How Many Divisions Do the Five Elders Have? How Dare They Raise Their Voices at Me?
After Tesoro finished reporting this, he went on to talk about the other tasks.
"Regarding Shipbuilding Island, Master Tom has given a definite answer. The ancient technology that Gecko Moria, Shichibukai, offered you is entirely feasible. If we use G-5 Base as a standard for warship conversion, it will take about a year and a half, with a budget of approximately 30 billion Belly," Tesoro said after taking a sip of tea.
"You keep talking about hundreds of billions and trillions, making me feel like I don't even care about these 30 billion Belly." Ortolan nodded with a smile, then said, "Then let's get started on this plan. Turn the G-5 into a battleship. One investment, lifelong benefits."
"Okay, I'll prepare the contingency plan later." Tesoro agreed, then added, "Aside from that, the Shipbuilding Island annual plan has been finalized. Preliminary estimates indicate that forty standard-issue warships will be launched, along with thirty armed transport ships capable of navigating Calm Belt ..."
"Warships are one thing, but aren't the armed transport ships just undergoing modifications? Selecting and modifying them from the pirate ships we've captured shouldn't be too time-consuming, right? How come there are only thirty? Are those slaves not hardworking enough?" Ortolan frowned and asked.
What good are thirty ships?!
How could this possibly sustain his Ortolan dreams?!
Tesoro quickly waved his hand and said, "No, the pirate slaves are already working sixteen hours a day. They only have eight hours for eating, drinking and resting. If we increase their working hours further, it will probably affect their lifespan. We still have many industries that need slaves, so doing so would be counterproductive."
"Only sixteen hours!?" Ortolan was also somewhat surprised!
As slaves, they can actually get eight hours of rest every day? Sure enough, our Marines's moral standards are quite high. Ortolan heard that in the bridge-building project of the Tachibana Wolf, slaves only get three hours of rest a day.
Tesoro didn't respond to Ortolan's inhumane words, but instead explained, "The reason production is limited is because of a shortage of Seastone. We can't obtain these resources from headquarters or Mary Geoise; we rely entirely on purchasing them within the Dark Realm. However, the amount of Seastone circulating within the Dark Realm is already quite limited, thus restricting the production of armed transport ships..."
"Ultimately, is it still a problem with the Seastone?" Ortolan shook his head helplessly.
"It's not just this limitation. Similarly, Master Tom's Sea Train project, if it were to be laid in the Calm Belt, would require a large amount of Seastone. For this reason, the project has never been feasible and is still stalled. Master Tom has submitted applications multiple times, hoping that you can find a way to resolve this issue," Tesoro said.
"Is the technology for Sea Train mature yet?" Ortolan raised an eyebrow and asked.
In his memory, it took Master Tom nearly ten years to build the Sea Train. How come he's already eager to start laying it up in less than two years?
"It was completed at the beginning of the year. A small island-looping Sea Train route was built on Shipbuilding Island, but it was later dismantled to preserve technical integrity," Tesoro replied.
Ortolan was initially puzzled, but then he realized that the reason it had taken ten years was because Master Tom was working in a small workshop in the Water Seven, making the ships by hand. Moreover, he didn't have much money, so he probably invested his income while taking orders to build ships, which is how he slowly developed the technology.
With the backing of the G-5 Marines and tens of thousands of slaves under his command, he has the funds to complete the Sea Train within two years, which seems reasonable.
So he stopped being curious about the situation, rubbed his temples, and said, "Seastone... do you mean I have to go and talk business with Kaido?"
"I understand. I will keep this in mind and tell Master Tom that I will find a way to solve it and ask him to wait a little longer... However, although the laying of the Calm Belt Sea Train requires a large amount of Seastone, there is not that much demand in normal ordinary sea areas, right?" Ortolan asked.
"That's right, that's another thing I wanted to tell you. The commercial prospects of the Sea Train technology are excellent. I plan to promote this technology and commercialize it. If we can open up a new profit point with the Sea Train, it will be very good news for our finances." Tesoro nodded immediately.
