The subsequent voyage was very smooth.
Although the Great Pirate Era had begun, and there were no shortage of hot-headed people daring to ram into World Government ships, the result was usually only one: a sunken ship, even before the pirate ships got close.
"Your Highness, 10 minutes remaining until arrival. Do you need me to accompany you ashore?", On the deck, Zannie walked over to Rosse and reported the current situation.
Staying by Rosse's side was still quite relaxed, unlike staying by the side of other Celestial Dragons, where one had to be on constant alert. After all, Rosse himself had the strength to protect himself, and there was an even stronger Zephyr on board. All Zannie had to do was fill in the gaps.
"What's the situation on the island?", Rosse asked casually, his eyes calm.
This trip to the ancestral land was just on a whim, and he hadn't done any special investigation.
It'd be great if he could find some unexpected surprises. If not, that was fine too.
"Your Highness, Jaygarcia Island covers an area of 200,000 square kilometers. It is currently ruled by the Kingdom of Lanka. The Lanka family used to be vassals of the family. After the family moved to the Holy Land, they have been managing this place on the family's behalf," Zannie respectfully said.
"What's the current king like?", Rosse asked casually.
"Name: Lanka Humphrey, 45 years old, father of 17 sons and 21 daughters, 42 queens, and more than 1200 slaves…"
Zannie could memorize this kind of data at a glance, this was a skill the family had trained her for.
"Sounds like he's not a good person," Rosse let out a low chuckle. Just from the numbers alone, it was clear that King Humphrey wasn't anything good.
What kind of proper person has 42 queens and 1200 slaves?
"Jaygarcia Island has a total population of 4 million, and annually pays 40 billion Berries in Heavenly Tribute. This 40 billion goes directly to the family treasury. Besides that, the Lanka royal family and nobility earn about 20 billion Berries a year," Zannie reminded him.
"To maintain their rule, the Lanka family really did spend a lot of money," Rosse chuckled. The Heavenly Tribute they paid was more than what the kingdom earned, enough to prove how determined the Lanka family was to hold power.
Other member nations didn't pay such a high Heavenly Tribute. The ones who paid even half of this were already superpowers or major trading nations.
As for whether the 60 billion Berries per year made the citizens wail in misery, probably not an issue.
No matter how hard life was, people still had to live.
Rebellion? Doesn't exist. Within the four seas, even a single Rear Admiral could easily suppress a whole country. Unless they went to sea as pirates to wage guerrilla war, occupying land was just waiting to die.
"How many members does the family currently have?", Rosse suddenly asked.
"The family has 51 members in total. Saint Saturn is the head, and you are in the second sequence."
Zannie knew what Rosse wanted to ask, so she added right away, "Saint Saturn needs 10 billion Berries annually to subsidize scientific research and the Marine. The rest all go into the family treasury."
"So you're saying, if I take over the Kingdom of Lanka, even if I just maintain the status quo, I can earn an extra 50 billion Berries?", Rosse raised an eyebrow.
Taking too much money from the family treasury would be too unsightly, and with Saint Saturn watching from above, he wouldn't be allowed to mess around.
But if he took over the Kingdom of Lanka and covered Saturn's share, then the opinions of the others didn't matter anymore.
A kingdom belonging to him, paying the Heavenly Tribute for his own use, it was perfectly reasonable.
Heavenly Tribute was part of the World Government system, basically equivalent to the member nations' tributes.
Part of it went to the Celestial Dragons for enjoyment, and the other part was used for Marine and World Government expenditures, to maintain world balance.
Rosse personally believed that the pressure Heavenly Tribute put on commoners wasn't the real issue.
The problem lay in the middlemen profiting from the markup.
Currently, member nations had autonomy, and commoners also had to pay taxes to the member nations to support their royal families and nobles.
If the member nations were abolished and replaced with a regional system, each region managed by world nobles dispatched by the family, not only would it benefit the World Government, but ordinary people's lives would also improve significantly.
"You can interpret it that way. According to the intelligence provided by the family, the combined wealth of the Lanka royal family and nobles should be around 100 billion Berries," Zannie sorted through her memory briefly and gave Rosse an exact figure.
No matter what Rosse planned to do, all she had to do was follow orders.
"100 billion? That's quite a sum. With the average price per person at 100,000 Berries, 100 billion can buy one million people," Rosse made a rough estimate, with a pleasant smile on his lips.
No one understood better than he did: population equals wealth.
What once-in-a-lifetime genius? What one-in-a-billion monster?
With a large enough population base, there was nothing that couldn't be born.
Even if the Pirate World didn't have many islands, it still counted as vast lands with sparse population.
Jaygarcia Island covered 200,000 square kilometers. With modern standards, it could house at least 30 million people.
Once it couldn't hold more, they could still go pioneer the Red Line.
Using Devil Fruits for combat was a waste. Using them for infrastructure was the right answer.
"Purururu!"
Just as Rosse was wondering what excuse to use to land on the island, his Den Den Mushi suddenly rang.
Rosse didn't mind and picked it up directly.
When the Den Den Mushi morphed into Gion's face, Rosse finally became a little serious.
It had been a while since he'd seen those 180cm long legs, he missed them a little.
["Saint Rosse, I've obtained the fruit."]
Gion's voice was slightly tired and hoarse, making Rosse raise an eyebrow slightly, "What happened?"
If she had gotten the fruit as normal, Gion shouldn't be acting like this.
Even if not excited, she should at least be relieved.
["During the search for the fruit, I encountered the Beasts Pirates' 'All-Star' King. Although I repelled him, it also attracted the attention of the Beasts Pirates,"] Gion replied truthfully.
Her strength was indeed above King's, but killing him wasn't something she could do at the moment.
"The Beasts Pirates, huh…"
Beast Kaido, one of the Four Emperors to come, a top powerhouse on the seas, absolutely S-level strength even now.
However, for the time being he was lurking in Wano Country. At least until Kozuki Oden died, he probably wouldn't act too wildly.
As for why they targeted Gion, it didn't even need guessing.
The Beasts Pirates only accepted Zoan-type Devil Fruit users. Either Kaido heard there was a Mythical Zoan in Island of Promises and sent King to check it out. Or there was a strong Zoan user in the area, and Gion just happened to run into him.
"I'll get in touch with Kaido. Since you've already eaten the fruit, return to the Holy Land first," Rosse said calmly.
The Beasts Pirates were still in their early development stage. Their current strength was on par with his forces, not to mention the World Government.
'But, Kaido, Wano Country, Seastone…'
Thinking of these key words, a glint flickered in Rosse's eyes.
'Wano seems to be quite big. Plus, it is in the New World and has Seastone mines. Whether for developing animal husbandry or mining, there is a lot of potential.'
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