If I Still Had to Tread Carefully After Becoming an Admiral, Then What Was the Point of Becoming One!?
After making a couple of sarcastic remarks about Ortolan, Doflamingo got to the point and asked, "So, what are the key performance indicators for the development of this Sea Police Force?"
"I had Tesoro calculate it before. Look, after the Lead-Platinum, lead, smuggling, and arms transactions this year, G-5 alone has over 700 billion Beli left. This is just a rough estimate. If the market is even better in the second half of the year... it should be even better. After this meeting, I'll take down Ochoku on Hachinosu Island. Then the Beasts Pirates' territory will also be profitable. Looking at it this way, the surplus this year alone will be close to one trillion Beli. And with my promotion to Admiral and Governor of the New World, the benefits will be even greater. In the next two years, the food and minerals from the Calm Belt will also be put on the market, with a surplus of at least three to five trillion Beli. The more we do this, the more we'll gain. There are other plans to be developed afterward. I can confidently say that as long as things continue like this, we won't be short of money in the future!" Ortolan said happily.
After so many years of hardship, from becoming the head of G-5 to stepping down and being promoted to Admiral, he has never had any money to spare. If you really want to know, he is still heavily in debt, and Doflamingo is one of his creditors!
However, considering the annual budget and future economic and trade development, the commercial system has finally achieved a certain scale after so many years of support, and can now provide it with substantial financial support!
Thinking about this, Ortolan felt that Yi Xiao was really lucky. Back when he took over G-5, there were very few soldiers, the troops were not yet large in scale, and there was a lack of combat experience. There were fewer than ten light machine guns in the entire base, and the artillery was old-fashioned with worn-out rifling. What did six hundred men mean? As Vice Admiral general and base commander, Ortolan couldn't even gather a fully equipped warship when he went out.
The headquarters didn't provide a single penny of support. It was only because Ortolan had many friends and a lot of influence that he was able to borrow money from all over the place to develop G-5.
Now, several years have passed, and G-5 is strong and well-equipped, with hundreds of thousands of soldiers willing to fight and countless warships, dominating the New World. If it weren't for their different identities and positions, calling them the Four Emperors wouldn't be a problem at all.
Yixiao has snagged a lucrative job from him!
Ah, now we're finally living a better life, and we're about to reach the point where we have so much money we don't know what to do with it!
While pondering these matters, Ortolan continued, "Next, aside from building a few Marine Base, everything else will proceed according to standard procedures. Moreover, unlike G-5, headquarters will be funding these projects. Therefore, as I mentioned earlier, the money earned will be used for our private ventures. For example, this Sea Police Force is a major investment, so you can focus on its development. The more people, the better. Aim to reach a scale of 100,000 by 1506, and increase thereafter. I'll give you a number: if you can break 100 by 1510, I'll truly promote you to Vice Admiral!"
Doflamingo stroked his chin, pondering these matters, and said, "The number of people isn't the problem; the key issue is whether we can manage such a large scale."
A million people may sound like a lot, but given the population base of the New World, it's manageable. However, Doflamingo didn't intend to recruit them all from the New World. The North Blue is his base of operations, which he has developed over many years. His influence and appeal there are second to none. Since he has become the Sea Police Chief, it's reasonable for him to recruit people from the North Blue. The New World's population can't handle it, but there are plenty of people in the North Blue.
As one of the four major sea areas, as long as you can afford it, let alone one million, even three million, you can raise a team!
"If the scale is too small, we'll be easily manipulated; if it's medium-sized, we can manage; but the larger the scale, the better we can handle it. In that case, it won't be us who are worried and scared. So we need to be fast. We need to increase the scale before they can react, okay?" Ortolan laughed.
If he still can't stand up straight and speak to the Five Elders in the year 1510 of the Marine Era, then he might as well give up.
Moreover, unlike Vice Admiral, he was just a Marine Admiral. To be honest, he wasn't tough enough. If an order came down from above to remove him from office, he would be removed.
When problems arise at the Marine Headquarters, it's not uncommon for Vice Admiral to be demoted; in fact, it happens every few years, with one or two such cases occurring.
