The Great Voyage Begins with the Celestial Dragons

Luther treated his own people completely differently from others.

When he's out in public, he still needs to maintain the image of a Celestial Dragon, but in front of a select few, he doesn't need to at all.

"Don't worry, Robin and I will take care of this!"

After giving Luther a tight hug, Olvia reluctantly left his embrace.

"Let's go. I'll come back after things in the East China Sea are over. Keep in touch via Den Den Mushi."

Luther smiled, waved, and walked out with a flourish.

He has almost finished his business on Gaya Island. After sending a batch of talents to Olvia, it's time for him to go to the East China Sea to take advantage of the situation.

After Luther left the Golden Tower, Gion appeared out of nowhere, accompanied by a dejected Hancock who looked like she had been completely ruined.

"What's wrong with her?" Luther asked curiously.

"I was really upset. After completing the task His Highness gave us, on the way back from Alabasta, Hancock and I played a new game: deep-sea fishing! She lost horribly!"

Gion looked amused, her smile impossible to contain.

"Go deep-sea fishing with you? Where does Hancock get the courage?"

Luther gave Hancock a strange look; he couldn't see where Hancock's chances of winning lay.

"I'm really good at sea fishing! Why can't I catch a single fish this time? There must be something wrong with this area!" Hancock said indignantly.

It's not so bad that I can't catch anything myself, it's that one fish after another is being caught in Gion.

She and Gion had agreed to eat only the fish they caught, so she went hungry for several days.

"Don't you know about Gion's Observation Haki?" Luther looked at her with a strange expression.

"Observation Haki can only make you see fish, it can't force them to take the bait!" Hancock scoffed.

"Don't you know that Gion can foresee the future? She knows exactly when your fish will take the bait, and your fish will still take the bait?" Luther looked at her with amusement.

"You can do that?"

Hancock's eyes widened.

"Besides, don't you know that Gion eats bat fruit? Bats can use ultrasound at special frequencies, isn't that common sense?"

"what?"

Hancock was even more surprised.

This was the first time she had ever heard of these things; otherwise, how could she... No, even knowing these things, she would still compete with Gion.

She won't refuse any competition that involves direct confrontation with someone outside of the main battle!

Looking at Hancock's inexplicably raised, snow-white neck, and then at Gion's sly grin, Luther unconsciously shook his head.

He now suspects that if Hancock continues like this, Gion will completely ruin her.

Compared to the cunning and shrewd Gion, Hancock is as innocent as a little white rabbit.

"Alright, let's talk about your business later."

"Set sail! Destination: East China Sea!"

Chapter 148 East Blue, Goa Kingdom, Mount Colbo

"Whoosh!"

The calm sea surface rippled slightly to both sides as the ships passed by.

The sunlight shines on the sea, making it sparkle, and the blue sky dotted with white clouds looks like a beautiful painting.

"After breaking through the doldrums, I felt an incomparably peaceful feeling, meow!"

The cat viper stood at the bow of the boat, gazing at the calm sea and letting out a sigh.

The Don Quixote has been in the East China Sea for several days, but has never experienced any extreme weather, which is much better than the Grand Line.

"The four seas are more suitable for retirement than the Grand Line, so comfortable that it makes people not want to work hard."

Zefa sat on the deck, a bottle of wine in his hand, his gaze sweeping across the calm sea, and let out a sigh.

"That's not the case."

Luther lay on a recliner and shook his head:

"According to government statistics, the proportion of people from all over the world who become pirates is much higher than that of the Grand Line."

Did you give a reason?

Zefa was a little curious; after retiring from the front lines, these messages would no longer pass through his hands.

"Many reasons."

Luther gazed at the distant sea and calmly said:

"Kingdoms on the Grand Line need to be shrewd to establish themselves, otherwise they will be overwhelmed by various powerful external forces. But the Four Seas are different; they are more corrupt internally."

"A bunch of scum, doesn't your world government care?"

Zefa curled his lip; he knew very well what kind of people some of the kingdom's nobles were.

Compared to those nobles, the Celestial Dragons all seemed like good people.

“They paid their Heavenly Gold on time, so the government has no reason to interfere. As for those non-member states that don’t pay their Heavenly Gold, it’s already a good thing the government isn’t planning to wipe them out.” Luther shrugged.

