While Sean's suggestions left Cobra feeling incredibly excited, a stubborn and unavoidable problem eventually reared its head.
Money. Specifically, Belly.
Alabasta was far too poor. Once the Lawan Company finished the design for the Super Auction House and submitted their final quote, Cobra was left speechless.
One billion Belly!
The construction cost for a single auction house alone was almost more than Cobra could handle. The Alabasta national treasury currently held less than a billion Belly; he was at a complete loss as to how to proceed.
This was only the beginning. There were numerous other planned infrastructure projects, including high-speed highways running from Eluma to Yuba, Yuba to Rainbase, and finally from Rainbase to the royal capital of Alubarna. Then there was the massive bridge crossing the Sandora River to connect Rainbase and Alubarna.
When factoring in the development of the tourism industry across various cities, a rough estimate suggested an initial investment of at least thirty billion Belly.
And that was just the starting cost. If they truly wanted to follow Sean's vision and complete all the projects to fully revitalize Alabasta's economy, it would likely require over a hundred billion Belly.
Cobra simply couldn't afford to play this game.
However, while Cobra couldn't afford it, Sean certainly could. Thirty billion for the initial phase? That was a pittance.
Of course, Sean was willing to provide the funds, but he wasn't doing it out of pure charity.
The highways would be toll roads, and the revenue collected would be used to repay Alabasta's debt to Sean until the balance was settled. As for the other investments, Sean demanded a share of the profits.
According to Sean's own calculations, once the plan succeeded, he could earn at least thirty billion Belly annually from Alabasta alone. While there was plenty of gold on Sky Island, that supply would eventually run dry. Investing in Alabasta, however, would provide a permanent stream of income.
Sean even took it a step further by proposing additional investment plans to Cobra.
What was Alabasta's greatest advantage? Its population. With over twenty million people, the vast majority lived in poverty due to the kingdom's economic stagnation. Sean intended to turn this disadvantage into a primary strength.
His solution: mass manufacturing.
As for what to produce, Sean already had an idea: cars. If he gave Retes the concept and design for automobiles, he was confident they could develop them in short order. Sean had absolute faith in the research and development capabilities of Retes and his team.
Once a complete industrial system for automotive production was established, Alabasta wouldn't be poor even if it tried to be. For Sean, this investment would yield terrifyingly high long-term returns.
For Cobra, this was a wonderful surprise. He had assumed that in exchange for such an investment, Sean would demand at least eighty or ninety percent of the profits. Cobra had already prepared himself for that; as long as Alabasta could be fully developed, he would have agreed to any split, even if Sean took ninety percent. After all, Alabasta wasn't contributing a single cent of its own; it would have been unreasonable to ask for more.
To his shock, Sean only asked for half.
Cobra was both surprised and thrilled. He was surprised that Sean asked for so little, and thrilled because this meant he would have more capital to reinvest in the continued growth of Alabasta, creating a virtuous cycle of development for the entire kingdom.
There was nothing left to hesitate about. The two parties hit it off once again and signed a mountain of new agreements.
'''
While Cobra and Sean were preparing to overhaul the kingdom, the three cruisers commanded by Kaku finally arrived at the outskirts of the Florian Triangle. Along the way, they had wiped out seven pirate crews and captured three ability-using pirates.
The region was perpetually covered in an eerie, thick fog. Once inside, visibility dropped to a mere few meters. According to records, the number of ships that vanished here every year reached the hundreds. It was widely regarded as one of the most dangerous and mysterious areas in the first half of the Grand Line.
Inside the bridge of one of the cruisers, Kaku frowned as he stared at the unsettling expanse ahead.
In truth, dealing with Moria wouldn't be a problem for him, but... before departing, Sean had given him intelligence on one of Moria's subordinates—the one who was truly troublesome.
Perona, the user of the Paramecia-type Hollow-Hollow Fruit.
According to the intel, the Hollow-Hollow Fruit allowed the user to release spiritual entities. Once these ghosts made contact with a target, the victim would immediately lose their will to fight and fall into a state of extreme negativity. This depression would last for several minutes, during which the victim would be completely defenseless.
This meant that once hit, an enemy could easily finish them off, even if the enemy was ten or twenty times weaker.
However, the fruit had a weakness: the ghosts it created were not invisible and were relatively slow. Anyone with a modicum of strength could dodge them.
But in the Florian Triangle, this weakness was almost entirely negated. With visibility limited to a few meters, reaction time was slashed to a minimum. Even though Kaku had awakened Observation Haki, it was still an unknown whether he could perceive these spiritual entities through it.
Still, the three cruisers carried ten squadrons totaling 480 Marines. Unless those ghosts could wipe out the entire force in a short window, Kaku wasn't overly worried. The weakest Marines on board now possessed a Doriki close to 500, while the strongest exceeded 1,000. A few of those elite Marines working together could likely hold their own against Moria.
"Captain, all lookouts are deployed!"
"What about the signalmen?"
"Ready and waiting!"
"Minimum cruising speed. Advance!"
"Yes, Captain!"
In this era, when faced with such low visibility, ships typically relied on a combination of lookouts and sound signals to determine their positions and coordinate movement. They also had to reduce speed to avoid collisions or unforeseen hazards, as they lacked radar or other high-tech equipment.
The three warships began to move forward slowly at a speed of two knots. Within minutes, they disappeared into the wall of thick fog.
'''
Thriller Park.
It was a colossal vessel, so massive it resembled a small island. It was the pirate ship of Moria.
"Kishishishishishi! Hogback, come and look at the treasure I've just found!"
"Hiss... This is...!!!"
Even Hogback was stunned when he laid eyes on the massive corpse before him.
"Could this be the legendary Oars?"
"Exactly. Well? Can you fix it?"
"No problem! Leave it to me!"
Rubbing his hands together, Hogback was practically vibrating with excitement. Although large sections of the body had already decayed, he was confident that he could restore it to completion. He set to work immediately.
Meanwhile, Perona, who was tasked with patrolling and hunting for prey, released two of her ghosts...
At this moment, the distance to Kaku's three cruisers was less than 500 meters. Unless something unexpected occurred, contact was imminent.
Simultaneously, a strange, eerie singing voice suddenly echoed through the area.
"Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho... Binkusu no sake wo, todoke ni yuku yo... Umikaze kimakaze namimakase... Shio no mukou de, yuuhi mo sawagu... Sora nya wa wo kaku, tori no uta..."