"Looks like I really underestimated Crocodile. No wonder he'd always looked down on Doflamingo." Bane smacked his lips.
Of course, Bane didn't think Doflamingo was inferior to Crocodile in certain talents.
After hearing that, Nico Robin nodded. "That's true. There was a lot of business competition between them, and Crocodile also looked down on Doflamingo for bowing his head to the Four Emperors of the New World. So, he rejected Doflamingo's offers of cooperation several times and drove many of the Donquixote Family's businesses out of the first half of the Grand Line."
"What kind of business competition?" Bane asked casually.
He roughly knew about Baroque Works' intelligence, but when it came to deeper matters, he only had a few guesses.
Nico Robin did not hide anything and quickly explained, "Baroque Works' primary business lies within the Underworld. We have basically monopolized the related businesses throughout the first half of the Grand Line: intelligence, smuggling, trafficking contraband, assassination, bounties, and so on. As long as it exists in the Underworld, we do it."
After a brief pause, Nico Robin continued, "That is also why those executives willingly pay tribute. Baroque Works controls enormous networks, and those networks are opened to executives according to their rank and contributions. At the same time, having the status of a company executive can reduce a lot of unnecessary trouble."
Listening to this, Bane could not help admiring Crocodile. Doflamingo's Donquixote Family was the most famous middleman in the Underworld. Most of their work involved brokering deals, though they also handled some smuggling. Yet from their model, it was clear that they had joined the Underworld.
Crocodile's methods were clearly far more stylish. He had directly carved off a piece of the Underworld, claimed the market of the first half of the Grand Line as his own, then set up a framework: only if you paid up and became his member would he allow you to enter the market. Otherwise, he would not even open the higher-level channels to you.
What if you refused to pay? Hadn't Robin just said it? There would be some unnecessary trouble. Crocodile also kept a group of enforcers who had some standing in the first half of the Grand Line. They probably spent their days dealing with troublesome people unwilling to join Crocodile's Underworld "World Trade Organization."
Then Bane suddenly realized something. "So you've practically monopolized all the profits of the Underworld in the first half of the Grand Line?"
"In the early years, we could only be said to have gradually encroached on it. Over the past two years, the situation has more or less stabilized," Robin replied modestly.
"About how much profit do you make every year?" Bane asked again, his tone a little excited this time.
"After deducting all expenses, the net profit is roughly over forty billion Belly," Nico Robin said after thinking for a moment.
The moment she finished speaking, before Bane could say anything, Nami, who had been listening nearby, slammed her hand on the table. Her voice was filled with envy and resentment. "Damn it, Crocodile really deserves to die!!!"
"More than forty billion Belly in surplus every year? Then doesn't Crocodile have several trillion Belly in his hands by now? He's that rich!?" Bane was stunned.
He could practically see his own future of becoming rich overnight.
But before that fantasy could settle, Nico Robin poured cold water over it. "Not exactly. This year, up until the point when I left Alabasta and came to Little Garden to find you, Baroque Works only had a little over two billion Belly in surplus on its books."
"Huh?" Bane was dumbfounded. Gritting his teeth, he asked, "How can that guy squander money so well!? What the hell did he spend it on!?"
"For years, he has continuously stirred up unrest within Alabasta and funded many rebel leaders bit by bit. This year alone, as far as I know, he has already funded four hundred thousand rebels. According to his plan, he intends to completely seize power in Alabasta this year. Most of the funds he had saved in the past have now been spent on this," Robin explained.
Crocodile used some of what remained to win over Alabasta's major nobles, and he also had some private lending businesses. Just like in the original story, Crocodile had once given Buggy a loan.
Bane understood now. Crocodile had originally possessed a great deal of reserve capital, perhaps truly two or three trillion Belly. But this year, he had launched his grand plan to seize Alabasta, so he had thrown all his money into funding Alabasta's rebel army.
Good lord, he was raising four hundred thousand rebels all by himself. That guy was truly ruthless.
But on second thought, Bane's mood brightened considerably. Once he took over Crocodile's operation, if Baroque Works could maintain this level of profitability, then funding Zephyr, the Marines' "rebel leader," would be no problem at all.
Four hundred thousand was too much, after all. The Marines were not the Army. But even if he only raised several tens of thousands of Neo Marines, he would still count as a major power in this world. With a stomp of his foot, even the seas would tremble three times!
If he could later set things on the path of sustainable development, then he would earn more and more money while the force in his hands grew ever larger. Attacking Mary Geoise would be just around the corner!
"What a talent, truly a talent. If I didn't know so well that, with his personality, he could never lower himself and serve me, I really wouldn't want to kill him," Bane said with emotion.
Nico Robin agreed. "That's right. Crocodile is proud—one could even say extremely arrogant—and very self-centered. He is not someone who would easily submit to another person. And even if you forcibly subdued him, you would have to constantly guard against him turning on you."
Bane nodded and did not comment further on Crocodile. He casually asked, "Other than Baroque Works, doesn't he also have a casino? The one called Rain Dinners? I heard it's the most luxurious casino in the first half of the Grand Line."
"That's right. That casino also provides Crocodile with considerable funds every year. However, he has always used it to win over elites from every class in Alabasta. He personally controls and operates it, and normally lives beneath the casino, so I do not know much about its revenue," Nico Robin explained.
"It's fine. Once we kill him, we'll check the accounts and find out." Bane did not care.
"Besides that, Crocodile also owns shares in many joint ventures, such as Carnival City and Gran Tesoro," Nico Robin continued.
Bane had some vague impression of Carnival City and the like, but Gran Tesoro immediately caught his interest. He abruptly sat up straight and asked, "The Gran Tesoro you just mentioned—is that Gild Tesoro's Gran Tesoro!?"
"Yes, the world's largest and most luxurious entertainment city." Nico Robin nodded. "Tesoro and Crocodile have some connection. Crocodile owns 3.6 percent of Gran Tesoro's shares."
At first, Bane found it somewhat unexpected, but on further thought, this was only normal. Tesoro was the true richest man in the world, controlling a quarter of the world's cash flow. He was known as the Golden Emperor.
Moreover, Gran Tesoro was the world's only mobile neutral zone. Pirates, the Revolutionary Army, the Marines, Celestial Dragons, Cipher Pol, and all sorts of other forces were present there, without interfering with one another.
So the question was: did Tesoro have the strength to suppress everything? Was he qualified to monopolize that kind of wealth?
Obviously, that was impossible. He did not have that strength. He might have been the person in charge of Gran Tesoro, but there had to be all kinds of shareholders behind him!
The World Government was certainly indispensable, and Crocodile, as one of the Shichibukai, possessed tremendous influence in the Underworld of the first half of the Grand Line and was himself a super-rich man. He was indeed qualified to hold some shares in Gran Tesoro.
Perhaps many major figures held a portion of its shares. That was how Gran Tesoro could thrive in every sphere!
Before you continue