Pirate: It’s not a phantom beast, it’s a phantom god!

Chapter 372 Repeating the same trick
Several days later, at Blade Port.

A large ship flying a flag of various animals docked at the port.

Compared to the other warships of the Beastmen, this ship was much larger, but it didn't have many weapons.

"Hmm? Have we arrived?"

"This is Wano Country? It really is like an undeveloped paradise."

As the gangway was lowered, a middle-aged man in a suit and tie, leading a blonde girl, slowly stepped onto the land of Wano Country, escorted by a group of burly men.

"Daddy, this place is so beautiful!"

"Will our new home be built here?"

"Hmm~ Is that a squirrel? So cute~"

The blonde girl had a few freckles on her face and a lively, carefree personality. As soon as she landed, she couldn't help but lift her skirt and run around everywhere.

"Slow down, young lady~ don't fall."

"Don't worry, Uncle Butler. My legs are very agile!"

A smile appeared on the middle-aged man's lips as he watched his daughter hopping around like a little rabbit and the butler rushing after her.

He turned to his bodyguards behind him and gave them instructions:
"Keep a close eye on the young lady, and make sure she doesn't get hurt."

"Yes, sir!"
"Ah."

The middle-aged man nodded, then put his hands behind his back and looked at a group of people rushing towards them in the distance...

"Haha! Long time no see, Dante. You seem to be quite capable now."

"You flatter me, Mr. Willie."

"I'm still far from being as good as a teacher."

The person who came scratched the back of his head sheepishly and said modestly.

"Well, not bad~"

"So humble and composed... It's truly rare to find such a mindset in a young person like you!"

The middle-aged man patted Dante on the shoulder, his admiration growing stronger.

He was none other than Willie, who currently oversaw the arms trade between all beasts.

Willie came to Wano Country on orders from Light, who instructed him to put aside his current work and come to oversee the development of Wano Country.

"Alright, let's go. Minister Wright must be getting impatient, right?"

"Yes, the teacher has prepared a welcome feast. Please follow me."

"Then let's go."

"Little Lati, stop wandering around and come over to Daddy."

"Okay, Dad~"

……

In a nobleman's mansion in Wano Country, Light sat at the head of the table and poured himself a glass of wine.

The owner of the mansion had opposed the giant serpent during a ceremony a few days ago, and now his entire family had been secretly executed. So Wright used this place as a temporary office.

"Willie, thank you for coming all this way."

Wright raised his glass and toasted Willie from afar.

"Haha~ Minister Wright, what are you saying? Serving the beasts, how can it be hard work?"

Willie quickly stood up and retorted, saying he wouldn't dare.

"Haha! Okay, Willie."

"This is a place for beasts; there's no need to go through the same old routine you have outside."

"Uh...haha~"

Willie felt a little embarrassed upon hearing this, but he still abandoned his usual social niceties.

Wright is right; there's no need for those roundabout pleasantries here.

"I've seen your achievements over the years, and you've done quite well... I can only say that the choices we made back then were both correct."

Wright took a sip of his drink and then began to talk about Willie.

"Our Beasts weapons not only monopolize the entire New World, but I've also heard that many countries across the four seas are vying to place orders, and even the navy has signed long-term contracts... We've truly made a name for ourselves."

"You made a great contribution to this."

Almost 90% of the members of the Beasts Pirates are mindless brutes... The reason why the arms business is so big now is not only because the arms factory is constantly innovating, but also because Willie, an experienced and resourceful arms dealer, has made great contributions.

"Well, the arms trade has stabilized now, so we just need to follow the plan step by step..."

"I've read your economic plan. The reason I called you here is to have you take charge of the economic development of Wano Country."

"According to Governor Kaido, the Beasts intend to 'swallow' the entire Wano Country."

"?!"

"This, this..."

Upon hearing this news, Willy's eyes widened. If he wasn't mistaken, then Kaido's so-called 'swallowing' probably didn't refer to the traditional, simple model of collecting protection money...

"Should we interfere in the actual governance of this country?"

