Gusion hadn't expected Kaido, not Yamato, to test him.
He now realized Kaido must have been monitoring him and Yamato somehow—he knew too much about their plans.
Given Kaido's age and experience as a pirate, he wouldn't be as easy to fool as Yamato.
Clearly, if Gusion failed to give a good answer, Kaido wouldn't let it go.
After a moment's thought, Gusion asked, "Do you want the truth or a polite answer?"
Kaido took a swig from a sake jar. "The truth, of course. Just a discussion—I'm not that petty."
Gusion found this believable, so he spoke frankly. "Honestly, the Beasts Pirates' rule over Wano is terrible. In my estimation, within fifteen years, Wano's order will collapse, the country will fall apart, and your factories will stop working."
Yamato was shocked—she'd never considered things so deeply, just assumed there'd be a hero in twelve years to save Wano.
Kaido's face darkened. "Brat, what's your basis for that?"
He thought Wano was fine. He'd set up factories and paid workers—surely that was better than Doflamingo, who abused the Tontatta and didn't pay them a cent.
He saw himself as a wise ruler—the country's protector. Unemployment was down, thanks to his factories.
"As you said, the food is cheap—we import it," Maria, who'd been silent, spoke up. "The amount is enough to feed the country. No loss of labor force."
The Beasts Pirates weren't benevolent—they just saw Wano's people as valuable labor. If everyone starved, there'd be no one to work.
Gusion nodded. "As the saying goes, food is the people's heaven. The fact you thought of that puts you above many rulers."
He first gave Kaido some credit, then continued, "But have you considered—even if the total amount of food is enough, if distribution fails, there's still famine? Especially since the Beasts Pirates aren't the direct rulers of Wano."
Kaido frowned, thinking. "You mean, most of the imported food is wasted?"
"You get it. You know what kind of person Orochi is. Even if we ignore waste within the Beasts Pirates, let's just say the portion you give to Wano—maybe less than 30% reaches the people."
Kaido fell silent. Pirates loved to party, wasting food was common, but he didn't care much.
But the part about Orochi caught his attention. Kaido only handed over what was estimated to be enough for the people, and gave it to Orochi.
But Orochi was a puppet, ruling cruelly to get revenge on Wano's people, living in luxury, so he probably kept most of the food for himself. Even 30% reaching the market was optimistic.
"Maria, do we have recent population stats for Wano?" Kaido asked. He'd barely managed the country, spending most days drinking.
"Not in the last two years, but three years ago, compared to five years before, population dropped by 3%," Maria said, looking uneasy.
People in Wano loved to have kids, and with the Beasts Pirates in charge, there was no invasion. The pirates hadn't slaughtered civilians. So logically, the population should be growing. Why was it shrinking?
Gusion watched their faces, feeling odd. He never considered himself smart, but realized that in One Piece, just being normal made him a genius strategist.
These people just didn't think deeply about anything.
"Is population loss due to food shortages?" Yamato wondered aloud.
Gusion nodded. "Food shortage is the main reason. The root cause is distribution failure."
"So I shouldn't have given the food to Orochi?" Kaido frowned. "But I thought it wasn't time yet..."
Gusion knew what Kaido meant. Orochi was just a temporary puppet—Kaido would kill him and rule directly when the time was right.
But Gusion was confused—if Orochi was just a puppet, and illegitimate at that, why keep him around? Waiting for Luffy to come defeat you—is that your plan?
"Giving food to Orochi is one thing, but before that, there's something else you mishandled," Gusion said.
"What?"
"Too little food, and you didn't account for losses in distribution—corruption."
Gusion explained, "Inside the Beasts Pirates, no one is hungry, so no one pockets food. But in Wano, food is extremely valuable. Even if Orochi didn't keep most of it, at every level officials would skim a share—at least 30% lost to greed."
Kaido slammed his armrest, making the cave shake. "They dare steal my food!?"
"You underestimate human greed. At every level, everyone takes a cut. They probably even think there's safety in numbers."
Gusion smiled. "Of course, that's because Orochi set a bad example. His followers are all the same. From my observations, I estimate less than 5% of the food you send actually reaches the people."
He'd asked Yamato—food prices in Wano were sky-high. Under Orochi's rule, people had no land to farm freely. Farmers only kept 5% of their harvest, barely enough for their families—the rest went to the treasury.
Orochi sold the food at high prices, draining people's wallets.
Even workers in Kaido's factories only earned enough to barely feed their families. Four-person households couldn't afford food.
The capital looked prosperous, but only because it was full of gangsters or vested interests—so it seemed wealthy.
Outside the capital, towns were poor; at best, people could barely eat.
In short, 80% of food from Kaido to Orochi was skimmed. The rest was further divided, barely any reaching outside the capital.
Most market food was grown by the people themselves.
Seeing Kaido's grim face, Gusion continued, "Don't you see a contradiction in your rule?"
Kaido snapped out of his thoughts, now feeling he kinda understood Yamato.
Watching the livestream, he'd enjoyed seeing Yamato being grilled by Gusion. But now, when it was his turn, it was uncomfortable.
"What contradiction?" Kaido asked.
"Though you're a pirate, everyone knows you're a great overlord. After talking to you, I see you don't want to ruin this country—you want it to be productive for you..."
Gusion met Kaido's eyes. "So why hand this country to someone who wants to destroy it?"