Sengoku looked at the proclamation, Sakazuki's name remained silent for a long time.
A moment later, Kuzan, seeing that Sengoku was not moving, asked curiously, "Commander, what's wrong? Have you discovered something else?"
Upon hearing this, Sengoku looked up at the dazed Kuzan and said with some exasperation, "If you had even half of that guy Ortolan's cunning, I wouldn't have to worry about you."
Kuzan????
He looked at Sengoku Guo with great confusion and asked, "What does this have to do with me? What kind of cunning thoughts are you harboring?"
It wasn't just Kuzan; the fact that this manifesto was sent to him meant that Sakazuki hadn't found any problems during the meeting on Ortolan's side.
Even considering Sengoku's understanding of Sakazuki might have been secretly pleased with himself at that moment.
He might even have to Ortolan that guy, Ortoren.
There is no doubt that Ortolan's manifesto contained a divisive tactic, but he did it so lightly that it left almost no trace, which was truly quite clever.
Sakazuki, who was sown apart from the truth, is still completely unaware of what's going on and is happily thanking him, which leaves Sengoku speechless.
The current Marine Admiral are either lazy and don't like to use their brains, or their minds are full of muscles and killing pirates. Only this guy, Ortolan, looks big and burly, but he is actually very cunning, and sometimes even Altoron, the strategist, finds him terrifying.
Indeed, Sengoku was not unaware that Ortolan was a cunning and scheming fellow. On the contrary, the fact that he trusted Ortolan so much and entrusted him with such a grand task itself demonstrated his trust and understanding of Ortolan in this regard.
In the past, Ortolan's schemes were always used by pirates against Mary Geoise. In Sengoku's memory, he had never tried to trip up his fellow Marines.
Now, Ortolan has dug a hole for Sakazuki.
It's a simple action, seemingly ordinary, but if someone tries to make a fuss about this manifesto later, then Sakazuki's relationship with Mary Geoise will definitely be in trouble.
Kuzan stood there bewildered, while Sengoku pondered how to handle the manifesto in his hand. After some thought, Sengoku handed the manifesto to the little goat, Meme, who was standing nearby.
The sheep accepted everything offered, taking a bite of the manifesto and then gobbling it up in no time.
Kuzan, watching this scene, exclaimed in surprise, "Commander, what are you doing? Didn't you say you were going to send a copy of all of these to Mary Geoise?"
"Get out, get out! There's nothing to explain to you. Don't get in my way. Get out!" Sengoku waved his hand irritably to get rid of Kuzan upon hearing this.
Kuzan was thus bewildered and kicked out of the office by Sengoku.
After dealing with the proclamation, Sengoku began reading the operational plan. He pondered and reviewed it, filling in any gaps, and finally concluded that there was nothing more to say. The plan was indeed quite feasible, and Ortolan should have already taken action.
After thinking about it for a while, he sent the plan to Mary Geoise via fax.
As for that proclamation... where is it? I, Sengoku, haven't seen it. That guy, Ortolan, didn't send me any of those things. I have no idea about this!
I only received the plan; I didn't see the rest. Either Ortolan didn't send it, or there was something wrong with the fax machine, and the manifesto was missed.
That's right, regarding this manifesto, the final decision of the Sengoku was... not to know, not to see, not to understand.
In any case, this manifesto is meaningless to the old stars of Mary Geoise at the moment; it's just a declaration of war that would be published in the newspaper before a war.
As long as the proposal is submitted, that's fine.
Once Ortolan actually publishes this manifesto, if the old stars ask, he can simply say that he, Sengoku, has never seen it. That way, any problems that arise later will have nothing to do with him, Sengoku.
The reason why the Sengoku period did this was, on the one hand, to protect themselves and not get involved in this mess, and on the other hand, to leave some buffer for the overall situation.
After all, if he didn't know about this situation, then as long as Ortolan insisted that he hadn't paid attention, that it was his first time doing this, that he lacked experience, and that he hadn't considered so much, then the old stars probably wouldn't pursue the matter too much.
