Ortolan: Sengoku, Why Don't You Dare Fight the Five Elders?
After Ortolan returned to headquarters for a few days, the generals who had been recalled from various regions gradually returned to their posts.
Today is the day of the high-level Marines meeting, and at this moment, Ortolan is heading towards Fortress of Justice.
Just as I entered the fortress, I saw Gion and Kuzan standing there chatting.
Gion was also recalled, as was Kuzan. At this time, Kuzan had already been given the rank of Vice Admiral.
Not long after Ortolan left Headquarters, Kuzan was promoted to Headquarters Vice Admiral and then sent to G-8 Marine Base in the First Half of Grand Line as its commander.
According to the procedure, it should be the same as with Ortolan, where they go down to train for a few years to gain grassroots work experience, and then be recalled to headquarters.
During this period, the two did not meet, but they would occasionally contact each other via Den Den Mushi).
"What are you doing at the door, Minato?" Ortolan asked with a smile as he stepped forward to greet him.
"We just arrived at headquarters today. I heard you came back a few days ago? Have you heard any news or rumors? Why did you suddenly summon us back? Is something big happening?" Kuzan asked curiously.
"Our Marines has been utterly humiliated by Mary Geoise," Ortolan casually remarked. "They say they're going to establish a brand new organization called the Shichibukai. Mary Geoise intends to select seven powerful and influential pirates from the pirate forces on the high seas and recruit them, wanting our Marine Headquarters to cooperate. Moreover, I heard from Admiral Sengoku that this so-called Shichibukai is an organization on par with our headquarters. Recruiting the Shichibukai will grant them the privileges of a Vice Admiral within the World Government system. Heh, isn't that outrageous?"
Ortolan wasn't lying; this was indeed the treatment level of the Shichibukai. In Japan, when the Shichibukai came to the Marine Headquarters for a meeting, they were addressed as "Sir" in the broadcast announcements.
This is something that only lieutenant Vice Admiral at headquarters are truly worthy of.
"What!?" Kuzan looked on in astonishment, as if he had heard something unbelievable.
Gion's expression also darkened as she said, "If we do this, what face will our Marines have left to call ourselves righteous?"
"Yes, that's why I said that Mary Geoise has humiliated us both, both in terms of face and reputation. Those noble lords really don't care about the feelings of us in the Marines at all," Ortolan said with a sneer.
After a pause, Ortolan added self-deprecatingly, "But this isn't the first time we've been in this situation. We get used to it after a while. Even the Fleet Admiral and the Admiral can't do anything about it, so what can we do?"
Kuzan and Gion had gloomy expressions and didn't say anything. The three of them entered the Fortress of Justice in such a tense atmosphere.
It wasn't just a few of them who were unhappy. As soon as they entered the large conference room, seeing the displeased expressions on the faces of the generals sitting there, they knew just how deeply the Marines officers resented this situation.
Ortolan was actually enjoying the spectacle; he even thought that if the World Government pulled off a few more of these outrageous maneuvers, it would be good for him.
Go ahead and mess with them. Once you've scattered the hearts of the Marines, it will be more suitable for him to make arrangements and plans for Ortolan.
After a short while, once everyone had arrived, Admiral Sengoku and Fleet Admiral Kong arrived together, and it was clear that both of them were unhappy.
After sitting down, Chief Staff Officer Tsuru quickly distributed copies of the Shichibukai Plan to the Seven Warlords of the Sea Marines commanders.
After glancing at it casually for a few moments, Ortolan tossed the thing onto the table and began observing the expressions of the others.
First, there was Sakazuki. You could see his face turn from white to black, like the bottom of a pot. His hands were practically steaming, as if he was about to burn the document.
The other generals were much the same, except for Borsalino, who, like Ortolan, only glanced at it a few times and then stopped reading, looking completely indifferent. He even took out his nail polish to trim his nails.
"Today we're going to discuss the specific charter. The documents already explain it. If you have any opinions, let's discuss them here..." Fleet Admiral Kong said weakly.
Ortolan thought to himself, "So they've given up."
The moment the Fleet Admiral finished speaking, Sakazuki slammed his fist on the table and roared in fury, "This is an insult to justice! I absolutely refuse to accept this so-called Shichibukai!!!"
With Sakazuki leading the way, the Hawk Faction Marines members began to vent their dissatisfaction. And it wasn't just the Hawk Faction; at this moment, Mary Geoise had violated the reputation of the entire Marines, so Neutral Faction and Dove Faction alike joined in the condemnation.
But the real bigwigs in charge, such as Sengoku, Garp, Zephyr, and Chief Staff Officer Tsuru, all remained silent, sitting in their chairs and letting the Marines officers make a ruckus without saying a word.
