One month, two months...
In the blink of an eye, three months have passed since the Reverie.
Over the past three months, the sea has undergone some inexplicable changes.
The biggest changes have occurred in a series of major raw material exporting countries along the Grand Line, and in all trade routes leading to Water 7!
Over the past three months, countless jobs have been created in the aforementioned islands and countries.
Residents in these locations are so busy that they can't even take care of something as important as farming, because they are either engaged in mining or working in the transportation industry.
The income from those jobs all increased significantly, instantly making them the new favorites among ordinary local residents.
Recently, while the shipyards in Water 7 are still engaged in foreign trade, have reduced the number of ships sold, ship prices have continued to rise.
The ocean needs more and more shipping capacity.
Living in this era, the lives of ordinary people have improved slightly.
At least in the cities affected by these changes, children from ordinary families may not see their fathers for a long time, and even their mothers may be working at the nearby docks.
But at least, the increase in parents' income has slightly improved the children's standard of living.
When the children gathered together to play, although their clothes were generally a bit tattered, at least they weren't emaciated or pale...
While such an era improved the lives of ordinary people, merchants and nobles gained far more than the common folk.
The reason why the concept of social class is the most difficult to break down is that, regardless of the era.
Because as long as those at the top control fixed resources, no matter what changes occur, their gains will always be greater than those at the bottom.
This pattern is only likely to change in the face of a major upheaval in the entire era.
That kind of change is nothing more than an uprising; whether it succeeds or fails is another matter.
Of course, in the upheavals of every era, some people enjoy the benefits of change, while others have to bear the bitter fruit of it.
Over the past thirty or fifty years, those who have benefited from the reforms have naturally become increasingly arrogant pirates.
The gradual corruption of the Navy and the emergence of the Four Emperors of the Sea, while not bringing any direct benefits to the pirates, did create more suitable conditions for them to plunder and pillage.
But in the last few months...
Veteran pirates and pirates in the New World are one thing, they didn't feel any turmoil.
But the Grand Line and the pirates of the Four Blues...
Especially the pirates in the Grand Line...
As the number of people making a living in ports and docks increased exponentially, the scale of the communities that arose from these ports and docks also increased dramatically.
As the population grows, even with the corruption within the local military, the number of troops increases, making the situation more dangerous overall.
Therefore, the cost of pirates attacking major ports along the Grand Line has increased significantly. Although the profits have also increased relatively, the danger has increased far more.
It's like an adventure game. The pirates on the Grand Line usually go to level 10 exploration locations, where the resources aren't very abundant, but the enemies aren't dangerous either.
As a result, in the past few months, the danger level of 80% of the ports along the Grand Line has increased significantly.
The exploration locations that were originally level 10 are now almost level 25 or 26.
This means that pirates below level 10 and those around level 10 will naturally have nowhere to level up...
What is this? This is an exploration of the origins of One Piece.
The dangers of plundering have, to some extent, changed pirates' assessment of this activity.
In short, the pirates who managed to enter the Grand Line from the Four Blues these past few months have had an extremely difficult time.
On the one hand, they finally managed to get in, but soon encountered one difficulty after another.
Or perhaps, many pirates are barely qualified to plunder in the major ports of the Grand Line today.
Result...
Because these acts of plunder damaged their ships, or because they were carrying bags of treasure and planned to transfer to a new ship before entering the New World...
Hehe.
If they're willing to spend the money, that's fine. Although the price of ships in Water 7 has increased dozens of times, as long as they're willing to hand over all the money they've plundered along the way, they can still get a ship to use.
And if they are unwilling to spend this money, then...
"This is unbelievable! I've been stationed here for ages, but I never expected so much trash to come looking for trouble!"
Pirates, haha, screw them!
There are just too many pirates!
Back when I was stationed on Fish-Man Island, or later when I wandered the Four Blues with Gawain...
Back then, there weren't that many pirates to deal with in the world!
Besides the above passage, the pirates have experienced many other things.
For example...
"Hmph, how amusing, this is all like a joke!"
Faced with trash like you, I truly can't resist the urge to destroy you!
