Chapter 85: World War Plan (part 1)
It must be said that Kaido in the early stages of starting a business was quite open-minded.
Apart from occasionally getting completely drunk and disappearing, and almost never inquiring about the crew’s daily affairs, he would actively listen to others’ opinions on important issues and major decisions.
Teacher Kai at present has not yet developed the habit of being stubborn and self-willed.
“The primary issue we face now is a shortage of personnel.” Burufaruto was the first to voice his opinion.
“The territory we’ve captured this time is too vast; with just our current thousand or so people, we can’t defend it.”
“The defensive forces on the various islands below are now as flimsy as paper; once enemies with even a bit of strength arrive, they’re basically pierced with a single poke, Boss Kaido.”
The previous Beasts Pirates, though only a few hundred strong, occupied merely three small islands, with sufficient defensive forces.
But now the territory area has increased nearly tenfold, the personnel below haven’t kept up, and mid-to-high-end combat power like executives hasn’t been supplemented…
It can be said that the current Beasts Pirates are like a python that has swallowed prey larger than itself, in the dangerous period of intense expansion pains.
“Mm, the current personnel is indeed somewhat insufficient.”
Jenu also nodded in agreement with Burufaruto’s view.
“Moreover, compared to personnel, our weapon and ammunition reserves are even more stretched.”
“I’ve checked; the weapons warehouse on Skul Island, due to lack of management, now has barely one-tenth of usable ammunition left. Even adding what we brought back from Hachinosu Island, it’s not enough for current use.”
The weapons Kaido and the others transported from Hachinosu Island weren’t actually that many, as most had been distributed by John to his subordinates before the battle.
“Also, there aren’t many warships left on the island; even if we send out all our patrol ships now, we can’t cover even one-fifth of the territorial waters area.”
“Well~ The biggest problem right now is lacking people, ships, and weapons; in short, we’re short on everything.”
Burufaruto gave the summary.
“So I think next we should vigorously recruit new members, while purchasing ready-made weapons and warships through various channels at the fastest speed.”
“And the good news is we don’t have to worry about money for the time being.
The treasure we robbed from Hachinosu Island isn’t much, but it should barely suffice to buy some weapons and ammunition to lightly arm the various islands.
Plus the protection fees collected from the various islands, it should be no problem to hold out for this period.”
Jenu finished the remaining juice in one gulp but didn’t put his mask back on.
With only Kaido and these people present, he didn’t mind showing his true face.
“Mm, well said.”
Kaido’s thinking was the same as the two, or rather, most ambitious pirate crews develop this way—recruit people → seize territory → recruit more people → seize more territory…
Repeating this until defeated and annexed by stronger pirate crews or the captain’s death leading to internal fighting and dissolution.
“La, do you have any ideas?”
Seeing that she hadn’t said a word during the previous discussion and had just been sitting there, Kaido couldn’t help but be curious about La’s thoughts.
He didn’t think it was because she knew nothing and couldn’t chime in.
Hearing the captain call on her, La took out the planning document she had prepared long ago.
Though she had memorized every word on it, holding it in hand made it seem more formal.
Pushing her half-eaten small cake in front of Aoxi to clear the table, La began her speech:
“Burufaruto and Jenu have already clearly explained the problems currently facing the pirate crew and the solutions.
I only have a few supplements and some minor ideas for the crew’s future development; everyone can listen.”
Seeing the thick stack of paper in La’s hand, the crowd couldn’t help but inwardly complain.
This doesn’t look like ‘a bit’ at all…
They then sat up a bit straighter, except for Aoxi and Obei, who had no interest in this meeting.
Obei was still savoring La’s special small cake bite by bite, as if she wanted to make one piece last until tomorrow.
And Aoxi unceremoniously ate the portion La had just pushed over; she had already devoured her own small cake, even licking the plate several times.
“What I’m holding is a simple planning document formed after basic data review and information gathering, analysis of the various factions on the sea, conservative predictions of future situations, combined with our crew’s internal actual conditions, resource distribution of subordinate factions, and some personal analysis.”
“I’ll tentatively call it《 Beasts Development Planning Suggestion（ Informal Version）》”
La’s voice was as pleasant as ever, but her unhurried tone now sounded like an extremely effective lullaby, making people drowsy.
“Uh… what planning version? It sounds like those nonsensical official statements in the newspaper.
Are you sure this is for the pirate crew?”
As a Fish-Man with literacy just enough to barely read newspapers, Burufaruto’s question hit the nail on the head.
The other two were somewhat bewildered by La’s words, with Kaido even yawning.
