At the northern Calm Belt, on the edge of the North Blue.
A ship flying the Donquixote Family's flag sailed steadily out of the Calm Belt.
This vessel was none other than the Flamingo, belonging to the Celestial Demon, Donquixote Doflamingo.
At this moment, Admiral Ortoren stood on the Flamingo's deck, a cigarette clenched between his lips as he gazed out at the scenery of the North Blue.
In the distance, several other ships could be seen, also bearing the Donquixote Family's flag. However, they were not part of the fleet that had come from the New World to the North Blue. Instead, they were vessels departing from the North Blue, passing through the Calm Belt on their way to the New World.
These were armed transport ships. Judging by how deep they sat in the water, it was obvious they were packed to the brim with cargo.
"These are all goods and supplies being shipped from the North Blue to the New World. Some of them might even be carrying Amber Lead ore. Ship after ship, all of it is our Bellies," Doflamingo said with a smile, appearing beside Ortoren at some point.
"According to the internal briefings I received from Headquarters, the North Blue has been developing quite well over the past few years," Ortoren said thoughtfully. "It's even more prosperous than it was before the Great Pirate Era began."
"That's only natural," Doflamingo nodded in agreement. "Only a stable production environment can provide materials on a consistent basis."
In the past, the North Blue had been a chaotic place. Among the Four Blues, only the East Blue could truly be called a symbol of peace. The South Blue suffered from decaying kingdoms and severe exploitation, and had long been a breeding ground for rebel forces and insurgencies. In a sense, even the Revolutionary Army could be said to have originated there.
The West Blue, on the other hand, was steeped in mafia culture. While it maintained its own internal order, it was undeniably dark in nature. Several major mafia families constantly fought over power and wealth, frequently causing shocking incidents.
As for the North Blue, its people were fierce by nature, and wars between kingdoms never ceased. This constant conflict made the region unstable, producing large numbers of refugees. Swept along by the turmoil, many of these displaced people had no choice but to join criminal organizations just to survive, which in turn strengthened those groups and further worsened the situation.
One of the main reasons wars between North Blue kingdoms were so frequent was the existence of a troublemaker known as the Germa Kingdom. Founded over three hundred years ago and later brought under the banner of the World Government, Germa made its fortune by selling war throughout the North Blue. With its powerful military, it had even dominated the region for a time.
Eventually, the World Government grew wary of Germa becoming too powerful and reclaiming its former glory. They joined forces with many North Blue kingdoms and dismantled Germa. As a result, although Germa still existed in name as a North Blue kingdom under the World Government, it no longer possessed any fixed territory.
However, the decline of the Germa Kingdom did not bring peace to the North Blue. Centuries of accumulated grudges and hostilities between nations were never going to be resolved by Germa alone.
Likewise, although Germa had fallen from its peak, it continued to wield enormous influence in the North Blue thanks to its advanced technology. To this day, it remained one of the two leading powers in the North Blue's underworld.
The other leading power was, naturally, the Donquixote Family, which had steadily risen within the North Blue's dark world over the past twenty years.
As the Donquixote Family expanded, conflicts of interest with Germa were inevitable. The two major forces repeatedly clashed behind the scenes, further intensifying the chaos in the North Blue.
All of this began to change in Sea Circle Calendar 1498.
That year marked the beginning of the Great Pirate Era. The young master of the Donquixote Family, Donquixote Doflamingo, decisively shifted his focus away from the North Blue's underground dealings and crossed over into the world of pirates.
At first, this allowed Germa to gain significant momentum in the North Blue, especially after their former king, Vinsmoke Judge, returned from the New World.
But Germa didn't get to enjoy that advantage for long. The situation soon changed again. Doflamingo's gamble paid off, and it paid off spectacularly. He managed to board the "big ship" of the Navy heavyweight Benn Ortoren and successfully became one of the legendary Shichibukai, causing his influence to soar.
From that point on, Germa no longer dared to provoke the Donquixote Family lightly. They seemed content to wait and see if Doflamingo would stumble badly in the New World.
Instead, Doflamingo not only avoided disaster, but rose even higher alongside Ortoren, becoming a prominent figure in the New World. His underworld business expanded at an astonishing pace, and his influence grew immensely. Once the northern Calm Belt route was fully opened, that influence began to rapidly feed back into the entire North Blue.
