Ortoren's words left Sengoku with nothing to say.
Sakazuki was undeniably strong. That much was obvious. He held the rank of Admiral, after all. How could he be weak?
In a one-on-one fight, Sakazuki might be able to trade blows with Charlotte Linlin or Kaidou.
But one against two? Sakazuki simply wouldn't be able to hold that line.
And it wasn't just a question of strength. There was also a basic rule of warfare to consider: was it reasonable, or even appropriate, to swap commanders right as the battle was about to begin?
Sakazuki had no foundation in the New World right now. When Ortoren first took office, he'd swept through the New World Marines from top to bottom. Anyone who wasn't on his side was sent away, and those left behind were all Ortoren's own handpicked loyalists.
Even if Sakazuki really were transferred to the New World as the Admiral-Governor, it would still take him a long time to bring Ortoren's core people under his command, get them to actually follow his orders, and fully understand how everything worked.
Besides, the New World Marines were a tangled mess. You could practically call them a separate system, one operating alongside the Navy rather than within it. Without two or three years, Sakazuki wouldn't even be able to sort it all out.
In a situation where he was in the dark and understood nothing, transferring Sakazuki to the New World and forcing him to take the fight head-on would be a complete joke.
And if Sakazuki failed to keep control of the situation, the New World's current momentum, everything that was finally moving in a good direction, would collapse in an instant.
If the defeat was serious, things would become even more dangerous. After swallowing up so many benefits from the New World, the Big Mom Pirates and the Beast Pirates could grow into something truly horrifying.
By then, it wouldn't be a question of suppressing them anymore. They might even march on Holy Land.
So when you weighed the threat, what was the better choice?
Let Ortoren, an Admiral with some… problems, return to the New World to stabilize the situation and push it even further?
Or drag Sakazuki into a gamble?
Did that answer even need thinking through?
"The reason is a good one. More than sufficient," Sengoku said first, acknowledging the situation Ortoren had created.
But then he let out a quiet sigh and said, a little helplessly, "The Five Elders aren't fools. What you're doing is essentially raising enemies to secure your own position. And on some level, it also undermines the so-called loyalty you've been displaying. Once this round of fighting ends, they won't trust you anymore."
Ortoren burst out laughing, lifted the tea on the table, and drained it in one go. "Fleet Admiral, once this war is over and the New World is unified, we'll have no threats at our back. Everything will be stable and secure. When that day comes, why would we need even that tiny bit of trust from Holy Land?"
From the day he was transferred to G-5 and began stirring things up, Ortoren had understood one thing clearly: sooner or later, he and Holy Land would have to face each other directly. Until that moment arrived, all his restraint, all his acting, even his so-called "loyalty," was nothing more than a way to buy time and build up his strength.
And now, that strength was enough. The moment he swept the New World clean, he would have no worries behind him. Just as he said, when the time came, what use would trust be?
Sengoku listened to Ortoren's confident words and stayed silent for a long time. Then he looked at him and said, "In that case, go all in. Admiral Benn Ortoren, hear my order!"
At once, Ortoren stood up from the sofa and snapped to attention.
"By order of the Fleet Admiral, you are to return to the New World immediately and take overall command. You will respond to the war between our Marines and the pirate alliance of the Big Mom Pirates and the Beast Pirates. You are to end this war as quickly as possible, and you are to end it in victory!" Sengoku commanded in a deep voice.
Ortoren's expression hardened. He saluted sharply. "Yes, sir! I guarantee completion of the mission. All for justice!"
A moment later, Ortoren looked at Fleet Admiral Sengoku, smiled faintly, and said softly, "Loyalty!"
Fleet Admiral Sengoku froze for a beat. Then his gaze shifted past Ortoren, toward the top of the far wall in the office, to the piece of calligraphy hanging there.
Justice Reigning Supreme
A moment later, Fleet Admiral Sengoku smiled as well and nodded. "Loyalty!"
Ortoren didn't linger. He'd been at Marine Headquarters for less than half a day, and now he was leaving again.
After he closed the door and his presence was completely gone, Sengoku sat behind the Fleet Admiral's desk, let out a long sigh, and shook his head. "Next… it'll be this old man's turn to help you withstand the pressure from Holy Land…"
As he spoke, a hardened resolve flashed through his eyes. He picked up the Den Den Mushi on the desk and placed a call to the Five Elders.
Holy Land, Mary Geoise.
Pangaea Castle, top floor, Chamber of Power.
Warcury Saint, one of the Five Elders, listened to Fleet Admiral Sengoku's report through the Den Den Mushi.
