When the warship reached Punk Hazard, the image of the Mother Flame still surfaced in Ortoren's mind from time to time.
In Ortoren's view, in this world, overwhelming military strength was one of the cornerstones of maintaining rule, while individual power was the foundation that protected one's rights and status. Only by possessing formidable personal strength could one command a sufficiently large army, and only with such an army could one properly secure the territories and interests under their control.
Otherwise, being strong on your own meant very little. Whitebeard was monstrously powerful, yet the money his crew made in an entire year might not even cover a single day of Ortoren's expenses.
If you lack enough subordinates and troops to protect your interests, then when trouble breaks out in one territory, you have to deal with it personally. A few days later, something happens in another territory, and you have to rush over again. At that point, are you ruling as an emperor, or are you just playing nanny?
That was precisely why Ortoren, despite knowing that this world operated to some extent on the principle of "power belonging to the individual," still placed immense expectations on military forces.
As for the Mother Flame, that kind of ultimate weapon was, in Ortoren's eyes, something completely beyond the normal scale.
A single strike could wipe out an entire country. In other words, with one attack, it could reduce to nothing everything that countless people had accumulated over who knew how many centuries.
By the same logic, it also had the potential to annihilate a massive military base in one blow. To Ortoren, that was undeniably a threat.
"At the fastest, it'll still take eight to ten years to research it?" Ortoren mulled over that statement in silence.
In the original story, the Mother Flame was first put into experimental use after the year 1522 of the Sea Circle Calendar. The test target was the Kingdom of Lulusia, and the results were an overwhelming success. Even then, however, the World Government still hadn't fully mastered the weapon. They needed Dr. Vegapunk to continuously provide the "fusion furnace" required to activate it, which ultimately led to the massive conflict on Egghead Island.
Now, it was only the middle of Sea Circle Calendar 1505, still more than a decade away from 1522. But Ortoren had no intention of relying too heavily on his past memories. Ever since his arrival, this world had already undergone countless changes hidden beneath the surface.
Shanks, the man who once guided Monkey D. Luffy, was practically already on his way to reincarnation. With things like that happening, what was the point of clinging to the original timeline?
Those memories could only serve as references, or as material for analyzing intelligence.
The current state of Punk Hazard was also completely different from how it had been before. In the original story, the Mother Flame had been something Dr. Vegapunk worked on alone. Now, however, Punk Hazard was home to a large group of experts and scholars dedicated to researching ancient texts.
What Borsalino called "eight or ten years" might simply be an upper limit.
It was entirely possible that within eight to ten years, the Mother Flame would be revived ahead of schedule.
If the Mother Flame were to be resurrected in the hands of the World Government, it would pose a massive threat to Ortoren.
Because of that, he was already thinking about how to respond.
In the best-case scenario, he would seize the research results once the Mother Flame was completed. But he couldn't afford to place all his hopes on that single path.
Ortoren had always been meticulous and cautious. He rarely ever put all his eggs in one basket.
On one hand, he needed to prepare for the possibility of seizing the research results. On the other hand, he had to be ready to openly turn against the World Government within eight years.
In other words, before Sea Circle Calendar 1512, Ortoren had to complete his plan to sweep across the New World, using the Navy as his primary force to bring the entire region under unified control, and then begin a direct confrontation with the World Government.
...
By the time it reached that stage, the Mother Flame should no longer end up in the World Government's hands. Who knew? Ortoren might even use it to set off a massive fireworks display right over Mariejois.
Once he thought it through like that, it became clear that many things would need to move faster. His original plan had been to possess enough strength around 1510 to make Mariejois treat Fleet Admiral Sengoku with a bit more respect, but even that no longer felt quite sufficient.
With all these scattered thoughts swirling through his mind, Ortoren disembarked from the warship alongside Borsalino.
Waiting there to receive him was Rear Admiral Nico Olvia.
"Welcome to Punk Hazard, Admiral Benn!" Olvia stepped forward warmly and shook Ortoren's hand.
Perhaps it was the comfortable living conditions here, or perhaps the Science Corps had some special method of their own. Whatever the reason, Olvia looked as though time had passed her by, her charm undiminished.
Ortoren held her hand and spoke with a hint of emotion.
"The first time I met you, you were an outlawed scholar. The second time, you were a Captain in Punk Hazard's Science Corps. And now, when I see you again, you've already become a Science Corps Rear Admiral. Time really is an amazing thing…"
"Yes," Olvia replied with the same sense of reflection.
