" Ortolan asked.

"Not long ago, Captain Mary Geoise of Steel Bone reported on the work of the Second Division. As a result Five Elders issued a document stating that, considering the current chaos on the high seas and the fact that our Marines has a poor grasp of the situation, in order to enhance the combat power of the World Government and quell the Great Pirate Era as soon as possible, they are preparing to recruit a group of powerful Great Pirate to serve the World Government, and we Marines are required to cooperate in implementing this!" Teacher Zephyr looked like he was gritting his teeth when he mentioned this.

"What!?" Ortolan feigned surprise.

In that instant, he realized that the Shichibukai organization was about to be born!

Seeing the astonished expression on Ortolan's face, Teacher Zephyr continued in a gloomy tone, "This plan, called the Seven Warlords of the Sea Plan,' aims to recruit seven Great Pirate. To be honest, if the World Government wants to do it itself, there's nothing we can do. But Mary Geoise insists on making us cooperate with this plan. What does that mean? Do they completely disregard the feelings of us Marines?"

"That's outrageous!" Ortolan slammed his hand on the table. "Absolutely outrageous!"

Then, he stood up and cursed, "Those bastards on Mary Geoise, what do they take Marines for? What did Admiral Shinobu and his men say? What's Admiral Sengoku's attitude? Why don't we form a group and head to Mary Geoise to demand an explanation from those five?!"

Seeing how excited Ortolan was, Teacher Zephyr paused for a moment, then quickly grabbed his arm and pressed him down heavily onto the sofa. "Why are you so excited, kid?"

"I just feel that our Marines is fighting and dying on the front lines, shedding blood and sacrificing their lives, for what? Isn't it just for those noble lords on Mary Geoise to live a life of ease? While the people on the front lines are risking their lives, they're just causing trouble behind the scenes, right? Is there no justice? Is there no law?" Ortolan said indignantly.

Just then, the door to Zephyr Admiral Sengoku glared at Ortolan before entering and saying, "I haven't even stepped inside yet, and I already hear someone talking to me, right? Ortolan, do you have some kind of problem with this old man?"

"Yes!" Ortolan grumbled, "That's incredibly unreasonable! We agreed on 5,000 veteran soldiers, but you gave me half of them—rookies. I won't hold that against you then, but what's this Shichibukai? Are you really going to make us brothers with pirates?"

Sengoku was a little embarrassed by the first half of Ortolan's words, but as Admiral, he had to be thick-skinned. He quickly composed himself and glared at Ortolan: "You've been calling pirates brothers all day long, huh? Now you're putting on an act for me, aren't you?"

Ortolan paused for a moment, then immediately retorted, "But you were the one who instructed me to maintain a certain good relationship with them. Now you're going back on your word?"

"You brat, dare to glare at me again?!" The Admiral Sengoku slammed his fist on the table, cursing, "We let you out here to be a base commander, and now you don't respect our entire unit, huh?"

At the same time, Teacher Zephyr waved his hand and said, "Alright, alright, there are no outsiders here. Who are you two putting on this show for? Hurry up and sit down."

Ortolan smiled, then sat down on the sofa and poured a cup of tea for the Admiral Sengoku.

The Admiral Sengoku, holding his teacup, said with satisfaction, "For the sake of this cup of tea, I'll let you off this time, kid."

Ortolan didn't respond to that, but instead said, "Admiral, this so-called Shichibukai is truly an insult to the dignity of our Marines!"

Upon hearing this, the Admiral Sengoku sighed with some bitterness, "Who can argue with that?"