Ortoren lifted his teacup, took a small sip, and chuckled softly. "I've been waiting these past two months as well. Yet not a single person from Holy Land has come to say anything strange to me. That alone tells me the attitude of those five isn't all that hardline."
That was the truth. Ortoren's deliberate stalling during this period was itself a way of probing Holy Land's position.
Up to now, neither the Five Elders nor anyone else had contacted him directly. That silence, in many ways, already spoke volumes.
For example, the Five Elders had no intention of pushing matters to a complete deadlock.
For example, they currently lacked any truly forceful means to keep Ortoren in check.
In the end, Ortoren still returned to Marine Headquarters to accept the so-called commendation.
At its core, this was also a way of making his stance clear to the Five Elders and to Holy Land.
It was as if he were saying: Don't mind the fact that I've stationed hundreds of thousands of troops in the New World, built warships in secret, trafficked arms, and even colluded with pirates. I am still loyal to the World Government.
Whether the Five Elders believed that or not was another matter. What mattered was that Ortoren's attitude had been made explicit.
As long as the attitude was there, many things could be handled more gently.
At least, that was how the Five Elders saw it.
Fleet Admiral Sengoku nodded first, then spoke slowly. "Now that you're back, you still owe this old man a proper reason before I let you return."
"I already have it prepared," Ortoren said with a smile, pulling a Den Den Mushi from inside his coat and giving it a slight shake toward Sengoku.
Sengoku looked at the Den Den Mushi in Ortoren's hand. After a brief silence, he said quietly, "Then use it. Let me see how effective it is, and whether your reason is convincing enough."
Ortoren laughed aloud and immediately dialed the Den Den Mushi.
The call connected quickly, but the person on the other end didn't speak, as if waiting for an instruction.
Ortoren gave Fleet Admiral Sengoku one last look, then spoke softly into the Den Den Mushi. "Proceed. Let the New World fall into chaos."
With that, he didn't wait for a reply and hung up at once.
Fleet Admiral Sengoku looked at Ortoren without saying anything. After a moment, he calmly picked up the documents on the desk and signed them. "Here. Your commendation order."
Ortoren stood, accepted the document, then sat back down and unfolded it to take a look.
There was nothing out of the ordinary—just a long list of naval commendations, improvements to benefits and compensation, along with various medals and decorations.
These things held little interest for Ortoren, but after skimming through them, he still smiled and said, "Thank you, Fleet Admiral."
"Mhm..." Sengoku didn't even lift his head, continuing with his work.
Ortoren said nothing more. He sipped his tea and casually picked up the intelligence compilation placed on the desk.
This was the Navy's latest weekly internal intelligence summary. Although it was delivered directly to Fleet Admiral Sengoku, Ortoren, as a Navy Admiral, naturally had sufficient clearance to read it at will.
He flipped through a few pages. There was nothing new, just information he already knew.
Before long, however, two reports caught his attention.
The first stated that the Kuja Pirates, who had disappeared from the first half of the Grand Line for many years, had reemerged. The Intelligence Department suspected that Amazon Lily now had a new Empress and that the Kuja Pirates would soon stir up trouble again. Relevant risks required close attention, and the intelligence alert level at several Marine bases in the first half of the Grand Line had already been raised.
Reading this, Ortoren felt mildly surprised. He raised an eyebrow and said, "Fleet Admiral, the Kuja Pirates are coming back."
The Kuja Pirates were an extremely ancient pirate crew, with an orderly lineage spanning several hundred years.
Every generation's captain had been exceptionally powerful. Shakky, for instance, had once clashed with Garp multiple times. In the end, she retired successfully, washed her hands of piracy, and was never sent to Impel Down.
Then there was Gloriosa, who had even joined the Rocks Pirates. Among that gathering of monsters, she was still a notable figure. The fact that she managed to withdraw safely from a peak battle like God Valley spoke for itself.
As for the current captain of the Kuja Pirates, there was no doubt about it. It was Boa Hancock, the woman who had once set Holy Land ablaze under Ortoren's watch and was later rescued.