The crowd was in a frenzy, and the meeting room was in complete chaos, with neither Fleet Admiral Kong nor Admiral Sengoku showing any intention of maintaining order.
The argument lasted for about half an hour. These Marines officers, when they got angry, would say anything and everything, practically attacking everyone in Mary Geoise, and almost directly naming the Five Elders.
"Alright, alright, I don't think there's any need to continue this meeting. Take all the documents back, calm down, and stop thinking about cursing. What's the use of just cursing? Think about how to deal with this, what good methods we can use to minimize this negative situation. Go back and think about it, we'll continue tomorrow!" Fleet Admiral Kong, seeing that it was enough, slammed his hand on the table and gave the order before getting up and leaving.
Ortolan was not surprised by the sudden adjournment of the meeting. The Admiral Sengoku had previously informed him that since it was the first meeting, it would likely end hastily to give everyone some time to adjust.
"Want to go for a drink?" Ortolan casually asked Kuzan and Gion beside him, tucking the documents into his coat pocket.
Just as Kuzan and Gion were about to agree, Admiral Sengoku called out, "Ortolan, come with me."
"Huh?" Ortolan was a little puzzled, but nodded and said, "I understand."
He then said to Kuzan and Gion, "You two should arrange a meeting first. I'll come find you after I've finished dealing with the Admiral's affairs."
Soon, Ortolan entered the office of the Admiral Sengoku, who was the only one there.
Sensing that he wanted to tell him something that couldn't be shared, Ortolan locked the door from the inside before asking, "Admiral, what is it?"
"Please have a seat." Admiral Sengoku sighed, gesturing for Ortolan to sit down, before asking, "Our Marines, as the most powerful and violent institution on the high seas, is known as the 'Sea Hegemon' by outsiders. But tell me, why does Mary Geoise never respect us?"
"Ahem..." Ortolan cleared his throat lightly and said, "Admiral, this matter is rather offensive, isn't it?"
"What's offensive about discussing this behind closed doors?" the Admiral Sengoku said to Ortolan.
"Then I'll be frank." After probing the Admiral Sengoku's intentions, Ortolan didn't mince words and said directly, "To put it bluntly, it's because we're being manipulated too much. We have no autonomy at all. On the surface, we seem very powerful, but in reality, we can't escape Mary Geoise's control. Military spending, supplies, logistics, production—we don't have any of these in our hands. Doesn't that mean we have to beg Mary Geoise to get everything done? That's why they don't care about our feelings at all. Because it's unnecessary. No matter what they do, in the end, we have to cooperate. If we don't cooperate, military spending will be cut off. Will everyone still get paid? Will everyone still eat?"
Hearing this, the Admiral Sengoku was filled with emotion and casually asked, "Then do you think there is any way to solve this predicament?"
"Of course we do!" Ortolan said without hesitation. "To be honest, this power of action should have always been in the hands of our Marines. It's just that whether it's the Fleet Admiral or you, Admiral, you always have too many concerns, always consider the big picture and so on, think about too many aspects, and have too high a moral bottom line. That's why you've been so tightly controlled. Think about it carefully, if someone really chokes on military spending or something and breaks up our Marines, who will panic, us or those noble lords on Mary Geoise?"
Sengoku paused for a moment, then said, "But this is irresponsible to the people on the high seas who have high expectations of us!"
"See, I told you your moral standards are too high." Ortolan rolled his eyes and said, "Take this matter of the Shichibukai, for example. Right now, our Marines is in a state of high spirits. With a little guidance, we'll all be united as one. I don't believe that our Marines can just insist that the Shichibukai thing can't be done, or that we'll quit. Does Mary Geoise really dare to push the Shichibukai into this?"
Seeing the Admiral Sengoku's hesitant expression, Ortolan said, "Refuse to engage in mental exhaustion. Instead of making things difficult for yourself, make things difficult for others. Stand up straight. Why don't you, Sengoku, dare to really fight those Five Elders with swords and spears?"
However, it is clear that the Admiral Sengoku were not the kind of people who could be swayed by such words and act impulsively. Moreover, people's behavioral and thinking habits have inertia, and they had already become accustomed to this 'inertia' under the strong pressure of Mary Geoise.
Therefore, the Admiral Sengoku quickly shook his head and said, "That's too extreme. Do you have any other ideas?"
Seeing this, Ortolan felt somewhat helpless and said, "This method is the simplest and most direct. The remaining methods are all time-consuming and laborious, and there's not enough time to resolve the matter of the Shichibukai."