Chapter 496: Consolidation
Chapter 496: Consolidation
Under the gloomy sky, a storm raged, accompanied by a curtain of rain.
Amidst the downpour, a colossal black vessel sailed steadily, unperturbed by the howling winds. As it traversed the sea, numerous whirlpools emerged in its wake.
A thunderous roar filled the air, and lightning bolts struck the ship's structures, deck, and masts, illuminating the empty vessel.
On the first floor, the banquet hall bustled with noise as numerous pirates gathered to drink and revel.
Every time they set sail, even if Lord Sag did not join them, he would allow them to hold a banquet here. Lady Renetia's shipbuilding skills ensured that the second floor was completely soundproofed, allowing the pirates to make as much noise as they wanted without disturbing Lord Sag.
Sifer, sipping his drink, turned his gaze towards the lightning outside the window and exclaimed, "No matter how you look at it, it's awe-inspiring. There are indeed many miracles on the high seas, right, Misty?"
Sitting across from him was one of the Green-Haired Duo, Misty, who had joined him on the journey to Gran Tazoro. She was a former member of the Calamity Pirates and now a part of the pirate crew, with a bounty of three hundred million belli.
Misty raised her fruit cocktail and took a small sip before replying, "I heard from Lady Renetia that this isn't a miracle; it's just bad luck."
Sifer shrugged and laughed, "Being this unlucky is a miracle in itself."
Misty remained noncommittal, merely sipping her drink.
"Hey, Buffalo, show us a spin!"
"Yeah, spin around!"
"Delinger, Delinger, stop wearing those girly clothes! You're a man! Take them off and put on some pirate attire!"
As Sifer watched the lightning outside the window, the central area of the banquet hall grew noisier. A group of pirates surrounded two men, creating a commotion.
Among them was a fat man with a head like a propeller, spinning his entire body, eliciting laughter from the onlookers.
Another group was tearing at the clothes of a man with bull horns.
They knocked off his hat, revealing his bull horns, and ripped his shirt to expose the fish fins on his back. They forcefully removed his hot pants, exposing his lower body.
"Hey, don't touch me! This is my outfit; I'm used to it! You can't do this!"
The man with bull horns and fish fins, initially drunk, didn't resist much. But as they were about to change his clothes, he sobered up and kicked the group of pirates, jumping back and shouting angrily, "This is disrespecting freedom! Pirates are free! Or do you discriminate against mermaids?!"
"Mermaidmen?"
Misty looked over, puzzled, "What's that?"
She wasn't one for gossip; aside from the initial group of pirates who stormed in, she didn't know the others and had no interest in getting to know them.
"I think they're a type of fishmen," Sifer replied. "In my eyes, there's no difference, but they seem to be disliked by both fishmen and humans. Poor kids."
Sifer thought for a moment and said, "His name is Delinger, and the spinning guy is Buffalo. They're both new recruits from Dressrosa."
"This time, they came along with the green-haired duo, Sugar and Monet. The little one is playing with Lady Renetia, and the green-haired big sister became Lord Sag's secretary."
"The one in the maid uniform, who seems unable to refuse requests, is Baby-5. You saw her with Bella when Lord Sag made an appearance during the day."
"She joined the Maid Corps, and Lady Bella seems to have high hopes for her, grooming her as the Vice-Maid Commander. They're also working on correcting her inability to refuse requests, so she can only refuse requests from Lord Sag."
As Sifer spoke, the commotion started again. A group of pirates, unafraid of Delinger's attacks, chased him with traditional pirate attire, even after being knocked down by his powerful kicks. They laughed as they got up and continued the pursuit.
Pirates were bound to get injured; it was all part of the fun.
"You bunch of guys!"
Delinger, the pursued one, seemed genuinely enraged. After kicking a drunken pirate flying, his eyes turned red, and he suddenly lowered his body, aiming his bull horns at the throat of an approaching pirate. He was about to charge forward.
If he succeeded, the pirate would likely die on the spot.
