Wano Country was divided into six regions: Kuri, Udon, Kibi, the Flower Capital, Ringo, and Hakumai.
These regions were separated by great rivers and did not border one another. To travel from one region to another, one had to cross the bridges connecting them.
Each had its own distinct climate and character. Kuri had once been Kozuki Oden’s fief; Udon was home to the infamous prisoner quarry, Udon Prison; Kibi was the most desolate region in Wano; the Flower Capital was its most prosperous city; Ringo was known as the Land of Snow; and Hakumai was a port town.
Of all these places, Kuri left the deepest impression on Luke because of the manga. Luffy had landed in Wano there, met Tama, and set the plot in motion.
So, influenced by that first impression, Luke had assumed Kuri’s famine had to be the worst.
But the reports provided by Fukurokuju showed that Kuri was not the poorest region. The truly impoverished place was Kibi.
Kozuki Oden had only been dead for eight years, and Kaido’s factories had operated in Wano for barely over a decade. The environmental damage had not yet reached an irreversible point, so Kuri’s land could still grow some food. It was simply not enough to fill everyone’s stomachs.
Kibi, however, had been barren to begin with. After its land and rivers were polluted, it became completely incapable of producing food. Every year, enormous numbers of people starved to death. That was despite the fact that quite a few locals had joined Kaido’s factories, earning wages to support their families.
So Luke estimated the amount of grain needed based on population and decided to devote the largest share to disaster relief in Kibi.
Yes, he had no intention of selling this grain. He intended to distribute it as famine relief, making sure the people in the worst-hit areas could eat their fill first.
Luke did not know much about complicated market economics, but he knew the most urgent crisis had to be dealt with first. Besides, whenever the Beast Pirates shipped grain into Wano, they had never once asked Kurozumi Orochi for payment.
The Beast Pirates were not philanthropists, of course. They had already collected their payment elsewhere. Compared to the cheap grain they traded overseas, the profits generated by Wano’s factories were simply outrageous.
Luke felt that a country dependent on imported food just to keep functioning was deeply unhealthy. But he had no better solution at the moment. Besides, the Beast Pirates had no trouble obtaining grain, and he needed to capitalize on that advantage during the early stages of development.
He split the grain King had delivered into two portions. Sixty percent went into the national granaries, ready to be deployed whenever needed. That would also make it easier to regulate market prices later and drive down the exorbitant cost of food.
The rest would all be used for famine relief. The people of severely afflicted places such as Kibi and Kuri needed to eat their fill before they could resume production.
As for his plan to govern Wano, Luke had drafted a written three-step strategy. He had even had the Oniwabanshu send a copy to Kaido, though he had no idea whether Kaido would actually read it.
His general idea was simple. The first step was to solve Wano’s famine problem. Only people with full stomachs had the strength to work. Every portion of grain distributed meant one more person could survive.
In the three-step strategic plan, Luke had specifically noted that every additional survivor meant one additional worker for the factories in the future. He trusted Kaido would understand that logic perfectly well.
And once the people had enough to eat, what would they do? Go farm?
No. Although some instinct buried in Luke’s genes made him fond of farming, and he fully understood the importance of a nation being able to feed itself, he had no intention of sending these people back to the fields.
Years of industrial pollution had made Wano’s land genuinely difficult to cultivate. Crop yields were terribly low, and the returns were poor.
If he made them keep farming before the environment improved, they would continue going hungry because of the low yields. In the short term, it would become a vicious cycle.
Therefore, Luke decided that these people would all go help Kaido build factories.
Mm. Kaido would surely be delighted when he saw that part of the plan. There was no way he would reject it.
Wano was a deeply warped country. When Yamato had first asked him how to improve the people’s lives and make them happy, Luke had agonized over it for days without reaching an answer.
But yesterday, he had finally figured it out. The reason Wano had seemed hopeless to him was that his thinking had been limited by the model of a traditional agrarian state. But Wano had clearly entered the industrial age. It needed an entirely different approach.
It was not that he was stupid. Because of the Company in his past life, he instinctively despised things like factories and capital. Yet he had forgotten the essence of the matter.
Industrialization itself was never evil, nor was any specific system. Whether something was good or bad depended on the direction its leaders took it. Ultimately, a ruler who gave the people food, drink, shelter, and happier lives was a good ruler.
That was why Luke believed Wano did not need to keep clinging to agriculture. Based on what he knew about pollution, even if the Beast Pirates undertook environmental cleanup, the land would not recover for at least ten years. It might not be enough even after a century.
For now, Wano would be best served by importing food. But merely saying that would not let Kaido see the country’s progress. Accordingly, Luke needed to ensure Kaido made greater profits.
That made factories the best destination for the unemployed populace.
Kaido had already dispatched the Numbers—the ancient giant corps—to carve new waterways and channel the pollution out of Wano, providing a degree of environmental protection within the country.
It was a scummy solution for the rest of the world, but Luke could not persuade Kaido otherwise right now. He would have to wait until he had produced concrete results and secured the position of strategist before advising him further.
Once the environmental problem had been initially addressed and a destination had been arranged for the unemployed, massive numbers of factories would rise across Wano.
Luke made a rough calculation. Because the workers in this world were so physically capable, Kaido’s factories could double in scale in under a month!
