Katakuri may be hailed as the Charlotte family's greatest masterpiece, known for his calm demeanor and exceptional talent, but at the end of the day, he's still just twenty. He doesn't have the protagonist's glow, nor is he some cheat-wielding prodigy.
His strength, while commendable, is just that—commendable.
Right now, the Big Mom Pirates may appear unstoppable, but in truth, they're in a rather awkward spot. The only real pillar holding everything up is Charlotte Linlin herself.
It was in this situation that Katakuri encountered Ortoren.
If Katakuri is a prodigy, then Ortoren is a monster in every sense of the word!
As a hybrid of the Mink Tribe and Charlotte Linlin, Ortoren didn't just inherit the Minks' strength and their ability to enter the berserk "Sulong" form under a full moon—he also carried Charlotte Linlin's insane bloodline.
The reason his father, Benn Seronis, couldn't suppress Ortoren's rampage on the night of his tenth full moon wasn't just because of raw strength. It was because of the monstrous blood Ortoren inherited from Charlotte Linlin.
That's right—on that full moon night, Ortoren awakened both his superhuman strength and steel body!
These were powers passed down from Charlotte Linlin. Everyone knows she beat up giants at age five, then set out to sea and rampaged across the Grand Line for years. People call her a monster, and the foundation of her terrifying strength lies in her superhuman power and steel-like body!
Maybe because of his half-Mink heritage, Ortoren didn't inherit those monstrous gifts to the fullest. But even so, his strength was enough to overpower giants. That's why the massive war hammer forged from a thousand pounds of stone felt light as air in his hands. As for his steel body, Ortoren couldn't say for sure whether he had reached Charlotte Linlin's level.
After all, a steel body isn't absolute defense. During Charlotte Linlin's battles, she still got injured and coughed up blood when facing strong enemies. If it were truly invincible, she'd never have tasted defeat.
At its baseline, a steel body shrugs off ordinary swords and bullets. In other words, the average riffraff of the seas wouldn't even be able to scratch him without some real skills or special techniques.
Through repeated tests and experiments, Ortoren confirmed that he had fully achieved that level.
Regular swords and firearms were completely ineffective against him—even when he was sound asleep and totally unguarded.
Beyond that, his old man Seronis could break through Ortoren's steel body. But the thing is, Seronis was a great pirate bold enough to challenge Charlotte Linlin. Even in his old age, his strength remained formidable. So using him as a benchmark to measure the limits of the steel body didn't make much sense. After all, according to him, he once broke through Charlotte Linlin's steel body in battle!
What? Seronis couldn't suppress Ortoren's rampage when he was just ten? How could he be that strong?
The answer is simple—suppressing and defeating are two different things. Seronis wasn't exactly a saint. He wasn't about to go all-out and cripple his own son just to protect some island town.
At that point, Ortoren had already gone completely berserk. To stop him, Seronis would've had to injure him so badly he couldn't stand again. But he couldn't bring himself to do that. So once he realized he couldn't contain his beloved son, he let go—watching as Ortoren turned into a pure engine of violence, unleashing the monstrous power within.
With his steel body and natural superhuman strength, Ortoren's power surged even further under the full moon, when his Mink Tribe blood awakened the berserk "Sulong" state. It was under those conditions that the young Katakuri faced him—needless to say, the outcome was brutal.
Remembering that painful experience, Katakuri finally snapped out of his thoughts, instinctively touching his stomach. The memory of Ortoren's crushing punch still seemed to linger in his gut.
He was also quietly grateful that Ortoren hadn't had a proper weapon back then.
"What are your plans for this full moon?" Katakuri shifted his gaze away from Ortoren's imposing horns and looked him in the eye.
Ortoren responded casually, "Same as always, right? When it's almost time, I'll head to that deserted island and go into seclusion..."
Katakuri nodded, then added, "But you can't keep doing this forever, can you?"
"True enough." Ortoren chuckled. "I stayed because the old man didn't have much time left. He gave me life, raised me—it wasn't something I could just ignore. So I stayed by his side in his final years. But now that he's gone, and I've finished forging a weapon that suits me, I'm planning to leave Terian after this full moon."
Honestly, Ortoren was surprisingly patient. He'd been in this world for over a decade and hadn't even stepped out to explore, all because he couldn't leave his old man behind. Now that those ties were gone, it was finally time to see the world of pirates for himself—to witness firsthand this beautiful, violent, and unforgiving world.
"Where will you go?" Katakuri seemed like he had something more to say but held back, asking quietly instead.
Ortoren stroked his chin, thinking for a moment before shaking his head. "To be honest, I've been focused on forging and haven't given it much thought. But if I had to guess... the world's a big place. I want to see all of it."
"You want to see everything? Then Whole Cake Island should count, right?" Katakuri's eyes lit up with a bit of hope. "Mama's been talking about you non-stop. If you haven't decided where to go yet, why not come back to Whole Cake Island with me?"
The moment he heard that, a look of distaste flashed across Ortoren's face.
Truthfully, even though Charlotte Linlin had abandoned "him" and his father, perhaps because his soul had come from another world, Ortoren had questioned his feelings many times—and realized he didn't actually harbor any hatred toward her.
To him, this biological mother was more like a stranger.
As for his simping old man—though also abandoned—he was devoted to the end. Even on his deathbed, he held no resentment toward Charlotte Linlin. He even wished to be buried on Whole Cake Island, so he could keep watching his beloved after death.
With both parties taking that stance, Ortoren had no intention of stirring up some pointless family drama.
The reason he looked so disinterested was simple: given his current situation, Whole Cake Island and the Big Mom Pirates weren't where he saw his future.
Even though he'd never really left the area around Terian Island, Ortoren still had a decent grasp of the New World's current state—it was a time when powerful figures were rising and clashing for supremacy.
Take Terian Island itself. It used to fly the flag of Shiki the Golden Lion's Flying Pirates. Now, it was under Big Mom's control. That alone meant Charlotte Linlin and Shiki had already clashed over conflicting interests.
And it wasn't just Shiki. Charlotte Linlin, with her ambitions to become queen of the seas, saw every strong figure in the New World as either a rival or a threat.
Joining the Big Mom Pirates would only mean one thing: getting dragged into the endless wars of the New World.
Right now, Ortoren wanted to explore the world. He didn't have strong feelings about war—it didn't scare him—but priorities mattered. Timing mattered.
Seeing the look on Ortoren's face, Katakuri smiled and added, "Mama actually went out to sea herself not long ago to find you a gift she thought you'd love..."
Ortoren's expression shifted slightly, thoughtful.
Katakuri continued, "She also said she might have a way to help you control your Sulong form after the full moon."
At that, Ortoren's eyes lit up.
"Even if I go, I never said I'd join the Big Mom Pirates!" he declared.
"Relax. Mama just wants to see you. If you want to leave, you can leave whenever you want—I promise," Katakuri said earnestly.
Ortoren didn't care much for Charlotte Linlin's promises, but Katakuri... this man was worth trusting.