Ortoren brought up Doflamingo's special status and keywords like "Mary Geoise."
On the other end of the Den Den Mushi, the gaze beneath Doflamingo's sunglasses grew dark. Even the wicked grin that always hung on his face twisted into something grim. He was supposed to be a Celestial Dragon, standing above all. Yet now he was struggling in the mud.
Today, he'd seen in the newspaper that Dragon's Revolutionary Army had declared their intent to hang every Celestial Dragon in Mary Geoise. For a fleeting moment, Doflamingo even felt tempted to join Dragon's banner.
Yes—he, Donquixote Doflamingo, descendant of the Twenty Kings' bloodline, now wanted to drag those lofty Celestial Dragons into the mud with him... and hang them all!
After a moment of silence, he steadied his emotions. That wicked smile crept back onto his lips as he spoke.
"I wonder, Vice Admiral Benn, what do you think I need to do... to show enough value?"
Doflamingo was confident he could handle matters concerning Mary Geoise. But his relationship with the Navy had always been tense, and he lacked the connections inside it to change anything. Now that Benn Ortoren was willing to step in as mediator, he was more than willing to accept.
"Prepare two hundred billion Belly. Send it to G-5. As long as you can manage things on the Mary Geoise side, I'll arrange for you to become one of the Shichibukai immediately."
Ortoren didn't even think twice before naming his price.
Doflamingo was stunned for a second. What the hell—your appetite is that big? Anyone who knew him understood he was a Navy Vice Admiral. Anyone who didn't might mistake him for the Fleet Admiral!
"Two hundred billion isn't exactly pocket change..." Doflamingo muttered, snapping back and trying to bargain.
But Ortoren just laughed.
"Doflamingo, for villains like you who control half the underworld of North Blue, two hundred billion Belly might not be small, but it's hardly an impossible figure, right?"
Ortoren had spent time around Garp, and he'd clearly picked up some of that old man's shamelessness.
Before Doflamingo could speak again, Ortoren continued.
"Two hundred billion—you won't regret it, and you won't get cheated. If you hand over the money and smooth things over in Mary Geoise, I'll make sure you become one of the Shichibukai. But if you don't pay, then even if you do smooth things over, I can still make sure you never sit among the Shichibukai!"
Doflamingo's face twitched at those words. His tone sank low.
"Honestly, Vice Admiral Benn, if you ever left the Navy to become a pirate or a villain, you'd have a bright future ahead of you."
He had ruled as a petty tyrant in North Blue for years, then stepped into the world of pirates. He had imagined countless scenarios. But never, not once, had he thought his first time being extorted would come from the Navy itself!
"Ah~" Ortoren said with a mocking lilt. "It's a family skill. With your connections and intelligence network, I'm sure you already know whose blood runs in my veins."
Doflamingo fell silent. Ortoren was right. Before agreeing to work with him, he had indeed spent considerable effort digging into Ortoren's background. With his status and connections, he had uncovered some secrets.
Two years ago, Ortoren's identity had still been highly classified. But after the Ohara incident, once Mary Geoise had taken notice of him, the Navy stopped bothering with smokescreens.
For a while, the Navy's Public Relations Department even drafted a so-called "brilliant plan" to publicly flaunt Ortoren's special status as a star officer, supposedly to showcase the Navy's enlightenment and inclusivity to the entire world.
Of course, Admiral Sengoku shot down that plan in the end, and the head of the Public Relations Department was demoted.
"Two hundred billion Belly is no problem. I trust you, Vice Admiral Benn, to keep your word."
Doflamingo finally took a deep breath and agreed to the terms.
Ortoren chuckled. "Rest assured. I may dabble in arms trafficking, pocket dirty money, and extort protection fees, but my core business is credibility. As long as the payment comes through, anything I promise you will absolutely be kept!"
Hearing Ortoren's brazen self-introduction, Doflamingo couldn't even be bothered to argue. After tossing out a couple of perfunctory remarks, he hung up the Den Den Mushi.
Ortoren stared at the disconnected Den Den Mushi and shook his head helplessly. "Honestly, so many people are eager to hand me money, and I can't even be bothered to take it. Doflamingo, you'd better make the most of this opportunity..."
As that thought lingered, Ortoren's mind drifted to the candidates for the Shichibukai. He mulled it over. Since someone had to fill those positions anyway, why not find a way to make himself the middleman? Any pirate wanting to become a Shichibukai would first have to pay him a 'nomination fee,' then he'd push them through.
Once Crocodile's appointment as a Shichibukai stirred more attention, there would surely be a whole crowd of pirates eyeing the title.
Two hundred billion per person? With seven Shichibukai in total, that would come to one trillion four hundred billion Belly. Enough for Ortoren to build more than a hundred warships!
"Damn it!" Ortoren cursed, immediately pulling out the notebook he carried and scribbling down an IOU.
"Damn Crocodile, you owe me two hundred billion Belly! When I get my hands on you, if you dare skip out on this debt, I'll turn your other hand into a hook of gold too!" Ortoren muttered to himself as he jotted the note, still seething with irritation.
Even after writing it, his anger didn't subside. He immediately dialed the Den Den Mushi, calling up Momonga.
At the moment, Momonga was acting as interim G-5 Base Commander in Ortoren's place. That's right—this whole trip of Ortoren's was under paid leave. As the G-5 Base Commander, he had simply approved his own vacation. Nothing wrong with that, was there?
"Hello? Ortoren?" Momonga answered, puzzled. "Judging by the time, you should already be at the Sabaody Archipelago. Did something happen?"
"Yeah, I just got here," Ortoren replied. "Do me a favor. Find me the contact information for the newly appointed Shichibukai, Crocodile the Desert King. Since he's officially a Shichibukai now, headquarters should have that information on record. Once you find it, get in touch with him and tell him he needs to pay back the two hundred billion Belly he owes G-5 as soon as possible."
Momonga was dumbstruck. "Wait, when did G-5 ever do business with Crocodile? Where the hell did he rack up a two-hundred-billion debt to us?"
"I just made a deal with Doflamingo—two hundred billion Belly for me to back him as a Shichibukai. But you know me, I believe in fairness. Doflamingo had to pay to secure his spot, so why should that bastard Crocodile get it for free? Tell him if he dares not pay up, he'd better avoid me from now on, or I'll break his legs!" Ortoren said with pure arrogance.
Momonga scratched his head in disbelief. "When I was investigating corruption before, I heard about branch Marines selling ranks and posts. But selling a Shichibukai seat outright? That's a first, damn it!"
"Just tell me—does it violate any Marine regulations?" Ortoren sneered.
Momonga clicked his tongue. "You know what? There actually isn't a regulation against it..."
"Then I'm still a law-abiding Marine, aren't I? What are you afraid of? Go collect the debt! And not just from that damn Sand Crocodile—anyone who becomes a Shichibukai from now on, you collect from them too. If anyone wants to argue, tell them to come find me directly!" Ortoren declared, full of righteous confidence.
If I can't take down Whitebeard, you think I can't handle you Shichibukai?
Momonga listened to Ortoren calling himself a "law-abiding" Marine and wanted to retort, but then remembered how he himself had once suggested setting up roadblocks to squeeze protection money from merchants. Maybe he had no right to criticize after all.
Sigh. He had joined the Navy with ideals of justice. How had it come to this?
...
Meanwhile, far away on Spring Queen Island, Crocodile, who was preparing to head to Alabasta, suddenly sneezed. He glanced around suspiciously, wondering if some lowlife was plotting against him again.