April 30, 1503, Age of the Sea Circle
Ten more days had passed since the return of Green Kamakiri's leader to the mercenary base, and not much had changed in the daily routine of Orion and his companions.
After using his Prism Eyes to analyze the mercenary leader, whose name was Kiko, Orion discovered with disappointment that there was nothing unusual about him and that he was simply a normal man with no supernatural powers.
He had hoped that even if Green Kamakiri was a fairly ordinary organization, at the very least its leader would be someone extraordinary, because that would have given him a clue as to why the system had sent him to this place in search of the Ope Ope no Mi.
Orion had even entertained the possibility that the mercenary leader might be the user of the Devil Fruit in question, yet now he was forced to discard that theory, along with his hopes of immediately solving the mystery of the Ope Ope no Mi's whereabouts.
Considering that this mercenary company was completely ordinary and that, aside from the presence of a Named Character, there was nothing out of the ordinary here, Orion concluded that the location of the Ope Ope no Mi would be revealed during one of this mercenary group's missions or something along those lines.
For that reason, during the last ten days, he had taken an especially proactive stance in participating in all available missions, instead of trying to stay at the mercenary base to investigate as he had done previously.
This unusually driven behavior had pleasantly surprised Kiko, who had even invited him for a few rounds of rum a few days earlier.
Now, Orion was sailing with a large group of mercenaries belonging to Green Kamakiri, heading toward a nearby island caught in the middle of a war between several mafia factions.
In the West Blue, mafias were a fairly serious problem, with multiple important families controlling a large portion of illegal businesses and even surpassing many pirates in terms of influence.
The mercenaries' current mission on this occasion was to assist one of the mafia leaders of the West Blue in his struggle against a rapidly rising and expanding mafioso named Capone Bege.
Orion and Gloriosa had come to take part in this mission, while Lucky Roux had stayed behind at the base just in case any news about the Ope Ope no Mi surfaced during their absence.
At this point, Orion had no lead whatsoever to follow, so his plan was simply to remain within the mercenary company and wait for the opportunity to find the Ope Ope no Mi to present itself.
Eventually, the ship carrying Orion and the others arrived at their destination, where they were greeted by their employer: one of the most important mafia bosses in the West Blue.
For this mission, the mafia boss had not only hired the mercenaries of Green Kamakiri, but there were also soldiers belonging to several other mercenary companies, some of which were quite renowned in this region.
"Welcome to my territory," the mafia boss said with a formal smile as he gestured exaggeratedly with his hands.
"As you already know, I've summoned you here this time to help me eliminate a rather troublesome individual. You should have already received the pertinent information, but I'll give you a brief reminder anyway," the mafia boss said, unfurling a large map on the wall behind the podium from which he was speaking.
"This is our current position on the east coast of the island, and Capone Bege is now located in the town of Turino, in the central region. Your mission this time is simple: provide support to our troops during the attack we'll launch this afternoon (…)"
The mafioso continued explaining the operation in detail for several minutes, but Orion didn't pay much attention, since he had no intention of actually "working." The reason he had come here was simply because he was searching for new clues about the Ope Ope no Mi, and anything unrelated to that didn't interest him in the slightest.
Moreover, as he observed the abysmal morality of this mafia boss through his Prism Eyes, Orion was even debating whether he should eliminate him before leaving this island, both to increase his SP reserves and to rid the world of such a vile criminal.
Even so, he knew that the situation in the West Blue wouldn't improve with such "rustic" measures. After all, the problem wasn't the mafioso standing in front of him, but the mafia system itself, which was deeply entrenched in this Blue.
To truly help the people of this place, he would have to dedicate a great deal of time to eradicating the cancer that the mafias represented here, but that wasn't something that could be done overnight or without preparation, so Orion hadn't even considered it a real option at this moment.
Still, the Western Revolutionary Army under Kuma was already working on this major issue, and Orion believed he could help them in the future when they were ready to "cleanse" this Blue of the mafias that plagued it.
Suddenly, while Orion was checking the system screen to look at the three new markers that had appeared on the map indicating the presence of three Named Characters—Bege, Vito, and Gotti—Gloriosa nudged him softly in the ribs and said with a smile
"Orion, can I beat up those mafiosos that this chubby guy is talking about?"
