Rayleigh: Since It Had Come to This, Shiki Would Have to Suffer!
Ben Ortolan hadn't planned on something this big. His original plan was simply to see if he could find a way to secretly rescue the three Hancock sisters.
Later, when Doflamingo's plan proved ineffective, Ortolan decided to come to the Sabaody Archipelago to discuss with Rayleigh and see if they could come up with a decent plan together.
Up to this stage, Ortolan had no intention of making things bigger.
Until he arrived at Marine Headquarters, Marineford, and chatted with Admiral Sengoku, the Admiral Sengoku mentioned the commotion on Mary Geoise, saying that the position of Fleet Admiral might be changing.
The Fleet Admiral is currently held by the former Chief of the CP Agency. Basically, this position has always been rotated between the CP Agency and the Marine Headquarters.
This generation's Fleet Admiral has been in this position for a long time. However, due to his background in the CP Agency, even as Commander-in-Chief, his ability to mobilize the Marines is still not very strong, and his influence is not great. There are always countermeasures to policies from above.
Regardless of how well he has exercised his real power, he has stepped down this time. According to the conventions of the World Government, the new Fleet Admiral will most likely be the current Fleet Admiral Kong.
Once Fleet Admiral Kong takes Fleet Admiral, then Admiral Sengoku, as the only candidate for Fleet Admiral of the Marines at present, can be said to be a sure thing to become the new Fleet Admiral of the Marines.
Once he becomes the new Marines Fleet Admiral, all Three Admirals positions will be vacant immediately. After all, there are only so many Admirals, and there's always one short. In addition, although Teacher Zephyr still retains the rank of Admiral, he is actually in a state of retirement. Once Sengoku takes over, he will retire completely.
At that time, it's estimated that he will be directly rehired by the Marines, and he will become the principal of the Marines academy, or something similar, based on his former status Marine Admiral.
What does it mean that the positions of the Three Admirals are now vacant?
This means Ortolan's chance to get promoted and make a fortune has arrived!
Currently, among the new generation of Marine Admiral, there are only a few who are qualified to be promoted to Marine Admiral. Ortolan is one of them, followed by Sakazuki, who is stationed at G-1, Kuzan, who has now returned to headquarters, and Borsalino, the Supreme Leader of the Science Unit.
These four guys are all capable and experienced. The youngest, Ortolan, has been a high-ranking Marines officer for nearly 10 years and has experience working at the grassroots level.
The other Marine Admiral, those with higher seniority than them but not as strong, and those with equal strength and sufficient seniority, are already big shots in their respective fields and do not belong to the first generation of admirals. For example, Chief Staff Officer Tsuru will not run for Admiral.
With three out of four options available, and with Sengoku, the soon-to-be 'new Fleet Admiral,' providing strong support, Ortolan had no idea what reason he could possibly have to be rejected.
Therefore, he is definitely going to be one of the Three Admirals!
Moreover, he was well aware that the Admiral Sengoku must have had some deep considerations. The fact that Sakazuki and others were not selected as an Admiral was of little consequence to the Marines.
But if anyone dares to trip him up here and prevent Ortolan from being selected Admiral, do you think the Sengoku will be jumping up and down in a panic?
After all, Ortolan could easily establish Neo Marines and declare himself Fleet Admiral, which would render Sengoku's previous arrangements useless. Not only would it fail to unshackle the Marines, but it might even lead to the Marines's split. Could he accept that?
This is the source of Ortolan's confidence. Unlike Sakazuki and others, he is a powerful warlord within the Marines, operating in his own faction!
Considering that his promotion to Marine Admiral was practically a certainty, and that the bigwigs on Mary Geoise were already thinking about it, Ortolan spent his days on Marineford researching how to expedite the process!
According to the Admiral Sengoku period, it was only a rumor that had been circulating at the moment. Such a big matter could not possibly be decided today and implemented tomorrow. It was very possible that it would take a few days, or even longer.
After all, the Fleet Admiral was considering retirement, not being dismissed or dying on the spot.
It was precisely this remark that suddenly enlightened Ortolan. In the original story, why did the situation on Mary Geoise change so immediately after Fisher Tiger burned it down and was killed by Borsalino, with Steel Bone, the Fleet Admiral, being promoted to Commander-in-Chief?
Because someone had to take the blame for the attack on Mary Geoise, and in that situation, the perfect candidate to take the blame was none other than the unfortunate Fleet Admiral at the time!