La nodded and gave a brief explanation:
“In theory, whether pirates or Navy, official or unofficial, the steps and underlying logic for a faction to develop and grow are fundamentally similar.”
“It’s nothing more than integrating and utilizing existing resources, then step by step absorbing other resources.”
La set down the manuscript paper and made an ‘eating’ gesture.
“And what to do specifically in each step, how to do it, and to what extent is the so-called ‘development planning’.”
“Of course, if you all aren’t used to this straightforward name, you can call it《 Beasts Great War Plan》 or《 World War Plan》.”
Sure enough, as soon as she said this, everyone instantly perked up.
Kaido and Jenu even released their auras and stood up, no longer looking lazy.
This shows that having a good title is still very important; it’s a victory for journalism!
“Uro-ro-ro! Interesting, hurry up and tell me, what kind of world war is this exactly!”
Kaido was already getting impatient.
“Simply put, it’s four steps—first, accumulate wealth and resources; second, gather weapons and technology; third, monopolize the weapons market; fourth, master the world’s war power.”
La raised her fingers one by one, simply summarizing her future plan.
“Wow~ Isn’t this those barbarians’ routine? Sister La seems completely unconcerned about what this world becomes~”
Hearing La’s speech, Aoxi immediately thought of certain world troublemakers, so she set down the plate she’d licked again and whispered to Obei beside her.
“Maybe Big Sister has her own considerations; after all, we don’t have much relation to this world originally, so don’t get too involved.”
Obei had always trusted La.
Aoxi fell silent upon hearing this.
“…”
“I know, and I don’t know if Sister La has found a way back.”
“Big Sister is always ahead of us; maybe her gaze has already seen the opportunity to return, so believe in her.”
While speaking, Obei moved the plate with the cake a bit away, keeping it from Aoxi’s somewhat unclean little hands.
“Tch~”
…
“Master war power, huh… Interesting! Continue.”
Kaido felt his thinking suddenly opened up, like going from a country path to a vast plain.
“Mm.”
La didn’t keep them in suspense and continued eloquently.
“First is step one: accumulate wealth and resources.”
“This is literal; to achieve the later plans, we first need large amounts of money and various resources, which requires approaching from multiple angles.”
At this point, La set down the manuscript paper and asked Kaido and the others a slightly odd question.
“What do you think is the fastest way to obtain money?”
“Of course, just rob directly!”
Burufaruto answered without thinking, seemingly feeling La’s question was too basic.
“It’s collecting protection fees from the various territories; that’s also the largest portion of our previous crew’s income sources.”
Jenu spoke up to refute Burufaruto; as the one actually managing many internal crew affairs, he knew the crew’s actual situation well.
“Eh?! Is, is that so?” This counterintuitive answer surprised Burufaruto.
“Mm.”
Jenu nodded, then added:
“But that’s from the overall perspective.
In reality, the wealth we gain from each raiding expedition exceeds the protection fees collected on the islands that month, but in total, the former is less than half of the latter.”
“Moreover, each raiding expedition involves personnel casualties and weapon consumption, so the final gains are far less stable than protection fees.”
“You mean we won’t go to sea anymore and just lie around collecting protection fees?”
“Wouldn’t that make us just like those noble masters!” Burufaruto was clearly dissatisfied with this approach.
“Pretty much, so I said the underlying logic of faction development is largely similar.”
La nodded, but seeing the other wanted to say something, she waved her hand and continued first:
“But compared to this somewhat passive method, we can actually more actively participate in the construction of subordinate islands.”
“Jenu said before that the pirate crew’s biggest income is protection fees from the territory, which is essentially a tax.”
“And where do these taxes come from?”
La guided them step by step patiently.
“Of course from the townsfolk.”
“Then where does the townsfolk’s money come from? After all, there’s no Belly-printing machine in town, and we collect a lot each month; why can they always afford it?”
“They seem to often sell grain, fruit, and such to outsiders… Alright, alright, stop teasing! La, hurry and continue.”
The not-so-thoughtful little Burufaruto interrupted the classroom questioning game.
Seeing this, La didn’t drag it out and said directly:
“Actually, as you just said, the townsfolk’s Belly source is indeed trade with the outside.”
“The island residents achieve a trade surplus by selling various local products and resources, bringing in wealth.
And what we need to do is expand this surplus, widening the channel for Belly inflow.”
Hearing this, Kaido and Jenu both nodded; they clearly had some economic common sense.
“So first, we must change the previous development mindset.
We can’t just treat the subordinate islands as places to dock ships and collect Belly; we must actively participate in their management and operation.
We need to make these islands our true base.”
“In short, achieve the transformation from pirate crew to pirate nation.”