I have been lying low for far too long. Looking at you bunch of trash, I simply cannot control my urge to kill!
Even if I don't kill you, you bunch of trash will eventually die under the adults' scheme!
As for now, haha!
"Desert Funeral!!!"
In short, Jinbe and Crocodile performed their missions exceptionally well; they did more than just well, they were practically flawless.
When Iceburg initially priced the ships for Water 7, he primarily set extremely high prices for pirate vessels.
Under Gawain's influence, the ships of Water 7 have transformed from fast-moving consumer goods into high-end luxury items primarily supplied to the Celestial Dragon and nobles of various countries.
In addition, Iceburg has a series of new ways to make money, such as the Sabaody casino.
However, the shipbuilding industry, a heavy physical industry, has never been Iceburg.
The shipwrights' wages in the Water 7 have been rising steadily, attracting shipwrights from all over the ocean to gather here.
Once the Iceburg industry forms a virtuous cycle, the malice faced by the pirates will become even more severe.
In the original storyline, when Luffy and his crew arrived at Water 7, they exchanged just over 200 million Beli for a new ship, roughly the size of a small aircraft carrier, made primarily of Adam Wood.
But now...
Gawain irresponsibly said that if Luffy still wanted to get a ship like that...
Because of the pirate flag, Iceburg will give Luffy a pirate-exclusive bonus of nearly 3 billion Beli.
In this way...
The Sabaody Pirates have been discussing for the past few months nothing but not having enough money to buy a new ship or go to sea, and the fact that the money they painstakingly stole was easily pocketed by those damned shipwrights...
Because of this, the anti-capitalist wave first spread among a small group of pirates.
This was a pleasant surprise for Gawain.
At this very moment, on Sabaody Island, at an auction.
Gawain, accompanied by Shalria and Charlos, sat at the very front of the auction house, indifferently watching the people being auctioned off on the stage.
In the distance, the auction house manager kept wiping away cold sweat, while simultaneously trying to exchange winks with someone.
However, Doflamingo, sitting arrogantly behind Gawain, didn't even look at him.
Doflamingo had no interest in watching the auction. Compared to the past, this auction house was now Gawain's property, not his, Doflamingo's.
As for Doflamingo now, he is more focused on the small promise the Five Elders made to him some time ago.
As long as he behaves himself, or at least behaves himself, the Five Elders may be able to restore Doflamingo's status Celestial Dragon within five years.
Out of respect for Gawain, Doflamingo was even willing to move his mother's grave back to her long-cherished final resting place, Mary Geoise.
Although Doflamingo said he didn't care, he actually cared a lot.
Because of this, Doflamingo has started borrowing books from Robin to read for the past three months.
Cultivating one's character and temperament is truly difficult for Heavenly Yaksha.
But if it's just a matter of toning things down a bit, Doflamingo thinks there's no problem.
Just as Doflamingo was sitting there arrogantly, Gawain, holding Shalria's hand, looked up and examined the items on the auction stage.
This auction house, primarily used for the slave trade, is still auctioning off slaves today.
However, compared to the past, the number of slaves traded each month has decreased by several times.
The slave stars on the stage were few and far between, their numbers were really not impressive, but their quality had actually improved.
After taking over the slave market, Kalifa did not, as Gawain had originally planned, drastically introduce various new regulations to reduce the quantity of slave trade goods at the source.
After personally immersing herself in the slave industry, Kalifa gradually realized that what Lord Gawain wanted to achieve—a continuous decrease in the number of slaves—could not be achieved through strict regulations.
Just like banning smoking and drinking, the more strictly you ban them, the more people engage in them.
Some things become more popular the more they are forbidden.
Therefore, Kalifa ultimately chose to follow the Iceburg approach, after all, she had served as Iceburg's secretary and understood Iceburg way of thinking very well.
Further promote the refinement of the slave industry, excessively hype up the price of high-end slaves, and use the market funds occupied by high-end slaves to squeeze the market share of low-end slaves.
In other words, the current market prefers to buy and sell high-quality goods that have lost their vitality, either by the seller or their family.
