Annual Report of the World Government!

Within the Moon Chamber, Imu was reading the annual report the Five Elders had just delivered, officially titled "World Government Marine Calendar 1497 Annual Work Report."

To be honest, his predecessor would never have read something like this. To him, whether it was the World Government or the Celestial Dragons, they were merely tools for controlling the entire planet.

He firmly believed that his own power and the "National Treasure" in his possession were enough to suppress the entire sea.

But this new Imu was different. As a transmigrator, he understood the importance of tools. Personal strength was important, but making one's tools more effective did not conflict with that, did it?

So, the purpose of this report was to first understand the exact state of the tools in his hands.

The report contained an enormous amount of information. Imu counted it—there were a full fifty or sixty pages. Even so, he could only patiently read through them one by one.

The entire process took more than three hours, because he had to think as he read and occasionally stop to go over certain sections several times.

Honestly, it was rather tedious, but his work experience from his previous life made it manageable. Moreover, he kept reminding himself that these were all his own forces and assets, which gave him plenty of motivation.

"Whew—"

At last, Imu finished the final page. He set it on the coffee table and let out a long breath.

It was not that his body was particularly tired. With his strength, this amount of work was insignificant. It was simply that he had absorbed a great deal of information.

As mentioned before, his predecessor never looked at such things. Therefore, most of what was written in the report was unfamiliar information to him. On top of that, the scale of the World Government was far beyond that of the small companies from his former life.

Overall, he had now clarified the areas he cared about most, and he had gained a relatively concrete understanding of the World Government.

First came the financial situation. Last year's total revenue was 784.3 billion Beli, with the primary source being the Heavenly Tribute offered by member nations, along with secondary channels amounting to roughly 300 billion Beli in total.

The World Government currently had 170 member nations. By regulation, each country was required to hand over 3 billion Beli.

In other words, including income from secondary channels, there should have been 810 billion Beli in annual revenue!

Yet only 784.3 billion Beli had been collected.

That meant some countries had not paid the Heavenly Tribute at all, or had paid only part of it, resulting in a shortfall of nearly 26 billion Beli.

According to past practice, the World Government would reprimand the countries that had underpaid and demand that they make up the deficit the following year. Countries that had not paid at all would be given one year.

If they still failed to pay the Heavenly Tribute the following year, the Army would be dispatched to escort every citizen of that nation—including the royal family and nobility—to Tequila Wolf in the East Blue, the place known as the Land of Laborers and the Bridge Country, where they would build bridges for the rest of their lives.

As for those countries that had underpaid, if they failed to make up the deficit in the second year, then their royal family would have to be replaced!

"This won't do. Things can't continue like this."

Leaning back against the soft sofa, Imu pondered. In his view, this issue was extremely important—almost as important as the slave trade.

For large and wealthy countries such as Alabasta, Fish-Man Island, Dressrosa, and Goth Kingdom, 3 billion Beli every year was nothing. Even Drum Kingdom could pay in full thanks to its reputation as a medical powerhouse. But for small, poor nations like Sorbet Kingdom, the pressure was far too great—enough to be fatal.

What did 3 billion Beli represent?

A medium-sized Headquarters Class Warship cost 300 million Beli to build, while a future Pacifista would cost 100 million Beli.

In other words, a member nation had to hand over wealth equivalent to ten medium-sized Headquarters Class Warships or thirty Pacifistas every year!

Then there were the expenditures.

Last year, the Navy's military budget had been nearly 100 billion Beli. Everything from the wages, benefits, and meals of all naval personnel to guns, cannons, Warships, and bounties came from it.

However, this was not fixed. Sometimes it was lower, sometimes higher, entirely depending on the situation at sea.

Then there was the Army, which required an unwavering 70 billion Beli every year.

In addition, CIPHER POL, which handled intelligence work across all seas, all member nations, and even non-member nations, also required 100 billion Beli. Its scale was evident from that alone.

Then came Impel Down's wages, meals, and maintenance costs, totaling nearly 80 billion Beli.

Finally, the World Government's clerks and Enies Lobby together cost less than 50 billion Beli.

