"What did you say?!"
The moment Kurosaki Rei suggested shutting down the SMILE factory, Kaido's good mood vanished completely.
"Governor, please don't get angry just yet. Let me walk you through the data first."
As Kurosaki Rei spoke, he wiped the blackboard clean and drew a simple table.
"I just mentioned that our factories have extremely high profit ratios—up to a hundredfold—but that figure does not include the SMILE factory."
The executives all turned their eyes to the blackboard, each of them looking like well-behaved students listening attentively.
The table clearly listed the output-to-profit ratios of each factory. Calculated using the same base wage of 9,000 Beli per month:
Weapons Factory: 93×Seastone Factory: 119×SMILE Factory: …2×
Yes, objectively speaking, a twofold profit was still quite good—but compared to the other two, it stood out like a sore thumb.
"What's going on here?"
Kaido frowned deeply when he saw the numbers. He had always believed that SMILE fruits were his most profitable product.
"There are many reasons for this profit ratio."
Kurosaki Rei explained calmly.
"Our wages to Wano's citizens are indeed low—I don't deny that. And SMILE fruits do sell at high prices. But their profits are still low, mainly because the raw materials are extremely expensive, and the production equipment costs are astronomical."
He then listed another set of numbers beside it: the construction cost of a SMILE factory, the price of its equipment, and the raw material cost required to produce a single SMILE fruit.
Compared to these figures, labor costs were practically negligible. For SMILE fruits, human labor had never been the main expense.
"The costs are that high?"
Kaido glanced around at the other executives, but their expressions mirrored his own.
Then Kaido quickly realized something.
It wasn't that SMILE fruits had low profits—after all, a twofold return was still impressive. It was that he had never calculated the profit ratios of his industries before.
More accurately, what truly shocked him was just how absurdly profitable weapons and Seastone were.
"This is already an idealized cost analysis."
Kurosaki Rei continued.
"In reality, the costs may be even higher. I reviewed the Beasts Pirates' financial reports from last year that Mr. King provided. In terms of external sales alone, SMILE fruits generated the least revenue."
"That's not right."
Black Maria immediately objected.
"Most of our SMILE fruits are consumed internally, not sold. You can't judge them purely from the financial reports."
They didn't produce SMILE fruits primarily to sell them—they were meant for internal use, to strengthen the crew.
In fact, the whole point of making money was to produce SMILE fruits. This was no longer a commercial venture—it was military expenditure. In her view, Kurosaki Rei was twisting the argument.
"True, we consumed many of them ourselves."
Kurosaki Rei nodded.
"But the profit ratios I mentioned already account for that. I calculated the SMILE fruits we consumed using their external trade prices."
He continued:
"In reality, although the Beasts Pirates have grown wealthier over the years, our expansion hasn't been particularly fast. Our economic growth has been limited—precisely because the investment into SMILE fruits has been far too heavy."
"Kurosaki Rei, you may not understand this yet."
Kaido finally spoke, his tone still relatively calm.
"The reason I want money in the first place is to build the strongest Devil Fruit army."
"We'll discuss the actual effectiveness of a Devil Fruit army later, Governor."
Kurosaki Rei gestured for patience.
"Let's stay focused on the cost issue first."
"Why are the costs so high? Because this project has a long industrial chain, with many critical parts beyond our control."
"Doflamingo supplies part of the raw materials. Caesar provides the technology. As for the core production equipment—we buy all of it from them."
"Technological monopolies mean the bulk of the profit goes into their pockets."
This analysis darkened Kaido's expression.
It was, in truth, a verbal trap—but when Kaido recalled the massive profit margins of his other factories, he instinctively assumed that the missing ninety-plus percent of profits had all gone to Doflamingo.
And the more he thought about it, the more it made sense.
SMILE fruits were high-end technological products. They couldn't manufacture the core equipment themselves. Everything was imported from Caesar and Doflamingo—and none of it was cheap.
"Mr. Rei."
King spoke up.
"Our relationship with those two is one of cooperation. The current process can't function without them. It's unrealistic to expect our partners to earn nothing—that wouldn't be sustainable."
"As for profits, Mr. Kaido already said it himself. We don't produce SMILE fruits just to make money. This is military expenditure."
"Military expenditure?"
Kurosaki Rei smiled faintly, leaving King puzzled.
"Is this really effective military expenditure?"
"With SMILE fruits, we've built a Gifters army numbering over a thousand."
King frowned.
"Doesn't that count as military expenditure?"
Kurosaki Rei looked utterly speechless.
He pointed outside the door.
"Mr. King, do you think those thousand Gifters could defeat you if they attacked together?"
Then he turned to Kaido.
"Governor, why don't you step outside and release a burst of Conqueror's Haki? How many Gifters do you think would still be standing afterward?"
Silence fell over the room.
King mentally ran the combat calculations—and was shocked to realize that he could probably wipe out the entire Gifter force in under a minute.
Kaido also fell into deep thought. He suddenly realized that with a single blast of Conqueror's Haki, fewer than ten Gifters would likely remain conscious.
The other executives' expressions shifted from blank shock to something deeply awkward.
They were all beginning to understand one thing:
The Gifters… were trash.
