Ochoku thought for a moment before confirming,
"You mean the guy who's been dealing in arms recently?"
The influence of the weapons factory established by Vane had been growing rapidly. Naturally, the Yonko's crew had played a big role in fanning the flames behind the scenes. The reputation of their high-quality weapons had already reached Ochoku's ears.
Even on Hachinosu Island, quite a few pirates were carrying weapons produced by Sleeping Island. Some had bought them secondhand from that Yonko broker, while others had purchased them directly from the manufacturer when passing by Sleeping Island.
Pizarro continued,
"Are you going to do anything about this? As a newcomer, he's being so disrespectful to his seniors. He's doing business without even greeting you!"
There was absolutely no need to inform Ochoku about doing business. Sleeping Island was quite far from Hachinosu Island and wasn't within Ochoku's sphere of influence.
Pizarro said this purely to put pressure on Ochoku. Most of Ochoku's subordinates were like Pizarro—respectful on the surface, but not in their hearts.
Their connection to Hachinosu Island was entirely for profit. In easy battles, they would obey Ochoku's command. But if it came to risking their lives, the number of people willing to support Ochoku would drop sharply.
Now Pizarro was simply trying to use Ochoku to deal with Vane. He himself truly lacked the ability. The other side wouldn't even need to act personally—just a few of their officers would already be more than he could handle.
Ochoku knew full well that Pizarro was pressuring him, but he did care about this kind of things.
"In just the past six months, over a hundred pirate crews have visited Sleeping Island and purchased their weapons. Two royal fleets have also gone there and bought large quantities."
In the original timeline, various kingdoms were important trade partners of that Joker. Some kingdoms and even warring nations had used nothing but his weapons in their conflicts.
When he was defeated, some of those countries surrendered directly after losing their source of arms.
The one reporting to Ochoku was considered a trusted subordinate. As a leader, it was impossible for him not to have any confidants—there were just fewer of them compared to the total number of his men.
Good weapons, and selling well… Ochoku was immediately tempted.
Sleeping Island was far from his Hachinosu Island. Even though Pizarro was pushing him, he hadn't initially wanted to stand up for him. At most, he would have gathered some pirates and sent them to help.
But now there was profit involved.
If he could take control of that weapons production line, he could continue expanding his power.
As one of the old hands who had come off the same ship as Rocks, Ochoku harbored great ambitions for the title of Pirate King. Yet judging by bounty amounts, this so-called veteran was inferior even to Kaido, who had once been a rookie.
He needed power—something to strengthen himself further and gradually make his disloyal subordinates truly support him.
Controlling arms production might be a good choice.
But was that place a little too close to the Yonko's territory?
"Your Carnival Island is very close to the Yonko's crew. If we move so many pirates over there, will it provoke a reaction? After all, didn't she marry one of her daughters to Nation-Slayer Vane?"
"Hah! That old woman is about to reach her due date. The entire Yonko crew has pulled back and shrunk their territory a bit."
In that case, there was nothing to worry about. If he had taken the initiative to invade while she was in normal condition, the risk would indeed be much greater. But now the Yonko crew couldn't move freely, leaving Sleeping Island isolated and without support.
Then there was nothing more to discuss. He would simply bring an army down upon them.
In terms of the number of ordinary pirates and personal bounties, he completely outmatched Sleeping Island. He wasn't afraid that the guy would have any chance to resist.
Strike swiftly and decisively, defeat Sleeping Island, and move the production line back to Hachinosu Island.
Once it became a fait accompli, that old woman wouldn't dare invade Hachinosu Island.
"Then issue the Pirate Alliance order. Attack Sleeping Island. Remember to control the numbers."
A pirate alliance wasn't better the larger it was. The final division of spoils had to be considered. If too many people showed up after capturing Sleeping Island, each share would become too small.
So the right number was best.
"How about a 6,000-man pirate alliance? Gather around fifteen captains. Including the pirates from Pizarro's Carnival Island, the final number should be around 7,000."
Among them, the vast majority would be cannon fodder. But with enough numbers, they could still produce unexpected effects.
"That's enough. After all, Sleeping Island's total population isn't much larger than that."
In their view, if Sleeping Island had over a thousand combatants, that would already be considered a lot.
"Is anyone interested in going to Sleeping Island? If you want to join, there's no need to recall your men from outside."
At the banquet table, there happened to be about the right number of captains present, controlling roughly 6,000 pirates in total.
"I'm very interested."
"Yeah, Admiral, how could we miss something like this?"
"I won't go. Sleeping Island is a bit too far."
Although this looked like an easy battle, these pirate captains were calculating whether they could gain enough profit from it.
At first, more captains were willing to join. But as more and more people agreed, others began refusing, because the more participants there were, the smaller each share of profit would become.
And the largest portion would certainly go to Ochoku, leaving them with even less.
"Feels like the numbers still aren't quite enough."
"That's enough, Admiral. I can provide another 1,500 from my side!"
Pizarro ruled a so-called "kingdom," after all. He still had the ability to gather a few more men.
"Very good. Everyone, go back and prepare. We'll set sail together in seven days. Let's show this rule-breaking newcomer what a real pirate is!"
...
Hachinosu Island, this chaotic pirate alliance zone, had a massive flaw—any movement was extremely hard to conceal.
More than a dozen pirates with bounties over a hundred million Belly were making preparations for war at the same time. Even the great pirate Ochoku, who hadn't moved in a long time, was taking action.
It immediately drew the curiosity of the entire pirate world.
Many of these pirates couldn't keep secrets. One would leak a bit, another would casually mention something. Once all the scattered information was pieced together, a general picture emerged.
Ochoku's target this time was Sleeping Island in the mid-front section of the New World—territory of Nation-Slayer Vane.
"Pirates fighting each other—this is exactly what our World Government wants to see!"
"Dispatch the CP organization. No matter who wins or loses, we'll strike the losing side and send a few new customers to Impel Down!"
The World Government loved this kind of situation. They could trail behind and scoop up some leftovers.
If luck favored them, they might even catch a big fish outright.