Influence

Grand Line Era 1500, March 27.

The Sky Cloud Federation's total population had risen to 18,200, with around 15,000 in Cloud Realm, the capital, and roughly 3,100 on Sunset Island.

In addition, more than three thousand Sky People from Birka were also under the Sky Cloud Federation's partial control. At present, more than eight hundred Sky People employees from neighboring Birka were working in Sunset Town.

Birka's economy, despite its apparent prosperity, had been indirectly controlled by the Sky Cloud Trading Company.

On Birka's main streets, after the local residents realized that hunting, fishing, and small-scale farming were gradually falling behind the trading company's employees, they too began to change step by step.

Kalu's family was caught in a dilemma. Several of their neighbors had family members working for the Sky Cloud Trading Company, and their standard of living had improved rapidly thanks to cheap goods.

Kalu, meanwhile, was hostile toward the Sky Cloud Federation. More accurately, he was hostile toward all Blue Sea People who came from the sea.

Because of this hostility, he had forbidden his family from taking part in the Sky Cloud Trading Company's recruitment. Now, they could only rely on hunting, fishing, and growing some Sky Island-specific crops to sustain the family.

That way of life might have worked in the past. After all, Birka had once been a closed economic circle.

But things were different now. The Sky Cloud Trading Company had dumped large quantities of cheap goods into Birka, making it impossible for Kalu to obtain other necessities by selling his prey and agricultural products.

After all, an individual small family could not produce every necessity of life. Food, salt, sugar, clothes, medicine, tools, daily-use goods, and so on had to be acquired through trade to meet everyday needs.

Medicine, salt, sugar, and daily-use goods in particular were extremely scarce commodities on the Sky Islands. Many either had to be swept up by the Upward Sea Current or transported along the route from the Top of the Western Sky.

The former depended on luck, while the latter carried very limited cargo. And Birka was not the prosperous Angel Island; merchant ships usually came only once every few years.

The Sky Cloud Trading Company's cheap goods were simply a crushing blow to Birka's native economic model.

The collapse in commodity prices would severely affect Birka's fishermen, hunters, farmers, and craftsmen.

The Sky Fish Kalu had caught sat on the street with no one interested in buying it, because he did not accept Gold Yuan and only accepted Ick—Sky Island currency, where one Gold Yuan was worth roughly ten thousand Ick.

And Ick was being quietly suppressed in the Sky Cloud Trading Company's day-to-day trade.

For example, buying the trading company's products with Gold Yuan appeared to cost the same as paying in Ick. In reality, if one used Gold Yuan and had employee status, they could receive a 30% discount.

The trading company also paid its employees' wages directly into their bank cards. Although regulations stated that non-employees could not enjoy the 30% employee discount when purchasing the company's products—

—in actual practice, the trading company tacitly allowed Sky People holding employee bank cards to receive employee prices.

At the same time, Sky Cloud Bank introduced so-called "Family Cards." An employee's bank card could serve as the primary card and be linked to five supplementary cards, which were these so-called Family Cards.

Family Cards likewise enjoyed employee discounts.

There were more than eight hundred Birka Sky People working for the Sky Cloud Trading Company. Once their immediate family members were included, they accounted for the vast majority of Birka's Sky People.

As a result, Ick, the local currency, became extremely awkward. Using it felt like taking a huge loss, yet without using it, one could not buy goods.

This was especially true for stubborn people like Kalu. Their savings would only continue to dwindle without any income to replenish them, eventually plunging them into a bankruptcy crisis.

Of course, there was no need to worry about starving to death. They could still hunt and fish, and with some wild Sky Island Shells, they could barely survive.

But without comparison, there was no hurt.

Watching the neighbors all live good lives while one's own family remained in a primitive state was not something most people could bear.

"Kalu!"

A voice jolted the dazed Kalu awake. Looking up, he saw that it was his cousin Kari. "Brother Kari, are you buying fish?"

Kari, who looked somewhat aged, gazed at his cousin Kalu and shook his head. "Kalu, I'm planning to open a restaurant. Do you want to come help me?"

"A restaurant?" Kalu was confused.

Kari explained, "There are a lot of Blue Sea People over in Sunset Town, along with Birka residents. I think it's a business opportunity. You're good at grilling fish and meat. We can definitely make money by opening a restaurant."

In truth, Kari also wanted to lend his cousin a hand. Both of his sons worked for the Sky Cloud Trading Company, and they had money left over from their wages every month.

When he was young, he had visited several nearby Sky Islands, including Angel Island and the West Sky Route southeast of Angel Island.

The West Sky Route was not a single route, but seven in total. All of them shared one common starting point—the Giant Kingdom in the West Blue.

Within the Giant Kingdom of the West Blue stood a towering tree that reached the heavens—Treasure Tree Adam. This Adam Tree was the starting point of the West Sky Route.

When he was young, Kari had set out from Birka with several companions, passed through Angel Island, and then ventured onto the West Sky Route to the southeast.

He knew some things about Blue Sea People and had also seen the Sky Cloud Federation's potential. The fact that they could create island clouds on a large scale and transport rocks and soil up to the Sky Islands was enough to show that they were no ordinary force.

Kari therefore had a feeling that the Sky Cloud Federation would become the ruler of this stretch of sky. According to his eldest son, who worked as a sailor on a Transport Airship, Cloud Realm, the Sky Cloud Federation's capital, was very close to Birka and Angel Island.

Once the Sky Cloud Federation unified the various Sky Islands, the area around Cloud Realm would become the core region, and its economy would certainly improve even further. If they did not seize the opportunity now, they would surely regret it later.

With his thoughts clear, Kari prepared to build a Sky Island restaurant with Birka characteristics.

Choosing to open a restaurant was also another of Kari's judgments.

He saw that as the number of workers increased, and as Sunset Island's air port later brought in tourists and merchants from other places, those people would all need food and lodging. Restaurants and inns would definitely have business.

Having seen the world, Kari immediately put forward all his savings and gathered friends and acquaintances, ready to make a big move.

And Kalu, whose head was not particularly sharp, finally yielded to reality and decided to join Kari's restaurant.

Kalu tried hard to convince himself that he would be working for his cousin, not for Sky Cloud people. He was still a steadfast Sky Person.

A few days later, near the port district of Sunset Island, Kari took out a loan of one million Gold Yuan from Sky Cloud Bank and bought a plot of land.

He then began major construction, building the New Birka Restaurant and the New Birka Inn.

In Sky Ladder City of Cloud Realm, Mammon received this news and revealed a faint smile. The Sky Cloud Federation's strategy of economic penetration had clearly begun to take effect in Birka.

After reporting Birka's situation to Wang Gao, Wang Gao immediately decided to advance on Angel Island.

That same day, Mammon once again led an Airship Fleet out of the Cloud Realm, flying southwest toward Birka.

As the fleet passed Sunset Island—Birka, it picked up one hundred Recruits from Sunset Island, intending to let them see the world.

Mixed among the Recruits, Enel stood out from the crowd thanks to the Mind Net training method left behind by his parents.

Sitting inside the airship cabin, Enel looked at the boundless sea of clouds Outside the Window, as well as the Sky Beasts that occasionally rolled past, and felt a surge of excitement and anticipation.

Thank you for your support, dear readers (ω｀)