On the island, Mihawk was somewhat bewildered when Ortolan told him he wanted 20 billion to guarantee him a place among the Shichibukai.
After a long while, Mihawk pulled a crumpled invitation from his pocket and gestured, "Is this what you mean by the Shichibukai?"
Ortolan took the crumpled invitation, opened it, glanced at it, and muttered, "Are these things everywhere now? Why are they everywhere?"
After saying that, Ortolan returned the invitation to Mihawk and said, "This is it. Are you interested?"
"It didn't say we had to pay 20 billion Belly," Mihawk said, looking at Ortolan with a serious expression.
"It wasn't explicitly stated above, but it's an unspoken rule, you know how it is. That's how the World Government," Ortolan said casually.
"Embezzlement and bribery?" Mihawk frowned slightly and asked with a hint of doubt.
"You can understand it that way too," Ortolan said after a moment's thought.
Mihawk looked at Ortolan with amusement and said, "Your World Government is quite interesting..."
After a slight pause, Mihawk asked again, "What will happen if I don't pay?"
"I will probably prevent you from becoming Shichibukai," Ortolan said quite frankly.
"Then I won't go. It's not really a necessary event anyway... I'm not that interested." Mihawk said without hesitation, casually tossing the invitation on the ground.
Just kidding. Although he dresses like an aristocrat and lives in a castle, he is actually a penniless pauper. Two hundred billion? He can't even come up with two hundred million.
And even if he could take it out, he had no intention of 'paying tribute' to that bastard Ortolan.
"You can think about it again..." Ortolan said helplessly.
"I have no money. All I have on me is two hundred thousand Belly," Mihawk said confidently.
"Once Shichibukai, you'll be a member of our World Government, a partner of our Marines's brother organization. We have many great swordsmen in the Marines; you can challenge them anytime without worrying about being wanted by us..." Ortolan coaxed.
Mihawk wasn't interested in being wanted or not; it didn't matter to him since he wasn't afraid. But the fact that he could challenge Marines's swordsmen at will was something that really appealed to him.
However, he felt it wasn't worth it to have to pay Ortolan for this.
After a moment's hesitation, Mihawk shook his head and said, "Never mind, I'm not interested in that right now. I'll consider it if I become interested later..."
Seeing that Mihawk remained unmoved, Ortolan had no choice but to give up, waving his hand and saying, "If you change your mind, feel free to contact me anytime..."
After saying that, Ortolan didn't intend to argue with Mihawk any further and turned to leave.
But he had only taken two steps when Mihawk said, "Wait!"
Ortolan's lips curled into a smirk. He thought to himself, "You say no, but your actions speak louder than words." He turned around with a grin and said, "What? Changed your mind so quickly? I told you two hundred billion wouldn't be a bad deal, wouldn't be a bad deal..."
But before Ortolan could finish speaking, Mihawk pulled out a Den Den Mushi and said, "We haven't connected via signal yet, how can I contact you?"
Ortolan looked at the Den Den Mushi with a slightly embarrassed expression, then took Den Den Mushi out of his pocket, exchanged it with Mihawk, and without saying another word, turned and left.
Mihawk also put away his Den Den Mushi, didn't call out to Ortolan again, and turned to walk away in the other direction.
A short while later, Ortolan arrived at the entrance of the restaurant he had visited earlier. Seeing Vergo looking at him strangely, he waved his hand and said, "I ran into an old friend I hadn't seen in years, went to say hello, let's go..."
Vergo didn't ask any further questions and followed Ortolan into the hotel.
Meanwhile, on the second floor of the hotel, Moria breathed a sigh of relief; the guy had finally arrived.
He pretended to adjust his posture, put on a very serious look, and sat down at the dining table.
A short while later, Ortolan and Vergo came upstairs. As soon as Ortolan saw Moria, a warm smile appeared on his face. He took a few steps forward and even greeted him enthusiastically, "Mr. Moria, it's an honor to meet you."
Moria was initially a little uneasy. He didn't know why he was putting on airs here. But he just acted on impulse. Perhaps it was because of the previous crushing defeat that he was still unhappy and wanted to find a way to vent. The World Government just happened to offer up, so he took advantage of it.
Perhaps he wanted to use this behavior and method to eliminate the shame and resentment of his defeat to Kaido?
Sometimes, people's psychological activities are just so strange. Even if you know it's wrong or unreliable, there's just a certain energy that makes you do stupid things for no reason.
