Charlotte Linlin's Considerations

Ortolan said he hoped Charlotte Linlin could advise him on how to join the Marines. After Charlotte Linlin agreed, she said she needed to think it over, then had Ortolan go rest first.

As for Katakuri, he had matters to discuss with Charlotte Linlin, so he stayed behind.

After Ortolan left, Charlotte Linlin asked Katakuri, "What do you think of his idea?"

"Looking at the prospects, Ortolan's plan is indeed quite good," Katakuri answered at once.

"Is that so?" Charlotte Linlin pondered for a moment before saying, "Then let's give him a hand!"

"How should we arrange it?" Katakuri seemed to have anticipated his mother's thoughts long ago and asked without any surprise.

After thinking for a moment, Charlotte Linlin said, "Do you think his identity can truly be hidden from the Marines?"

Katakuri shook his head and said, "If he were mediocre, there would be nothing worth investigating. But his talent is there for all to see, and now he's a Goro Goro no Mi user. Going by Marine practice, once someone like him joins the Marines, he'll inevitably be transferred to Marine Headquarters very quickly. At the same time, he'll certainly become a key prospect for cultivation. How could the Marines possibly not thoroughly investigate the identity and background of such a prospect?"

If the Marines wanted to investigate Ortolan's identity, there was no way their intelligence network would fail to uncover it!

They would definitely learn that he carried Charlotte Linlin's bloodline!

That was the difficult part. Ortolan had considered this too, which was why he had come to see if Charlotte Linlin had any solution.

"Yes, how could they fail to find out?" Charlotte Linlin said softly.

"Then... what if we kill everyone who knows? Even slaughter everyone on Tyrean Island..." A fierce gleam flashed through Katakuri's eyes.

His gentleness and consideration were reserved for his family. Fundamentally, the upbringing and environment Katakuri had received since childhood had doomed him never to be a kind person. Being vicious and cruel toward outsiders was only natural.

"That would be too deliberate, and it might not even conceal it. If it's destined to be impossible to hide, then we shouldn't leave behind so many flaws. We might as well not hide it from the start!" Charlotte Linlin shook her head and said gravely.

"Then what should we do?" Katakuri asked, somewhat troubled.

"Have the World Government come looking for Ortolan themselves!" Charlotte Linlin said in a deep voice.

"The World Government themselves?" Katakuri asked blankly. "How? How could that work?"

"Spread some news. There's no need to conceal the relationship between Ortolan and us. Tell the people of the seas plainly that he is my son, inheriting my bloodline and talent!" After giving it some thought, Charlotte Linlin smiled again. "Fortunately, we've never had any contact with Ortolan before. If the Marines want to investigate such things, they can find them out themselves. And what they uncover on their own, they'll believe without question. Then spread more news—say that by chance, you discovered he was the blood I left outside, and tried to recruit him into our Big Mom Pirates, but failed..."

"And then?" Katakuri asked again.

"Then we let those people know that Ortolan and us simply can't get along. More than that, because his father and he himself were abandoned, he bears a deep grudge against us and wants revenge," Charlotte Linlin said.

"Isn't that plot a little too clichéd? Would the Marines really believe it?" Katakuri said skeptically.

A pirate's child, abandoned since childhood because his family fell apart, hating his own mother as a result and aspiring to become a righteous Marine to take revenge on her... Wasn't that far too clichéd? The Marines weren't idiots!

"Whether the Marines believe such a plot isn't important." Charlotte Linlin seemed to recall something, then continued, "What matters is whether Ortolan has enough talent and potential. And from what I can see, he does!"

After a brief pause, Charlotte Linlin continued in a grave voice, "As long as Ortolan is outstanding enough, as long as there is even such a seemingly clichéd reason, the World Government won't pass him up. I know that from personal experience!"

When Charlotte Linlin was young, she had nearly been sold to the World Government. Had those accidents not occurred, she might have been an outstanding Marine Admiral now, or perhaps some ace of the CP Agency.

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And she wasn't the only one. Later, when she met Kaido aboard Rocks's ship, she discovered that Kaido had gone through something similar.

Kaido, originally the strongest warrior of Voca Kingdom, had been directly traded away by the World Government through under-the-table dealings, which forced the King of Voca Kingdom to offer Kaido up to the World Government as combat power.

Kaido had managed to escape back then. If he hadn't, he might be an outstanding Marine now too!

This showed that when the World Government sought combat power, as long as your ability and talent were exceptional enough to make people see great potential in you, they did not particularly care whether you were willing or whether your background was clean.

What did that mean? It meant that the World Government was very confident and self-assured when it came to such matters!

They believed they had enough means to control those promising prospects who had been forcibly taken against their will!

Whether it was ideological brainwashing, control through their weaknesses, or the bonds between companions, all kinds of methods could serve as shackles!

Therefore, in Charlotte Linlin's view, rather than hoping the Marines would fail to uncover information about Ortolan's identity, it would be better to start directly with the World Government!

The World Government had specialized agencies for handling such matters. They could leak the news to them, then subtly slip Ortolan into their hands.

That would be simple and direct enough, because when the World Government handled this sort of thing, they did not investigate all those details—they only looked at whether you were qualified!

Once Ortolan caught their eye, the World Government could directly drop him into Marine Headquarters. Wouldn't that accomplish the goal?

However, while this method was simple and direct, it also carried great uncertainty. The first issue was whether Ortolan could join the Marines as he wished. The World Government's recruitment efforts were not limited to sending people into the Marines. If something went wrong, it was entirely possible that Ortolan would be sent to the CP Agency instead!

Still, that part was manageable. At worst, he could find an opportunity to defect and come back to be a pirate, inheriting the family business. He could forget about becoming a Marine altogether.

The important matter was the second risk: exactly what means and methods did the World Government use to control these prospects they had forcibly taken?

Would Ortolan fall victim to them?

He mustn't really be brainwashed into becoming a great weapon in the World Government's hands. That would be troublesome indeed—they would lose both their son and their forces!

But on second thought, Charlotte Linlin realized that no undertaking came without risk. The greater the reward, the greater the risk. Everyone on the seas knew that.

How could anyone avoid taking risks and still reap enormous benefits?

When the time came, she would explain these risks clearly to Ortolan and see whether he had the courage to take the gamble!

Charlotte Linlin even felt that her worries were somewhat laughable. If Ortolan truly joined the Marines as he wished, would he turn against her? Did he really want to join the Marines for their mutual benefit, or was he actually just like that clichéd story—harboring hatred for her deep in his heart all along, merely hiding it until now to earn her trust, intending to use her help to join the Marines and then take revenge on her?

Or perhaps he truly remained unstained by the mud, inclined toward kindness, and genuinely wished to become an agent of justice?

Those possibilities were not impossible either. Charlotte Linlin wanted to win Ortolan over and had taken practical action to do so, but she would not simply place complete trust in him because of those actions. That was the self-discipline of a Great Pirate. To become one of the foremost pirates in an environment filled with betrayal and schemes, she could never completely trust another person!

"At the end of the day, it's merely giving me an opportunity and giving him an opportunity—planting this seed of uncertainty and taking a gamble on what it will become in the end," Charlotte Linlin thought, and her mind became clear.

After all, she was not Ortolan's nanny. She would not give him whatever he wanted. All she needed to do was give Ortolan an opportunity; as for how he would proceed afterward, that was entirely up to him!

If Ortolan truly walked toward the future he had described, then everyone would be happy. If not, Charlotte Linlin was still confident that she had nothing to fear from such changes and challenges!