Therefore, Vice Admiral he Ortolan, he naturally had to consider these things. If he went too far, the Admiral Sengoku couldn't withstand the pressure and would have to step down. He might even have to go back to his hometown to inherit the family business.
But once you become Admiral, this problem disappears. Admiral is arguably the top tier of the Marines. It's true that the admiral can promote Admiral, but it's very difficult to remove Admiral from the rank of admiral. Not to mention the admiral, even the World Government would find it difficult to demote someone who is already an Admiral using conventional methods!
In the original story, Issho, with the dignity of Admiral, both kowtowed and apologized, and deliberately let the Straw Hat Pirates escape. What could the World Government do to him? When the World Conference convened, Issho went to Mary Geoise as usual, without any problems whatsoever.
As the Admiral of the Marines at the time, did Sakazuki's actions—from laughing to lashing out, forbidding him from entering Marine Base —have any effect? Not entirely, but not much either.
No matter how angry Sakazuki was, he could only rant and rave; he couldn't possibly dismiss Fujitora Issho's Admiral.
In this situation, Ikko was parachuted into the position of Admiral through World Military Draft, and he did not have his own solid team or reliable faction in the Marines.
And what about Ortolan? He truly climbed his way up from the Marines officer rank step by step. Along the way, he had no shortage of classmates, comrades, teachers, elders, superiors, merits, seniority, or grassroots experience. He was a legitimate, standard, top-tier Marine Admiral.
He has now formed his own team, which includes not only Issho, Momonga, Gion, Tokikake and others, but also the field-grade officers who have been continuously sent by G-5 to various Marines bases and departments over the years!
Therefore, today he sat in the Admiral's seat. It was easy to get him to sit down, but it was quite troublesome for anyone to get him to get up and move his seat. It was almost impossible for anyone, including the Fleet Admiral Sengoku, to get rid of him if Ortolan was unwilling!
This is the world of difference between Admiral and Vice Admiral; this is the true value of a general's position!
Therefore, upon arriving in the New World, Ortolan, for the first time ever, gathered all his partners, including the Black and Gray, together for a meeting.
The reason is that his status has changed, and he has more power. All the previous concerns have largely disappeared.
From now on, he won't need to be so hesitant in his actions, and he can be much bolder!
Anyone who wants him removed from this position has to first ask his many Marines colleagues for their consent, as well as the 100,000 elite troops under his command, and even the bigwigs of the New World for their consent!
Today, Ortolan is Admiral, New World is peaceful. But if someone tries to remove him from power tomorrow, the New World will immediately descend into chaos!
Mary Geoise might have to be set on fire again on the third day!
If he was cautious and timid before becoming Admiral, and he remains cautious and timid after becoming Admiral, then what kind of Admiral is he?!
Doflamingo was also a guy who wasn't afraid of making things worse. Seeing how tough Ortolan was and how confident he was, he didn't ask any more questions and immediately said, "As long as you can handle it, this scale is not a problem for me... Of course, I can't support so many soldiers. Whether it's funding, logistics, or weapons, you'll have to provide them!"
"No problem," Ortolan said without hesitation.
Doflamingo is a smart man, which is why he has emphasized this issue repeatedly.
In reality, the main reasons why Ortolan dared to entrust this task to Doflamingo were twofold. First, while Doflamingo possessed exceptional abilities and considerable strength, he was only considered to be of average ability. Given his circumstances, it would be extremely difficult for him to achieve the monstrous strength of Kaido, Whitebeard, Charlotte Linlin, or the other Marine Admiral.
He's slightly weaker overall, so Ortolan can outmaneuver him in terms of strength, that's the first point.
Secondly, although Doflamingo is the chief of the Sea Police Force, Doflamingo is not in a position to provide sufficient logistical support to the Sea Police Force.
He was quite wealthy, but he couldn't maintain a large-scale military force of that caliber. In addition, he lacked naval technology, arms technology, food supplies, and so on.
If he can't afford to support them, he'll end up like the Marines now, subject to the control of the World Government that can afford to support Marines, forced to do whatever they're told.
From this perspective, Doflamingo is the Marines, while Ortolan is essentially the World Government.
In addition to other reasons, Ortolan was able to entrust this task to Doflamingo with peace of mind!