Sky Island Strategy

Sky Island, Birka.

Grand Line Era 1500, February 7.

An aerial fleet composed of twelve airships suddenly appeared not far from Birka.

After hearing the priest's report, Kahn, Birka's god, led a group of guards to the edge of the island clouds on Birka's west side.

The fleet of twelve airships hovered roughly eight hundred meters away. Their sky-obscuring presence filled the Sky People with dread.

In truth, the sky islands were not some paradise beyond the world. Quite a few pirates and others had made their way up from the Blue Sea.

For example, the Flying Pirate Group led by Golden Lion, who had been captured just last year, had previously visited sky islands such as Birka and Angel Island.

The near-deadly Upward Sea Current at Jaya, as well as the aerial route from the Top of the Western Sky, brought many Blue Sea People into various sky islands every year.

Kahn nervously watched the fleet, feeling as though he were facing the Flying Pirate Group. He hurriedly dispatched a priest to negotiate with them.

But before the priest could approach, a group emerged from the airships. Mammon appeared before Kahn and the others, holding a jet-black staff.

"I am Kahn, god of Birka. May I ask who you are? This is territory of the Flying Pirate Group." As he probed, Kahn pulled out a Flying Pirate Group flag.

Clearly, Kahn knew how to borrow a tiger's might.

Of course, Birka was a subsidiary force of the Flying Pirate Group. This was not exactly a secret; even Angel Island was the same.

It was simply that Golden Lion had no interest in the resource-poor sky islands. They were merely backup territory. Back then, the Flying Pirate Group's core regions had mainly been in the New World and the sky islands above it.

The sky islands above Paradise were merely nominal territory that could be discarded at any time.

Especially after Golden Lion escaped from prison, he had directly abandoned the New World and the vast majority of the sky islands, hiding in the skies above the Calm Belt between Paradise and the East Blue as he plotted his so-called "grand plan."

"The Flying Pirate Group? Hahaha..." Mammon said mockingly, "Golden Lion was captured by the Marines last year. I doubt he has any way to come manage the sky islands now."

"What?!" Kahn was greatly shocked.

Mammon offered no explanation. He merely tapped the island cloud lightly with his staff. In an instant, a Large Area of ice crystals formed, and dense ice spikes erupted from the ground.

All the Sky People were surrounded by ice spikes. Kahn's face turned pale. "A... Logia..."

Enel, who had been secretly hiding in the bushes, was likewise surrounded by sharp ice spikes. He did not dare make the slightest movement. If he moved now, the ice spikes would definitely pierce his body.

Mammon tapped the ground with his staff again, and all the ice spikes turned back into Water Vapor.

"Mr. Kahn, I am Governor Mammon from the Sky Cloud Federation. It is a pleasure to meet you all." With that, Mammon tapped the ground again with his staff.

A long marble table and two marble chairs immediately formed before them. After sitting down, he said with a smile, "Mr. Kahn, please have a seat."

Gulp! Kahn forced himself to calm down and sat in the chair opposite him. Then he asked, "Governor Mammon, if there is anything you need us to do, this old man will certainly do his utmost."

Mammon's smile widened at Kahn's humility and tact. "I hope Birka can establish friendly relations with our Sky Cloud Federation. Here is the specific diplomatic treaty. Mr. Kahn, please take a look."

With that, Mammon handed him a document.

Establish friendly relations? It felt as though ten thousand alpacas were stampeding through Kahn's heart. Given that display just now, he had thought this so-called Sky Cloud Federation had come to destroy Birka.

However, Kahn quickly suppressed his urge to complain and opened the diplomatic treaty.

The treaty contained a great many provisions. In summary, it established equality between the two sides, free trade, mutual recognition of each other's currencies, permitted lawful exchanges between their citizens, set tariffs for both sides, and covered extradition and mutual assistance.

It covered fifteen areas in total and appeared very friendly on the surface. For example, one clause allowed Birkan citizens to apply for citizenship in the Sky Cloud Federation, provided it was done voluntarily.

