https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-151-How-Much-is-Carnival-City-Worth-/12610953/
https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-153-The-Bigger-the-Storm-the-Pricier-the-Fish/12610955/
Chapter 152: Sag, You're Biting Off More Than You Can Chew
Chapter 152: Sag, You're Biting Off More Than You Can Chew
"Hahahaha! The gap between a Vice Admiral and a regular person is even greater than the gap between a human and a dog!"
Sag laughed carefreely, "Come on, Link. Something like this won't ruin my plan."
Vice Admiral?
He'd even dare to take on an Admiral!
While Sag wasn't cautious, he wasn't foolish either, but he certainly wasn't afraid of failure.
It wasn't in his nature to let fear of failure or the presence of a so-called strong opponent deter him from his plans.
Link glared at Sag, about to speak, when he suddenly felt a weight on his shoulder. Akainu pressed him down into the sofa, his sinister eyes fixed on Link. "Sit down."
A vein popped out on Link's temple as he forcibly suppressed his anger, speaking in a low voice, "You don't understand what this means. Carnival City is a world government-affiliated island. There are government officials' industries here. Robbing this place is tantamount to provoking the World Government!"
The Navy was one of the three great institutions under the World Government, the other two being Judicial Island and Impel Down.
In simple terms, the three great institutions of the World Government were responsible for capturing, investigating, and imprisoning.
However, compared to the Navy, the World Government was the true behemoth.
While pirates could clash with the Navy, they wouldn't dare to provoke the World Government directly.
"Let me give you a word of advice, Sag," Link said. "You're biting off more than you can chew with this one. Let it go."
"Oh? Are you planning to do the robbing yourself?" Sag asked with a smile.
Before Link could make sense of his words, Sag continued, "It's fine if you don't want to cooperate. Just give me the information. This drink isn't for nothing, and you know what kind of intelligence I want."
Sag picked up a slice of fruit and popped it into his mouth, chewing it pit and all. "After you give me the information, you can leave. If there's anything valuable here, act quickly. Aside from yourself, I won't take anything from you, but I make no promises about the rest."
"You overestimate me," Link said. "I haven't had time to establish any industries here. This place is already under someone else's control, and we don't even have a share of the black market."
Link paused before continuing, "If it's just information you want, I'll tell you, but this place is different. The valuable things here aren't gold or silver treasures like in Rogue Town."
Black market traders often doubled as intelligence brokers.
And the reason he said this was because Carnival City was unique.
Typically, bustling places were those abundant in resources and money.
But Carnival City was special, and so was this island.
There was money here—indeed, a lot of Berries—but the money was dispersed among the numerous tourists. Sag wouldn't be able to spend too much time on this island; he'd only have half a day at most, which wasn't nearly enough to rob a substantial amount.
The same went for industries like this nightclub; while they generated a lot of cash, that cash was only the monthly income. The noble tycoons who controlled this industry would regularly deposit their money in banks.
There were banks on the high seas, especially in world government-affiliated towns like Carnival City and Water Seven. These banks served as gold exchanges and repositories for withdrawals and deposits.
Robbing a bank seemed like a great idea on paper.
However, banks didn't actually hold that much cash. They wouldn't just keep all their money lying around; most of it was represented by numbers in their ledgers.
Moreover, the amount of cash a bank held varied depending on the size of the city it was in.
While some banks had enough cash to buy the head of a Pirate Emperor, others only had a few hundred million to a billion Berries. But regardless of the amount, the payoff was never worth the risk when the World Government was involved.
Sag didn't plan on robbing a bank, and he never had.
Not because he feared the World Government, but simply because he understood the nature of banks.
To the wealthy, banks were just numbers on a ledger, and most of the money stored there belonged to the common folk. Robbing a bank would cause losses borne by the poor, and Sag might even end up taking the fall for it.
"Luck might net you over ten billion Berries, but if your luck's bad, you might only get away with a few thousand million. The key point is, no matter how much you rob, the bank can always report an eye-popping number and frame you for it!"
"That's the perfect opportunity to settle all those bad debts and make up for losses. They can even embezzle more deposits, and if they're daring enough, they can zero out the entire bank's records!"
"This is not just passing the buck, it's like having a mountain of black clouds fall on your head."
"Sometimes, the traditional way of robbery is the wisdom of pirates."
But the key point was right here.
"In Carnival City, the most valuable things are the plots of land and buildings that you can't possibly carry away, as well as the people who work here."
"In the entertainment industry, what's truly valuable is always the entertainment itself. No matter how lucrative it is, that's the truth. Those with money control the land, and everyone else is just working for them. They deposited their earnings into the bank three days ago, and the cash has already been transported elsewhere. You won't be able to rob much cash here, Sag. This business model is something a pirate like you wouldn't understand!" Link explained.
"Who says I don't understand? No, I understand very well!"
A black line appeared at the corner of Sag's eye. "I understand it better than anyone!"
Wasn't this the very way of becoming a grand landlord that he aspired to?
"I'm so envious, my eyes are turning red," Sag muttered, gazing at the sparkling liquor in his glass. "If it were the kind of ruling I envisioned, then indeed, there wouldn't be much to rob. Wealth can't be carried away, but now... there's a loophole."
He turned to the group of accompanying ladies, who had long fallen silent in shock. Pulling out a handful of gold coins from his cloak, he placed them on the table. "Come now, tell me. How much money do you make in a month, and what is this money primarily used for? Speak up, and all of this will be yours."
The dazzling gold coins illuminated the eyes of the accompanying ladies.
One of the ladies, with a particularly distinctive appearance, swallowed hard, her eyes reflecting determination. "I can answer, guest. We earn our salaries through a commission-based profit-sharing system. Typically, our monthly income is around one million Berries."
The sex industry was purely lucrative, and this woman's situation was indicative of most accompanying ladies.
"But out of that one million Berries, I first have to repay a 700,000-Berry housing loan. Life in Carnival City is expensive. Then, I have to give 150,000 Berries as a business cut to the store. What's left is just enough to feed my daughter and me."
The cost of living in Carnival City was not cheap; one could even say it was high.
It wasn't that they didn't want to venture out to sea and live elsewhere via the sea trains. However, they were stuck with the houses they had purchased, which could not be resold. The deeds to these plots of land belonged to the nobles until the loans were fully repaid. Only then could they obtain the deeds and gain the right to resell.
Moreover, if they tried to sell on their own, the prices would be severely depressed, and they wouldn't even have the chance to sell to anyone else but those wealthy individuals who would buy them back.
To earn money, they had no choice but to stay and work hard, all in the hopes of that distant day when they could finally break free.
Sag nodded, pushing the gold coins forward. "Well answered!"
He bared his teeth in a grin, his eyes sweeping across the group of accompanying ladies, whose faces were gradually turning numb and pained. Slowly, a sinister smile stretched across his face.
"So, a low-price auction. How much are you willing to pay to buy back the deeds to your plots of land?"
(End of Chapter)
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