Factional Strife Within the Navy!

The Officer Training Camp was built on a small plot of land, located in a low-rise building next to the sports field. Originally, this three-story building had been a Marine dormitory, but it was already quite old and had been unoccupied for some time. Admiral Zephyr later chose it as his teaching building, and a series of renovations had just been completed not long ago.

After half a month of waiting, Ortolan finally joined the Marine Headquarters Officer Training Camp as he had wished, becoming one of its first students.

On the very day he registered, he automatically gained the rank of Marine Headquarters Captain. Once he earned enough credits and was approved for graduation by Admiral Zephyr, he would be immediately promoted to Marine Headquarters Rear Admiral, reaching the same rank as Momonga and the others.

By then, though, Momonga and Hoshigaki would probably have already become Vice Admirals.

But Ortolan didn't care about that. He had joined the Marines halfway through his life, and starting at this level was already impressive. He had to thank Garp and Zephyr for not holding his background against him.

As things stood, not many in the Marines knew his true identity—probably just a handful of top brass.

A few days ago, while chatting with Kuzan, Ortolan had vaguely brought up the topic. Judging by Kuzan's reaction, he didn't know Ortolan's identity either, so the secrecy seemed solid.

As one of the diligent trio, Ortolan was still up early exercising today. After that, he met up with Momonga and Hoshigaki. Once they finished their workout, they headed straight to the mess hall for breakfast, then rushed to the school.

The first class of the Officer Training Camp had only one group. In fact, Admiral Zephyr thought that if things went well, each subsequent class would also have just one group, until the camp was officially approved as the Marine Headquarters Advanced Military Academy.

The classroom wasn't big—just three dormitories knocked together into one. When Ortolan and the others arrived, no one else was there yet.

"Do you even know who's joining this training camp?" Ortolan asked casually, sitting down and turning to Momonga.

Momonga was adjusting his suit, hoping to make a good impression on Admiral Zephyr later. Hearing Ortolan's question, he replied, "I know a bit. I heard that Onigumo, Dalmatian, and Doberman—fellow Rear Admirals like Hoshigaki and me—are also in this first class. But we're not on great terms with them, so we're not close. As for the rest, I've heard there might be some promising recruits from outside Headquarters, but I don't know them. Here at Headquarters, below Rear Admiral, there seem to be a few—Strawberry, a Captain, and who else?"

Momonga paused and looked at Hoshigaki, who was rolling a cigar. Noticing Momonga's gaze, Hoshigaki said slowly, "There's also Captain Stainless and Captain Kaisa. That's all I know."

"Why are you rolling a cigar here? Won't that affect Admiral Zephyr's first impression of you?" Momonga complained, frustrated.

"I heard Admiral Zephyr loves cigars. Maybe he'll appreciate me for it?" Hoshigaki laughed.

Seeing Momonga and Hoshigaki bickering again, Ortolan was used to it. Those two were always like that—arguing constantly but still close.

From what Momonga said, it seemed they didn't know their future fellow Marine Headquarters Vice Admirals well yet, and hadn't interacted much.

But Ortolan thought about it and found it normal. After all, at their current ranks—Rear Admiral or Captain—there were plenty of them at Marine Headquarters, especially in the Fortress of Justice office building, where they were everywhere.

Only by climbing higher, to actual flag officer ranks like Vice Admiral, would they have more contact. And once everyone became Vice Admirals, though not exactly big shots, they'd be true Marine high command. With so few of them, they'd inevitably run into each other and grow familiar.

In fact, Ortolan could vaguely sense the pride in Momonga and Hoshigaki. They got along with him because he could keep up or even surpass their level. Others who couldn't match them, they wouldn't waste time befriending.

Seeing Momonga and Hoshigaki stop arguing, Ortolan asked again, "You said you're not on good terms with some Rear Admirals. What does that mean? Do you have a conflict?"

Momonga's attention shifted back to Ortolan. He shook his head. "No conflict. It's just that our ideas and views don't align, so we don't mesh well. Sometimes at meetings, we argue over those differences."

"Is it about factions?" Ortolan smiled.

Momonga paused briefly, then nodded. "You could say that. So you know about Marine factions? Mr. Garp must have mentioned them..."

Garp hadn't told Ortolan about that—probably too lazy to talk about such messy stuff. But Ortolan didn't call him out. Instead, he said with interest, "Tell me more. Mr. Garp wasn't keen on discussing it."

Momonga was a chatterbox, at least when he was young. Seeing Ortolan interested, he eagerly explained, "The Marines are broadly divided into three factions: the Hawk Faction, the Dove Faction, and the Neutral Faction. Each represents a different stance. For example, the Hawk Faction takes a hardline approach, advocating violence to stop violence and absolute justice. They're relatively cold-blooded and not kind to lower-ranking Marines. Opposite them is the Dove Faction, which is more moderate. They prefer non-violent solutions and advocate for justice in due measure—less radical, more peaceful. Finally, there's the Neutral Faction. Simply put, they maintain balance. To put it bluntly, they just muddle through."

From Momonga's description, Ortolan could tell he was biased. He was probably a Dove Faction recruit!

"Who are the top figures in these three factions?" Ortolan asked quietly.

Momonga was cautious about such sensitive topics. After checking that no one else had arrived, he continued, "The factions aren't big. Only flag officers at Vice Admiral rank and above can truly join them. The rest of us Rear Admirals mostly just hear rumors to help us choose later. As for the top figures, I've only heard gossip. Take it with a grain of salt."

Ortolan nodded, and Momonga went on, "I hear the Hawk Faction doesn't have a real leader right now. But before Fleet Admiral Steel Bone became Fleet Admiral, he was a big shot in the Hawk Faction. As Fleet Admiral, though, he can't show any bias, so he stepped down as their leader. So the Hawk Faction still lacks a true head, but thanks to Steel Bone's prestige and influence, it's still doing well."

Ortolan noted that and asked, "What about the Dove Faction?"

"The Dove Faction used to be stronger. Admiral Zephyr and Mr. Garp were both its leaders. But years ago, after some incident, Zephyr's views seemed to change, and he became a leader of the Neutral Faction. At the same time, he lost interest in factional struggles. So while he's nominally one of the Neutral Faction's leaders, he doesn't actually participate in any infighting," Momonga said.

"So the Neutral Faction is the strongest now?" Ortolan asked, surprised.

"Yeah. The Fleet Admiral is definitely Neutral now. Admiral Sengoku was apparently a Neutral Faction leader from the start, and now he has Zephyr's reputation backing him. Everyone thinks Sengoku will be the next Fleet Admiral, so the Neutral Faction is very strong," Momonga nodded.

Any large political group inevitably has internal divisions and factions. It's perfectly normal.

And while the Marines are a military force, they're also a political group. With their enormous size and over eight hundred years of history, factional struggles were unavoidable.

Today, Ortolan got first-hand info on Marine factions from Momonga. He wanted to ask more, but just then, the classroom door slid open, and several Marine officers walked in together. They must be the "new classmates."

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