Chapter 289: Highwaymen
Chapter 289: Highwaymen
The nobles were exploding with gold coins, not resources.
Work relief is, of course, a good thing, but the prerequisite is that the materials have to keep up.
Sag doesn't know how much material there is; he doesn't manage that. It's mostly Lily running back and forth, killing nobles while still keeping track of the accounts.
Since she says there isn't enough, then there definitely isn't enough.
If there isn't enough, then they'll just have to go out and rob, and then sell what they've taken.
But highway robbery isn't always easy to do.
"What? You don't know?"
At this moment, Sag frowned at the microphone, "Are there still things you don't know?"
The telephone worm in front of the microphone simulated a face wearing sunglasses and a sinister smile.
"Chi chi chi chi, the ocean is vast, and the islands of the Grand Line are numerous. You ask me for an Eternal Pointer to the Magnetic Island, and I can get it for you. But if you ask me about the situation on some of the islands near you, you might as well ask the locals."
The telephone worm representing Donquixote Doflamingo replied.
Since they were going to rob, of course, they needed a target. But now the problem is that Sag doesn't have a target. It's easy to get another Eternal Pointer to the Magnetic Island, but it's hard to find places nearby.
The New World is a more dangerous place, and the magnetic fields are even more unstable. In Paradise, you only need one recording pointer, but here you need three. Point from the recorded Magnetic Islands in three directions.
The more stable the pointer, the safer it represents.
Normal people traveling will definitely choose the directions pointed to by the more stable pointers. Places like the Garess Kingdom, for the previous Magnetic Island, are considered normal magnetic fields.
But this also represents stability. Magnetic islands are magnetic islands, and the islands along the way are the islands along the way. The more dangerous it is, the less likely those islands are to be discovered.
Doflamingo's turf is located not far from the entrance to the New World. The power of the Seven Warlords of the Sea and the Underworld is indeed very large, but even in Paradise, he wouldn't know every island, although he would know the Magnetic Islands.
And in the New World, the farther back his tentacles go, the smaller they get. Where Sag is located is in the middle of Whitebeard's territory, although it's still in the first half. But for Doflamingo, it's already quite far back, and he only extends as far as Kaido.
Now Sag has occupied Garess, and because of their partnership, perhaps his tentacles will advance one more step.
After hanging up the phone, Sag shrugged at Lily, "Looks like our 'Dola A' brother doesn't know either. Let's try another method."
"Directly against Whitebeard's territory?"
Lily thought for a moment and said, "We don't have enough people right now, and we might not be able to withstand a big battle. We also don't have the manpower to stabilize the territory. Should we wait a bit longer?"
Recruitment had been ongoing, but after all, time had been short. Even if pirates came to join because of their reputation, it would still take time, and not all pirates would join Sag's side. Some people just couldn't stand the rules on Sag's side.
"Of course, we need to stabilize Whitebeard's territory, but I'm not talking about him. I'm talking about these outsiders; they should have some channels."
Sag said, "How about this: Tell those outsiders that as long as they provide intelligence on nearby islands, I will give them a reward."
There were so many outsiders; they couldn't just be automatically refreshed by the twelve o'clock sea, could they?
There must be some with feet, wandering south and north in the New World, with a few permanent pointers.
"Huh? Why don't you ask Gabra? Don't we have a World Government agent here? They should know."
Renitia asked.
Lily said, "We asked before, but Gabra doesn't have any intelligence for now. Lucci is still in 'Paradise', and he's reportedly on a mission involving a Level Six Escapee from Impel Down. It seems to be connected to their former boss, Spandine, father of the man they call a waste, Spandine, and it looks like they're out for revenge."
Sag definitely went to the World Government first. Having an agent here meant he could get his hands on intelligence without any obstacles.
It's just that Lucci now has a mission.
That little-known sixth level, after being stirred up by Teach, quite a few prisoners escaped, and some of these prisoners gathered together, seemingly with some connection to Spandine, the father of the man once known as the chief of CP9, the man they called a waste.
It seemed they were going to launch an invasion plan, and that was being investigated.
For now, they couldn't count on them.
