"Four billion, five hundred million Beli!"
The dazzling Queen of the Pleasure District named her price with a smile.
The World Government had stepped in.
No one doubted that the Queen of the Pleasure District could raise that much money.
As one of the New World's notorious dens of excess, the Pleasure District took in untold sums each year from pirates, tycoons, officials, and nobles.
The Pleasure District was also a major source of revenue for the World Government. Over the past year, it had expanded, establishing branches on more islands.
To weaken the influence of its Affiliated Nations, the World Government had made the Pleasure District one of the chief industries it supported.
Still, the Pleasure District could not hold out for long.
Part of its annual profits went to the women who worked there, part went toward its own expansion, and another share had to be paid to local powers.
Otherwise, why would those powers let the Pleasure District move into their territory?
That meant the Beli reaching the World Government was not all that much.
With the losses it had suffered in recent years, the World Government had taken a large share of the profits. Strictly speaking, that had hampered the Pleasure District's growth.
But the World Government had used every means at its disposal to gather large numbers of women cheaply from across the world, making up the difference.
The chaos at sea had torn countless families apart.
The slave trade had only grown.
The World Government had its hands in everything.
On one hand, it wanted the Navy to restore order to the seas. On the other, it drove the seas deeper into chaos.
The whole situation was laughable.
Of course, the World Government could not openly send people to the Pleasure District. It did