The technology for the Sea Train was originally intended to be commercialized, and Ortolan shared this idea. Therefore, he said, "Then go down and prepare a detailed plan. After I review it, if there are no problems, we'll find someone to put on a false identity and get this done."
Once the Sea Train is commercialized, it will be impossible to hide the fact that it is not used. If it is hidden, how can it be used?
The inability to conceal it means that the G-5 Marines cannot come forward as the 'operator' behind it, otherwise Mary Geoise will definitely investigate him.
Therefore, Ortolan plans to simply put on a front and find a white glove to endorse him, making him the 'legal representative'.
Thinking about it carefully, Doflamingo is very suitable for this kind of thing. Dressrosa is also in dire need of reconstruction, so he probably wants to build Sea Train, right?
Moreover, with this technology, Doflamingo's personal efficiency in the Underworld can be greatly increased, making it a win-win situation.
More importantly, Ortolan and Doflamingo have cooperated a lot and built up a good level of trust, making their relationship relatively solid and reliable!
After explaining the Sea Train plan, Tesoro clearly still had something to say.
Ortolan once again felt the pressure of being in charge. There were so many things to deal with. Fortunately, Tesoro was there to help with some of the logistical and financial management pressures, otherwise he would have really died in the position of G-5 base commander.
"The next two key projects are the Calm Belt Development Plan and the Flevance Lead-Platinum Mining Plan." Tesoro rummaged through the pile of documents and found relevant information. "We have already sent four Calm Belt Scientific Exploration Team to search for resources in the Calm Belt."
"Did you find anything?" Ortolan asked, intrigued.
"Yes, there are plenty of timber resources on islands. Basically, any island in the Calm Belt has abundant timber resources. Moreover, once these timber resources are developed, the islands can be directly used for food production, killing two birds with one stone!" Tesoro immediately gave an affirmative answer.
Then, before Ortolan could speak, Tesoro continued, "Besides timber resources, we've also discovered an island with abundant open-pit iron ore resources. Because it's an open-pit mine, development is much easier. Didn't you bring back some military-grade technical data from Cake Island? If we're considering military-grade production now, we can set up the industrial line directly in the Calm Belt, mining the corresponding resources nearby, eliminating transportation pressure, and also increasing concealment..."
Then, Tesoro gave a detailed explanation of the situation in the Calm Belt.
Compared to Lead-Platinum Ore, Shipbuilding Island, Sea Train, and other such facilities, the Calm Belt are clearly a more important strategic element.
It could even be said that the Calm Belt are currently the strategic development center and core of the entire G-5!
Resources are absolutely the most important thing. Nowadays, the control of resource industries such as food and mining is basically in the hands of the World Government.
In other words, even if you have the technology, you need sufficient resources to realize it. The G-5 has basically met the technological requirements, but once it is exposed, the World Government will put pressure on you in terms of resources. No matter how advanced your technology is, you cannot create matter out of thin air.
Therefore, if we want to break free from these blockades, we must master our own resource development capabilities!
The Calm Belt are such a place. Once the Calm Belt are developed and utilized properly, firstly, the food industry can achieve self-sufficiency. This is especially important. People can live without money, but they cannot live without food!
Once food self-sufficiency is achieved, the G-5 Marines will have the confidence to confront the World Government.
If we then increase military spending, weapon manufacturing, and warship production, and continuously increase our troops within the New World, then to put it bluntly, once Ortolan truly has an army of 100,000 and is stationed in the New World, that old planet will be nothing!
How many divisions does he have? Does he dare to raise his voice at me?
This is only G-5. If we can also meet the resource needs of the Marines's Second Division, when Sengoku goes to Mary Geoise for a meeting, even the old man will have to politely invite him to sit down and have tea while they chat!
If you anger one of our Admiral Sengoku, you'll get two slaps across the face, and you'll have to laugh it off!