Chapter 498: The Shipping Industry
Chapter 498: The Shipping Industry
The voice was soft, not a shout, but to Carina, it felt like a thousand pounds pressing down on her.
She stiffly turned her head, looking at the black ship slowly approaching, its deck level with the golden pillar where she stood, and the white-haired man at the bow, grinning. A bitter feeling welled up inside her.
She was being targeted by one of the Four Emperors!
Even a thief would know who the real big shots were!
In Carina's eyes, Tazoro was already a formidable figure, which was why he had racked his brains to infiltrate this place and patiently wait for an opportunity to steal the treasure. But even so, she never imagined she would have to face one of the Four Emperors, an existence so powerful that she couldn't even fathom it.
"It's an honor," Carina said smoothly, turning to Sage with a slight bow. Her performance dress followed her body as she bowed, revealing the hollow of her chest, which bounced with each step.
She couldn't refuse.
She didn't even have the courage to refuse.
This was an invitation from one of the Four Emperors! Although it didn't align with the freedom she desired, for now, she had to accept.
Her life was more important.
Moreover, among the Four Emperors, Norton Sag was the wealthiest and most extravagant, rumored to have a palace paved with gold.
"Hahaha, you're smart! Good, very good! From now on, you'll be my songstress!" Sag roared with laughter, surveying the panicked audience members scattering in all directions. He took a deep breath and let out a roar that echoed throughout the area.
"Each one of you will pay!"
As he spoke, he suddenly extended his hand, and a fierce gust of wind descended from above, whipping up a howl and causing the surrounding waters to churn. Everywhere except the direction of Sag, whether it was the docking area within the ship or the waters around the giant vessel, was engulfed in powerful whirlpools.
The intense wind pressure was so overwhelming that even Carina, who wasn't physically there, could feel the tearing sensation it emitted.
If one were to physically enter, it would probably feel like being scraped by a knife.
And as for those whirlpools...
They completely blocked any exit!
"There's only one way out, and that's through me. Since you've all come to gamble, put everything on the line! If you hand over all your assets, you can leave through me. Otherwise..."
A cruel smile appeared on Sag's face. "Forget it, there's no second option. I only want money!"
Just like when he had raided the rain, now that they were in the casino, there was no need for politeness. He could rob everyone there!
The only way out was through the Doom Star, in the direction of the golden pillar. Otherwise, any attempt to force their way out would result in being crushed by the whirlpools.
Fly?
Even flying wouldn't work!
The wind pressure enveloped the ship, and even if someone could fly, they wouldn't be able to escape this steel-blade-like wind pressure.
As for those who could escape...
He wasn't blind.
He would just have to chase them down and capture them again.
The Doom Star continued forward, leveling with the golden pillar, and Carina stepped onto the deck, taking the initiative to introduce herself.
"Captain, my name is Carina, please give me guidance."
"Call me boss, sir, or lord," Lily said, slightly furrowing her brows. "You can't call him captain yet."
Things were different now compared to the past. After defeating Big Mom, even if Sag didn't do anything, the internal restructuring of their organization was gradually leading towards unification.
Only those who were directly under the Doom Star had the right to call him Captain Sag, or Lord Sag.
Everyone else was referred to as Governor.
Katakuri, as the first affiliated pirate crew, could only address Sag as Governor.
Sifer and Misty, who had just joined, were allowed to call him Captain.
Being able to call him Captain was a matter of acceptance.
When a family business expands, some things need to be clearly distinguished.
It wasn't about hierarchy, but certain things were still important. Calling him Captain meant officially becoming a member of the Calamity Pirates, and a bounty would be placed on their heads.
This songstress was here just to sing, and she might not even want to be a pirate.
Although Carina felt that this woman seemed a bit off, beneath her sweet appearance, there seemed to be a nimble physique hidden within.
But in the world of pirates, having some self-defense skills was perfectly normal.
At their core, they were still ordinary people.
"Yes, Lord Sag," Carina replied obediently.
Sag waved his hand and asked, "I heard a good male songstress earlier. Where is he?"
In addition to Carina's voice, there was also a male singer, and he was quite good, not at all inferior to her, and even surpassing her in many ways. He seemed to have excellent control over the atmosphere and could liven up the mood.
Sag was lacking in such talented entertainers, and his band didn't have anyone like that.
"That..."