The next day.
Bang! Bang bang bang!
In the royal training room, Sag, bare-chested as usual, trained with the history text.
Compared to when he first started training, his body was now tougher. In the past, each time he attacked with full force, he would injure himself, but now, after five or six strikes, scars would appear on his body, which would then quickly heal under the power of Life Return.
His physique was stronger than before.
"One-fold."
Bang!!
After a series of punches, Sag suddenly threw a fierce punch at the center of the History Text, causing the stone slab, which had already been sliding backward from the impact, to slide further back, leaving a mark on the steel floor.
As he struck with his fist, Sag's knuckles became visibly injured, blood flowing from the wounds, but soon, white smoke rose, and the injuries healed.
Sag lowered his gaze, took a deep breath, and with a stomp of his foot, his figure flashed.
"Three-fold!"
Boom!!
This time, he rammed his knee into the History Text, creating an even louder explosion-like sound. The Text slid backward under the force of the impact, scraping sharply against the steel floor.
Whoosh!
After the collision, Sag's figure moved even faster than before, appearing behind the History Text. As soon as his feet touched the ground, he unleashed a wave of Haki, quickly covering the entire training ground.
"Five-fold!"
Bang!!!
He twisted his body, and his shoulder collided with the History Text, sending it flying into the air before it fell back down to the ground with a loud thud.
"Huff!"
After this strike, Sag panted, his breath sharp as arrows. He glanced at his slightly deformed knee and his severely deformed shoulder, furrowing his brows. He grabbed his shoulder with one hand, and with a series of cracking sounds, he adjusted the bones back into place. At the same time, white smoke rose from his body, healing the injured areas.
"Sag, you're quite injured this time. What did you do?"
Lily walked in as Sag neared the end of his training, quietly observing him before asking this question.
"Developing my abilities."
Sag shook his head, flicking away the beads of sweat that had adhered to his white hair. He gestured with his hand.
Lily naturally drew out a bottle of wine from the wine cabinet near the wall by the door and handed it to him.
"Without using Haki for protection, purely relying on my physical body, I want to do an all-around training in my normal state."
Sag flicked the bottle cap off with his thumb and drank half the bottle in one go. Shaking his head, he said, "I need to step it up. It's still not enough."
Haki, physique, abilities, and Life Return—
These four could be trained simultaneously.
Although the cultivation of Haki didn't increase as quickly as when he fought strong enemies, the daily training was not without its benefits. After his deadly battle with William, he could feel that his Haki had become stronger, and with more practice and consolidation, he believed he could make further progress.
As for Life Return, it was constantly maintained, nourishing his body through the food he consumed.
And now, his physique and abilities were being trained in tandem.
It wasn't just about accelerating to a hundredfold speed; at that speed, he needed to use Haki hardening to protect his body. This was the extent of his ability development, but without Haki, his body couldn't withstand the hundredfold speed.
However, it was better than before.
And now, he had increased his weight.
For the human body, weight was power.
"I haven't been able to develop my volume yet, but this is still good. I can increase my weight."
Sag explained, "During my previous battles, when I used 100% of my strength, my maximum limit was a hundredfold speed with tenfold weight. Now, I want to train in my normal state without relying on Haki. I want to find out what my limits are."
The hundredfold speed was extremely useful, as not everyone could maintain their Observation Haki for extended periods. Using dual-color Haki together was even more taxing on one's stamina and Haki reserves. However, Sag didn't want to drag out his fights with others for so long.
Although strong people were like bulls with thick hides, he wasn't lacking in growth potential. Someday, he would be able to blast apart people like William with a single punch in his normal state.
"My current physical condition can't even handle three-fold. Using three-fold weight and speed amplification, if I were to use my base strength to attack with all my might, my bones and tissues would be damaged first, and they wouldn't recover immediately."
Sag looked at his hand and said, "If I use the Dragon-Turning Breath Technique, I should be able to withstand three-fold and even speed it up a bit. Without using Haki, if I want to maintain a prolonged battle in my normal state, I can only amplify my strength by one-fold. With Haki, I should be able to handle three-fold."
