Pirate: Hades! ( One Piece)

Chapter 240: The Lion Opens Its Mouth

Hades, who intended to ease relations with the World Government and then target them while operating in the shadows, didn't mind letting the World Government enter the Arms Market.

Although the World Government's power would recover faster.

However, tens of billions of Beli per year was still insufficient for the World Government's enormous size.

Although Hades didn't want the World Government's power to recover, it was necessary to divert the World Government's attention from the Kronos Kingdom.

The trouble Hades caused the World Government by joining the Rocks Pirates was already noteworthy enough.

This could also be said to be an opportunity the World Government gave the Kronos Kingdom.

In any case, the Kronos Kingdom couldn't openly target the World Government.

 At most, they could support others with arms, Den Den Mushi Jammers, and similar items, just like they supported the Rocks Pirates.

The World Government believed that tens of billions of Beli could be printed anytime as long as they ignored the restrictions on Member Nations.

This wouldn't affect the World Government; it would only affect Residents around the World.

However, the World Government also didn't want the Beli to devalue too drastically all at once, as this would cause great unrest.

At the very least, the Devaluation of Beli would require a long period of evolution, a process for people to adapt, minimizing the negative impact.

Financially alone, it was impossible to strike at the World Government.

The World Government might instead use this as a threat to make Member Nations increase their Heavenly Tribute share.

After all, the Devaluation of Beli would cause losses to Residents' property and trigger unrest.

In Hades' eyes, as long as unrest was stirred up, the World Government would have to spend tens of billions of Beli at once.

Various departments, especially the Intelligence Department, needed funds to maintain operations.

The World Government suffered heavy losses in the war against the Rocks Pirates and needed even more funds to restore their power.

The Marines needed a constant supply of massive funds.

 Currently, the Marines' military budget was still insufficient, limiting their expansion.

In this situation, they had even less money to offer bounties for Pirates.

The bounties of many Great Pirates and even some Rookie Pirates on The Great Sea hadn't increased for a long time.

Many Pirates hadn't even been given a bounty despite making a name for themselves.

If Hades hadn't invited Byrnndi World to join the Rocks Pirates, Byrnndi World would have only had a bounty of 200 million Beli even when captured in the future.

The current World Government and Marines would only face greater difficulties.

It would be quite difficult for the Marines to quickly rise after dealing with the Rocks Pirates and completely become the Hegemon of The Great Sea again.

 There was still a long way to go.

So, what if I let you join?

Thinking this, a strange smile appeared on Hades' face.

He was curious to see what methods the World Government would use to seize the share of the arms trade on The Great Sea.

Would they use higher technology?

The World Government had always been suppressing the World's technology level and restricting the spread of high technology, especially weapon technology.

 Once it spread, the wealthiest Kingdoms would benefit the most.

Their dependence on the World Government would greatly weaken.

Would they really take this step on their own initiative?

Or would they use other methods?

The World Government definitely had the idea of taking over the Kronos Kingdom's share of the arms trade.

 If they thought they could surpass the Kronos Kingdom based on a technology advantage, that was a bit naive.

Technology was important, but Hades had creativity.

In terms of transportation costs, the Kronos Kingdom could directly transport goods to the Four Seas through the Mirror World.

In commercial competition, the Kronos Kingdom wouldn't lose.

The reputation of the two major companies was already established.

 They had numerous customers around the World, and every time new weapons appeared, they were highly sought after.

The weapons created by the World Government would likely be imitations of those from the two major companies.

The prosperity of the arms trade was largely influenced by the Kronos Kingdom and the chaotic situation of the Great Sea.

Similarly, the more prosperous the arms trade, the more chaos there would be in this World.

The World Government would eventually be affected.

Since that's the case, I'll give you this opportunity.

However, this is a business worth tens of billions of Beli every year.

How could I let the World Government just step in so easily?

How could a mere thirty-something Devil Fruits be enough?

Calculated at market price, an ordinary Devil Fruit is only 40 million Beli.

 How much is that combined? Only a little over a billion.

How could this satisfy Hades' appetite?

Of course, the value of Devil Fruits cannot be calculated this way.

A rare Devil Fruit, if cultivated well, can completely help cultivate a Top Tier Combatant.

The value represented by a Top Tier Combatant is incomparable to tens or hundreds of billions of Beli.

Monsters who can become Top-tier Strongmen without relying on Devil Fruits are ultimately few.

Hades put down his pen and stared intently at the Government Envoy.

"I'll speak, you write."

"Yes, yes, His Highness Pluton."

The Envoy was somewhat flustered and picked up the pen in a hurry.

The initiative was completely in Hades' hands.

 In front of Hades, he felt his brain go completely blank.

"Two hundred and two Devil Fruits, two Mythical Zoan, two Logia, six Ancient Zoan."

"Eighty Zoan, one hundred and twenty Paramecia."

Compared to Zoan, which could be used to pad the numbers, Hades trusted Paramecia more for their strong ability development.

Hearing this, the Government Envoy's hand holding the pen trembled.

 He shakily wrote it down.

Although he was just an ordinary person, he was also among the higher-ups of the many government officials under the Five Elders in the World Government.

Although he was somewhat subservient in front of Hades, elsewhere, in some Member Nations, he was someone who could command the wind and rain, possessing great authority.

He understood the value of Devil Fruits.

 The World Government was a large enterprise, but it couldn't be spent like this.

 What Hades wanted was simply too much.

Mythical Zoan, Logia, Ancient Zoan - which one wasn't precious? Even without consulting the Five Elders yet, he knew clearly that the Five Elders would never agree.

This was completely the Lion opening its mouth wide, treating the World Government like a fool.

However, he wasn't particularly panicked.

 Negotiation was a back-and-forth process.

What he feared was Hades refusing to speak.

Since Hades dared to make an offer, it meant the Kronos Kingdom's non-interference with the World Government entering this market had a price.

Sixty percent of his current panicked appearance was an act.

 As someone in a high position, he wouldn't lack even this much composure.

Of course, in front of Hades, his inner feelings were genuinely somewhat fearful.

(end of chapter)