In the residential quarters, beneath the midday sun, Ortoren was in the courtyard of his home, playing with Ace on the grass.
The little guy was crawling everywhere now, babbling nonsense with a face full of lively expressions. Healthy and brimming with energy, he was a bundle of restlessness.
"I noticed all the other commanders went to headquarters for the meeting. Why didn't you go?" Rouge stepped out of the house with a cup of steaming tea, handing it to Ortoren as she asked.
Ortoren accepted the cup with a grin. "I already know everything I need to. Sengoku and the others have their own plans. This meeting is just for the rest of the commanders to air their opinions, vent a little, and build some unity in the ranks. I don't need to be there."
"Skipping it won't be a problem?" Rouge pressed, still worried.
"No problem. The Admirals know too. Didn't you notice Zephyr-sensei didn't go either? He just taught class as usual." Ortoren shrugged it off.
"So how long are you staying home this time?" Rouge let the matter drop and asked something else.
"Until the meeting's over. Two days at most. After that, I'll have to head back to the New World. G-5 is a mess of unfinished work, and now with this whole Shichibukai business... tch. There's never a quiet day on these seas." Ortoren sighed.
Rouge nodded gently. "If you get the chance, come back more often. Ace really likes you."
"I will, whenever I can. As for the household... I'll be counting on you," Ortoren replied.
They slipped into lighter conversation after that, mostly Rouge talking while Ortoren listened. Much of it was about Ace, mixed with a few bits of gossip about the families of other commanders at headquarters.
What Ortoren didn't notice was how natural their exchanges had become—more and more like those of a true married couple. The initial distance and awkwardness between them had faded, whether naturally or perhaps under Rouge's subtle guidance.
As they were chatting, Ortoren's Den Den Mushi suddenly rang.
He pulled it out—it was Momonga calling. This trip back to headquarters, Issho and Momonga had both stayed behind at G-5 to hold the line, leaving Ortoren to return alone.
Without hesitation, Ortoren answered. "It's me. What's going on?"
"We've tracked Douglas Bullet's movements. Are you finished over there?" Momonga asked without delay.
Ortoren raised an eyebrow. "Headquarters has plenty going on, but none of it concerns me anymore. You could say I'm done."
He paused, then added, "Keep that bastard under close watch, but don't make a move yet. Wait until I'm back."
Douglas Bullet. Ever since Roger's execution, it was as if he'd lost his reason for living. With no rival left to surpass, he went berserk, rampaging across the seas in madness.
He attacked pirates, he attacked Marines, and he even struck entire nations, slaughtering indiscriminately. He was like a beast gone wild.
Men like him could never be allowed to run free. The Marines despised nothing more than reckless hotheads like this—men with no logic, no principles, only chaos. Acting on whims, daring to do anything. People like that had to be eliminated.
Ortoren despised him for another reason too. Rampaging through the New World, wiping out cities and nations? That was destroying Ortoren's clients. How could he allow that?
Besides, the G-5 base Ortoren now commanded had been devastated by none other than Douglas Bullet. As the new Base Commander, it was his responsibility—and his duty—to avenge G-5.
And in doing so, his prestige within G-5 would only climb higher.
"Understood. But based on his course, he seems to be heading toward the Newslant Sea—right where the Whitebeard Pirates' main force is stationed. If he keeps going, he's bound to run into them. Could even spark an unexpected battle..." Momonga reported.
"He really thinks he's untouchable," Ortoren sneered.
Douglas Bullet was undeniably strong, but in Ortoren's eyes, his reputation outpaced his actual strength. Most people at sea viewed him as nothing more than a rampaging monster.
Back when he sailed with Roger, there had been rumors that Douglas Bullet once fought Rayleigh to a draw.
Honestly, Ortoren found that hard to believe. At the time, Bullet was only fifteen. He'd been with Roger's crew for two years and left at seventeen. Meaning, when he supposedly crossed blades with Rayleigh, he was at most seventeen—more likely sixteen.
Sixteen years old, matching Rayleigh at his prime?
Ridiculous. Ortoren himself was already a monster in his own right, yet at eighteen he was still treated like a kid and beaten down by Rayleigh. If Bullet really had fought Rayleigh to a standstill at sixteen, then right now, with him sailing toward the Whitebeard Pirates, the one who should be panicking would be Whitebeard himself—the man known as the strongest in the world!
And if that were the case, there wouldn't be a soul stronger than Bullet left on these seas.
So Ortoren flat-out didn't buy it. If such a duel had happened, then Rayleigh must have been holding back. After all, they were shipmates.
In Ortoren's mind, if Douglas Bullet truly picked a fight with Whitebeard now, he'd only end up getting beaten bloody.
Because the Whitebeard of today genuinely lived up to the title of "Strongest Man."
Roger, his greatest rival, was dead. Shiki was rotting in prison. The Red Count had long since been captured. Across the whole sea, Whitebeard calling himself "unrivaled" wasn't exactly an exaggeration.
"Oh, there's one more thing—just a rumor, unconfirmed," Momonga added, as though recalling something. "The reason the Whitebeard Pirates are in the Newslant Sea may be to pick up their Second Division Commander, Kozuki Oden. The same samurai from Wano Country who once reached Laugh Tale with Roger."
"Hm?" Ortoren was genuinely surprised. "Wasn't he still in Wano?"
"Correct. Wano's under Kaidou's control now, and with the nation sealed off, very little news gets out. But from what we've observed, there were signs of fierce battles there recently. It looks like Kozuki Oden was driven out of Wano by Kaidou. Strangely, he escaped alone—his family's whereabouts are unknown. That's all the intel we've got. The rest is nothing but rumor," Momonga explained.
Rumor or not, the fact that such information had trickled its way to Ortoren's ears meant it likely had substance. Which meant Kozuki Oden really might have escaped Wano!
That did catch Ortoren off guard. In the original course of events, the man had ended up stewing in Wano's hotpot.
Ortoren had even considered whether, once that happened, he might fan the flames to pit Newgate against Kaidou.
In the story, that war never happened. Partly because Newgate learned the news too late—Oden was long dead by the time word spread. And partly because Kaidou had already built himself up by then, and Wano's geography gave him too much of an advantage. Sure, Whitebeard could've won a war, but he'd be left in a very awkward position.
On top of that, Kozuki Oden hadn't even been with Whitebeard's crew for long before Roger whisked him away. Newgate and his close men might have cared for him, but the rest of his vast crew probably never saw him as one of their own.
So in the end, nothing came of it.
But if someone gave Whitebeard a push—cornered him—he'd have no choice but to clash with Kaidou. That had been Ortoren's original plan.
Now, though... how had Kozuki Oden suddenly managed to escape Wano?
Still, it wasn't a problem. Oden had two potential uses. First, to stir up bad blood between Kaidou and Whitebeard. That looked unlikely now, but with Wano's situation, opportunities might present themselves later.
Second, now that Ace was his son—one Ortoren was genuinely fond of—he couldn't just let the Marineford War play out as it had. But when the time came, when the need arose, Whitebeard's crew would still have to be erased.
And Oden... Oden could serve as a stand-in for Ace.
In fact, Ortoren was already looking forward to the day that man knelt on an execution platform, shouting at Whitebeard, "Brother, you shouldn't have come!"
As for that lecherous son of his? He deserved to be shipped off to Ivankov for a little "operation," then sold to the Pleasure District to work the streets!
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