To be honest, Ortoren was genuinely surprised. Hancock had clearly inherited the throne of Amazon Lily far earlier than she had in the original story.
"Mhm. The Intelligence Department has conducted investigations," Sengoku said without looking up. "But the Empress of this generation seems quite young. For now, she probably won't cause any major trouble."
"There's still one vacant position among the Shichibukai, isn't there?" Ortoren said casually. "Why not consider the Kuja Pirates?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Sengoku realized something. He frowned and looked up at Ortoren. "Your people again?"
"You're in the New World, and you're still tangled up with Amazon Lily in the first half of the Grand Line? I hear the people there absolutely hate men."
"So what is it? Because you're handsome?"
That single question made Ortoren feel awkward. What did he mean by "your people again"? It made it sound like all the Shichibukai were under his control.
What about Crocodile? That guy was clearly at odds with him. How could Sengoku accuse him out of thin air like that?
Still, under Sengoku's scrutinizing gaze, Ortoren didn't feel comfortable denying it. He rubbed his nose and replied a bit stiffly, "Well… we just happen to know each other."
Was he supposed to say that he was her lifesaver?
Sengoku's face twitched slightly. Just as he'd suspected. This kid suddenly bringing up the Shichibukai definitely meant something was going on. He hadn't expected Ortoren to quietly get his hands on Amazon Lily as well.
Amazon Lily was located deep in the Calm Belt, isolated from the outside world. Its economy was relatively poor, and the country itself was extremely closed off.
But its military strength was terrifying. Nearly everyone there was a warrior, and each of them wielded Haki. In the first half of the Grand Line, they were unquestionably top-tier. Even in the New World, they couldn't be called weak.
A rough estimate suggested they could field at least tens of thousands of elite fighters.
After a brief silence, Sengoku waved his hand. "As for the Shichibukai, handle it however you want. As an Admiral, you have that authority."
Seeing this, Ortoren nodded casually. "Then I won't hold back."
He didn't continue that topic and instead shifted his gaze to the next piece of intelligence he had skimmed earlier and paid close attention to.
That was… CP-0 had issued a request for support to major Marine branch bases in East Blue, and Commander-in-Chief Kong had approved it.
According to the report, CP's request for reinforcements was aimed at wiping out the Revolutionary Army's East Army, which was entrenched in East Blue.
Under normal circumstances, this wouldn't have been anything special. But the fact that it had been personally approved by Commander-in-Chief Kong made it completely different. It meant the incident was of extremely high importance, to the point that even the Supreme Commander of the entire military was paying attention to it.
Ortoren quickly calculated the timing in his head and immediately thought of something.
Could it be that Ginny was about to be in trouble?
Just as Ortoren was thinking this through, the emergency Den Den Mushi on Fleet Admiral Sengoku's desk suddenly started ringing wildly, shattering the quiet in the office.
Fleet Admiral Sengoku didn't rush to pick it up. He first glanced at Ortoren, as if he had already anticipated something, then calmly lifted the Den Den Mushi and asked, "What is it?"
"Fleet Admiral!" A Vice Admiral from the Intelligence Department reported in a panicked voice. "This is bad! Twenty minutes ago, the Big Mom Pirates in the New World announced an alliance with the Beast Pirates! Charlotte Linlin and Kaidou have jointly declared war on the Marines!"
"Is that so?" Sengoku showed no sign of surprise. He replied calmly, "Understood."
"Fleet Admiral?" The Vice Admiral on the other end was completely stunned. That was it? That was your reaction?
Before he could voice his confusion, Sengoku had already hung up the Den Den Mushi.
Not far away, on the sofa, Ortoren wore a faint smile. "Well? Is that reason enough? With a war breaking out, and Charlotte Linlin and Kaidou joining forces, tell me, in the entire Navy, who besides me can hold the situation together? Transfer Sakazuki? Is Sakazuki really qualified?"