His expression was heavy and shadowed, anger flickering faintly in his eyes. But once Sengoku finished explaining, he forced that anger down. His tone remained steady, even carrying a hint of softness as he said, "Is that so? That does make things difficult. In that case, let Ortoren handle the New World first. We'll talk after that…"
"Thank you for your understanding," Fleet Admiral Sengoku replied quietly.
Warcury Saint offered a few more words of reassurance before ending the call.
But the instant he set the Den Den Mushi down on the table, his face twisted viciously. He snatched up the ashtray on the desk and slammed it into the soft, plush carpet.
It shattered on impact, proof of just how much force he'd put into it.
"That bastard Ortoren just set foot back in Marine Headquarters, and the very next moment the New World erupts into a war between great pirate crews. How could there be a coincidence like that in this world?!" Warcury Saint roared.
Betrayal!
He could feel it, plain as day.
Back then, he had been the one to back Ortoren the hardest. He'd even been the first to propose that, when the time was right, Ortoren should be granted Celestial Dragon status.
At the time, he genuinely believed in Ortoren.
But here and now, everything had veered completely away from what he'd envisioned.
That damned Ortoren had betrayed what he'd placed on him.
That was the truth: loyalty that isn't absolute is absolute disloyalty.
Before this, Ortoren had never once made Holy Land look bad. Not even a single time. So in Warcury Saint's eyes, Ortoren had been unquestionably loyal to Holy Land.
But now, Ortoren had used this method to ruin the Five Elders' original plan. Even if he hadn't crossed any truly outrageous line, this kind of pushback was already disloyalty to the Five Elders.
Ortoren was no longer the man who obeyed their every word.
Mars Saint stood with his arms crossed, leaning against the windowsill as he watched Warcury Saint rage. After a moment, he spoke. "It's not just Ortoren. Haven't you noticed? Even Sengoku, whom we've always trusted and valued, is no longer loyal."
"Without question, Sengoku intends to use Ortoren's power in the New World to break free, at least in part, from our restraints in Holy Land," Nusjuro Saint said in a deep voice.
Saturn Saint's expression was grim, his tone cold. "CP has already reported the results of the East Blue operation this morning. It was an overwhelming victory. The Revolutionary Army's East Army, entrenched in East Blue, has been wiped out for the most part. Even the East Army commander, Ginny, has been captured and is being escorted to Mary Geoise."
"Previously, after the Whitebeard Pirates were eliminated, I thought the seas were finally stabilizing. All we needed was to hold the line and advance step by step, and before long we could suppress the world's chaos again. But now it seems that while we dealt a heavy blow to the Revolutionary Army and eliminated Whitebeard, we've instead allowed the Marines' liberalism to rise… We cannot allow this trend to continue. This is a problem that deserves even more attention than the Revolutionary Army."
In truth, the World Government had existed for over eight hundred years, and the Marines' history was just as long.
And throughout that long history, there had always been Marine elites willing to struggle, trying to loosen the shackles the World Government had wrapped around the Marines' neck and win a better future for the organization.
Holy Land had always referred to that force as "Marines liberalism."
But Marines liberalism had never defeated Holy Land even once. On the contrary, under repeated suppression, it gradually faded away. By today, this kind of sign hadn't appeared in the Marines for many years, even for a century.
And now Ortoren had risen. Fleet Admiral Sengoku, too, likely wanted to make a move. And so Marines liberalism, long thought dead, had come back to life.
To Holy Land, to the Five Elders, Marines liberalism was more terrifying than the Revolutionary Army, something that had to be wiped out.
Because if that ideology, that momentum, was allowed to spread, it would destroy the World Government's military foundation. It was a force truly capable of bringing the World Government down.
The bald Nusjuro Saint clenched his teeth and said, "We can't show any more tolerance to these thorns in the Marines. We must immediately come up with ways to solve these problems. Whether it's Ortoren or Sengoku, or even Zephyr, Garp, and the rest, we cannot let them remain in the Marines any longer!"
Nusjuro Saint didn't dare to spout nonsense about killing Ortoren, Sengoku, and the others outright.
That wasn't realistic, and they didn't have that kind of ability.
But they absolutely could not be allowed to stay in the Marines. Whether they were transferred out of the Marines or driven out of the Marines entirely didn't matter. The point was that they could not continue serving in the Marines' upper ranks.
That would undoubtedly weaken the Marines' overall strength, yes. But given the current situation, once Ortoren finished dealing with the great pirates of the New World, a round of weakening might still be acceptable.
And it wasn't as if there were no solutions. If it really came down to it, they could always initiate a World Military Draft.
Even if a World Military Draft carried its own hidden risks, it was still better than allowing these Marines liberalists to keep holding power within the Marines.