But as the Fleet Admiral of the Marines Sengoku, Sengoku is a veteran who has been involved in political struggles for so many years. If he had seen it, would the old stars believe that he, Sengoku, would not have discovered these problems?
They definitely don't believe it.
You discovered it, but you didn't give Ortolan a hint so he could write a new one. What were you thinking?
That's right, Sengoku could only pretend he didn't know about this situation. He couldn't possibly send this proclamation to the old star, otherwise, if a real problem arose, he, the Fleet Admiral, would be the one to take the blame for Ortolan.
After all, it's understandable that Ortolan was young and inexperienced. But how could Sengoku be inexperienced?
So if Ortolan takes the blame himself, the situation can be somewhat eased. But if Sengoku steps forward, there's no way to explain it!
"That bastard Ortolan, did he also have these thoughts in mind, and even tricked me into his scheme?" Sengoku stroked his chin, pondered for a moment, and felt a bit like crying and laughing.
Meanwhile, at the G-3 Marine Base, everyone in the conference room had left, including Sakazuki, leaving only Ortolan, Hina, and Lucci.
Lucci placed a freshly brewed cup of tea in front of Ortolan, and looking at the silent, thoughtful Ortolan, asked with some curiosity, "Admiral, what are you thinking about?"
"I wonder what the Fleet Admiral will do after reading that manifesto..." Ortolan said with a slight smile as he took the tea.
Lucci is rather naive. He has followed Zephyr for many years and is skilled in both strength and political maneuvering. He is a complete novice in political struggle and knows nothing about it.
He had no idea what had happened, and with a somewhat naive smile, he said, "I'll support you then."
"Hahahaha..." Ortolan laughed loudly, but didn't explain anything to Lucci.
Hina, on the other hand, had already packed her things. Hearing Ortolan's laughter, she said with slight concern, "Admiral, what if the Fleet Admiral isn't paying attention...?"
"We couldn't have overlooked this, don't underestimate our Fleet Admiral Sengoku." Ortolan waved his hand, then said, "If Elder Sengoku doesn't react or question me after this plan is delivered to Mary Geoise, it means there's a proclamation hidden inside, which Fleet Admiral Sengoku concealed for me and never actually sent. That in itself represents a certain Sengoku stance..."
"What attitude?" Hina asked, somewhat puzzled.
"So he tacitly approved of my affair, and schemed against... Sakazuki once," Ortolan said softly. After a slight pause, he added with a sigh, "Perhaps... the Fleet Admiral also wanted me to do these despicable things..."
After all, it would be much better to win over a talent like Sakazuki to their side than to leave him to Mary Geoise.
Hina seemed not to quite understand what was going on, Lucci was even more confused.
But after a moment, Hina continued, "After this, what else do we need to do about this?"
"If the Fleet Admiral doesn't send this proclamation to the emperor, then we will simply publish it in the newspapers and make it a done deal," Ortolan said.
"And then?" Hina asked again.
"Now, we'll see if Mary Geoise pays attention to this manifesto. If they do, then we don't need to do anything else..." Ortolan said calmly, taking a sip of tea.
"What if I don't follow her?" Hina asked after thinking for a moment.
"If they haven't paid attention, let Queen Stussy or Spandam bring it up, touch it a little, make a fuss about it, and get Mary Geoise's attention..." Ortolan chuckled.
Hina was silent for a moment after hearing this, then said with some helplessness, "Admiral, if Mr. Sakazuki finds out about your scheme, won't he turn on you?"
"How could that be? This manifesto was unanimously approved at the meeting, and Sakazuki also raised his hand in agreement. How can you say I schemed against him? It's just that we're both young and inexperienced, and made a small mistake. Sakazuki won't turn against me. Look how happy he is today; he even thanked me..." Ortolan waved his hand, speaking nonchalantly.
This move won't cause Sakazuki and Mary Geoise to fall out, but as long as it plants a seed, that's enough for Ortolan.
It was just a small favor to him, whether he took it or not, he wouldn't lose anything.