Peter Saint, who had been silent the whole time, set down his teacup. He glanced at the other Five Elders, then spoke. "Ortoren disappointed us this time, but he still returned to headquarters instead of openly disregarding our orders. What does that tell us?"
Before anyone else could answer, Peter Saint continued. "It means there are at least two possibilities. First, Ortoren has simply gained power and, with it, a bit of confidence. So he's testing us, trying to carve out more room for himself, so he can operate more freely in the New World. In essence, he may not truly intend to betray us…"
He took a sip of tea and paused briefly before going on. "Second, Ortoren still has his reservations. In his eyes, the strength he holds isn't enough to tear his relationship with us apart yet. So he needs time, and he doesn't dare go too far, choosing this compromise instead… Which do you think it is?"
The other four Five Elders exchanged looks, clearly weighing it.
"Both are possible…"
"His past performance was too flawless. That's why it's hard to read his intentions now."
As the saying goes, Wang Mang was humble and respectful before he usurped the throne. Ortoren had performed too perfectly in the past. So in the Five Elders' eyes, there were only two explanations for his current behavior.
One: he'd harbored rebellion all along, and everything before was an act meant to lull them into complacency.
The other: even now, Ortoren was still loyal, but he'd grown swollen with confidence after gaining real strength. A young man, crowned with the title of the strongest and armed with that kind of power, becoming arrogant was understandable.
After some back-and-forth, Warcury Saint spoke in a low voice. "There's no need to keep guessing which it is. Either way, it doesn't change what we must do. We have to suppress this trend. So we need to prepare for the worst and treat Ortoren as a true enemy. Which means the real question now is this: what has the New World Marines become? The information and intelligence we've received so far may never have pierced Ortoren's surface and reached the truth."
"Agreed. Treat him as an enemy," Saturn Saint said after a moment's thought. "In that case, we need a full picture of his current situation. Isn't Stussy in the New World? She's very capable, and she's brought up doubts about Ortoren more than once. We simply didn't take them seriously back then… Let her focus on investigating him properly."
Her Majesty the Queen was, in fact, quite shrewd. In the New World, she had filed plenty of reports to Mary Geoise about Ortoren, using them as camouflage.
Catch the small ones and let the big one go. That had been Queen Stussy's strategy. Anything that could truly affect Ortoren, she kept hidden. She would even step in and help Ortoren clean up loose ends.
But for small matters that couldn't hurt him, Stussy reported them constantly.
Ortoren was said to be wildly extravagant, spending two hundred million Belly on a fishing rod. Ortoren was said to be buying antiques on the black market, relics that the Revolutionary Army had once looted from Mary Geoise. There were rumors about his chaotic private life, claims that he kept a hundred or more mistresses. There were also accusations of embezzling military funds and working with the Big Mom Pirates on various illegal smuggling operations.
The Five Elders had received no shortage of such reports from Her Majesty the Queen.
At the time, they didn't see it as a problem. As long as the big picture was sound, how could they demand that a Marine commander stationed on the New World front line be as spotless as a saint?
If he truly had no flaws at all, that would have made the Five Elders uneasy instead.
So the Five Elders never took those reports of greed and womanizing seriously.
But now, looking back, Stussy really did seem like a loyal intelligence officer of the World Government. She'd noticed long ago that the seemingly respectable Ortoren was off, and she'd been keeping her eye on him. It was just that the five of them hadn't paid attention, so she never dared to dig too deeply into an Admiral. If she got exposed, wouldn't the Marines and CP tear into each other?
So she could only keep sending them these less-than-glorious bits of intelligence, over and over, as a way to remind them.
Thinking about it now, Stussy had really been going to great lengths.
It should be her.
Have her dig up Ortoren's weak points and see what outrageous things he's really been doing in the New World all these years.
"And also, have Stussy resend all the evidence from her previous reports on Ortoren to Mary Geoise," Nusjuro Saint added suddenly, as if something had just occurred to him.
Righteous justification mattered.
In the past, the Five Elders had never taken those negative reports seriously. But now, those same things could be forged into sharp blades.
Since they'd decided to strip Ortoren and the others of their positions in the Marines, there had to be a proper reason, didn't there?
You couldn't have him win a great victory in the New World one moment and then kick him out of the Marines the next. If that happened, who in the Marines would still be willing to work hard?
So there needed to be reasons. Plausible, high-sounding reasons.
And that meant those old incidents could now become the knives aimed straight at Ortoren.
A Navy Admiral who was corrupt and decadent, embezzling military funds and colluding with pirates. Money that should have gone toward maintaining the troops and paying benefits was instead diverted to support his hundred-plus mistresses. He bought illegal antiques and artworks on the dark market, relics that had leaked out of Mary Geoise. He even spent two hundred million Belly on a fishing rod.
By hammering these scandals again and again, they could first completely ruin Ortoren's reputation. Then they'd dispatch the World Government's disciplinary oversight organization to launch an investigation, officially ordering Ortoren to cooperate.
Once it reached that stage, once the paperwork was issued, it didn't matter whether he really had problems or not. They'd find problems anyway. Even if there were none, they'd make some.
At that point, Ortoren would have no choices left. Either he cooperated with the investigation and got caught, or he refused to cooperate. And refusing to cooperate meant guilt. It meant he had something to hide. A serious crime. And then stripping him of his military status would be perfectly justified.
If it was handled well, the World Government could even walk away with a reputation for integrity and incorruptibility.
Look, even a Navy Admiral involved in corruption wouldn't be tolerated. As for the rest of you, you'd better think carefully. Whatever you've taken, return it quickly, and we'll let it slide. But if you resist to the end, clinging to false hope, and we uncover it ourselves? Then it's confiscation of property and extermination of your entire family.
And this method wouldn't only work on Ortoren. It worked just as well on Sengoku, Zephyr, Garp, and the other senior figures in the Marines.
Sengoku, how many good things have you fed those little goats over the years? Garp, how many rice crackers have you bought? Zephyr, how many cigars have you smoked?
It didn't matter whether you paid for those hobbies with legitimate income. As long as you cooperated with the investigation, they could still spin it into corruption. And if you didn't cooperate, that just meant you had a guilty conscience. All the more reason to strip you of your rank.
"Stussy can be used, but we can't rely on her alone," Mars Saint said. "Ortoren might have ways to counter her investigation. Besides that, we also need to apply pressure from within the Marines themselves. That guy who uses fire… what was his name again?"
"Aramaki," Peter Saint reminded him.
"Right, Aramaki," Mars Saint said, raising his eyebrows. "Hasn't that guy been dissatisfied with Ortoren from the very beginning? You can tell he's ambitious, too, and he's got a deep admiration for us Celestial Dragons. Perfect material for a dog. His abilities aren't particularly outstanding yet, but he's usable. Let him stir things up inside the Marines and dig into Ortoren's affairs."
"And we should divide them as well," Saturn Saint added. "There are a few capable figures under Ortoren. Isshō, Momonga, Tokikake, and the like. We can promise them substantial rewards. For example, after Ortoren is dealt with, we can offer them Admiral positions. What we can promise them should be far more than anything Ortoren can offer. I refuse to believe they're all absolutely loyal to him."
Hearing this, Warcury Saint lit up. "Exactly. Let that bastard experience what betrayal feels like."
And so, while Ortoren was still on his way back to the New World, the Five Elders were already plotting how to deal with this troublesome thorn in their side.