It was clear how little the previous Imu and the Five Elders valued administrative and legal personnel.

All these practical expenditures combined came to only around 600 billion Beli. So where did the remaining treasures worth more than 180 billion Beli go?

They were all stored in Mary Geoise's treasury, for the Celestial Dragons to squander and enjoy as they pleased!

"The Heavenly Tribute being collected far exceeds actual needs," Imu murmured.

If it was only to ensure the Celestial Dragons' quality of life, why would they need so much wealth? Two billion Beli a year should have been enough for them to enjoy the finest things available, shouldn't it?

"Reduce it. The Heavenly Tribute must be reduced. It would be best to charge flexibly according to each country's circumstances, on a proportional basis!"

But he also knew this could not be rushed. This year's Reverie was about to begin, and if he dumped everything onto the table at once, it would certainly cause massive chaos.

"First, have CIPHER POL investigate which member nations have been driven into misery by excessive Heavenly Tribute. Then find out whether the entire country truly cannot bear it, or whether the royal family is passing the burden onto the people!"

"For those countries that truly cannot bear it as a nation, like Kuma's Sorbet Kingdom, the Heavenly Tribute can be appropriately reduced. First, ensure that they can basically survive."

Imu had already decided on the agenda for the next Reverie.

Immediately afterward, he picked up another report. Its contents were mainly information on the Three Armies—the Navy, the Army, and the Holy Land Garrison.

The Army was responsible for guarding the World Government's important facilities and defending the entire Red Line. Under current World Government law, civilians were forbidden from climbing up without authorization, but some people insisted on trying, so they had to be dealt with.

As the name implied, the Holy Land Garrison was mainly responsible for guarding Mary Geoise. Whenever Celestial Dragons wished to "descend to the mortal world" for amusement, personnel had to accompany them as well.

Imu was not concerned with these two forces for now, though there might be major changes in the future.

The Navy.

According to the report, the Navy's total strength currently stood at around 500,000 personnel. Marine Headquarters on the Grand Line, together with all G Bases and branches, accounted for roughly 50,000. The other Four Seas shared 450,000, though not evenly. For example, the East Blue was the most peaceful, so it had comparatively fewer.

The member nations already had armies of their own. The Marines only needed to maintain order at sea, so there were no excessive troop requirements.

Their primary need was warships!

At present, the Marines had seventy large War Behemoth Class warships used for Buster Calls, one thousand medium Headquarters Class warships—fifty of which were permanently stationed at Marine Headquarters, while the remaining nine hundred were distributed among the various G-Branches and divisions—and over four thousand small warships stationed at some two hundred division bases across the Four Seas.

It was the same as before.

They were not distributed evenly. Comparatively speaking, the G-Branch bases in the "New World" definitely required more warships, since they faced the most vicious and powerful pirate forces.

"No wonder the Five Elders have always suppressed the Marines' development. Whether in military strength or authority, they really are a bit too powerful," Imu murmured thoughtfully.

"The Marines definitely can't be touched at this stage, but in the future, we'll need to find a way to balance things out."

Many thanks to Fishing Kitten's Fusheng for the 100 donation! This is the first donation this book has received, and I'm incredibly excited. Thank you again for your support—it has given me quite a bit of motivation!

The Basis for the Marines' Total Troop Strength

1. It is currently known that the permanent force stationed at G-8 is one thousand men, so the eight G-Branches would have a total of eight thousand men.

2. Marine Headquarters should have somewhat more permanently stationed troops than the G-Branches, so let's say it has ten thousand men.

3. The Marines established a division near every member nation, and naturally there were also divisions on the Grand Line. However, no division could possibly have more troops than a G-Branch, while the Marine forces in the Four Seas divisions were even fewer.

4. It is known that there are more than 170 member nations.

Therefore, combining the Grand Line and the Four Seas, the Marines' total troop strength really was not that high—possibly not even four hundred thousand. I know everyone finds that absurd.

But that was the conclusion Oda gave in the manga.

Fortunately, this book has a transmigrator Imu as its protagonist, so the later chapters will expand the military and bring the Three Armies' troop strength up to a reasonable scale.