"It's simple. Let me give you an example. You should all have learned about what happened in the Holy Land Mary Geoise from the newspapers by now. In that case, you should also know about the ship that carried the liberated people away, the one that could fly through the sky."
The members of the Whitebeard Pirate Crew all nodded. That had been one of the main focuses in the recent newspapers.
Even the Whitebeard Pirate Crew themselves were extremely curious about that flying ship.
"Back in the Holy Land Mary Geoise, the royal families of the World Government member nations were very fond of that ship. Every one of them was eager to buy one. So let's do some simple math. Take ship prices in Water 7 as an example. An ordinary pirate ship costs around one hundred million Belly to build, and a slightly better one costs two or three hundred million Belly. A ship that can fly in the sky obviously can't be that cheap. Doubling the price wouldn't be a problem. Let's use a very conservative base price of five hundred million Belly per flying ship. Among the World Government's one hundred and thirty-plus member nations, I believe that no matter how poor their countries are, their royal families can absolutely afford a few hundred million Belly. Let's count low and say only half of them buy one. That's sixty-five ships. Multiply that by five, and that's thirty-two and a half billion Belly..."
"Eh?!"
"Th-thirty-two and a half billion Belly..."
The moment that number came out, the members of the Whitebeard Pirate Crew were all startled.
Even though they were the overlords of the New World, thirty-two and a half billion Belly was still an amount they hardly dared to imagine.
Some of them even began to wonder whether the treasure on Laugh Tale was worth that much.
Whitebeard was also surprised.
But Yemu was not finished.
"And that's only the most basic price. As royalty, they can't have ships that look shabby. Whether it's interior decoration, furniture, design, materials, maintenance, and so on, none of it can be too poor. Once all that is calculated, that thirty-two and a half billion Belly may not merely double. It could even reach one hundred billion. And that's only counting the royal families of the World Government member nations, and only under the assumption that each of them needs just one ship. You could say this estimate is already extremely conservative. Besides that, as you know, my shipbuilding technology can not only make ships fly through the sky, but also let them cross the Calm Belt. That means I can establish a transport company that connects the Grand Line, the New World, and the Four Seas. You should know that Red Port, which connects the New World and the Grand Line, has made the Marines and the World Government plenty of money. If I can connect the Grand Line, the New World, and the Four Seas, there's no way I'd earn less than them. Aside from myself, once those merchants see the profits involved, how could they possibly let this opportunity go? If they want to take part, they'll need at least one ship. On top of that, there will be all kinds of taxes. When the benefits are added together, astronomical numbers won't even be enough to describe it. With an industry this huge, I only need to share a small part of it with a country to make sure its people have no worries about food or clothing. Beyond that, the Kingdom of Flevance's unique Amber Lead ore and Wano Country's Seastone are now both in my hands. You could even say I monopolize them. I don't think I need to explain the profits there. You should all understand. And that's not even counting the other interesting things I have."
"To put it arrogantly, with just these things, even with the Red Line and the Calm Belt separating the seas, I can still connect the entire world and hold it in my hand..."
Yemu stopped there. What he had said was already quite conservative, but even so, the members of the Whitebeard Pirate Crew were left dumbstruck, unable to say a word.
Because most of them had grown up poor, they were not highly educated and could not fully understand the enormous business empire hidden in Yemu's words. But the simple numbers, along with the idea of commercial trade connecting the Grand Line, the New World, and the Four Seas, were already enough to shock them.
And this was trade protected by the Yonkō. Safety would absolutely not be a problem.
Transporting goods from the Grand Line to the Four Seas, or moving goods from the Four Seas to the Grand Line, was a business that sounded like money would simply roll in on its own.
At that moment, quite a few people even wondered whether they should get involved themselves.
After all, why did people become pirates? Wasn't it for money?
The adorable Yamato also felt a kind of power different from physical strength.
It was the power called knowledge.
Her eyes were filled with admiration.
At that moment, Whitebeard suddenly understood.
This young boy before him, who looked so young, had chosen to declare war on the Celestial Dragons and the World Government not out of momentary impulse, but after careful calculation. The profits and influence brought by this commercial trade alone would be enough to deal a huge blow to the World Government.
Just then, Yemu's next sentence made Whitebeard make up his mind completely.
"Of course, everything I've just described is an ideal situation. Actually putting it into practice definitely won't be that simple. That's also why I'm only choosing to occupy the North Blue for now. The North Blue will be my testing ground. If you don't have confidence in my plan, we can start with a five-year alliance..."
...
Meanwhile, while Yemu was running around for the sake of the Yonkō Alliance,
in the New World, in the Bartoli-Raf Sea, a battle was already nearing its end.
One side of the war was a new power in the New World: the Thunder God Pirate Crew.
The other side was an old overlord of the New World: the Silver Axe Pirate Crew.
From the very beginning, this battle had never been fair.
Because of the advantage of flying ships, the defensive islands of the Silver Axe Pirate Crew in the Bartoli-Raf Sea had become nothing more than decorations.
At night, while everyone was sound asleep, the Thunder God Pirate Crew's pirate ship, the Thunder God, descended directly from the sky and invaded the main island of the Bartoli-Raf Sea, opening the battle with a decapitation strike.
Before the battle began, Enel, captain of the Thunder God Pirate Crew, lived up to the name of Thunder God. For the first time, he displayed the terrifying power of his dual Logia-type Devil Fruits: the Goro Goro no Mi and the Kumo Kumo no Mi. He unleashed a natural disaster called Mamaragan Domain, shrouding the entire Bartoli-Raf Sea in thunder. In almost an instant, he wiped out more than half of the Silver Axe Pirate Crew's fighting force.
The terrified Silver Axe Pirate Crew then faced the Thunder God Pirate Crew, whose morale had soared because their boss had invaded the Holy Land Mary Geoise, declared war on the Celestial Dragons and the World Government, and rescued countless slaves. They collapsed outright.
Less than a day after the battle began, the final king-versus-king showdown started.
Thunder God Enel versus Silver Axe Morgan.
The Grand Priest and the Eight Priests versus First Mate Ochoku and eleven captains.
In the end, before Enel's almost disaster-like Devil Fruit power, as well as his powerful Observation Haki and Armament Haki, Silver Axe, who had once been a king of this world but had not mastered the power of Conqueror's Haki coating, was no match for him at all.
And Silver Axe's fall meant that the Thunder God Pirate Crew had surpassed the Silver Axe Pirate Crew and become the new overlord of this sea...
In an instant, the Sky Pirates once again became famous across the sea...
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