"That's Guild Tazoro, the owner here. I don't know what happened, but he left earlier," Carina explained.
Sag nodded, remembering something. "Oh, right, that guy, I remember him. He's a pretty good singer."
A red light flashed in his eyes as he looked towards the front, a smile spreading across his face. "He's pretty fast."
"Should we go straight there?" Lily asked.
"Why the rush? Let's take a look around; such a wonderful place, it would be a shame to destroy it directly."
Sage waved his hand, "Guys, go and have some fun. Same old rules, break even if you lose, and all the winnings are yours!"
"Ohh!!"
The crew members on the ship shouted in excitement.
The world's largest entertainment city, they had heard of its reputation and had long wanted to come and see it for themselves.
The most crucial point was that they could gamble here without spending a penny. After all, if they lost, they could get it back, and if they won, it would be real money.
The Doom Star entered from the entrance next to the stage in the docking area and arrived at a port covered with a red carpet.
Apparently affected by the arrival of the Four Emperors, the port, which should have been bustling with people, was now completely empty. However, the deeper parts were brightly lit and glittering with gold.
The ship came to a stop, and as the crew lowered the gangplank, Sage led the way, his cloak swaying with each step.
By his side was Lily, holding the hilt of her sword, followed by Mariya with a beaming smile and Reti, who was looking around curiously.
Behind them were Sifer, Misty, Perona, and several 'newcomers' who had joined the Dressrosa crew.
"Huh? Is this the Golden City?"
Perona floated in the air, looking around, and pouted, "All this glitter and shine, how annoying. It's not as good as Moria's castle."
Sage chuckled, "There aren't any zombies or dolls here, just have some fun. Don't always stay cooped up, or you'll end up as fat as Moria."
"I won't," Perona retorted, "You said it yourself, Sage, that changes in willpower bring about changes in a person. My willpower is very firm!"
Perona stuck her tongue out at Sage, "Living in a gloomy castle is my firm ideal!"
Her aesthetic sense had never changed.
Back on the Gigantic Terror Ship, she had lived in a gloomy castle, and even after being knocked away by a bear, she still resided in an abandoned gloomy castle.
When they found Moria again, she continued to live in his residence on the sub-island of Oahara.
Sage's perception of Perona was indifferent.
She had a deep father-daughter bond with Moria, who himself valued his companions.
Back on the three-masted ship, Moria had spoken grandly about how one wouldn't lose what one never had, but after the death of the stitched-face man, Absalom, he still sank into a period of depression.
After meeting Perona, he still smiled cheerfully.
This woman was clearly a freeloader, but Sage now had a large family and business, so he didn't care about supporting one freeloader.
Moreover, Perona had her uses; her ability made her a skilled reconnaissance agent.
Unexpectedly, she got along well with Charlotte Brulee, a ghostly girl and a gloomy witch, a fitting pair.
As the group descended to the ground, the crew eagerly pulled out motorcycles from the ship's cabin, preparing to ride them into the interior of the massive ship. After all, from the entrance, they could see the path ahead.
This ship, stretching over ten thousand meters in length, was no different from a city, and walking by foot would take forever. Of course, they needed a means of transportation.
Sage had initially planned to ride as well, but soon his attention was drawn to something ahead.
"Cars?!"
He spotted several vehicles.
Four-wheeled cars with steering wheels and accelerators,
Chapter 1: The Golden City
"There are cars?!" Sage exclaimed as he spotted several vehicles.
Four-wheeled cars with steering wheels and accelerators, resembling luxury sports cars, stood before them.
"Hey, drive my Roundmobile!" Reti shouted upon seeing her crew members preparing to ride the motorcycles.
"Lady Reti," one crew member raised their hand and weakly said, "Strength is temporary, but coolness lasts a lifetime."
Bang! Reti slammed her hammer, sending the speaker flying, and grumbled, "My Roundmobile is cool too!"
She approached one of the cars and said, "These cars are only flashy on the outside; they're nothing special inside. They're powered by animals, no different from pulling a cart."
Of course, there were four-wheeled cars on the high seas, given that there were already three-wheeled motorcycles. Creating four-wheeled vehicles was not impossible.
However, the technology was different. These cars were purely pulled by turtles.
Sage approached a car resembling a Rolls-Royce, patted its roof, and said, "Tell me about these."
"Turtle cars," the crew member replied.
Lady Renetia pouted, "I've heard of these before. They're purely for aesthetics, you see those animals."