When the Marines informed him that Ortolan would personally come to meet him, he was actually a little worried. After all, Ortolan had a great reputation and had actually fought Kaido. As one of the people directly involved with Kaido, Moria knew Kaido's strength very well.
He felt a little guilty, but he had already put on airs and couldn't back down. However, seeing how enthusiastic Ortolan was and how much face he was being given, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.
It feels so good!
Some people are the kind of people who will take advantage of any challenge you give them, and Moria was undoubtedly one of them.
Seeing that Ortolan's attitude was acceptable, he became even more insistent on putting on an act, nodding arrogantly and saying in a very casual tone, "I've heard so much about you, Vice Admiral Bane..."
Their attitude was very perfunctory!
Vergo, standing to the side, looked at Moria with a strange gaze, genuinely puzzled as to how dare he do such a thing.
What surprised Vergo even more was that Ortolan didn't seem angry at all, as if he hadn't felt any disrespect or perfunctoriness. He sat down opposite Moria with a smile and took out a document, "This is the official signing letter for the Shichibukai. As long as you sign your name here, Mr. Moria, we will all be members of the World Government family. Rest assured, we are very close. Our Marines also welcomes a powerful and renowned Great Pirate like you to join the Shichibukai and contribute to peace on the seas together!"
Moria felt something was off about these words. What Great Pirate, making contributions to peace? Do you think the wording and logic here are normal?
However, he didn't dwell on these details. He casually picked up his teacup, took a sip, and then slowly said, "After I join the Shichibukai, the World Government will pardon my previous crimes, and I will have the right to legally plunder and so on, right?"
"Yes, yes, in the future when you go out to sea to plunder, you only need to hand over a portion of the spoils to the World Government, and then these acts of plunder will be legal. Of course, our suggestion is that, as a member of the World Government family, you should choose to plunder non- Affiliated Nation and other forces. That way, everyone will look good, since they have no human rights and are not protected by law..." Ortolan said very considerately, in a very gentle tone.
Moria also felt a sense of warmth and comfort from Ortolan's attitude, which improved his perception of the Marines. The Marines was quite good after all. For Ortolan's sake, adding Shichibukai wouldn't be a bad idea.
Perhaps... we can even use the power of the Marines and the World Government to deal with Kaido and avenge ourselves!
Thinking of this, Moria's attitude gradually softened, and his conversation with Ortolan became smoother. The two even laughed out loud from time to time, and the atmosphere was very harmonious.
Once he had a good understanding of the situation and had mastered the appropriate posture, Moria took the pen and paper, and signed his name on the document.
After watching Moria sign his name, Ortolan smiled and put away the document, extending his hand. "Congratulations, esteemed Mr. Moria. From this moment on, you are officially recognized by the World Government as a member of the Shichibukai. In order for our World Government family to better serve you in the future, please now pay the 20 billion Belly Shichibukai guarantee fee..."
Moria was about to reach out and shake hands with Ortolan when he heard this, and froze, surprised. "What, two hundred billion?"
"The guarantee fee for the Shichibukai 20 billion, which is paid to our G-5 Marines. Would you like to write an IOU or pay in cash?" Ortolan asked in a gentle tone and with a smile, very kindly.
"I've never heard of having to pay anything!!!" Moria stood up angrily, slamming his fist on the table as he questioned Yu.
Ortolan's face turned cold, his expression darkening. "You're asking for it, aren't you?"
Moria??? Wasn't it you whose attitude changed so drastically?
"I'm not going to be one of the Shichibukai anymore!" Moria sneered, refusing to back down.
"You've already signed the documents, and now you're saying you don't want them anymore? Who do you think you are? You dare to mess with our Marines and the World Government, huh? Vergo, close the door! I'm going to teach him a lesson today: in this New World, being a pirate also requires integrity. Nobody can owe me, Bane Ortolan, money!" Ortolan slammed his hand on the table, stood up, and gave the order.
As soon as he finished speaking, he grabbed Moria by the collar before he could react, yanked him down, slammed his head onto the table, and poured an ashtray over Moria's head.
Moria was completely bewildered. He hadn't been hit; although Ortolan's blow was very insulting, it wasn't very harmful. He just hadn't quite processed what was happening yet. Wasn't he just being very polite? How did he suddenly become so rude?
After these thoughts settled in his head, Moria felt his mind buzzing...
"The Admiral Sengoku asked me to send his regards to you, you idiot!" Ortolan sneered.