The "chubby guy" Gloriosa was referring to was their employer on this occasion, the mafioso who had hired them to eliminate Bege. He was a middle-aged man, rather plump, with a somewhat gloomy appearance.
Orion remained silent for a moment, thinking about the current situation, and finally shook his head before saying:
"No, don't do anything for now. Just follow the other mercenaries and pretend to fight if necessary, but don't kill anyone."
Obviously, with Orion and Gloriosa's current power, they would likely be capable of eliminating anyone they wished to in this place, and that included Bege and his troops. However, considering that they were Named Characters, Orion thought it was best to wait and not take action yet.
He would first have to assess what kind of people they were, and only then could he decide whether it was worth acting to eliminate them, recruit them, or simply ignore them.
On the other hand, Orion and Gloriosa had not shown their true powers since joining the mercenary company, trying not to attract attention, so Orion wanted to maintain that pattern.
Even so, Orion's words were met with great disappointment from Gloriosa, as she was tremendously bored after being unable to move freely during the past few weeks, and she just wanted to let loose and beat someone up.
Fortunately for Orion, despite Gloriosa being very restless and impulsive, she considered his words important and had no intention of contradicting him—although if she kept holding back her impulses much longer, she would probably end up exploding at some point.
After their employer finished giving the necessary information about the operation they would soon carry out, all the mercenaries present left the room to take a brief rest before the mission began.
Orion took this opportunity and, telling Gloriosa to stay in the area and inform him of any changes, vanished using his Pocket Dimension with the intention of going to see Capone Bege and the other two Named Characters.
…
In the town of Turino, located at the center of the island Orion and Gloriosa had arrived at earlier that day, Capone Bege and his subordinates were also having a relaxed meeting, discussing the attack their enemies would launch in the coming hours.
They had spies within the ranks of the opposing mafia, so they already knew in advance every move their enemy would make this time. Even with the addition of mercenaries to their ranks, their adversaries would be unable to do anything against the meticulously prepared plan Bege had devised.
He had risen as one of the faction leaders within the West Blue mafias only two years earlier, yet in that time he had already surpassed many of the old families that had dominated the underworld of this Blue for decades.
He was a young man of only twenty-five, and his ambition was limitless. His current goal was to overwhelm all the other mafia families of the West Blue, and he had set a plan to accomplish this within roughly a decade. So far, everything had gone smoothly, and both Bege and his subordinates were fully confident that they would be able to achieve their objectives.
Even so, Capone Bege's ambitions were not about conquering the other families and becoming a leader who took their place. What he really wanted was simply to watch the world burn. What he enjoyed more than anything was the feeling of destroying his enemies, especially when they were old families with deep roots that had ruled this Blue for a long time.
The excitement he felt every time one of his enemies fell into his trap, and the look on their faces when they realized they were about to lose everything, was what made Bege feel alive, and it was the only thing that pushed him to openly collide with numerous mafia bosses.
In truth, he was a rather complex and somewhat strange person. To an ordinary observer, he might even seem like a psychopath, although that wasn't the case. Despite being bloodthirsty and a bit twisted, he was also capable of showing mercy to members of enemy families once he had completely crushed their leaders—though many believed that was simply yet another way for him to "mock" his defeated adversaries.
"Boss, just as you predicted, the Salieri family will attack in a few hours. We've received a message from one of our spies. Apparently, they've hired ten mercenary companies to lay siege to our base," one of Bege's subordinates said.
Bege simply nodded, paying little attention to the matter as he continued eating a delicious steak prepared by his best chef.
One of the advantages of being a mafia boss was the luxurious life he could enjoy on a daily basis, comparable to that of any aristocrat from the surrounding kingdoms.
However, on this occasion, he would not be able to enjoy his meal as much as he would have liked, since an unexpected visitor had arrived at his doorstep.
"Capone Bege? I must admit I didn't expect you to be so meticulous with your plans. Although you're still a bit green. If you were fighting someone more dangerous, you'd already be dead," a mocking voice suddenly said, making Capone Bege leap from his chair abruptly, a pistol in hand.
He was used to having everything under his control, and it was the first time someone had interrupted him during his leisure time in such a manner.