She pointed to the two rows of small turtles on either side of the vehicle, like paddles ready to row, and said, "Muscle Turtles, they provide the power. The higher the grade of the turtle, the higher the grade of the vehicle. It's purely driven by external objects, without any technology."
"Take this Turtle Rolls you're looking at, and over there, the low-slung red one is called a Turtle Rally, the one in front is a Turtle Bikini, and the one ahead is a Light Shell Turtle. It's just a different turtle, what kind of technology is that!"
She absolutely despised things that masqueraded as technology.
Like the automated vending machines with people inside and that so-called 'Automated Walkway' in Mary Joa, this Turtle Car was no different.
Norton Sag circled the Turtle Rolls and asked, "Can't they be mass-produced?"
"No, there aren't actually that many turtles. They're enough to serve as transportation for a city, but if we were to sell them, there simply wouldn't be enough."
After all, Lady Renetia oversaw the weapons and shipbuilding factories, so she knew exactly what Sag was getting at as soon as he opened his mouth.
"Besides, if we're talking about selling, I can sell my Roundmobile too!"
"Sell it? Didn't we sell a batch before? Where's the demand? It's enough to use it ourselves."
Sag rolled his eyes.
"They just don't appreciate the beauty of machinery!" Lady Renetia exclaimed.
Her Roundmobile... Well, there wasn't much to say about it.
It wasn't that they hadn't tried selling it before; there was no way Sag would pass up a money-making opportunity.
Shipbuilding and automobile industries could be merged into a car-boat industry.
It was a perfect business opportunity.
Lady Renetia's technical prowess was exceptional, especially after learning Pluton's techniques. Creating a powerful means of transportation was a piece of cake for her.
She couldn't provide the complete Roundmobile, but the stripped-down beggar version she had produced in the past was...
Well, it had a post-apocalyptic wasteland style that even small-time thugs wouldn't give a second glance.
Even thugs had their pride, you know.
The key issue was that Lady Renetia was determined to promote her Roundmobile products, but no one outside her territory was interested.
But the crucial point was that even the people in her territory, though they didn't buy it, would still be provided with it.
"Reti, if you think that way, your Roundmobile is for internal use. If you sell it to others, won't it lose its signature style? But this is different. Anyway, for those sold to others, just make a simple replica, copy the exterior, remove the turtles, and change to another power source. Can't you do that?"
"Of course!" Lady Renetia said proudly.
It was just a simple change of power source. If turtles couldn't pull the car, then they'd burn cola...
Sag turned the key, and instantly, a current surged through the Muscle Turtles, activating them. Their thick arms bulged with veins, awaiting the press of the accelerator, and then they frantically pulled on the steering levers, providing power.
Sag moved the steering wheel and nodded, "The handling is decent. Yeah, changing the power source is no problem. It should make for a decent product. Let's make a batch first and try it out domestically to see the response. It's perfect timing, and we can fix the roads along the way."
Road repair was a significant undertaking.
The main island and secondary island of Ohara were absolutely gigantic, and everything in the vast ocean, except for humans themselves, was enormous.
Sag often wondered if this ocean, long ago, had been inhabited by giants instead of humans.
After all, while a 2-3 meter tall human might consider a small island a vast place, for a 20-meter giant, a small island in the ocean was indeed just a small island.
For those living in Ohara, traveling to another place often took days, even ten days or half a month.
It was too time-consuming and didn't facilitate rapid circulation.
Sag had already planned to repair the roads, and now with these four-wheeled vehicles, it was the perfect opportunity to put them to use.
Highways and cars were a match made in heaven!
Sag bared his teeth and smiled at Lily, "Let's go for a drive!"
Lily was about to walk over when she suddenly stopped and looked ahead.
"Disaster Lord."
A red-haired woman walked up the red carpet and humbly said, "If you're here to play, please allow me to be your guide."
The woman wore a high-slit skirt and bowed deeply. If one looked closely, they'd notice a slight tremor in her body.
Sag glanced at her and said, "Again, the big ones don't come out, and the small ones come to replace them? Where's Tazolo? He should be the one to come out and meet me. Well, I'm in a good mood right now, so you better say something I want to hear, or you won't like the consequences."
For a Yonko to speak to her like this was already an extraordinary act of mercy.
Other Yonko wouldn't even spare her a glance.
(End of Chapter)
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