In a certain desert of Alabasta, there stood a factory, billowing black smoke, surrounded by rows of charred corpses.
"No, you can't... I'm a noble, you can't kill me!"
Among the charred corpses, a man swathed in a luxurious gem-decorated turban, with a finely groomed beard, clearly dressed as a noble, knelt on the ground with tears and snot streaming, begging the dark-skinned man with a red-glowing arm in front of him.
"If you kill me, you'll be exiled, I am still useful, I still have..."
Bang!
Before he could finish his words, Gin struck with a punch, the molten metal coiling around his fist like a blast of lava, piercing through the noble's chest, setting him ablaze under the high desert noon's temperature, turning into a burning man, and finally collapsing into a charred corpse on his side.
Gin walked over slowly, reaching down towards the corpse, as the molten metal coiling around him writhed, flew back to his hand, and reformed into a club.
"Exile? No one can exile me."
Gin said in a deep voice, "Instead, you should understand after doing this, what kind of price you have to pay. Nobility... we've killed countless nobles, and if it's to disrupt Master Sage's plans, I'll even dare to kill the Heavenly Celestial Dragon!"
This noble came to collect the 'land tax' here, setting up a factory without paying a penny. Hearing about this, he brought people to forcibly collect the land tax.
Because this piece of land was his, even if uninhabited, it belonged to him.
The tax was so high that he almost wanted to seize the factory outright.
And this wasn't the first wave.
There were other waves before, claiming this land belonged to them, and naturally ending up as corpses, buried by the desert.
"It's dealt with..."
After Gin single-handedly dealt with this noble, Link came out from the factory gate, chuckling:
"Master Gin, no need to get so angry, it's not the first time anyway. Once the desert buries it, nothing will be left here, not even evidence."
The situation in Alabasta is quite complex, and it wasn't messed up during Cobra's reign alone. After ruling for so many years, even before the World Government's appearance, the Nefertari Clan had already been ruling.
There were wise kings, and naturally, there were foolish ones.
Under wise kings, the nobility was restrained, under foolish ones, they flourished, but overall it was just a choice between stagnation and expansion; there was no talk of reducing the nobility's power and size.
Over time, the nobility became like sand in the desert, unable to be eradicated.
In an uninhabited desert, several claimants to the land could be revealed.
Originally, no one cared about this place, after all, it was nothing but sand, and no one lived here as it was too far from the nearby oasis and water sources.
But ever since the factory was here, those nobles came like hungry ghosts attracted by the smell, time and time again.
This factory is a raw material refinery, specifically set up in this area because the desert sand here is found to be of high purity, used to manufacture silicon.
High-quality silicon.
Under current technology, O'hara can only use it for civilian purposes like glass and medical prosthetics, but Vegapunk also needs these raw materials for making drug carriers and Peacekeeper sensors.
Just this one factory alone is invaluable.
Especially since it's not owned by O'hara.
Paying the workers in the factory just a small wage is enough, and the cost of transportation won't be high once the Red Earth Continent is traversed.
Running industry here is basically pure profit.
And they have begun large-scale fruit cultivation in oasis areas as well, yielding especially high-quality fruits from the desert regions.
These fruit products are generally shipped back to O'hara, enriching the local people's diet, and are naturally priced higher than the fruits within their region.
Not to mention the vast amounts of rare metal resources unlike iron, all used for manufacturing high-end weapons.
To others, the desert is worthless, requiring vast monetary investment without assured returns.
But for O'hara, they don't care about this.
Link isn't just a simple businessman; he's loyal to Sage, and coming here inherently represents Sage's mission.
Aside from setting up factories to acquire local resources, their important mission is also to attract Alabasta's people to live in O'hara, and the results are currently promising. Just a few rounds of transportation, and they don't return, staying in O'hara.
Some are even decisive, finding their own way to sea, reaching O'hara.
Both are accepted by O'hara.
The former is quality labor to fill O'hara's population gap; the latter, having braved the dangers of the Grand Line and New World to reach O'hara, is a natural choice for subordinates.
The territory is too vast; O'hara now needs everything.
"But this isn't a sustainable solution; our industry will expand further in Alabasta."
Link pondered and smiled, "Then we'll have to face the entirety of Alabasta, and these nobles will drag some people along. If the slaughter is too heavy, causing local panic, then our other plan will fail."
"How's your negotiation with Alabasta? Can't the royal family suppress it?" Gin asked.