Just as he made his move, Sifer's figure moved, turning into a shadow that appeared in front of Delinger. Simultaneously, he drew a blade from the waist of a nearby pirate. With a soft flutter, the blade transformed into an iron rod, and Sifer struck Delinger's chest with it, pinning him to the ground.
"A man should act like a man! What's with this androgynous appearance, it's disgraceful!"
Sifer yelled at him, "Kid, accept the transformation willingly, or else you'll regret it later!"
He didn't really care about such matters, but the key point was that he also knew Sage's temperament. Although they had been keeping a distance for the past two years, when it came to gathering information, he was far superior to Misty, who only knew how to patrol and space out.
There were odd-looking fellows in the Cataclysm Pirates as well, but they were mostly due to their natural appearances. However, if there was someone who was truly androgynous,
Sage didn't notice at first, of course. His gaze usually didn't wander downward, but if it really made him uncomfortable and the person didn't change, even if Sage didn't take action, his subordinates, the Demon Agents, would.
Guys like Delinger, who wasn't considered a small fry among the crew, would eventually be noticed. This kind of attitude of attacking one's own crew without any provocation was absolutely unacceptable.
"You're a new guy, right? I joined before you, so don't talk to me like that!" Delinger protested.
However, his struggling body went limp, allowing the drunken pirates to dress him in their attire, transforming him from someone with an ambiguous gender into a spirited mermaidman youth.
"Am I a newcomer?"
Sifer laughed and pointed at a random pirate, "Who am I?"
"Sir Sifer, don't joke around," the pirate smiled and said, "I remember the first time I met you. It was at night, and I was in a hurry, so I took a shortcut through an alley, but you caught me. You gave me a few lashes and put me in solitary confinement for three days."
"Did you hear that? I may be new to being a pirate, but under Sage's command, I'm a proper veteran."
Sifer extended his thumb towards himself, about to say the word 'old comrade', but his expression suddenly darkened. He knelt down, supporting himself with his hands on the ground, and sighed, "As an old fodder, still being alive and wasting food is truly an insult to life."
Everyone around him also knelt down, their spirits dampened.
Even Delinger, who had just been forced to change into the pirate attire and was still a bit annoyed, knelt down, pounding the deck and crying, "As a mermaidman, I'm an insult to the sea. If possible, I'd rather be a grass carp."
"Shut up!"
In the banquet hall, a pink-haired woman with a Gothic style floated in the air, "Let's have the banquet, and stop all this fighting! Everyone, reflect on your behavior!"
From her side, a group of transparent cloth-like figures, like ghostly contracts, suddenly darted out, continuing to pass through their bodies, making everyone, including Sifer, feel even more despondent.
"A Phantom Lady?"
Misty looked over, nodding, "Hello."
"I'm Perona, don't give people random nicknames," Perona said with a light hum, floating over to sit across from Misty in the spot where Sifer had been sitting.
The two women locked eyes, and Misty picked up the wine pot, pouring a cup for Perona from a new cup on the table. Perona took the cup, sipped lightly, and smiled.
They locked eyes again, both sighing in relief.
"It's quiet now," Misty said, "I love the silence."
"I'm fine with it too, as long as it's not too noisy," Perona said.
The two women were both the type who preferred tranquility over excitement. One liked to stay at home, while the other cherished peace and quiet. They weren't very familiar with the people around them, and it was a coincidence that they had met and gotten along well.
After Perona bid farewell to Hawkeye last time, she found Moria and joined the Cataclysm Pirates. However, she was a homebody who enjoyed staying in the castle, admiring her collection of gloomy, tattered cloth dolls.
Sage knew she had arrived, but he hadn't seen her yet.
He couldn't possibly go to the sub-islands himself to meet this woman, could he?
That would be a reversal of the heavens. Coincidentally, this time, on their way to Gran Tazoro, Moria felt that Perona staying in the castle wasn't right, so he brought her along on Sage's robbery and sightseeing trip.
As for Moria himself,
he had no interest in it.
On this trip to Gran Tazoro, aside from Sage and his three female subordinates who always accompanied him, he also brought along a group of new recruits with the intention of training and broadening their horizons.