"Now, my first goal is to be able to maintain three-fold in my normal state.
"Triple amplification aside, even a single-fold increase is quite powerful.
With his weight doubled by ability enhancement, coupled with the speed boost driving his strength, his pure attacking power is already impressive.
This ability is similar to the Kaio-ken, with side effects, but the battle power increases rapidly. The difference is that the Kaio-ken has significant side effects, while Sag only needs to consider if his body can withstand it, as using this ability doesn't consume much of his stamina.
As for volume, it can be used on objects, but he hasn't developed the ability to use it on himself yet. But that doesn't mean he can't imagine it."
"Hmph, when I saw Bonney Wally, he could only use speed amplification on himself, and this fruit was completely useless to him. Only I can fully develop the fruit's potential, ho ho ho ho!" Sag laughed heartily.
He had always been confident.
Even when things went awry, he only suspected his luck, never himself.
A smile curved on Lily's lips as she said, "Sag, regarding what you mentioned yesterday, someone has come, and he wants to meet you."
"Oh?"
Sag finished the remaining half of the bottle and handed the empty bottle to Lily. "Then let's meet. Where is he?"
"He's waiting at the palace entrance," Lily replied.
Sag nodded. "I'll take a shower and change my clothes. Tell him to wait."
Not long after, Sag, now changed into a plain shirt, appeared in the grand hall and sat on the stone throne. He clicked his tongue again. "Weren't we supposed to change this throne? Why is it still this broken stone?"
"We didn't have enough time. Hawkins is still designing your bedroom, and I've already told him to prioritize the design of this grand hall for the next one," Lily explained as she stood below the throne, resembling a female knight serving her king. She then called out to the palace entrance, "Come in!"
Soon, a man ran in from the open palace doors and knelt halfway through his entrance. "Your Majesty, I am Andre, a merchant who has always wanted to serve you. I have decided to join your ranks!"
"He's the one who wanted to give away the supplies for free," Lily said indifferently.
This merchant was the same person who had shown great interest in starting an industry earlier. He had just arrived and hadn't even had the chance to survey the environment yet when he heard Sag's request and hurried over.
"Yes, it's me!"
Andre raised his head, his eyes shining with enthusiasm. "Lord Sag, I know of a place that can meet your requirements and is not far from your territory."
"Meet my requirements? Do you know what I want?" Sag smiled and asked.
"Hehe, everyone on the sea has to eat, and the place I'm talking about can solve the food problem first. My hometown, Vakano Gress!"
Andre explained, "It's a volcanic island with unique volcanic ash, making the entire island fertile and highly productive in terms of food yield. In fact, this special volcanic ash is an exceptional soil enhancer, even outperforming the renowned black soil of Timaton!"
The black soil of TimaStan was also quite fertile, but the main problem was that not much was cultivated, and before, only the nobles had the right to develop it, so the commoners didn't have the authorization to cultivate it independently. Sag had just conquered it, so he hadn't had the opportunity to plant on a large scale yet.
But now, there was an alternative, even a better one. Of course, this was a good thing.
And who would complain about having too much food?
Sag became interested. "Your hometown? Hmm, a guide, eh? Good, very good. How long will it take to get there?"
"Just one day, I have a permanent pointer," Andre replied.
"I'm very satisfied. Now, what do you want?"
Sag grinned, his teeth gleaming. "Money? Treasures? Or should I help you take revenge on someone?"
"No, no, no, I don't have any grudges. I purely admire Lord Sag. You've been too kind to us, even allowing someone as lowly as me to start an industry. This is something one wouldn't dare to think about on the sea. I'm doing this because I want to help solve some of your troubles."
Andre continued, "Regarding money, if you allow me to do business here, only collecting 40% of the business tax and the tax on my own income, I will be very satisfied. Of course, I heard that you don't like free things. So, after you conquer my hometown, will you allow me to build a factory there to produce food for you?"
40%!
The personal tax rate was only 20% of the monthly income above 300,000, plus half of the excess amount.
If this price was realized, he would not only reveal the location of his hometown but also dig up his mother and offer her to Sag to till the land!
(End of Chapter)
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