Without special race, talent, physique, or appearance.
Slave buyers preferred to drive low-quality slaves to docks to work as laborers rather than send them to auction houses.
After all, once Doflamingo's businesses were incorporated into Gawain's, the slave market and trading ports around the world were almost completely connected.
Even today, their own sister industries are short of workers.
In short...
Looking at the stunningly beautiful or handsome items at the auction, Gawain frowned silently.
This is not a good idea. The slave market is too selective, which is too harsh on those who are exceptionally good-looking but not from wealthy families.
However, since it's impossible to completely abolish the slave trade in the short term, refining this industry would undoubtedly mean abandoning the salvation of certain individuals in order to save a far greater number of people...
When things reach a certain level, the choices you face are never just good or bad.
Gawain can only choose "somewhat bad" or "worse" for now!
That's all!
Seeing Gawain's increasingly profound expression, the auction house manager's legs began to tremble.
After these three months, everyone still working at the auction house knows that Gawain is their real boss.
Didn't you see that even the famous Joker could only sit in the second row?
After observing Gawain's demeanor, the auctioneer cautiously approached him.
"Dear Celestial Dragon, is it that our product has failed to meet your expectations?"
I'm sorry, there haven't been many fine pieces appearing at sea lately; it's all our auction house's fault.
Please wait a moment, everyone. Although the overall quality of the goods is not very high, the final item tonight is excellent.
That's the most beautiful dancer in the West Blue, possessing a top-tier figure, radiant white hair, and incredibly graceful dance moves—a truly exceptional find!!!
Please wait a moment, gentlemen. The item will be up for auction in just a short while!
After saying this, the auction manager chuckled awkwardly, wiped the sweat from his brow, and carefully retreated.
After he left, Charlos blew his nose unhappily.
"Hmph, auctions these days are getting worse and worse; they can't even find a pirate with a bounty of over 500 million."
If you want to buy a mount, you really should go to Mary Geoise. The mounts from Impel Down are just too good. The auction house is becoming less and less interesting!
As soon as he finished speaking, Charlos, feeling bored, wanted to leave. He'd much rather play football than watch the tedious auction.
It's a pity that Franky went to Water 7...
Watching Charlos leave, Shalria pouted in dissatisfaction, then tried to stand up.
Just then, Gawain grabbed Shalria's hand and shook his head.
"It's alright, since he's bored, let him leave."
"But Gawain, that Charlos is so disrespectful to us! We invited him to come over, and he dared to leave first!"
That's outrageous! I'm going to teach him a lesson when I get back!
Shalria was still not happy. Charlos's early departure made her feel that Charlos was slapping the Gawain Family in the face.
Ahem, alright. After spending three whole months with Gawain and his group, and through sheer effort in protecting and helping the Gawain Family members, Shalria has managed to gain the reluctant acceptance and respect of Gawain's subordinates. She now completely considers herself the mistress of the Gawain Family...
Gawain, who was listening to Shalria's complete siding with him, gently patted Shalria's arm.
"Alright, Shalria, we don't need to force Charlos to do something he doesn't like."
Moreover, although Gawain didn't say it, he was hoping that Charlos would show disdain for the slave auction.
As the saying goes, "What the superiors do, the inferiors follow," and as a series of Celestial Dragon become increasingly indifferent to slaves, this industry will naturally decline.
As for Gawain...
He and Shalria continued to linger in the auction house, spending over 20 billion to bid on dozens more items.
This includes eight unremarkable Devil Fruit, two more significant Devil Fruit, three opera troupes, the top dancer in the West Blue, eight Famous Swords, and so on.
Stussy's work lacks professional performers; purchasing them is more convenient than training them.
Therefore, Gawain sent people to give the auction house a new order: to continue to collect all the entertainers across the sea who were disliked and sold off by the nobles.
On the one hand, they fill various programs with them; on the other hand, those who are not qualified to join the programs can also become anchors.
With that, all that's left is for the Vinsmoke Family to deliver their Den Den Mushi, Gawain's plan to win them over can officially begin.