"Who are you?! Show yourself!" Bege said, pointing his weapon around him, unable to find the intruder.
He couldn't use Haki, so even though his senses were sharper than those of an ordinary person, he was still an easy target for someone skilled in camouflage and infiltration. And this time, he had run into a monster like Orion, who excelled particularly in these areas thanks to his special abilities.
"Relax, I have no intention of hurting you. Otherwise, I would've already done it," Orion said, emerging calmly from his Pocket Dimension and appearing before Bege and his subordinates.
Even so, although Orion had presented himself quite amicably, the mafiosos opened fire without a second thought, intending to gun down the intruder.
Orion simply used Tekkai (Iron Body) and deflected the gunfire from the mafiosos without any difficulty. With his current power level, this kind of attack no longer posed any threat to him, and only if the bullets had been imbued with Armament Haki would he have had trouble.
Obviously, such advanced abilities were far beyond the reach of this group of West Blue criminals. When they saw their bullets bouncing off Orion's body without causing any harm, they began to sweat profusely, realizing that this time they had run into someone they couldn't afford to provoke.
Even so, the mafiosos kept firing, until Bege raised a hand, signaling them to stop—proof that despite being a band of criminals, they possessed good discipline and loyalty toward their leader.
Seeing that it was impossible to harm Orion with their pistols, Bege halted his subordinates, thinking there was no point in continuing an attack that would yield no results. In his sharp mind, Bege was already analyzing every possible option to deal with Orion, but on the surface he merely showed a somewhat formal smile as he said:
"Pardon my lack of hospitality, but I wasn't expecting a visitor so suddenly."
Orion immediately knew what was going through Bege's mind, since he was the same type of person as the mafia boss. Both belonged to the sort who tended to overanalyze situations and act pragmatically, and it had been this very pragmatism that had pushed Orion to introduce himself to Bege in the first place.
After separating from the group of mercenaries and leaving Gloriosa behind, he had infiltrated Bege's base without any trouble and taken a look at the organization. He had even managed to inspect the mafia's documents, though he immediately realized those files were fake, placed there only to confuse possible enemy spies.
In reality, thanks to the powers of his Devil Fruit, Bege was capable of storing that kind of confidential information inside his own body, in the internal fortress where most of his troops also resided—the same troops he used to deceive his enemies during many of his battles.
The fact that Bege had been meticulous enough to prepare this kind of false information sparked a bit of extra interest in Orion. After all, he was used to encountering Named Characters who were far cruder in their methods, usually relying on brute force as their main means of combat.
This didn't mean all the Named Characters he had met were stupid, but rather that their way of acting was much more straightforward than what Capone Bege was displaying.
Once Orion began to feel intrigued by the mafia boss, he investigated the base a little more, finding many irregularities—almost as if it were simply a fake base set up only as a trap for his enemies.
This was precisely the case, since Bege was a walking fortress and therefore didn't need a real base most of the time. He often used the trick of staging a base with several exposed flanks, and when his enemies tried to exploit those weaknesses, they were crushed by Bege's counterattack.
It was a simple yet effective tactic, and for that reason the pragmatic Bege used it repeatedly.
Once Orion inspected the base thoroughly, he observed Bege and his subordinates, analyzing them with his Prism Eyes. Interestingly, the result he obtained when analyzing Bege was quite ambiguous and strange. It was the first time Orion had encountered someone who seemed "evil," "good," and "neutral" all at once, resulting in a rather chaotic vision he couldn't fully interpret.
He had even considered the possibility that Bege might have more than one personality, though he eventually discarded that theory, since there were no other signs to support it.
After Orion finished analyzing the surroundings and Bege himself, he decided it was best to confront this Named Character directly. After all, he had come here to look for clues about the Ope Ope no Mi, and he didn't want to waste too much time on situations unrelated to that objective.
"No problem, I'm not petty enough to get angry over something like that, although I might get a bit aggressive if you try to attack me again," Orion said with a smile.
Bege simply let out a loud laugh and, walking toward Orion confidently, said:
"Well then, my unexpected guest, what can I do for you?"
"Well, I have two options for you. You can become my subordinate… or die. Which do you prefer?"
The place fell into absolute silence, and Capone Bege's subordinates immediately placed their hands on their pistols once more. How dared this man say something like that to the boss?! Had he really come all the way here without knowing anything about his terrifying power?
