Chapter 38: Club Boss Crocodile!
After watching the brief talk, the mysterious woman suddenly joined their side. She called Bane "Master" as if she was ready to serve him for life.
Zoro was very confused.
"Why are you so shocked? " Nami nudged Zoro and said, "This shows the power of language and information. "
"Of course I know. I'm not really an idiot," Zoro replied to Nami, sounding quite annoyed.
He often felt that this navigator thought less of him.
After a moment, Zoro said with some feeling, "I'm just curious. Where did Bane get this information? "
Back in Shimotsuki Village, when they discussed the Revolutionary Army, Bane kept up with them, even with his master, and shared many details about pirates and the navy in the East Blue Sea without leaving his home.
Now that they were at sea, even before arriving at Cocoyasi Village, Bane already knew almost everything about Nami's past and was familiar with the situation there.
Now that he had just arrived at the Grand Line, he managed to capture this woman named Nico Robin with just a few words.
Does that make sense?
"Didn't he tell us everything? You should stop asking about social matters and just focus on practicing your swordsmanship," Nami said first. Then she smiled and added, "Anyway, the more he knows, the better it is for us, right? "
Meanwhile, Robin showed her willingness to help kill Crocodile and decided to join Bane.
Bane stopped resting and began to eat and drink like crazy, devouring the food on the table.
However, he didn't waste any time. He said while eating, "Now that you believe I can order you around, we can discuss what I need you to do for me."
Nico Robin watched the man in front of her eat large bites of meat. She didn't show any disgust, instead, she relaxed a lot and said with a small smile in her voice, "Of course, I also want to know how I can help you, Master Bane. I also look forward to some small rewards after I finish your task perfectly, like. . . "
"I said I admire you very much, so I don't want to treat you this way," Bane said while chewing the dinosaur meat in his mouth. Then he added, "The new world, Elbaf, the country of giants, Saul is there. This is your first answer. "
After hearing this, Robin's expression clearly showed a hint of excitement.
But before she could say anything, Ben threw a bone on the table and said, "I admire you, but we still don't have real trust. So let's put off the answer to the second point. I will tell you when we have built some trust. "
"You've already given me the second answer, haven't you? " Robin said softly after calming down.
This time when she looked at Ben, her eyes showed more sincerity and kindness, and less hypocrisy.
Wherever Saul is, O'Hara's books should be there too, which means they are all in Elbaf. Bane was being friendly to her and showing his trust in her.
Bane did not deny anything, but he didn't answer. Instead, he changed his tone and said, "I have a big plan for the next few years, and it needs a lot of money to work. This is the first reason I want you to partner with me."
"You want to take over Crocodile's achievements from the past twenty years? " Robin asked after thinking.
"That's right. Your biggest advantage in the plan to take down Crocodile is that you are the vice president of the large Baroque Works under his command. Also, as far as I know, Crocodile has basically given you control of this work agency. In other words, once I deal with Crocodile, if I have your help, I can take over everything he owns. Are you confident you can do this for me? " Bane looked at Robin, applying a little pressure with his gaze.
Nico Robin nodded without hesitation and said, "No problem at all. You will get everything from Crocodile. "
"Very good. Now I have a small question. Does Crocodile really have wealth that can compete with a country's, as I investigated? " Bane asked.
If I remember correctly, this guy's plan to take over the country is already in the final stages this year. It would be a shame if he has already spent all his money.
"Yes." Robin quickly confirmed, and then said, "Baroque Works has a vast organizational structure all across the first half of the Grand Line. There are about 30 high-ranking members, and we have a system where the last place gets eliminated. This means there is some rotation now and then. The middle-ranking members are called 'Billions. ' There are 200 of them. To become one, you need a certain level of strength and must contribute at least 100 million Berries to the organization. Under the billionaires, there are 1,800 low-ranking members, called 'Millions. ' They are the most basic command members of our Baroque Works. "
"Billions needs to contribute 100 million Berries, so millions needs to contribute 1 million Berries, right? " Bane thought for a moment.
"It's at least one million Berries per person per year. That's why we don't have a lot of Millions. Billions need to pay at least ten million Berries every year to keep their status and identity," Robin explained.
One million per year can't just come from one person; there must be some issues with this system.
If we assume each person earns one million per year, then 1,800 people will need to pay 1.8 billion Berries to baroque works every year. This isn't profit; it's a "membership fee." If you don't pay, forget about becoming a cadre!
Adding in the two hundred billions who each make at least ten million a year gives us a starting point of two billion. Wow, Crocodile's work agency is really impressive. He makes at least four or five billion Berries every year just from these fees.
Seeing Bane's surprised expression, Robin felt a bit happy. So, he can be surprised after all?
This made her more detailed and eager to explain the Baroque works agency.
"In recent years, I have not known much about the low-level cadres at the Million level. But as far as I know, these small cadres who pay at least one million Berries every year must each own at least one ship and have fifty subordinates. Otherwise, they won't be able to complete tasks and won't earn enough profit," Robin explained.
Bane understood this. Without subordinates or a ship, why would they pay the one million Berries membership fee each year just to work? Wouldn't that mean they'd have nothing to do? If they only worked, after paying for food, drink, and entertainment, he might not be able to pay the one million.
After all, according to villagers from the East Blue, Arlong only makes 100,000 Berries a year from hunting people, and even that is enough to drive people to despair.
Without overthinking it, Bane estimated the number of people in the Baroque Works. Each of the 1,800 small cadres has at least 50 subordinates, meaning the whole Baroque Works likely has nearly 100,000 members.
But this is the basic estimate. The actual number could be three to four times more, or even seven to eight times more. This means that over the past twenty years, in the first half of the Grand Line, Crocodile has built a society with hundreds of thousands of members!
When Ben read this story before, he didn't take the Baroque Works seriously. But now, thinking it over, Crocodile is really impressive. What is he planning to do? Is he going to create a new faction?
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