Over the next few days, the ship's captain pushed the vessel at full speed, arriving at Ramani Island nearly three days ahead of schedule with Ortoren and Gion aboard.
By the time they disembarked, Ortoren's injuries had completely healed, and he was back to full strength.
However, as a Devil Fruit user, he had no intention of going into the sea. Dressed in a pair of shorts, he lounged on a beach chair, basking in the sunlight while glancing toward Gion and a crowd of bikini-clad tourists playing in the surf. Of course, his main focus was the newspaper in his hands.
His luck at sea hadn't been great—he hadn't seen a single News Coo for days.
It wasn't until they landed on Ramani Island that Ortoren finally found some recent papers. To his surprise, the issues from previous days were uneventful, containing no significant news. Only today's paper broke the sensational headline about his clash with Whitebeard.
"What a coincidence…" Ortoren muttered, then began reading.
He had never met Morgans, the president of the World News, but the bird-man had always shown him respect. Ortoren rarely made the headlines, especially in recent years since taking charge as the G-5 Base Commander. He had lived a quiet, comfortable life, far from the public eye.
Still, whenever Ortoren did appear in the papers, Morgans always portrayed him positively—at least in the World News.
This time was no different. Apparently, Morgans' people hadn't uncovered the true cause of the conflict—namely, that it was sparked by a Devil Fruit.
So the report stated that Benn Ortoren, while vacationing on Sphinx Island, had joined a fishing competition but caught nothing (Ortoren frowned, knocking a point off his goodwill toward Morgans)... As he was preparing to leave the island, he encountered the Whitebeard Pirates and Bloodhand Lion Reingal.
As a just and dutiful Marine officer, Ortoren immediately stepped forward to eliminate the pirates.
Facing three opponents alone, he allegedly defeated Bloodhand Lion Reingal, the Whitebeard Pirates' Second Division Captain Kozuki Oden, and Third Division Captain Diamond Jozu in succession.
Then Whitebeard himself appeared, clashing fiercely with Ortoren. Neither side could gain the upper hand, and, due to the shifting situation at sea, both ultimately chose to withdraw.
In truth, Ortoren had only exchanged three blows with Whitebeard, but the newspaper described it as an earth-shaking battle where neither could overpower the other—implying that Ortoren now stood as Whitebeard's equal.
"If my strength didn't speak for itself, I'd think that bird-man was trying to flatter me to death. But really, was it necessary to mention that fishing competition?"
Ortoren frowned, then chuckled and folded the paper shut.
He didn't think much of it, unaware of Morgans' dilemma. Years ago, the Marines' public relations department had asked Morgans to build up Ortoren's image—at a time when he was at the peak of his fame. He had punched Kaidou, kicked Charlotte Linlin, defeated the Red Count, captured the Pirate King, and taken down the Golden Lion. For years, his name had been tied to every major event across the seas.
Given such a dazzling record—after all, the Red Count, the Pirate King, and the Golden Lion had all fallen before him—Morgans couldn't very well print that Ortoren wasn't qualified to stand alongside Whitebeard, could he?
If he wasn't, then what did that say about all those fallen legends? Wouldn't that cast doubt on the credibility of the World News itself?
So, awkward as it was, Morgans had no choice but to risk offending Whitebeard to maintain Ortoren's prestige.
At this point, the one most afraid of Ortoren losing a battle at sea wasn't Marine Headquarters—it was Morgans himself.
...
Grand Line, first half. Sandy Island, Alabasta Kingdom—Rainbase.
Rainbase, a newly developed oasis city, had become Alabasta's largest gold-sink under the full support of Crocodile, one of the Shichibukai. The casino known as "Rain Dinners" was actually a massive entertainment complex combining every form of amusement imaginable.
Nowadays, the Rain Dinners had quietly earned a reputation as the "most extravagant casino in the first half of the Grand Line." Therefore, it could be said Crocodile was now raking in gold by the bucketful. He had become immensely wealthy.
Leveraging that fortune, he had assembled a vast network of criminal forces. Among them was the notorious organization Baroque Works, which had gained considerable renown in recent years at the entrance to the first half of the Grand Line. Baroque Works' structure was massive. Beyond the numbered Officers it also included management ranks called Millions and Billions.
According to investigations by the Marines' Criminal Investigation Division, Baroque Works' membership swelled to tens of thousands. The mid-to-high-level managers alone—the so-called Millions and Billions—numbered nearly two thousand. As managers, each would reasonably command a dozen or two subordinates. From that, it was clear Crocodile had already amassed a formidable criminal force across the first half of the Grand Line and within the Kingdom of Alabasta.
However, because the organization kept a low profile, seemed to have CP agents assisting inside, and given Crocodile's Shichibukai status, the Marines limited themselves to intelligence monitoring rather than direct action. To some degree, Baroque Works also profited from a network of bounty hunters and peripheral members who captured pirates for bounties. That cooperation with local Marines made them an odd sort of force that, in a way, helped maintain order.
At this moment, in the underground third level of the Rain Dinners Casino, inside the office of Baroque Works' president, Crocodile sat in his executive chair. A cigar dangled from his lips, his hair slicked back in a pompadour, his posture that of a boss. He studied the newspaper clipping detailing the battle between Ortoren and Whitebeard.
"Whitebeard..."
His eyes darkened. His feelings toward Whitebeard were complicated. On one hand he respected Whitebeard's strength. On the other he resented the defeat he had suffered at Whitebeard's hands—a loss that shattered his dream of conquering the New World. Overall, his respect for Whitebeard outweighed his grudge, and he told himself that when he returned to the New World he would wash away that shame.
Lately Crocodile had been studying Donquixote Doflamingo's methods. If Doflamingo could seize Dressrosa, could Crocodile take control of Alabasta, a nation with an army of a million? With Alabasta as his backing, could he make waves in the New World? At the same time he was searching the desert for the legendary ancient weapon Pluton. So far the search had produced no leads. He had practically combed the entire desert without finding anything of value. Crocodile began to suspect the rumor that Pluton was hidden in Alabasta might be false.
If only Ortoren wasn't around. Crocodile half wished he could tell him to stop searching and go to Wano instead. If Ortoren could beat Kaidou with that level of determination, Pluton would practically be within reach.
Putting Whitebeard aside, Crocodile had nothing but dislike for the other figure dominating the headlines: Benn Ortoren. They had no personal feud—Crocodile had never seen Ortoren in person. In Loguetown he'd heard Ortoren was there, but he hadn't witnessed him.
Yet shortly after becoming a Shichibukai and arriving in Alabasta, a Momonga claiming to be Ortoren's subordinate had contacted him through Navy channels demanding he pay at G-5 immediately. They claimed that by becoming a Shichibukai he now owed Ortoren two hundred billion in guarantee fees. They threatened that if he didn't pay they'd beat him every time they saw him.
Could the proud Crocodile swallow that humiliation? He told the Momonga to tell Ortoren to go to hell and hung up the Den Den Mushi. Since then he'd nursed a grudge, vowing that the next time he met that Marine he would scatter his ashes to the winds.
In recent years, however, Ortoren kept a low profile apart from defeating Douglas Bullet, and Crocodile gradually let the matter fade. Seeing Ortoren splashed across the papers again—now hailed as a top-tier powerhouse who could stand toe-to-toe with Whitebeard—left Crocodile feeling like he'd swallowed shit. He wondered if it was time to go pick a fight with that arrogant Marine. Otherwise he couldn't shake the feeling that something was seriously wrong with his thinking.
...
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