It is very likely that this Fleet Admiral did not retire peacefully, but rather that something happened when he wanted to retire, and he was directly dismissed or resigned to take responsibility!
He took the blame for the burning of Mary Geoise, and the Marines had just taken care of the culprit. So, he resigned to take responsibility, while Fleet Admiral Kong was promoted for his merits. The two replaced each other, which was perfectly reasonable!
Because he figured this out, Ortolan suddenly revitalized his entire thought process!
Well, as long as we mess up that damn commander-in-chief's orderly and secure retirement and get him directly dismissed, then everyone can get promoted and make a fortune!
Therefore, they could no longer resort to petty theft to bring out the three Hancock sisters. Instead, they needed to use Rayleigh and others as cover and find a way to release Shiki the Golden Lion to take the blame and orchestrate the major event of burning Mary Geoise!
After Mary Geoise is burned down, the World Government will definitely be furious and want to kill Shiki the moment he's done, in order to salvage their destroyed prestige and reputation.
In this situation, Ortolan would then tear Shiki apart again and take his head out.
Present it to Admiral Sengoku, and wouldn't that make things perfect?
Admiral Sengoku gave Shiki's head to Fleet Admiral Kong, Fleet Admiral Kong then promoted to Commander-in-Chief for this achievement. The others each climbed a step up the ladder. Sengoku realized his dream of Fleet Admiral, and Ortolan realized his dream of Admiral. A world where only the Commander-in-Chief, Shiki, and Mary Geoise suffered was perfectly achieved!
"Admiral, you have no idea how much effort I've put in behind the scenes to help you become Fleet Admiral as soon as possible. You are truly blessed to have such a dedicated and considerate subordinate like me..." Ortolan thought to himself with a sigh.
While pondering these matters in his mind, Ortolan was still verbally explaining his reasons and ideas to Rayleigh and Shakky.
"Look, we've already considered this. This first option is quite difficult and involves a lot of trouble. If we want to get these three sisters out through various private connections, we don't have any way right now. I've already consulted with you. If you have any connections, you can tell us, and we can try it first..." Ortolan said.
Rayleigh and Shakky have no connections in Mary Geoise. They're just two pirates. To put it nicely, they're famous Great Pirate, but to put it bluntly, in front of powerful World Government officials like Ortolan, they're nothing but nobody.
Otherwise, how could they possibly ask Ortolan for help? In fact, it could be said that Ortolan himself is the most valuable person in their network of connections!
Therefore, Rayleigh and Shakky quickly shook their heads, indicating that they were helpless in this regard.
"You see, since we can't secretly rescue them, we can only rely on the two plans I just mentioned. Let's temporarily stick to the first plan. Even if we have the ability to infiltrate Mary Geoise and the God's Abode, and then rescue the three sisters, what if we alert the big shots on Mary Geoise? Will this matter end there? That God's Abode's house, you've been there, do you think they'll pretend you weren't there? They'll definitely investigate thoroughly. The disappearance of the three sisters isn't something that can't be investigated. Once it's found out, tracing back to the source, it's more likely to evolve into what you just said: Amazon Lily exposed, and in retaliation, Amazon Lily destroyed along with it..." Ortolan analyzed.
As Rayleigh pondered Ortolan's statement, he found it increasingly plausible!
Especially that guy, Ortolan, he's not very trustworthy to begin with, isn't he? He has no morals, right? Look at how long Shiki has been imprisoned in Impel Down, and he still remembers this guy and wants to bring him up to lash out at him.
If there's ever a real need in the future, it's not impossible that this kid could use this to his advantage, betraying them for even greater gains!
So how can this situation be avoided?
Rayleigh knew exactly how to avoid it: by changing Ortolan's charge from a minor offense of complicity to one of accompliceship.
Let's create a major event that neither side dares to expose the other, like the burning of Mary Geoise!
In this way, both parties will feel at ease.
While Rayleigh was thinking about these things, Ortolan continued, "So, to cover up our goal of rescuing the three sisters, we need to muddy the waters. We not only need to rescue the three sisters, but we also need to free as many slaves as possible on Mary Geoise, and then burn the register in the fire. This way, we'll be very well concealed. Then, we can find Shiki to take the blame, and we can get away with it. What do you think?"
After exchanging a glance, Rayleigh nodded seriously and said, "Since things have come to this, we can only say that Shiki will have to suffer..."