During this period, the Donquixote Family's prestige and influence in the North Blue reached their absolute peak.
In the past, Doflamingo had wanted the North Blue to be as chaotic as possible, since chaos created opportunities he could exploit.
Now, however, he needed the North Blue to continuously produce large quantities of goods for export to the New World. At the same time, he was dumping vast amounts of New World specialty products into the North Blue market. Whether it was production or trade, stability in the North Blue was essential to maximizing his profits.
And thanks to Doflamingo's forceful intervention, the North Blue's development over the past few years had indeed been steadily moving toward stability and prosperity.
Perhaps Doflamingo truly was a born villain, but even so, it couldn't be denied that he had made outstanding contributions to the North Blue's current prosperity and stability.
As the saying goes, judge actions, not intentions. No matter what Doflamingo's original motives were, the results were ultimately positive.
That was also the main reason why Sengoku, once a Navy Admiral and now the Fleet Admiral, was willing to approve Ortoren's move to "clean up" Doflamingo's image.
After all, if Doflamingo were nothing more than Ortoren's fall guy, a white glove who took on every dirty deed without gaining even a shred of goodwill, would Sengoku, as the top authority of the Marines, really allow such a black sheep to enter the Marine system and tarnish its reputation?
Image rehabilitation had to follow rules. It needed evidence. It needed results.
And the present-day Doflamingo truly did possess a decent public reputation. In the New World, he led Dressrosa, once a nation that could be called impoverished, rapidly toward prosperity and strength. In the North Blue, where he had once been feared as a local tyrant and the head of a vicious faction, he was now recognized by the vast majority of the population as the "Savior of the North Blue."
Only with that could his past crimes in the North Blue be covered up, reframed as "youthful mistakes," a "prodigal son's return," or even as "enduring humiliation for the greater prosperity of the North Blue."
"That's exactly how it should be," Ortoren said, exhaling a puff of smoke. "Let those who get rich first bring along those who come after. Development should be shared. Expand the market, expand the benefits, expand the pie. Don't always think about monopolizing everything. Think about making it bigger and stronger, letting more people participate and share in the dividends. That's how you earn broader support. Don't underestimate that support. It might not seem useful right now, but when it comes time to do something truly big, it's absolutely indispensable."
Back when he was stationed at G-5, Ortoren had cracked down hard on pirates within his jurisdiction, creating one of the rare pockets of peace and stability in the New World. That was what ensured smooth trade routes and gradually built trust between the local populations and the Marines.
It was precisely on that foundation of trust that G-5 gained support from all sides. When it came time to recruit soldiers, people volunteered enthusiastically, all willing to work together to protect the results they had achieved collectively.
The New World worked this way, and the North Blue was no different.
The support Ortoren spoke of might not be visible right now, but if one day Ortoren were to fall out with the World Government, if they tried to suppress him, cut off his business, or forcibly halt this trade in the North Blue…
He wouldn't even need to say a word. Everyone in the North Blue who had benefited from this prosperity would rise up to oppose the World Government.
You think you can just shut it down because you say so? Stop the trade? Then who's going to pay everyone's wages?
If someone has never seen the light, they can live their entire life in darkness. But once they've held that light in their hands, if you try to snuff out their torch, they'll fight you to the death.
And if, at that point, Ortoren stood behind them with formidable armed forces, with New World troops able to enter the North Blue at any moment to support them, then it wouldn't be surprising if they raised their banners and shouted,
"Benn prospers, King Toren reigns!"
"Brilliant insight, Admiral," Doflamingo said, giving Ortoren a thumbs-up.
The two of them burst into laughter.
After the laughter died down, Ortoren suddenly seemed to remember something and spoke calmly.
"By the way, where's your brother? And didn't you keep saying that if you ever got the chance, you'd introduce me to that Amber Lead brat you asked me about before, the one you wanted to know if I could cure?"
At the mention of this, Doflamingo sighed helplessly.
"I don't know what's gotten into that Corazon guy. He's always disappearing with that kid Law. At first I went looking for them and worried about it. Now I'm used to it. Just before you came to Dressrosa to see me, they vanished again. Who knows where they ran off to this time…"
Ortoren nodded thoughtfully at that. A trace of anticipation appeared at the corner of his mouth, and he didn't press the matter any further.
...
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