"Yeah, that's right."

"If the governor's demands are met, we need to take control of the country completely, from all aspects, including politics, economy, culture, defense, and so on."

"Population, land, minerals... all the resources of Wano Country will become the energy source for the Beasts, this war machine."

"This place will become our source of raw materials, processing plant, product dumping ground, and even... a source of soldiers."

Pirates don't engage in production, and pirate crews are nothing more than pure resource-consuming war machines... What Kaido wants to do now is to turn the entire Wano Country into the energy furnace of this war machine.

And it's a built-in one.

"This... might not be so easy, right?"

Wright wiped the sweat from his forehead.

This model has only been barely successful in Big Mom's World of Warcraft... but World of Warcraft only has a few tens of thousands of people, and they are mostly small islands.

Wano Country, however, is different. It already has its own ethnic group, its own political system, and its own culture.

Putting everything else aside, the population alone is in the hundreds of thousands, while the beasts, at most, number only a few thousand. Conquering this place wouldn't be a problem... but completely assimilating it would be like a snake trying to swallow an elephant.

"Yes, I know it's not easy."

"But we have plenty of time, we can take it slow."

Wright, on the other hand, was quite open-minded. He awkwardly picked up a piece of oden with his chopsticks and put it in his mouth, chewing it slowly.

"Well, we already have a general plan. It will take a few decades to come."

"What you need to do is start with the economy and take control of the country's economic lifeline."

"So, can you do it?"

"... um~"

"If it's just about doing business, then I do have some experience."

Willie nodded slightly, but then frowned.

"However, according to the information you gave me before, Wano Country does not seem to be stable right now... It seems that a conflict has just broken out between that so-called general and daimyo."

"And then there are those guys called 'warriors,' who seem to be plotting to drive us out of the country. Intelligence says they're quite strong, and if they team up, it will be a real problem."

"I worry……"

"You don't need to worry about the samurai. Governor Kaido will handle those people personally."

Wright waved his hand, indicating that such matters were not for the intellectuals to handle.

"Those who dared to stand out at the ceremony a few days ago have already been dealt with, and they shouldn't be making a scene in the open anytime soon."

"As for doing it secretly..."

"Miss La once said that the power struggles between forces are actually very simple, nothing more than the four words 'alliance and counter-alliance'."

"Vertical alliances...horizontal alliances?"

Willie found the unfamiliar word difficult to pronounce, but since it was said by that 'La', he still listened carefully.

"Hmm. The saying goes, 'Vertical attack is to unite the weak to attack the strong; horizontal attack is to serve the strong to attack the weak.'...Miss La's words are quite insightful."

“We are now in a position of power, while the opposing samurai are in a weak position… So if they want to rebel, all they have to do is secretly win over and unite those who also oppose us to form an alliance.”

"This is actually a good thing. At least no one will be able to stand in our way anymore, and it will also make it easier for us to wipe them all out in one fell swoop."

"If these people continue to remain hidden and secretly cause trouble, that will only make things worse."

"Oh~"

Willie nodded in deep agreement.

……

After three rounds of wine, five flavors of food.

Before they knew it, it was getting late, and the two of them had almost finished eating.

"Alright, it will take several more months for our base on Ghost Island to be completed. You can stay here with me for the time being."

Wright gulped down the last bowl of miso soup, then wiped his mouth and said:
"Go back and settle your precious daughter first, then you can meet with the country's officials tomorrow."

"Remember, things like forced land acquisition, forced labor, and anything else that could cause public resentment should be left to the people of Wano Country. We Beasts should absolutely not get involved."

"You can even make some private compensation to those people afterwards."

"In short, we must direct all the resentment of Wano Country toward the shogun's mansion in the capital."

"..."

As Willie listened to Wright's words, he narrowed his eyes... He felt like he had seen this scene somewhere before.

call out--

slap~
A burst of fireworks exploded in the air outside the window, scattering silver sparks everywhere.
[So, Wano Country has fireworks too?]
(End of this chapter)