Kuzan and Ortolan traveled to the Sabaody Archipelago, where they parted ways.
Ortolan will board a coated ship here to go to Fish-Man Island. As for Kuzan, he will take Ortolan's warship back to headquarters for repairs. It is estimated that after the ship is repaired, it will remain at headquarters, and Ortolan will not come back from Fish-Man Island to retrieve it.
The Marine Base on the Sabaody Archipelago has coated warships that are always ready to go to Fish-Man Island.
Therefore, there was no need for Ortolan to look for Rayleigh. Besides, since the Hachinosu Island incident and the destruction of the Red Hair Pirates, Ortolan and Rayleigh had not been in contact much.
After all, this matter is somewhat of a grudge. While Ortolan may not care, Rayleigh must have something on his mind.
Therefore, unless absolutely necessary, Ortolan did not contact Rayleigh, and the two acted as if they did not know each other.
Without lingering, Ortolan boarded a coated warship and headed to Fish-Man Island.
To reiterate, Fish-Man Island, though located underwater, is only about 10,000 meters below the surface and not too far from the Sabaody Archipelago —just a dozen kilometers away.
In less than half a day, the warship had already traversed the deep sea and arrived at the official port of Fish-Man Island, 'Coral Hill'.
As soon as he disembarked, Ortolan saw a familiar face: Arlong, Fish-Man Race.
This guy seems to have come to greet him.
Originally, Arlong was not qualified to greet Ortolan, but Fisher Tiger was staying in the Golden City, Jinbe was there as well. Ortolan had no acquaintances in the Ryugu Palace, and it would be inappropriate to have the king of that city come to the port to pick him up.
So they assigned this job to Arlong, whom they had met a few times in the Golden City and who had even been praised by Ortolan, making him a somewhat familiar face: to greet Ortolan at the port and take him to the Ryugu Palace.
"Arlong, it's been a long time!" Ortolan said with a smile, patting Arlong on the shoulder.
In the original story, Arlong was Fisher Tiger's loyal little fan. After Fisher Tiger got into trouble, Aaron didn't care about anything else and didn't even consider his own strength or life. He just wanted to avenge Fisher Tiger. It can be seen that Arlong respected Tiger very much.
According to the original story, after Fisher Tiger's incident, Arlong was captured and imprisoned in Impel Down. Later, Jinbe became one of the Shichibukai and used his special privilege to pardon him.
However, Arlong also resented Jinbe becoming a lackey of the World Government, so he led a group of people to split up the Sun Pirates. He went to the East Blue to act arrogantly and wanted to establish a Fish-Man Empire there, but obviously, he didn't have the ability. All he could do was rule over a few surrounding villages.
During this time, he became the source of Nami's shadow, causing a lot of trouble, and was eventually beaten up by the inexperienced Luffy as a monster.
But now the situation is completely different. Fisher Tiger is not dead, and although Arlong still has some racial prejudices, he has not become extreme. He has not caused any trouble in the East Blue. Now he has devoted himself to the great cause of fighting for the future of Fish-Man Island.
On Fish-Man Island, Ortolan wasn't just any human; he was a noble Mink Tribe. Arlong had some aversion to humans, but he had no problem with the Mink Tribe. Moreover, he had met Ortolan several times with Fisher Tiger and knew that Fisher Tiger respected Ortolan.
Therefore, he also showed great respect to Ortolan. Ortolan patted him on the shoulder, looking excited, and said, "Welcome to Fish-Man Island, Admiral Bane. I have already informed Fish-Man Island Ryugu Palace of your upcoming visit. His Majesty Neptune has arranged a banquet and is waiting for you..."
Ortolan didn't put on any airs. He chatted with Arlong for a few words in a friendly manner, then came out from the dock and, led by Arlong, headed towards the Ryugu Palace.
However, just as they were about to leave the port, Ortolan seemed to sense something, his brow furrowing slightly as he looked towards another dock in the distance.
That's also the coating area; you can leave from there and head to the New World.
At that moment, Ortolan saw two Mink Tribe members over there... yes, they were Mink Tribe members.
Tall and conspicuous in the crowd, they stood like guards protecting a few people, who were dressed in traditional Wano Country clothing.
