Crocodile casually built a sand-and-stone hall, letting everyone go inside to discuss matters.
"Your control has improved a lot, Old Sand." Buggy noticed there was also a large conference table inside the hall.
"It's all thanks to you; now I'm not even proficient in my attack skills."
Crocodile glared at Buggy; he was now digging canals even in his dreams. "What is this 'Great Age of Piracy' you mentioned?"
"To put it simply, it's trading. Currently, those active on the Grand Line are either pirates or Marines; merchant ships are rarely seen," Buggy said.
"Merchant ships? There should be some in the Four Seas, but they only travel short distances. As for the Grand Line, no one would dare to sail merchant ships all over the place." Hawkeye had traveled to many places and knew quite a bit about this.
"Look, every island or country on the Grand Line has its own specialties, but they can't sell them at all. Even for the same product, the price varies in different places. There's a huge business opportunity in this..."
Buggy was about to explain in detail when he noticed everyone looked uninterested.
"Do you have any idea how much wealth this is..."
The others still looked blank, clearly not listening.
Only King humored him. "Does the Captain want to start a merchant ship for business?"
"Not one ship, but a fleet—merchant ships traveling back and forth between the various countries of the Grand Line," Buggy said.
"To make money? But money isn't very useful to us, is it?" Moriah didn't understand why Captain Buggy was so obsessed with making money.
Buggy then remembered that these guys had never been troubled by money.
"A small amount of money is useless to us, but when money reaches a certain level, it can influence the world. Just like the giants of Elbaf; as long as you pay, they are very happy to be mercenaries."
Buggy's Pirate Dispatch Organization originally had a team of giant mercenaries, but unfortunately, they later resigned to become subordinates of Straw Hat Luffy.
These giants have formidable combat power; Big Mom has coveted the Giant Race for a long time, but she has never succeeded.
"Setting everything else aside, how will the security of the merchant ships be handled? Pirates on the Grand Line are as numerous as the hairs on an ox. And we are in a state of hostility with the World Government..." Hawkeye asked.
"Of course, by relying on military deterrence, the deterrence of the Four Emperors is perfect for this." Buggy pulled out a flag with a mushroom cloud drawn on it.
"This is the 'Peace Flag' specifically for the merchant fleet. I will announce to the whole world that this fleet only engages in commercial activities. Anyone who dares to attack the fleet is provoking the Buggy Pirates and will face the relentless retaliation of the Buggy Pirates."
"If it's done this way, security shouldn't be much of an issue, but how can you guarantee making money?" Hawkeye said. "None of us here has any experience, do we?"
"I did run an Assassination Studio, but that wasn't for the purpose of making money." Crocodile lit a cigar, reminiscing about the old days.
"Start with trading local specialties; it's basically a guaranteed profit. After becoming familiar with the prices in various countries, move on to other goods."
The specialties of Wano Country are weapons and Sea Stone; these things are needed everywhere and can easily be sold at a high price.
Actually, Kaido should be thanked for establishing a complete weapon factory system in Wano Country, though the pollution is a bit heavy. But as long as the pollution is managed, production can be restored immediately.
Speaking of which, among the original Four Emperors, only Kaido was seriously running factories; the rest lived off protection fees.
"So the so-called 'Great Age of Piracy' is just buying low and selling high in various places? To earn Berries?" Hancock said.
"And incidentally, do some intelligence gathering and talent recruitment in various places. If there's a place worth investing in, we can also invest and establish a base there," Buggy explained.
"Is this preparation for expanding our influence in the future?" Crocodile understood immediately.
"Exactly. Once we have a good understanding of the situation in each country, it will be time for us to expand our territory."
Buggy looked at Crocodile approvingly; as expected of someone who plays at conspiracies, his reaction was a bit faster.
Hearing that this 'Great Age of Piracy' wasn't just about doing business, the others regained interest.
"Then we must first establish a shipyard. Wano Country has been isolated for many years and lacks such talent. Do we need to go to Water Seven first?"
"There's no time to custom-order merchant ships now. Let's just go out to sea and hijack some ships; they can be used after a slight modification..."
"It's a pity our ships are mostly destroyed, and Onigashima has sunk; otherwise, we could have put together a few ships," King said.
"Boss Buggy, let me go and hijack some ships." Jack volunteered to go out.
"Uh..." Buggy thought of Jack's past achievements and was a bit reluctant to let him go to sea, but he was afraid of discouraging him if he said so.
He's been working quite hard these past few days, so I'll just let him go to sea. It's just hijacking a few ships anyway... "Go ahead then, take the Tobiroppo with you. Actually, King, you go along with them, too. Just get two or three ships back for now." Buggy felt it wasn't safe and decided to have King go with Jack.
"But eventually, we'll need to build a shipyard. I'll go to Water Seven to see if I can recruit some Shipwrights," Buggy said. "Old Sand, you go and build a new port first."
"Do I have to learn how to build a port now?" Crocodile was stunned.
"Those who are capable should do more work." Buggy patted his shoulder. "Mainly because your ability is just too useful."
"I have the Suke Suke no Mi, not the Construction Fruit. This is the last time; next time, let me join the battle." Crocodile finally agreed to build the port.
"Actually, the ancient weapon Pluton you've been searching for is right here in Wano Country. If you have nothing better to do, you can try looking for it."
Buggy told this secret to Crocodile.
Unexpectedly, Crocodile's reaction was very indifferent. "Oh, really? Did Robin tell you?"
"Hey, this is what you've been searching for all this time. Aren't you excited at all?" Buggy was quite surprised.
"An evil battleship that can destroy an island in one hit—is this ancient weapon, on really that strong?"
Crocodile said, "The Captain can probably pull off an attack of that level, too, right?"
"I wasted most of my time searching for the ancient weapon Pluton. If I hadn't been defeated by Luffy, I wouldn't have come to my senses."
"No matter how powerful an ancient weapon is, it still needs someone to use it. If one's strength isn't enough, so what if they find Pluton..."
He was once evenly matched with Bullet, but later fell far behind him because he spent all his energy searching for Pluton.
And even if he found an ancient weapon, he could no longer challenge Whitebeard.
Buggy knew Crocodile was right.
Take Poseidon Shirah,oshi, for example; being able to command all Sea Kings is indeed powerful, but her physical body is her greatest weakness.
Once a decapitation strike is carried out, the entire merfolk tribe wouldn't be able to protect her.
"Then do as you please. I'll leave the security of Wano Country to you all; I'll be back as soon as possible."
With five Shichibukai here, Buggy wasn't worried about the safety of Wano Country.
On this trip, should I go look for Silvers Rayleigh?
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