I can only achieve nothing and become the Pirate King.

Chapter 597 Desire Brings Progress
The Den Den Mushi was connected and placed on Sag's desk.

He was biting a cigar, the smoke rising slowly in front of his face, and the microphone was placed aside.

"Kosa."

Looking at the Den Den Mushi that was connected, wearing sunglasses and with scars on its face, Sager raised his lips:

"I know you, the former leader of the rebels, have you become a minister now?"

Den Den Mushi was silent for a while, then said, "Tian Zai, I'm not here to greet you, what do you want to do?"

"Um"

Sarge pondered for a moment, then smiled and said, "Let's talk about what happened recently. Cobra is dead, right? The heir is also missing. Is the whole of Alabasta in a sad atmosphere now?"

"You shouldn't have to remind me of this news." Kosa gritted his teeth and said, "Be more direct!"

"Hehehe, some things must be based on prerequisites, don't be in a hurry."

Sager smiled and said, "The sea level has risen by one meter. I don't know if the coast of your country has been damaged, but for that area, it doesn't matter if it's damaged at all. It's all desert anyway, so there won't be much loss."

"you"

Kosha's tone was obviously impatient, but Sager didn't give him a chance to speak and continued:

"In the first half of the Grand Line, a country called 'Lulucia' disappeared. It was probably done by the World Government. Do you know what that means?"

Sarge said: "It means that the World Government has the power to destroy any force."

"Wouldn't that be nice?"

Kosa sneered, "The world will be at peace only if pirates like you are eliminated!"

Sarge grinned and said, "Do you really think so? Your king died during the World Conference, and the World Government has obtained the power to destroy anything! Is it really as simple as you think?!"

Den Den Mushi fell silent.

"Yes, just as you thought!"

Sarge smiled and said, "What he destroyed was not just the pirates. Moreover, how can the right to choose between countries be completely handed over to one party?"

"What exactly do you want to do?"

"Cooperate!"

Sager said: "Since you are willing to call me, you must have an idea in your heart. Let's cooperate. You want to protect your country, and I want to make my territory stronger. Since the homeland is no longer the safest place, why don't we change the way we cooperate!"

"What nonsense are you talking about?"

Kosa objected: "Even if I agree to your request, what can I do? Alabasta is poor and we don't even have enough food to eat. How can we cooperate with you? I will not start a war. That would be a massacre of the lives of the people!"

How can we have enough food in a desert country?

Even if Crocodile had not tried to subvert the country and done all the things he had done, as a resource-poor place, coupled with the annual gold tax from heaven, there were still many people who did not have enough food.

This is because there is a good king. If it is a bad one, like the king of the former Drum Kingdom, then Abralastan will be living in hell.

"Who asked you to start a war? What I want is for you to not have enough to eat."

Sager laughed and said, "Those who can't survive, those who you think need a change of environment to survive, send them all here!"

"In return, I will open a factory in Alabasta to produce weapons for me. I will give you jobs, food, clean water, and everything you need!"

Kosa fell silent again, this time for much longer. Sag exhaled smoke and waited patiently.

About five minutes later, Den Den Mushi spoke up: "We are not connected. The direction from Fishman Island is not suitable. It is even more dangerous there!"

"That's not something you should consider. You just need to agree or not. If you agree, we'll sign a secret contract. If you don't agree, just pretend I never said anything."

"for how long."

"Well, that depends on my results. We can sign a letter of intent first. Once I find a safe road, our cooperation will officially begin."

"Deal. I hope I won't regret it."

"How could you possibly regret helping the people of your country escape poverty and hunger? You would be willing to join forces with pirates, not to mention the devil!"

Sager laughed, hung up the phone, raised his head and exhaled another puff of smoke before pressing the cigar into the ashtray.

"It's a good business, Lily."

“Is this a deal?”

Lily asked in confusion: "Alabasta is not our territory. Is it really appropriate to open a factory there? You won't be able to collect taxes that way, Sarge."

"Who said I have to collect taxes there? The treatment of local people and people from other countries is definitely different."

Sager smiled at Lily and said, "There are many companies on the sea, especially those in the underground world. Some are located on islands, and some are located in other countries. But no matter what they are, they are just renting a place."

"I'm different. Since there aren't enough people, and there's no way to transfer a large number of people, then I'll just try another method."

As he spoke, he suddenly bared his teeth, and his sharp white teeth made Lily's heart skip a beat again.

That strange feeling, as if being devoured by a giant beast, came again.

"It's worthless desert land, but we can put some heavily polluting industries there. I will certainly keep my word after I take control of all of Alabasta's economy."

Sager opened his hands. "I'm not such a bad person. Since I've agreed to cooperate, I won't swallow them up. But if they are free-range anyway, there won't be any problem if there is one more place to dump their products!"

A population ranging from 10 million to tens of millions is the best place for Sage to dump its products.

Alabasta alone has far surpassed the achievements of Capone Bege in the West Sea and Vinsmoke in the North Sea. They helped Sarge to "found the country", but their population was originally small, and they also had to take into account the special characteristics of the four seas.

That is the World Government's sphere of influence, and it is impossible to cooperate so easily. Even if Sage wants to dump all of them, it is not very realistic. In addition to the World Government, there is also the Calm Belt, and transportation is too troublesome.

You still have to find your own way.

With the cooperation of Alabasta, things would be much simpler. He didn't even need the other party to be a cheap source of raw materials, because Sarger was not short of raw materials, and this was what he valued most.

But at the same time, he also attaches importance to industry.

So his labor has always been insufficient.

While others import cheap raw materials and export high-value industrial products, he tries to do both, and raises the wages of employees producing raw materials by exporting more industrial products.