Although their faces are not visible, one can vaguely sense that there is a teenager among them who Kozuki Oden.
A portrait from behind!
"Inuarashi and Nekomamushi!?" A look of surprise appeared in Ortolan's eyes.
He recognized the two Mink Tribe!
These two guys were both retainers of Kozuki Oden. In 1497 of the Marine Era, the Roger Pirates disbanded, and Kozuki Oden returned to Wano Country with Inuarashi and Nekomamushi. Later, a conflict broke out with Kaido. After that, only Kozuki Oden escaped from Wano Country. After many twists and turns, he returned to the Whitebeard Pirates.
Nekomamushi, Inuarashi, and all of Oden's retainers, as well as Kozuki Oden's wife and children, all disappeared!
After that, there was no further news from the sea.
While others were less certain, Ortolan estimated that those people had most likely traveled through the time portal with Toki and gone to some unknown era.
He initially thought it might be after 20 years, since the Roger Pirates inexplicably 'believed' in this, and in the original story, they did indeed do so.
So he never arranged for anyone to investigate or search for them. But now, he actually saw Inuarashi and Nekomamushi on Fish-Man Island. It is very likely that the group of people dressed in Wano Country clothing are Momoko Suke and his men!
However, there was no kid in the back view, so perhaps... Momosuke has already grown up with the help of that female ninja?
He was originally eight years old, and almost ten years have passed since then. It's not impossible that he has become a teenager who looks like he's in his teens.
"Admiral?" Arlong seemed to notice Ortolan's gaze fixed on the distance and called out with some confusion.
Ortolan then came to his senses and looked at Arlong, asking, "Was that Mink Tribe just now?"
As a local strongman, Arlong glanced over and quickly nodded, saying, "Yes, the Mink Tribe. They appeared on our Fish-Man Island more than half a month ago, and then started coating themselves, trying to cross the deep sea back to the New World... Moreover, they seem to be protecting someone, calling themselves 'vassals,' and they have some connection with the Whitebeard Pirates... It seems like they're going back to the New World to find the Whitebeard Pirates?"
Fish-Man Island still flies the Whitebeard Pirates' flag, so they are treated relatively well here.
No one bothered them.
Upon hearing this, Ortolan was basically certain that the group of people were Kozuki Oden's retainers and family members, and that damned bastard Momosuke was right there.
He had initially intended to take action, but after a moment, Ortolan suppressed the thought.
This is Fish-Man Island. Whitebeard's flag flies here, and those guys have a close relationship with Whitebeard. If a fight were to break out here, it would indeed put Fish-Man Island in an awkward and difficult position.
And he, Ortolan, came to Fish-Man Island to discuss cooperation, a deal worth far more than trillions.
Because of this little brat, the wedding ceremony was delayed, which is not good.
However... once you leave Fish-Man Island, you enter the New World, and once you're in the New World, it's Ortolan's territory!
If he wants to return to the Whitebeard Pirates, he'll have to see if Ortolan agrees!
"Perhaps... it's time to wipe out the Whitebeard Pirates..." Ortolan murmured softly, a strange light flashing in his eyes.
Without lingering there, led by Arlong, the group quickly crossed the harbor and left the Coral Hill.
Then, Ortolan said to Hina, "Give me Den Den Mushi..."
Hina was a little confused, but she quickly handed the Den Den Mushi to Ortolan.
Ortolan picked up the Den Den Mushi and dialed. A moment later, Den Den Mushi answered on the other end Tokikake, "What? Are you coming back soon?"
"No," Ortolan replied briefly, then his tone turned serious. "Let's not talk about that now. Pass on my Admiral's orders: instruct all Marine Base in the New World to keep an eye on this gateway area. There are two Mink Tribe ..."
After explaining the situation to Tokikake, Ortolan said in a deep voice, "These people must not be allowed to return to Whitebeard's territory. Capture them all, preferably alive. Also... there's a brat named Momokosuke among them, take good care of him."
Tokikake Kaji didn't quite understand why Ortolan suddenly wanted to do this, he quickly agreed, saying, "Yes, I understand. I will immediately relay your orders to all Marines."