"Gold from the sky again... What do you need so much money for?" Zepha frowned.

"Celestial Gold... If the World Government is the organization that governs the world, and we Celestial Dragons are the managers, then the Celestial Gold is like a membership fee for maintaining stability."

"If there were fewer celestial interventions, those countries would be much better off," Zefa remarked.

However, he was just saying it, knowing he couldn't change anything.

Luther smiled and shook his head. "Professor Zephyr, you're still too naive!"

"How to say?"

Zefa frowned, knowing that Luther's thoughts went further than his own, and wanted to hear the other's opinion.

"This is information about the Kingdom of Lot. Teacher Zefa can take a look."

Luther didn't say much, but simply handed the documents at hand to Zefa.

This was intelligence gathered by Olvia beforehand. CP3 was responsible for matters concerning member states and had recorded the current situation of the Kingdom of Troy in detail.

"Ok?"

Zefa took the documents and, without much ceremony, began to scan them:

"The Kingdom of Tro, with a population of 400 million, is ruled by the Trame family. The national noble class comprises 1 people, who control 95% of the country's total wealth, equivalent to approximately 2000 billion Berries. Ha, a bunch of damned parasites!"

After cursing, Zephyr continued reading:

"Three years of unpaid Heavenly Gold, totaling 6 billion Berries. Possible reason: The total annual import and export volume of all civilians in the kingdom is less than 1 billion... less than 1 billion?"

Even Zefa, who doesn't know much about economics, frowned when this number was mentioned.

The total import and export volume generated by the kingdom's commoners is basically equal to the kingdom's revenue.

Normally, how could a country with an aristocratic class possessing 2000 billion in wealth and a population of 400 million only generate 10 billion in value?

Zephyr continued reading, and when he saw the information provided by CP3, he suddenly realized what was going on.

"The Kingdom of Tro is a major grain-producing country. 90% of the land is private land owned by nobles, and the nobles' land alone produces 300 million tons of grain every year."

He doesn't understand economics, but he still knows the price of grain.

Three million tons of grain is enough to feed 30 million people for a whole year, and the total sales value would be at least 10 billion peggs.

"What are these nobles doing?" Zefa's face darkened.

Compared to the profits from selling grain, 20 billion yuan in "sky gold" is nothing.

Without this portion of the revenue, the remaining revenue handed over by the common people would naturally not be enough to pay the Heavenly Gold.

"Perhaps there's something extraordinary going on..."

Luther squinted as he glanced at the documents Zefa handed back.

There were a few points in the document that Zefa hadn't paid attention to.

Three years ago, the King of the Kingdom of Troy died of illness, and his third son, Kate Trammay, succeeded him.

Interestingly, the eldest and second princes died around the same time as the king, and both died of illness.

Luther didn't believe there was no reason behind it.

Based on his understanding of these nobles, he knew they wouldn't normally disobey the World Government.

Unless, of course, several situations arise.

Revolutionary forces, pirates, internal strife... all of these could cause problems within the Kingdom of Tro.

These hidden forces, or the internal conflicts within the kingdom, are not the focus of CP3's intelligence gathering.

After all, CP3 has limited manpower and cannot possibly be fully aware of every member country.

Unfortunately, whatever problems the Kingdom of Troy faces, they have nothing to do with the World Government.

The World Government doesn't care if there's a problem; they only care about the fact that the Celestial Gold wasn't handed over. This time, the Kingdom of Tro is destined to be destroyed.

However, the extent to which they were wiped out was up to Luther.

"Something extraordinary?" Zephyr was somewhat puzzled.

"It's nothing, perhaps the nobles have other ideas."

Luther smiled, but he couldn't say much before things were confirmed.

"I see. How far is it from the Kingdom of Goa?"

Zephyr didn't ask any further questions. The affairs of the World Government and the Kingdom were naturally left to Luther to handle. He disapproved of both sides, so it was best not to get involved.

"About one more day, we're traveling in a straight line. I heard Garp and Kuzan are both on this side of the East Sea."

"Hmph, that's the news from headquarters. That old guy is really doting on Roger's son."

In the past, Garp often returned to the East Blue, and Zephyr only thought that he was homesick.