"Hahahaha, the gap between Vice Admirals is even bigger than that between humans and dogs."
Sage laughed carelessly, "Alright, Link, this kind of thing won't ruin my plan."
Vice Admiral?
He's even daring enough to take a shot at an Admiral!
Sage isn't cautious, nor is he reckless, but he absolutely isn't afraid of failure.
If he doesn't even try, and runs away at the sight of so-called strong people leading to the failure of his plan, that's not his character.
Link glared at Sage, about to speak, when he suddenly felt a weight on his shoulder. Gin pressed him onto the couch, his sinister eyes staring straight at him, "Sit down."
A vein popped on Link's forehead as he suppressed his anger, whispering, "You guys don't understand what this represents at all. Carnival City is an island directly under the World Government. There are government officials' enterprises here. Robbing this place is provoking the World Government!"
The Navy is one of the three main branches under the World Government, with the other two being Enies Lobby and Impel Down.
Simply put, the three agencies of the World Government are responsible for arresting, investigating, and detaining...
But no matter what, compared to the Navy, the World Government is the real behemoth.
Pirates can entangle with the Navy, but pirates never actively provoke the World Government.
"Take my advice, Sage, you can't handle this, just let it go." Link advised.
"What, are you planning to rob it yourself?" Sage laughed.
Before Link could understand what he meant, Sage continued, "If you don't want to cooperate, that's fine, just tell me the intelligence. The drinks aren't free, you know what kind of information I want."
Sage picked up a slice of fruit and threw it directly into his mouth, chewing it up along with the pit, and said, "After you tell me the information, you can leave. If there's anything valuable here, sell it as soon as possible. I won't take what belongs to you personally, but I won't care about the rest."
"You overestimate me, I haven't even prepared to invest here. This place is already controlled by others, we don't even have a share in the black market."
Link paused, then said, "If it's just information, I'll tell you, but this place has its differences as well. The valuable things here aren't gold or treasure, it's different from Logue Town."
Black market traders also dabble in intelligence selling, of course.
The reason he said that is because Carnival City is different.
Generally, a prosperous place is rich in resources and has a lot of money.
But Carnival City is special, this island is special.
Indeed, there's a lot of Belly here, but it's all scattered among the tourists. Sage can't afford to spend too much time on this island; in just half a day, he wouldn't be able to rob much.
The same goes for these businesses. For example, this nightclub has a lot of cash, but this cash is only the income for a month. The noble tycoons who control this industry regularly deposit their money in the bank...
There are banks at sea, especially in towns directly under the World Government, like Carnival City and Water Seven, all have a specific bank that acts as both an exchange and a place for deposit and withdrawal.
In theory, robbing a bank is a pretty good idea.
But the bank doesn't actually have much money. No bank would just keep all its money there; what's inside is mostly a string of numbers.
And based on the size of the city, the amount of cash each bank has also varies.
There are places with enough cash to buy the head of a Pirate Emperor, but also places with only tens of millions to a billion Belly. But no matter how much there is, under the banner of the World Government, the gains and risks are not proportional at all.
Sage does not intend to rob a bank, never planned to from the start.
Not because he fears the World Government, but purely because he knows what the bank represents.
To those rich people, a bank is just a number, and most of what's stored there is the money of the poor sods. If he really robs it, the loss wouldn't just be paid by the poor; Sage might even end up taking the fall.
With good luck, he might grab over ten billion Belly, but with bad luck, he could only steal tens of millions. The point is, no matter how much he takes, the bank can report a figure that would blow people's minds, pinning it on him.
This just provides a perfect opportunity to clear years of bad debts and deficits, with the added bonus of pocketing more deposit money. If someone with guts dares, they could even zero out the numbers in the entire bank.
Even with the ocean-squeezed brains, one wouldn't do such a foolish thing.
That wouldn't just be taking the fall, it'd be akin to a black mountain dropping from the sky, crushing him.
Sometimes, a traditional way of robbing is part of the pirate's wisdom.
But the key point is here.
"Carnival City, the most valuable things are these lands and buildings you can't take away, and the people working here."
Link said, "The value in the entertainment industry is always the entertainment itself. No matter how profitable, it's the same. The rich people control the land, and the people here only work for them. They deposited their earnings in the banks three days ago; the cash has already been moved, you won't be able to rob much here, Sage. This business model is something a pirate like you wouldn't understand!"
"Who said I don't understand? No, I understand it very well!"
A black line appeared at the corner of Sage's eye, "I damn well understand it the best!"
Isn't this the way to wealth that he's been longing for as a big landlord!
Finding an industry, then ruling over more people, letting them work for him, and then making more money, thus prospering endlessly!
"Jealous..."
Looking at the crystal-clear liquor in his glass, Sage gritted his teeth and said, "Jealous to the point that my eyes are red. If this were the kind of ruling over people I envision, indeed there's no point in robbing, because wealth can't be taken away. But now… it has a flaw."
He looked at the serving girls beside him, who were already stunned, too afraid to speak, and took out a handful of Gold Coins from his cloak, placing them on the table, "Come on, tell me, how much do you earn in a month, what is this money mainly used for? Tell me, all these are yours."
The glittering Gold Coins lit up the eyes of the serving girls.
One of the serving girls swallowed hard and her eyes turned determined, "I can answer, sir. We earn our wages through commission and bonuses. Under normal circumstances, the monthly salary would be around one million Belly..."
The entertainment industry is purely a high-profit industry, and this woman's appearance is quite striking, her usual situation represents the majority of the serving girls here.
"But with one million Belly, I need to first pay off 700,000 in house loans. Carnival City is very prosperous, but the houses are too expensive. Then, 150,000 goes to the store as a work commission, leaving 150,000 Belly... which is just enough for my daughter and me to have enough to eat."
The cost of living in Carnival City isn't low; it could be considered high.
It's not that they can't leave the sea; by taking the Sea Train, they could live elsewhere. But they can't, because the houses they bought aren't allowed to be sold. The ownership of the land belongs to the nobles until the loans are fully repaid. The land deeds are in their hands, and only after repaying the loans can they obtain the land deeds and thus have the right to buy and sell.
Moreover, when they sell it themselves, the price is pressed very low, and there's never a chance for others to buy; it's always the rich people reclaiming them.
To earn money, they can only stay here and work hard, hoping that the day of liberation they long for will come.
Sage nodded and pushed the Gold Coins, "Well answered!"
He bared a mouthful of white teeth, glancing at these serving girls who gradually showed expressions of numbness and pain, and slowly unveiled a sinister smile:
"So, now a cheap big sale, how much would you be willing to pay to buy the land deeds that belong to you?"