Ortolan: I Know Too Damn Well What Loyalty Is!
New World, Golden City.
Compared to when Golden City was first built, only a little over a year has passed, but the place has completely changed. Although the exterior walls of the high-rise buildings have not yet been finished, they have sprung up all over the island like bamboo shoots after a spring rain.
It still has a strong construction site atmosphere, but it also has a grand and magnificent feel to it.
It is clear that neither the World Conference at the beginning of last year nor the outbreak of the New World Summit War in the middle of the project affected the progress of this project.
The original plan was to get the entire Golden City up and running within two and a half years, Ortolan already thought was fast. But now, Tesoro has told Ortolan that the Golden City will be operational by the end of this year. Without a doubt, the project has been accelerated by another six months!
At this moment, Ortolan had just disembarked from the warship at this construction site. He was waiting here for a ship, the Katakuri Donut, Katakuri Donut Cake Island.
Wearing a hard hat and setting an example, Ortolan walked out of the construction site and sighed, "Originally, we planned to turn against Mary Geoise around 1510, by which time the Golden City would have been operating for a year or two. But now, the Golden City hasn't even been built yet, and we've already broken ties with Mary Geoise. I don't know if the Golden City can continue to develop normally..."
It is now the year 1507 of the Marine Era, which is indeed three years ahead of schedule.
So much so that even Ortolan had some doubts about Whitebeard Pirates was the right or wrong thing to do.
Thinking of this, Ortolan smiled and asked the man beside him, "You and that guy Smoker seem to have a pretty good relationship, don't you? How's it going with him lately?"
When Smoker first entered the New World, it was also shortly after Ikko began following Ortolan.
At that time, Ikko was in charge of the extermination of pirates in the G-5 area. He had a lot of fights with that guy Smoker, and that's when they met.
Later, Smoker became one of the Shichibukai and even went out of his way to act arrogantly in front of Issho. Of course, he also witnessed the darkness of the New World, was ganged up on by Katakuri and his men, and was captured by G-5. Later, he paid a guarantee fee of 20 billion Beli before he truly became a member of the prestigious Shichibukai who could freely sail the New World.
For a long time after that, Smoker had no contact with Ortolan, mainly because Ortolan didn't take him seriously, and he wasn't qualified to talk to Ortolan.
On the contrary, Yi Xiao had more contact with Smoker afterward. Although Smoker was a pirate, he was not the kind of pirate who would slaughter and plunder civilians at the drop of a hat. Yi Xiao could not play with such a person.
How to describe Smoker? He's the kind of guy who's simple-minded and very rough around the edges. After becoming Shichibukai, he occupied an island that was basically Pirate Paradise as his base. While collecting offerings from his pirate underlings, he was constantly scheming about how to cause trouble for Whitebeard.
Over the years, Yixiao and Smoker have become acquainted through a series of misunderstandings, which can be described as a somewhat ill-fated relationship.
Upon hearing Ortolan's question, Yi Xiao, who had rushed over from G-5, immediately waved his hand and denied it, saying, "We may be familiar, but as Admiral, you can't just slander me like that. When did I ever have any relationship with that bastard Smoker?"
Ortolan smiled but didn't speak. He didn't emphasize the point again, but after a brief pause, he said, "The progress is not bad. Since the war with the Whitebeard Pirates ended last year, Smoker can be said to be the main force and representative figure in the New World's efforts to wipe out the Whitebeard Pirates. The most successful time was when he almost wiped out all of the current remnants. The current captain of the Whitebeard Pirates, Satch, was almost killed by him."
The remnants of the Whitebeard Pirates, a menace, have only been gone for about six months, but due to the pervasive hostility in the New World, they are now on the verge of collapse.
Ortolan listened to this, nodded, and remained silent.
Yixiao continued, "During this time, Smoker established great prestige throughout the New World. Within the pirate camp, apart from the Big Mom Pirates and the Beasts Pirates, he is currently the most powerful, needless to say. As for the other forces, especially those so-called kings in the Underworld and the leaders of various industries, they are all very shrewd. Seeing his rise to power, they knew that he was backed by us and was our chosen representative. They all trusted him quite a bit, so I don't think there's any problem with making him the leader of the New World pirates."
Previously, Smoker was only good at fighting. As Shichibukai, his words carried weight in his own territory, but outside of it, he was not so effective. He could only be said to have some influence within the pirate camp.
But things are different now. Doflamingo and Moria have appeared together with Smoker on several occasions, acting like brothers. Smoker also frequently sends the spoils he has seized from the remnants of the Whitebeard Pirates to the nearest Marine Base in a grand manner. His pirate fleet can even get supplies at that base... Of course, as Shichibukai, he has the right to do so, but rights are rights. Why didn't he dare to use them like this before?
So now everyone knows who the various factions in the New World are. Smoker is probably just a lackey for the big boss Ortolan, and he has already gained the approval of the New World Marines.
Therefore, everyone had to give Smoker face, and his influence naturally extended to his territory. In the New World, people gave him face everywhere, so in the pirate camp, when everyone saw how powerful he was as a pirate, they naturally wanted to join his cause even more.
Therefore, I think that if Smoker continues to develop in this step-by-step manner, there will be no problem in him becoming the leader of the New World Pirates.
Ortolan then spoke up at the opportune moment, "Well, how should I put it, he's the kind of person who'll take advantage of any opportunity. Of course, this also shows that he's carefree and doesn't have much of a scheme. But precisely because of this, we need to teach him a lot about what he can and cannot do, lest he do something that will incur public wrath one day, and I have to use his head to appease the public anger. At that time, we'll have to train someone else, which would be too much trouble."
"Understood." Yi Xiao nodded and agreed with a smile.
The meaning is simple: they need to keep a close eye on Smoker and prevent him from getting too arrogant and engaging in any pirate activities like massacres, otherwise Ortolan will not tolerate him.
After giving this instruction, Ortolan added, "Besides that, we also need to keep a tight rein on him and keep a close eye on Smoker. Don't let his pirate forces get too powerful, lest something go wrong in the future... Whether it's manpower, weapons, equipment, or even pirate warships, keep all the elements we can control in our hands..."
Ortolan was all too aware of the dangers of such things, because he himself was an example.
When he first arrived at G-5 as base commander, he didn't even have enough men to fill a single warship. At that time, he always thought about loyalty to Mary Geoise and loyalty to the Marine Headquarters.
Later, when he had tens of thousands of elite troops under his command, he started to wonder if he could also compete for the Admiral. Look how prestigious the Admiral Sengoku were! Of course, he had the thought, "A true man should be like this!"
Now that he has hundreds of thousands of elite troops under his command, he has begun to think about how to overthrow Mary Geoise. Looking at the old star, Imu, and the Imu's throne, how could he not have the mentality of 'I can take their place'?
Upon closer reflection, it was the expansion of his military force that tarnished his loyalty!
You have really caused me great suffering!
Because he had gone through this stage step by step, Ortolan was extremely familiar with this kind of danger. Smoker didn't have many troops at his disposal, and he was willing to shout out his loyalty.
If he really does become increasingly arrogant, he himself may remain loyal, but the pirates under his command will certainly be able to keep him loyal!
Therefore, we must always be vigilant and control his development, not for any other reason than to prevent his loyalty from being compromised.
Thinking about it this way, Ortolan was doing it for him too!
Just as Yixiao finished explaining these matters, a Marine Admiral approached and saluted. "Loyalty!"
After exchanging greetings, the Marine Admiral commander said, "Admiral, Lady Stussy has prepared tea on her ship and invites you to come and meet her."