Most people either lacked interest or were too busy to join.
Hawkins and Urgi were both uninterested in entertainment cities and had their hands full with other matters.
The reconstruction of the new territory was a task for Urgi, who had to transform the candy-themed buildings of Totland, which neither suited Sag's aesthetic nor served any practical purpose.
Who would eat sweets all day? The residents of Totland were not natives but outsiders who had sought refuge there, and they didn't particularly enjoy sweets either. It was simply that Totland only offered sweets, and Big Mom's diet consisted solely of them.
Sag's appetite was not limited to sweets, so those under his command couldn't possibly survive on a sweet-only diet.
Thus, the food had to change, and the buildings needed to be transformed into bustling, skyscraper-like structures befitting the Calamity Pirates' style, with factories tailored to the local conditions.
Totland's thirty-four directly controlled islands were all under the control of the Big Power, and their landscapes had been altered to resemble various sweet treats.
For instance, there was Nut Island, Candy Island, and Cocoa Island. These islands were literally made of their respective treats; Candy Island even had its land and sea surfaces composed of sugar, and the peaks of Cocoa Island were crafted from chocolate. It was evident that Big Mom had left her mark on these islands, and the alteration of their souls had rendered them useless for anything other than producing sweets.
Upon reading the report, Sag waved his hand, deciding to turn the production of sweets into a specialty, establishing a factory as another form of their signature product.
Hawkins, in charge of architectural management, was already occupied with planning the layout of the buildings and had no time to accompany Sag on his sea adventures.
Urgi was in a similar situation, busy with debt management.
The Gold Sector was running low on funds, and before they could acquire Guild Tazoro, they had to focus on debt collection. They intensified their efforts to reclaim overdue debts, ensuring the money was retrieved.
But what if there was no money?
How could someone without funds borrow money? Was there no background check for lending?
When Sag initiated this business, he ensured that his intelligence network kept pace. He already had access to substantial underground world information, and after eliminating the rat, Du Feld, his sources increased.
Those seeking loans came from all over the world through underground channels.
As for the possibility of deception, what if someone set a trap to swindle his money? No one would dare offend him for the sake of a borrower's identity. While identity fabrication was simple, no one had dared to deceive him in this regard three days ago.
Why mention three days ago? Because, three days ago, someone had indeed attempted such a deception, meticulously crafting a lie and impersonating another to swindle three million Beli from Sag.
Upon discovering this, Urgi personally went to investigate.
Was it worth it for such a small amount? To deceive a Four Emperor for a few million Beli? That person had ambition.
Yet, to deceive a Four Emperor for such a meager sum was also a sign of lack of ambition.
It reminded Sag of his past dealings with Doflamingo.
Akim, as the Commander-in-Chief, also had his hands full. He wasn't on the ship but was busy working within Big Mom's territory, ensuring the smooth transition of the two forces and regularly patrolling to eliminate any rogue pirates.
Aside from the thirty-four directly controlled islands, Big Mom's territory included protected islands and hunting grounds, all within her sphere of influence. These areas required conquest and governance.
Akim also had the task of recruiting and integrating new pirates into the crew.
With Katakuri's arrival, some of his former subordinates joined the Big Mom Pirates as well.
Additionally, the Chess Pieces guarding the Totland territory relieved some of the island-guarding pressure, allowing for a faster integration process.
There were many tasks, and they were complicated.
However, once the initial planning was complete and everything was on track, all that was needed was time.
Sag, in this regard, couldn't be said to be of much help, nor could he be considered completely useless. A pirate's primary job was robbery, while taxation and development were the landlord's duties.
At present, Sag was flawlessly executing the primary task of a pirate.
The storm and rain gradually subsided, and the raging seas calmed, revealing the dark vessel. In the distance, beyond the ship, a golden light shone, like a glimmer in the night.
From afar, it appeared as a golden island.
"We've arrived."
In the office, Sag stood, gazing out the window at the glimmering sight, a smile forming on his lips. "It's a massive ship."
(End of Chapter)
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