Ortoren didn't stay long at Impel Down. After finishing his discussion with Magellan, he left the prison carrying a personally written escape guide—authored by none other than Magellan himself, the Director of the Deep Sea Great Prison, Impel Down.
As for when the plan would be put into action, the two had already exchanged their Den Den Mushi signal frequencies. Ortoren would inform Magellan before anything began.
The entire matter progressed with remarkable speed. From confirming cooperation with Dragon-san to Ortoren's departure from Impel Down, only two days had passed. Their efficiency was nothing short of impressive.
Given all this, Ortoren didn't even consider returning to Headquarters. In fact, he had already made up his mind: until Mary Geoise went up in flames, he wouldn't be returning.
If he went back now, he'd inevitably run into Admiral Sengoku. And if the admiral casually asked a question out of curiosity, how was Ortoren supposed to answer?
Hide the truth? Tell the truth?
Neither option worked.
Better not meet at all.
Since he had no plans to return to Headquarters and was departing from Impel Down, Ortoren contacted his good friend Spandine the moment he boarded the warship. He said he was on vacation, had nothing to do, and just happened to drift near the waters of Enies Lobby. If it was convenient, he planned to drop by for a visit.
Would Spandine ever refuse something like that?
Even Magellan, locked away in Impel Down, knew Ortoren was currently the strongest candidate to become the next Marine Admiral. How could Spandine not know?
On top of that, Spandine and Ortoren had worked together many times, becoming close friends who saw each other as trusted confidants.
Naturally, Spandine immediately invited Ortoren to come to Enies Lobby without hesitation.
This time, Ortoren got to fully experience what the "three-in-one" really meant. Leaving Impel Down and heading toward Enies Lobby, riding the Justice Current, it took barely half an hour to reach the target waters.
At this speed, forget regular ships—even the Sea Train couldn't compare to the Justice Current.
The moment they entered Enies Lobby's sea territory, Ortoren felt the shift immediately. The difference was stark, as if he had crossed a boundary between two timelines.
When he left Impel Down, dusk had already set in. But now, looking back past the warship, it felt like the world outside this sea was one realm, and the waters of Enies Lobby were another entirely.
He looked up at the sky. There wasn't even a sun visible, yet the island shone as brightly as daytime.
"The Island That Never Sleeps… truly incredible," Ortoren murmured.
The weather phenomena of this world were truly unpredictable. No wonder the universally accurate astrology of the Four Seas became useless the moment one entered the Grand Line.
Thinking about a place where it was always daytime, Ortoren couldn't help wondering if he had made the wrong choice back then. If he had joined CP, would his full moon mania have been cured just by living on an island with eternal daylight?
But then again, that would only treat the symptoms, not the cause. It might even build up pressure until he snapped the moment he left the island's borders.
While Ortoren drifted through these wandering thoughts, the warship gradually slowed and stopped. They had reached the port of Enies Lobby.
The gangway descended, and Ortoren stepped off the ship. He was just about to look around the island and check whether Spandine had come to meet him when a dark silhouette suddenly appeared in front of him.
Before Ortoren could react, a warm voice called out—and his hand was already being enthusiastically grabbed and shaken.
"Hahahahaha! Vice Admiral Benn, it's been ages since we last met! Now that you've come to Enies Lobby, you must stay a few more days." Spandine shook Ortoren's hand with overflowing excitement.
This was the first time Ortoren had come purely as a guest, not for "cooperation" or business. And what did that mean? Their friendship had taken another step forward!
As his hand continued to be vigorously shaken, Ortoren's face twitched. At last, he couldn't hold back and asked, "Spandine, I've wanted to ask this for a long time… are you a Paramecia-type Handshake no Mi user? The moment your power activates, can you guarantee a perfect handshake with the target?"
Spandine froze for a second, then shook his head. "You know I'm timid and hate danger. Why would I ever become a Devil Fruit user? I'm always running around—what if I fall into the sea?"