That would complete the second stage of the strategy.
For the third stage, Luke proposed gathering the unemployed from Wano’s other regions, including those outside the famine zones. These people would be divided into two groups. One group would go mine in Udon, since expanding the factories meant increasing the supply of raw materials as well.
What about the other group?
The answer was still construction. They would build bridges and roads, construct reservoirs for water storage, and raise Wano’s infrastructure to a higher level.
Luke had not explained what exactly Kaido would gain from that part. But if the first two stages went smoothly, Kaido probably would not question why he wanted to carry out the third.
At Luke’s command, the grain carts set out, carrying food toward Wano’s famine-stricken regions.
Since Luke had just established his authority by killing quite a few people over the last two days, none of the grain handlers dared entertain any ideas. Under the watch of the Oniwabanshu ninjas, they obediently delivered the food, not daring to pocket even a single grain of rice.
Meanwhile, on Onigashima, Kaido, several All-Stars, and the Flying Six officers were gathered around a sheet of paper, studying it.
"What the hell is this brat babbling about? He wants to hand our grain out to disaster victims for free. Does that make us a charity!?"
After reading the letter, Queen spoke furiously, the fat on his body wobbling as he talked.
"He’s obviously up to no good. He’s just wasting the Beast Pirates’ money. I’ll go take him out right now."
Jack the Drought rumbled. He was famous within the crew for his explosive temper.
The others also began talking over one another, most of them voicing their dissatisfaction with Luke.
In their eyes, Kurozumi Orochi had at least been a passable ruler. At minimum, he knew food was meant to be sold, not handed directly to the rabble.
Listening to the clamor around him, Kaido frowned. In his way of thinking, what pirate ever provided disaster relief?
"Kaido, I think Luke’s reasoning makes sense."
Amid the commotion, Black Maria finally spoke. "The grain was already given away, so naturally Yamato and the others have full authority over how it is handled. Besides, we never charged Orochi for it before either. We were basically giving him food for free, just to keep that useless fool alive."
The other officers froze. After thinking it over, they realized that did seem to be the case.
It was simply that their bandit mentality instinctively rejected the very idea of charity.
"And have you all forgotten? Wano is our territory. Yamato is already Wano’s Shogun, which means Wano’s people are our people—our property. If we let them starve to death, wouldn’t that mean a loss of property?"
Maria added.
The officers wore strange expressions, but after a little thought, that did seem logical.
They could burn, kill, and plunder in foreign countries, but they would not do that in Wano. This was their home base.
Now that they ruled it directly rather than indirectly, if they did not treat the people here a little better, who would work in the factories once they all died?
"I agree with Maria. The second step of his strategy shows that Luke has a sound plan. He is not feeding those people for nothing. Once they are full, they will help us build factories. In the future, we will have more factories and greater output."
King, seated beside Kaido, spoke as well. He had just returned from delivering the grain and found everyone gathered around Luke’s letter. Curious, he took a look and found that Luke truly had some skill.
King was one of the sharper minds in the Beast Pirates, so he immediately saw the feasibility of the plan. He even thought it was quite ingenious.
Moreover, King was not a pirate of pure evil. He had once regarded Kaido as Joy Boy and believed Kaido could lead everyone to create a better world.
So he felt that improving the lives of Wano’s people was a promising sign. Perhaps he had not misjudged Kaido after all. At this rate, Wano’s people might someday even come to love Kaido.
Taking that thought further, what if they could improve the lives of everyone in the world? Would that not make Kaido Joy Boy?
Of course, Kaido had repeatedly said that he was not Joy Boy. But even if he was not, King would follow him with all his strength. Kaido had saved him from the darkness, and after sharing so many adventures at sea, they had long become brothers.
The officers argued back and forth, analyzing whether Luke’s plan was feasible. Some supported it, while others thought it unreliable.
Finally, Kaido slapped the table, and everyone fell silent.
They all looked toward Kaido, waiting for their Governor-General’s conclusion.
After a moment of silence, Kaido spoke with a grave expression. "So what he’s saying is that my number of factories will double, right?"
At those words, many of the officers gaped, their expressions exaggerated.
They screamed inwardly: Kaido actually understood it!
"Hahaha, Kaido is not wrong. Looking only at the final result, that is indeed the conclusion. Our number of factories will double."
Maria laughed softly. She knew her Governor-General was not exactly brilliant and only cared about the conclusion. And what he cared about most was his factories.
"Can it really work? Double the factories within a month, get the workers in place, and double production?"
Kaido looked suspiciously at his officers, needing someone smart to give him an exact answer.
"Based on Luke’s description, I believe it is feasible to a certain extent."
King spoke up, somewhat impressed that Luke had come up with such a clever method.
Kaido’s eyes lit up. "How are the Numbers doing? Once they finish digging the waterways, send them to Yamato for orders."
His mind was now filled with the image of his factories doubling. Since King, the brother he trusted most, said the plan was workable, Kaido was looking forward to it.
Luke’s proposal had mentioned building roads and reservoirs. Kaido did not understand what either was specifically good for, but they should benefit him somehow, right?
Already anticipating the future, Kaido decided to assign the Numbers directly to Luke. He could not wait to inspect the results.
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