Capone Bege stopped smiling in that friendly manner he had maintained so far, and with a cold expression he stared at Orion, calculating different possibilities in his mind. Was the man standing before him truly powerful enough to act on those words? Or was he simply an arrogant idiot?
Bege leaned more toward the first option, yet his pride would never allow him to surrender to another person without first putting up some resistance!
With a sudden leap, Bege created some distance between him and Orion, and then his body began to transform. Small hatches opened across his torso, revealing tiny cannons within. Without him needing to give any order, the miniature cannons began to fire at Orion, who watched the development with a hint of surprise.
He had analyzed Bege with an "Evaluation Card" that allowed him to obtain information about the mafioso, though nothing too detailed. In the information he had gathered, several of Bege's abilities were listed, presenting him as someone highly suitable for administration, especially within an Underworld organization.
This was the reason why Orion had tried to recruit him in the first place, since Bege's talent was fantastic for the future organization he intended to establish to handle the distribution of medicines throughout the Underworld.
Such an organization, even if it did not deal in weapons, drugs, or slaves like Umit Shippings, still had to operate within the darker side of the world and was far from being a simple merchant company, so he needed someone with Bege's skills to take the lead and ensure it functioned as efficiently as possible.
However, the information he had obtained through the system had revealed nothing about Bege's combat level or his Devil Fruit abilities, leading Orion to assume that he had no particular trump cards in that area.
Now that he was face to face with this strange attack of miniature cannonballs that suddenly grew in size, Orion couldn't help but raise his eyebrows with interest, though his posture remained just as relaxed as before.
After all, this kind of long-distance attack was the least effective one against Orion.
Bege smiled as he saw Orion's surprise, but contrary to his expectations, the surprise was immediately replaced by curiosity, and an instant later Orion waved his hand, making the cannonballs that were about to strike him vanish without leaving a trace.
Then, Orion waved his hand again, and the cannonballs reappeared—this time traveling toward Bege at full speed!
Arms crossed, Orion waited to see the result of the collision, but the cannonballs simply disappeared, absorbed back into Bege's body in their miniature state, causing no harm whatsoever to the mafia boss.
"Ah, it seems you're also good against long-distance attacks," Orion said while nodding, which made Bege feel a surge of irritation as he imagined Orion was underestimating him.
Somewhat shaken by his negative emotions, Bege decided to put an end to the matter and use his most powerful card: his subordinates!
No matter how strong Orion might be, could he fight an entire army on his own?
In the past, no matter the enemy he faced, he could always wipe them out by using the advantage of numbers, even if he had suffered significant losses more than once. However, he was willing to risk losing a few men if it meant getting rid of this dangerous individual standing before him!
Countless tiny doors appeared across Bege's body, and a large number of battle-ready soldiers began pouring out at full speed, creating a torrent of small people who, upon leaving the range of his ability, returned to their normal size.
Orion took several steps back as he watched the massive group of soldiers charging at him with their weapons raised, and he thought that Bege truly knew how to make use of the element of surprise.
Most people would have found themselves cornered when suddenly attacked by an army, though unfortunately for Bege, Orion did not fall within "most people".
Bege smiled with satisfaction when he saw Orion retreat, but before he could declare victory, Orion halted his steps and looked at him with an aggressive smile. An invisible wave burst from Orion's body, striking Bege's soldiers head-on, making them collapse to the ground with foam spilling from their mouths, completely unable to defend themselves.
The mafia boss's eyes widened, and a single term immediately surfaced in his mind: Conqueror's Haki!
Why had one of the world's monsters capable of using such a power suddenly appeared before him?! Bege thought in frustration, and he instantly made a decision fitting for his pragmatic nature.
The tiny doors on his body closed, and he returned to his normal appearance. Then, with a slightly tired expression, he said:
"Alright, let's talk about your proposal."
Orion gave a slight nod, thinking that Bege truly was the type of person he needed right now, and he walked over to the table where the mafioso's steak was still warm, sitting on the chair that Bege had previously occupied.
…
Meanwhile, in the distant waters of the New World, an event of great importance for the world was about to unfold, and Orion had been the direct cause of it.
...
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