After hearing his denial, Ortoren swallowed and asked, "Then how did you grab my hand so fast that even I—a Goro Goro no Mi user—couldn't react in time?"
Spandine paused to think, then sighed with emotion. "Some people train every day and eventually achieve greatness. Those are people like you, Vice Admiral Benn. And some people shake hands every day and eventually achieve greatness too. Those people… are like me."
Hearing that, Ortoren felt a slight headache coming on. He couldn't help but question, "Surely… your social pressure isn't so extreme that you have to shake hands every single day?"
Spandine responded with a serene smile. "Vice Admiral Benn, you don't fight strong enemies every day either, do you? Yet despite that, you still reached where you are now."
That statement instantly enlightened Ortoren. His expression shifted to admiration. He patted Spandine on the shoulder. "If you put the same dedication you give to handshakes into actual combat training, I think you'd at least be on the level of a Marine Vice Admiral by now."
"Shaking hands makes friends. Fighting makes enemies. And you know me—I like making friends, not enemies," Spandine said, full of confidence.
The moment he finished, he and Ortoren exchanged a look and broke into hearty laughter.
This wasn't Ortoren's first time coming to Enies Lobby. The last time he visited, it had been daytime, and there was no dramatic shift in the sky like today, so he hadn't felt anything unusual. If he remembered correctly, that trip had also been the first time he met Spandine.
Back then, he had only been a Marine Rear Admiral. Now, in the blink of an eye, he was already pushing forward matters concerning the promotion of Admirals to Fleet Admiral.
His first meeting with that kid Lucci had also been here. The boy was already fourteen this year. Not long ago, when Ortoren returned to Headquarters, Zephyr-san had mentioned that at the beginning of the new term, Lucci would officially enroll with the new Marine recruits. But he also gave Lucci a strict rule: no early graduation through earned credits. He had to study diligently through the full two years, and once he turned sixteen, Zephyr-san himself would recommend him into the Marines.
As Ortoren passed by the training grounds, memories resurfaced. Just like years before, the voices of training echoed—sounds from the reserve CP members gathered from around the world.
He stopped walking without thinking. Spandine chuckled beside him. "What? Found another promising seedling?"
"Hahahaha…" Ortoren laughed, then looked over the small trainees and shook his head. "No, just feeling nostalgic… Hard to believe we've been friends for nearly ten years now, Spandine."
Spandine nodded with emotion. "Yes, almost ten years. Back then, you were just a newly promoted Rear Admiral. Now you're on the verge of becoming an Admiral. Meanwhile, I… I feel ashamed to say I've barely moved in ten years."
Ortoren grinned and comforted him. "Doesn't that just mean you reached your peak ten years ago? Positions in CP are limited—each slot has only one seat. If the people above don't move, no matter how capable the ones below are, they can't move up."
"That's right. If the ones above don't shift, the ones below can't either…" Spandine sighed. But soon, he leaned in slightly and lowered his voice. "But rumor has it that the position of Commander-in-Chief might change…"
"If it does, shouldn't the Marines fill the vacancy? How would CP benefit from that?" Ortoren asked, a little confused.
"There is a benefit! If the Commander-in-Chief steps down, then by our CP internal tradition, our CP Director usually steps down as well. That means we might have new openings too. So I'm quite looking forward to it. Who knows? Next time you see me, I might already be at CP-0. Hahaha!"
"Going to CP-0 to serve the Celestial Dragons isn't exactly—" Ortoren was about to say it wasn't a good assignment.
But when he looked at Spandine—remembering how skilled this man was at flattery—he stopped. Maybe other people couldn't survive in CP-0, but Spandine… might actually thrive there.
Considering that more than a decade later, Spandine would still hold power within the CP organization—cleaning up the massive mess at Enies Lobby and even managing to pull his useless son into CP-0 again—Ortoren couldn't help but feel impressed.
This friend was definitely worth keeping close. Valuable. Extremely valuable.