"Now, with two Mythical Zoan-type fruits in the hands of capable individuals, it's a massive combat force. Plus, there's that guy Kuzan. In the end, will this increase my strength, or will it pave the way for him?"
This situation has been brewing since Link went to become a Gol-Gol Fruit User.
Although the Gol-Gol Fruit cannot create gold from thin air, it did make Tesoro the richest man before Sage rose to power.
That fruit represents money.
When Link returned, he described the details, and at that time, Shiryu and Bashas were already openly suggesting taking the ability away and breaking ties with Sage.
But in the end, Teach still gave the ability to Link.
Because although money is important, a person with a talent for business is needed to exploit this fruit, and in terms of combat strength, it is not very strong.
But the Mythical Zoan-type is different.
They are even more precious than Logia-type fruits.
And there are two of them!
If it were ordinary Paramecia-Type and Zoan-type, or even some less impressive Logia-types, Teach might still help, but with two Mythical Zoan-types...
Seeing Orochi and Yamato, the probability of Teach stabbing me in the back on the spot is greater than obediently extracting the abilities for me.
"Lady, when you think about things, you need to consider them comprehensively. That guy only collaborates with me for mutual interests; he uses me to fend off Red Hair and to share the burden of swallowing Whitebeard's territory. Similarly, I also use him to fend off Red Hair and share the chaos caused in the latter half of the New World."
Sage pulled out a cigar and bit into it, and seeing that, Lily took out a lighter and lit it for him.
"Hah..."
Exhaling the smoke, Sage looked up at the sky and laughed, "But in front of bigger interests, this alliance can be broken, especially since... we are still Pirates, traditional Pirates."
Sage is even less traditional than Teach because Sage's main business now is as a landlord, while Teach is purely a traditional Pirate from start to finish.
The interests of traditional Pirates outweigh alliances.
His forces aren't small either.
"As for why it's dangerous, you could already see it before — I don't know if you sensed it, but I did..."
"Red Hair."
Before Sage finished, Lily interjected, "I thought it was the aftermath of your battle, didn't expect it was real... there was indeed an unusual Supreme King aura."
Sage chuckled softly, "Very good, Lily. That's right, that guy showed up, probably trying to protect his destined child."
At the time, he hadn't chased after him, but he sensed it; however, he didn't care much — fighting one or fighting two, even fighting three at once didn't make a difference.
At that time, he was in a fully unleashed Supreme King state, not a resonance but indeed more sensitive to Supreme King auras than the usual state.
However, Red Hair didn't come after him in the end, and Sage didn't spare time to provoke him.
There was simply no interest involved.
The territory in the first half is still a claim that hasn't been fully absorbed; after dealing with Kaido and Nika, fighting Red Hair was not something he had the energy for at the moment.
"But that guy's appearance means Teach didn't keep watch, or didn't want to keep watch. He has his schemes, and I have my plans... now, this alliance is already in a fragile state."
How could ambitious guys not take action amidst the current world's chaos?
There are not only Sage's invasions of Kaido; the World Conference... has made quite a few decisions.
The abolition of the Seven Warlords of the Sea is chaos in itself.
...
Wano Country fell into a temporary calm, also like a dangerous place on the verge of explosion, ready to blow up at the smallest spark.
Because it opened up.
After the execution of rebels and a few days after Sage announced a banquet, a large amount of resources were transported to Wano Country.
Apart from going up from the Carp Waterfall, there's a hidden cave covered by a waterfall at the back, requiring manual control to part the waterfall, reach the end of the cave, and then hoist the ship up to reach Wano's port.
This is the Hidden Harbor.
This place, of course, was under Sage's control.
Initially quiet, later on, there were many ships appearing at Hidden Harbor arriving at Wano's sea surface, and Sage also didn't prohibit the people of Wano Country from moving around, leading to many seeing ships and goods they've never seen in their lives brought in by those ships.
Of course, more importantly, there was a large amount of food.
This part, Sage directly distributed.
First, he needs people to be full; he can't just paint a big picture for people. Starving subjects aren't something Sage wants to rule.
He's a prosperous landlord, not a king of beggars in a slum.
First fill your stomach, then restore vitality and spirit.
For the people of Wano Country, it was like heavenly manna that the white-haired man, who said in a miraculous display he would feed them, actually kept his promise!
Every household was provided with food by the Beast Pirates stationed at various locations, and even the Samurai lords distributed food and clean water so that people no longer went hungry.
Full and content, they even began to look kindly at those Samurai lords.
As for Pirates...
They didn't know what Pirates were, but...
It seemed like a very benevolent existence!
Is this what people sometimes refer to as 'opening the country'?
It's simply delightful!
Some families, who were on the brink of starvation, couldn't help but run to the port to thank the boats, especially that massive Black Ship, the one with the kind-hearted white-haired lord, and rendered it their utmost reverence.
In just a few days, the public opinion began to shift, even prompting Geisha performers to weave it into songs and tales that spread through the streets and alleys, with the song titled...
"The Black Ship Opens the Country."
In the captain's quarters, Lily recounted her observations over the past few days and said, "In a few days, the wind is changing direction, as I suspected."
Sage leaned back on the Cyan Sand Wood Throne, one foot propped on the table, and gestured with a hand. Lily then pulled out a bottle and filled his Gemstone Wine Glass.
Sage took a sip and laughed, "Guess what?"
"Division."
Lily said, "This country is extremely divided; it is a country governed by nobles and Samurai, and there's no real presence of commoners, who aren't even considered numbers; nobody cares about them. Their purpose of survival is to pay taxes, and... tax rates are extremely high."
Sage's tax is based on per capita income, with each bracket having its own rate, as well as business taxes. Initially, he thought the business tax might be a bit high, but seeing the gratitude surrounding him, he pushed it through.
He realized early on that the rate he set didn't relate to himself but rather to neighboring countries.
In the past, O'hara, even when it was Gares, was a country with taxes on windows and shoes, and nobody found it strange; they just thought failing to pay taxes was their own problem.
But Wano Country...
"Eight tenths to the lords, ten tax nine collected."
Lily said, "This is the farmers' and merchants' tax rate. I checked carefully, and this rate was not only during Orochi's time but has been this way for many years without change. Orochi only caused pollution and seized labor, changing barely-fed people into the famine-stricken."
"At this rate, farmers must give up 80% of their produce, keeping only 20%. Merchants must surrender 90% of their profits. Thus, most merchants are craftsmen, and apart from the large merchant groups of Samurai and nobles, none can be called 'scale'."
The real merchants work for noble dukes, while common merchants are little more than peasants tinkering to survive, with a status similar to farmers.
This is where the division lies.
The common folk don't know what Pirates are or what an invasion means.
They only know that with Pirates, they were fed.
With Orochi, they were hungry.
As for notions of country, or invasion...
These are thoughts belonging to a small group, the aristocrats, and many Samurai even lack such thoughts.
The Samurai merely follow the aristocrats, rarely having any personal consciousness or ruling power, thus easy to divide.
As for the more numerous common folk...
They know nothing.
You cannot expect someone starving under harsh governance to defend their homeland... and they don't even have a homeland, they are merely tax-paying appendages.
This kind of country is too easy to control!