Lily also understood this, so she was a little confused about opening a factory in Alabasta.

"We won't be able to collect taxes over there, right?" Lily asked.

"Then just deduct that part of the tax and pay them their wages, and then add the original tax on the goods they sold." Sager didn't care at all.

Lily nodded thoughtfully. If calculated this way, based on O'Hara's salary after tax, it might be a little lower. Buying goods with tax added might not be so free, but it would definitely ensure that he would have enough food and drink and a place to live.

At least it's better than being so poor in the desert and having to show your teeth to big lizards.

This step has to be taken sooner or later.

Lily sighed helplessly inwardly, although this was not oppression and was much better than Alabasta itself, it was still too low compared to O'Hara itself.

But Lily was not naive. Not to mention going to the entire ocean, even on those new islands they conquered, the locals lived on, in Sage's words, an unstable tenant economy that depended on the weather.

what?
Small farmer?

You deserve it too!
The property is not yours, so how can you be a small farmer? You are just a tenant farmer.

For the conquered, in short, it was the coming of Sag Sahib and the dawn of day.

There is no way, he gave too much!

"Lily, you know that cheap raw materials must mean low wages and worthless labor. Otherwise, you won't be able to get your money back at all."

Because one person may be able to manage and grow the materials needed by a dozen or even dozens of people, but that requires relying on natural harvests. Standardized factory-based mining and planting can easily produce larger-scale and more stable materials.

But that requires people.

When there are too many people, unless they don’t pay, you will definitely lose money as long as the price is low.

After all, you can price the raw materials high, but people may not sell them to you. Forced sales is useful, but you can only use it once. After you have exploited others and they are out of money, they will naturally not buy your products.

Even if you squeeze the water out of them, they will still have no money. Even if you kill them, they still have no money.

The final result is bound to be the choice of foreign, low-priced goods.

It is impossible for Sager to make his raw materials expensive. He also has to consider the consumption power of local people. Let people live a good life is not just empty talk, it has to be done.

Cheap raw materials mean that even if the people below are poor, they can still be guaranteed to have enough to eat. As long as they are full, they will have spare energy to work and dream.

If Sager was just a simple capitalist, he would definitely make his fortune through exploitation.

But the key point is that he is a landlord, a big landlord, and everything is under his control.

He represents O'Hara, and he is the embodiment of the Scourge Pirates.

In his eyes, there is no loss, and he can always make it back from somewhere else.

Sager smiled and said:

"People can only buy extra goods if their wages are high, which can drive consumption and help me work more wholeheartedly. This positive cycle will lead to greater prosperity. So, our raw materials have always been at a loss, but this is not important, right?"

Lily nodded.

She was in charge of internal affairs and of course finances. A long time ago, when her subordinates brought her statistics, she was greatly surprised.

Because the wages of those who are responsible for raw materials definitely exceed the profits of the raw materials themselves by a large margin, and the bright red words are too eye-catching.

She had even approached Sage about this matter.

Yes, she doesn't want to oppress, but at least she wants to do it in a reasonable way. It's not okay to shake the foundation of the Calamity Pirates like this, because they won't last long if they do that.

How can one rely on the pirate group to support the subordinates? One has to rely on oneself and cannot rely on them alone. This is inconsistent with her philosophy.

Sager had explained it to her at that time.

Whether they make a profit or not is not important at all. What is important is that they can make profits in other aspects and that their raw materials will not be exported at all.

When doing business in the past, Sager had never exported raw materials. Even grain had to be canned before being exported.

All raw materials are not allowed to go out except for the people below who can purchase and use them.

Because it is cheaper than all similar raw materials in the world, especially food. With the racial talents of the Tontata dwarfs, their food production completely exceeds that of everyone else in the territory.

The current population is more than four million, but they have enough food to allow these four million people to do nothing and just lie down and eat enough to be full for five years!
In addition, the large-scale logging of those islands that have not been developed is the same in almost the entire sea. There is no effective means at all. Unlike Sage, once the logging is done, it is simply a form of land reclamation, freeing up all the usable land from the trees.

This also makes his wood prices super cheap.

Of course, this also includes planting. Some places are suitable for planting trees, so naturally they cut and plant at the same time for the future.

Its population is not that large, and it has not reached the point of resource shortage. In other words, it is now a period of rapid development.

Materials are cheap and wages are high, so if you want Sage to generate positive revenue, the most profitable thing is to make money from selling industrial products.

Wood can be made into warships. The combination of cheap raw materials and high-value industrial products is most evident here.

The abundant iron ore, which is considered worthless here, can be made into weapons and is also a high-value industrial product.

These are all firmly in Sag's hands. No other businessman can get a share of the profits. On the contrary, he makes a profit from the transactions and can fully afford to pay his subordinates' salaries.

Also, there is the thing of taxes.

With everything under control, O'Hara as a whole is still developing in a positive direction and is getting higher and higher.

This is also where others are not as good as him. No one can have such strong control as he does.

"When a person is the will of the nation."

Sager grinned and said, "Then that country will certainly become stronger and stronger."

It’s not that there are no temptations, but those temptations are nothing compared to his deep desires.

Beauty?

His maids were carefully selected.

That's what happened after that thing got excited.

money?

What more money does he need? The people below him, to put it bluntly, are his tenants and slaves.

Power?

No one is as powerful as him.

He can get everything easily, but the more this happens, the more difficult it is to satisfy his deepest desires.

Sometimes, when desires are too great, they can also drive people to work harder.

Therefore, he can move forward with purpose and determination instead of suddenly falling into despair.

(End of this chapter)