Another example was that, regarding tariffs, both sides recognized the other as enjoying most-favored-nation treatment.

For a relatively primitive little society like Birka, they simply could not detect the hidden traps within.

Birka, still half agricultural and half hunter-gatherer, possessed an extremely fragile economic system. Kahn also could not understand the terrifying suppression an industrialized nation could exert over an agricultural nation.

After reading through the clauses, the only part that left Kahn somewhat undecided concerned the lease of the White White Sea southwest of Birka.

The Sky Cloud Federation requested to lease that barren stretch of White White Sea southwest of Birka Island, at an annual rent of five hundred thousand Gold Yuan, approximately equal to five hundred thousand Beli.

After considering it again and again, Kahn remembered Mammon's earlier show of force and did not dare offend him too much. After all, in his view, there was nothing excessive in the treaty.

"Governor Mammon, I agree to sign the friendship treaty."

Mammon smiled. "My friend, may the friendship between us remain unchanged through the ages, like the sun and moon in the sky."

Using Chinese and Moon Script, both sides signed two copies of the Sky Cloud-Birka Friendship Treaty, formally establishing relations.

That evening, Kahn held a banquet in the temple specifically for Mammon and the others.

The next day, over the White White Sea southwest of Birka, roughly three kilometers from Birka Island, Mammon informed Lucifer. After opening a Shadow Tunnel, they transported a large amount of Water Vapor there.

They then released highly concentrated N-Hydrogen particles, rapidly constructing an island cloud belonging to the Sky Cloud Federation.

Soon, an island cloud slightly larger than Birka appeared southwest of Birka Island. The two were less than two kilometers apart, connected by a cloud road.

The island was named "Sunset Island," because under sunlight, the sky island took on an orange-yellow hue like a glowing sunset.

In recent days, Birka's residents had also seen Sunset Island appear. It contained vast amounts of soil that Sky People dreamed of. If not for Mammon's earlier intimidation, they likely would have tried to seize it.

Enel had likewise been secretly observing these mysterious people over the past few days. In particular, seeing that they also lacked wings gave him the feeling that he had found his own kind.

In truth, Sky People's wings were merely decorations. The reason Enel had no wings was because he was an orphan.

On Birka's main street, five Ghost Soldiers wearing combat uniforms were inside a shop, posting a recruitment notice at its entrance.

This shop was also one of the Sky Cloud Federation's official businesses in Birka. It mainly sold grain, vegetables, fruits, and meat, along with clothing and some daily necessities.

For Birka's resource-poor Indigenous People, food mainly came from hunting wild skyfish and Sky Beasts in the White White Sea, or gathering wild vegetables and fruits.

The market here was also dominated by a small-scale agrarian economy. People brought the surplus skyfish they caught to small markets to sell.

Birka's total population was only around 3,764. Resources determined the upper limit of population growth here.

Although Sky Cloud Trading Company's mall had been open for nearly a week, very few locals came to shop. It was not that they did not want to buy anything, but that their pockets were empty.

As the person in charge of the Human Reform League's economy, Mammon knew the reason. The people had no money, so naturally they would not buy things—especially since Sky Cloud Trading Company's goods were all traded in Gold Yuan.

What needed to be done now was to use labor-for-wages arrangements to make Birka's residents wealthier. Only then could the Sky Cloud Federation's products be sold.

As soon as the recruitment notices went up, quite a few passing Sky People saw them.

[Recruiting sailors. Requirements: young and strong, no bad habits, able to endure hardship and work hard. Monthly salary: 5,000 Gold Yuan. Five days off per month. Successful applicants will receive a 2,000 Gold Yuan settling-in allowance...

Recruiting farm workers. Requirements: ...]

There were twelve different positions listed in the advertisements, with plans to hire around five hundred people.

For Birka, which did not have a large population to begin with, having so many young laborers drawn away would practically hollow it out.

Thank you all for your support (ω｀). Thanks to readers "Cheese Crown," "Dream Ant," and "く苑心へ" for their tips!