"When I first met you, you were already a Rear Admiral in the Navy. The second time, you were a Vice Admiral. And now, you're an Admiral. Just as you said, time truly is a wondrous thing. Still, all these years, I really must thank you for taking care of us."
On the way here, Ortoren had already heard about the scholars' situation from Borsalino. The former leader of the scholars, Professor Clover, had grown too old. His energy was no longer what it used to be, his health had declined, and he had withdrawn from frontline research.
After Professor Clover stepped back, Olvia formally took over as the leader of the scholarly group and inherited his rank of Rear Admiral.
If nothing unexpected happened, this was likely the highest rank scholars could reach within the Marine system.
At least, that was true for Olvia's generation. Perhaps decades later, when their cohort had aged and a new generation of scholars—those who truly grew up within the Marines—had risen, they would finally be fully integrated into the organization and become a genuinely trusted group.
Maybe only then would the invisible shackles hanging over their heads truly be removed.
"I already heard about the Sleeping Town Devil Fruit from Borsalino," Ortoren said with a smile.
"Thank you for personally making the trip to help me with it."
"I've always wanted a chance to repay your kindness," Olvia said seriously.
"It should be me thanking you."
Looking at her expression, Ortoren knew her words were not only about Ohara. Over the years, Robin had been raised by him and cared for as if she were his own daughter.
Come to think of it, Borsalino had even brought Robin to stay at Punk Hazard for a while in the past.
The group chatted as they walked into the Punk Hazard research facility.
Before long, Ortoren spotted Dr. Vegapunk approaching them, his oversized head immediately recognizable. When Vegapunk saw Ortoren, he beamed.
"I was going to welcome you at the port, but one of my experiments ran overtime. Sorry about that, sorry about that!"
"With Dr. Borsalino looking after me, how could I trouble you as well?" Ortoren laughed, joking with him.
Beside them, Borsalino's face twitched. He felt like firing a laser straight through Ortoren.
"Last time Vice Admiral Gion returned to headquarters, she took some medication from me that suppresses your manic mental state," Dr. Vegapunk asked curiously.
"Did you get a chance to try it?"
"I did, once," Ortoren replied.
"It worked very well. Just a few seconds after the injection, my mind completely cleared. Thank you for your concern, Doctor."
"As long as it works," Dr. Vegapunk nodded, then added a reminder.
"Still, I recommend you avoid using it whenever possible…"
"I understand. Actually, I can already control that agitation for the most part. In another year or two at most, I should be completely cured," Ortoren said with an easy smile.
"That's good, that's good…" Dr. Vegapunk nodded happily, then continued.
"By the way, last time I took a blood sample from you, with your permission, and conducted some research on it, right?"
"Speaking of that," Ortoren said, clearly pleased,
"Zephyr-sensei has told me several times that I should thank you properly when I get the chance. His asthma has really improved a lot."
Dr. Vegapunk exchanged a few words with Ortoren about Zephyr, then went on.
"I mentioned back then that the blood sample would be used in fields like biomedical research. However, my recent work in this area ran into some issues. The serum derived from your blood shows remarkable effects on traumatic injuries… but all the test subjects displayed varying degrees of insanity."
He paused briefly before continuing.
"Since you're confident you can fully recover from your previous condition within a year or two, I'd like to ask you to provide another blood sample once you're completely well. Would that be all right?"
"Of course," Ortoren nodded.
"We're good friends, Doctor."
"Hahaha, thank you very much," Dr. Vegapunk said, clearly delighted. He then led Ortoren off to show him some of the strange new technologies he had recently developed.
Ortoren was genuinely fascinated by Vegapunk's inventions.
He had always believed that the World Government was incredibly foolish for forcing Vegapunk's genius almost entirely into military development while dismissing and ignoring his other technologies.
Many of Vegapunk's creations held enormous potential. In particular, the simulated island clouds and Sea Cloud that could be used in the Blue Sea. In other words, these materials could serve as the foundation for a completely risk-free "highway," allowing travel from the Blue Sea up to Skypiea at any time.
This would shatter the centuries-old barrier between Skypiea and the world below, enabling the exchange of culture, goods, and local specialties, and generating massive economic and political benefits.
Then there were technologies like island-wide climate control systems, artificial organs, automatic cooking machines, holographic projections, and artificial lifeforms. If these could be put into practical use, they would become an endless source of wealth.