"So we've stayed in Wano for over ten years, spent astronomical sums of money, and created this SMILE army…"
Kurosaki Rei broke the silence.
"Is it really effective combat power?"
Kaido's expression grew terrifyingly dark.
He suddenly felt as though the last ten-plus years of his life had been wasted.
Thinking carefully, he hadn't become an Emperor because of the Gifters at all.
He had carved out his territory through his own overwhelming strength—and the blood and battles fought alongside these old comrades.
"Governor, may I ask something?"
Kurosaki Rei pressed on.
"Whose idea was it, originally, to build a SMILE-based army?"
Boom—!
The wall behind Kaido exploded as Conqueror's Haki surged outward. The entire room trembled.
"Doflamingo—"
Kaido spat out the name in a low, furious voice.
"That bastard… lied to me?!"
Kurosaki Rei silently apologized to the so-called "Newspaper King," but honestly, Doflamingo really did seem like the only one smart enough in that chain to orchestrate this.
"I can't say for certain what his intentions were."
Kurosaki Rei continued calmly.
"But judging by the results, SMILE fruits are indeed unreliable."
"They might slightly enhance physical strength, but they provide no real advantage. They're nothing like real Devil Fruits that allow full transformations."
"And on top of that, the users lose the ability to swim."
"Worse still, SMILE fruits have already shown severe side effects—stripping people of their expressions."
"I suspect they also damage the brain, effectively crippling a person's long-term growth potential."
He looked at Kaido's increasingly grim expression.
"If we think in the worst possible terms—our Gifter army might actually be stronger if they had never eaten SMILE fruits."
"At the very least, they'd still be able to swim, giving them an advantage in naval combat."
Kaido's face darkened further with every word.
The blow was devastating.
For over a decade—more than ten years—this had been his grand project. He believed it was the path to building an army capable of overturning the world.
And now Kurosaki Rei was slapping him in the face with cold, merciless facts:
His army was garbage.
At this rate, even another hundred years wouldn't be enough to topple the World Government or the Celestial Dragons.
The thought that his time and youth had been wasted sent his rage spiraling upward.
"Shut down all SMILE factories!"
Kaido roared.
At that moment, he realized the truth.
In the entire profit chain, he was the one actually consuming SMILE fruits.
Doflamingo hadn't fed a single one to his own subordinates.
What did that mean?
It meant that bastard knew how severe the side effects were—and how useless SMILE fruits truly were.
For over ten years, Doflamingo had pocketed the money, while Kaido got nothing but a worthless Gifter army.
"It seems the Governor has come to a realization."
Kurosaki Rei said solemnly.
"Investment into SMILE factories is ineffective military expenditure—nothing more than a waste of money and time."
"Mr. Rei, what you say makes sense."
King spoke again, but his voice carried doubt.
"But if we shut down the SMILE factories… what should we do next?"
He was shaken, just like Kaido.
For years, King had believed that Kaido's efforts in Wano would change the world. Now he was being told that the army they built was trash—how could he not feel lost?
If a Devil Fruit army was the wrong path, then how were they supposed to overthrow those lofty Celestial Dragons?
"I don't know."
Kurosaki Rei answered simply.
"Governor only asked Yamato and me to manage Wano and help the Beasts Pirates earn more money."
"That's why I concluded that, from a purely economic standpoint, SMILE factories are unnecessary."
"If profit is the only concern, then we should shut them down completely and convert everything into weapons and Seastone production."
"Kurosaki Rei."
Kaido stared at him intensely.
"Tell me—how can the Beasts Pirates truly grow stronger?"
Kurosaki Rei felt a strange sense of unease.
He hadn't expected that, through sheer reasoning alone, he'd end up becoming the Beasts Pirates' strategist.
Still, he straightened his expression and met Kaido's gaze.
"Mr. Kaido, may I ask you something first?"
"What exactly… is your dream?"
Depending on Kaido's answer, Kurosaki Rei would propose a different path.
Kaido also noticed the shift in how Kurosaki Rei addressed him.
He sensed the gravity of the question.
After a long pause, he answered in his deep, resonant voice:
"I want to drag those so-called 'nobles'—those rulers who wallow in comfort—from their thrones and onto the battlefield."
"I want war to decide everyone's value once again…"
He paused, then rephrased it.
"To put it simply—I want to overthrow the rule of the Celestial Dragons and create a fairer world, one where value is determined solely by ability."
His words stunned several of the executives.
Not everyone knew Kaido's ultimate dream. And that final sentence made it painfully clear—
He intended to challenge the absolute authority of this world: the Celestial Dragons.
"So, Mr. Kaido…"
Kurosaki Rei pressed further.
"You want to overthrow the Celestial Dragons and become the king of the world yourself?"
Without hesitation, Kaido shook his head.
"What's the point of being the king of the world?"
"I just hate the Celestial Dragons, that's all."
"I'm not interested in ruling the world."
"If I have to be a king of something… then I only want to be the Pirate King."
Kurosaki Rei wasn't surprised.
Kaido was a straightforward brute at heart. He had no interest in managing the world—he just wanted to fight the Celestial Dragons head-on.
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