"Haha, it's really all thanks to a heroic figure like Mr. Vane. If it weren't for Mr. Vane and your companions, our citizens would definitely have suffered an even greater blow."
The Thorn Rose king had a rather well-fed appearance—in other words, he was quite fat. This was normal; there were very few kings who weren't fat by the time they reached their forties or fifties.
Vane: "I just put in a little effort, and the princess helped as well. Those pirates handed over to the Marine base in exchange for bounties bring in quite a bit more Belly than selling them to the underworld."
As Vane spoke, he raised his wine glass and opened the vision of the Transparent World to look at the king.
"These past few days, I've been striking pirates at sea, and I feel that these pirates are very likely entangled with the underworld on the island."
"If the king needs it, I can also help deal with the underworld forces on your island."
The king revealed a troubled expression.
"Mr. Vane, you might not be very clear about the underworld of Rose Island… there are many things involved here. Acting rashly against the underworld, I'm afraid that before the pirates even arrive, the island's residents would already fall into chaos."
The underworld truly had many industries, quite a few of which involved people's livelihoods.
"And pirate invasions also strike at the underworld's industries, so when facing the current pirate invasion of Rose Island, we're considered to be on a united front."
"They probably didn't expect that colluding with pirates would ultimately bring in a great pirate and end up setting themselves on fire."
Vane didn't say much more, instead asking many questions, including whether the Thorn Treasure was on Rose Island.
...
That night, Vane and the others stayed at a high-end hotel very close to the royal palace, and were even arranged a series of services such as massages.
During the massage, Tant sighed. "Being a king really isn't pleasant. Even though the underworld has caused him so much trouble, he still doesn't dare to touch them."
"And this underworld too—bringing in pirates to cause trouble, who knows what they were after. Now that they've attracted a great pirate, even their own industries might get damaged."
The king doesn't dare to act against the underworld? The underworld brought in a great pirate and tied themselves up in their own cocoon?
That was as far as Tant's mind could go. Someone a bit smarter could sense that something was off here.
At the banquet, Vane had asked the king some questions while also opening the Transparent World, allowing him to see the king's heartbeat clearly.
When the conversation touched on the underworld and the Thorn Treasure, the king's heartbeat showed a clear acceleration.
When an underworld has already extended its hands into people's livelihoods to such an extent, suppressing it would very likely cause serious problems.
The influence of this underworld was clearly excessive, and this wasn't an issue of just a day or two.
If Vane were the king, long ago this underworld would either have been brought under his control or crushed.
Earlier, Lena had told him about the underworld's personnel. Excluding street thugs, their scale was only three to four hundred people, and their combat personnel were only half of the kingdom's army.
In such circumstances, there was only one possibility for the underworld to be so arrogant—the underworld was the king's own industry.
Letting the team members continue to enjoy themselves, Vane returned to his room.
As soon as he entered, he heard the sound of a gun being raised. When the other party saw that it was Vane, she put the gun down again and continued wiping it.
"Meowth's guns work pretty well, right?"
Standing in the room was none other than Lena.
The firearm in her hands was a new gun made by Meowth. The improvement lay in the bullets—not lead bullets, but sharp bullets with gunpowder inside.
The barrel had "rifling," giving it longer range and greater stability.
Due to manufacturing techniques and materials, currently only Lena had this one. Once better equipment was available, they should all be upgraded.
Lena: "Things made by cats are much more useful than those made by humans—another great wonder of the world."
"Let's put wonders aside for now. I have some questions for you. Has the Thorn Rose Kingdom recently had any project that requires spending a huge sum of money, and that project is extremely beneficial to the king?"
Lena replied without hesitation.
"Only one—the Thorn Rose Kingdom joining the World Government as an affiliated nation, which requires paying a massive Heavenly Tribute."
Heavenly Tribute?
Becoming an affiliated nation naturally had many benefits. For example, the Marines would set up Marine branches within the affiliated nation, or at the very least, would long-term dispatch additional patrol ships in your seas to strike pirates.
This was of great significance to the stable rule of a kingdom.
For domestic residents, joining the World Government was a mixed blessing. It was true that pirate harassment would decrease, and it was also true that taxes would increase.
If the king were somewhat benevolent and didn't engage in all kinds of messy schemes, life could still go on.
But if the king didn't want to bear the high Heavenly Tribute himself later, and only wanted to shift all the debt onto the residents by continuously raising taxes, then this country would become an excellent place for the Revolutionary Army to develop.
Vane said calmly, "The Thorn Rose Kingdom needs to pay a massive Heavenly Tribute. At first, the residents don't want to bear high taxes. Large-scale pirate invasions can force the residents to agree to the implementation of the policy and pay this portion of taxes."
Lena froze for a moment. In her impression, this time the underworld brought in pirates in order to engage in usury, or to deal in human trafficking.
If the underworld really had such a close relationship with the king, then thinking that way actually made sense.
She complained, "Then he's really shrewd—using pirates to force the citizens to agree to the policy. Then he takes two steps back, has the royal family bear a bit more, and when the people see that they're paying less, they'll naturally agree."
"Why are you staring at me?"
Lena noticed Vane was looking at her with a meaningful gaze.
Vane shook his head and said, "Is there a possibility that the king never stepped back at all? That he didn't put in an extra penny—or rather, that he didn't put in a single penny?"
Lena subconsciously wanted to retort. "This notice was posted long ago. Even if the notice is fake, the money is real. Where else could this money come from…"
As she spoke, Lena suddenly felt a chill down her spine. She seemed to have figured something out.
Right—where did the money come from?
Large amounts of tax revenue were collected from the relatively wealthy islands. Those wealthy places could come up with that much money—but what about poor families?
"People… the underworld is selling people!"
"If—if the underworld belongs to the king, then bringing in pirates can force citizens to agree to policy implementation. Wealthy citizens will pay large amounts of taxes."
"Villages attacked by pirates simply can't produce tax money. Then the underworld goes to lend money. Those who can't get loans but still want money are tricked into Rose Island and sold as slaves."
Vane added, "And there are the more than four hundred pirates I caught. Their value might be even higher. Do you believe that if the king really did this, not only would joining the World Government not require the royal family to pay a single penny—"
"He'd even make a profit."
Policy implemented, taxes raised, human trafficking, joining the World Government.
He would still be a good king.
All the bad reputation would belong to the underworld and the pirates.
----------------
Pls Drop some Power Stones
+100 chapters and support me on Patreon(.)com/Jixo