"Why is it like this..."
Alabasta, Capital Alubarna
The beautiful girl with long blue hair, dressed in luxurious and seductive gauze, sat in the royal palace, her delicate face filled with sorrow as she looked at the report submitted by the Kingdom's Minister of Finance.
In recent times, the market in Alabasta had been very abnormal.
An enormous amount of Berry was circulating frequently in the domestic market of Alabasta, even more than ten times the amount in previous years.
This should have been a good thing, but the strange part was that even with the abundant Berry, the people's lives showed no signs of improvement.
This was because prices were also skyrocketing.
The large circulation of Berry in the market led to a surge in domestic prices - but what did the large flow of money on the market have to do with the common people?
The Berry circulated strangely in the market, and at the same time, Alabasta was not the only country experiencing this situation.
Alabasta's neighboring country, Drum Kingdom, after expelling the tyrant Wapol, had expected a new beginning, but instead faced a heavy blow.
It was the same: a large amount of Berry circulating domestically, and a massive surge in prices.
However, no matter how hard they searched, they couldn't find the source of these Berries.
Now, the Berry that could once buy a loaf of bread could only buy a small slice.
To maintain the basic living standards of her citizens, Vivi had to use Alabasta's national treasury to sell grain.
"Someone must be plotting against us!"
Vivi's childhood friend, Koza, the Kingdom's Minister of Environment, stood up indignantly and said.
"Even if we know, we can't find out who it is."
Vivi sighed, her beautiful face filled with exhaustion and helplessness.
This opponent was completely different from Crocodile, who had once occupied the country.
If Crocodile's conspiracy was an overt deception created by a Devil Fruit user, then this conspiracy was an open and legitimate scheme.
They had traced the source of the Berry, but no matter how they tried, they couldn't find its origin.
The money circulated continuously in the market, changing hands through a dozen buyers and sellers within a few hours.
Forget tracing the source, they couldn't even figure out where it entered the country from.
But was this illegal? No, it wasn't illegal; it was just injecting funds into the market.
Compared to Crocodile, it was truly legal and compliant.
But Crocodile was shedding crocodile tears while devouring people, and this was devouring people legally and compliantly!
If this continued, Alabasta's national treasury would be drained by the constantly rising prices.
By then, unable to pay the Celestial Tribute, Alabasta truly risked becoming a fallen nation!
"Why don't we just send troops to control those merchants and make them lower prices?" Koza asked, puzzled.
"It's not that simple, Koza. This isn't as straightforward as organizing a rebel army to defeat a tyrannical regime," Vivi said melancholically.
"Many of the merchants within Alabasta have backgrounds with various large trading companies across the Grand Line. If we directly intervene and control them, it would be equivalent to declaring war on all the trading companies on the Grand Line."
Macroeconomic regulation should be a function of the government, but Alabasta, having joined the World Government and accepted the rule of Mary Geoise, did not have the right or the ability to implement macroeconomic regulation on its domestic merchants.
You could rely on brute force and act unreasonably, but they could also choose not to engage with you, and without the intervention of these merchants, the poverty of isolationist Alabasta would likely worsen by several levels.
Moreover, Alabasta is a desert country, where growing food is already incredibly difficult.
If they couldn't earn Berry through foreign trade to buy food, many people in Alabasta would truly starve to death.
The current prices and Berry are completely imbalanced; to put it excessively, they are already standing on a pile of dynamite.
If Vivi hadn't relied on her popularity and prestige within the country and opened the national treasury, Alabasta would probably have already erupted in riots.
Vivi was also indignant.
The mastermind behind all this clearly intended to plunge her people into eternal damnation, yet she couldn't even see her true opponent.
At present, she was only contending with greedy merchants who were taking advantage of the situation to amass wealth within the country.
But what was the use of defeating them? The business world isn't as straightforward as a battlefield.
"It's the World Government."
Just then, King Cobra's weary voice came from the side.
Vivi stood up and saw her father, dragging his heavy body, sit on the throne, looking at Vivi, clenching his fists, his eyes full of helplessness and anger.
"Only the World Government could do something like this, and this isn't the first time they've done it."
"Since the execution of the Pirate King twenty years ago, the World Government has been frantically printing Berry and imposing increasingly heavy Celestial Taxes. A vast amount of Berry flowed into our market, but there weren't enough goods, leading to soaring prices, while the people's incomes simply couldn't keep up."
What could they do? They could do nothing.
One of the major conditions for member nations to join the World Government's jurisdiction was to relinquish their national currency ownership and adopt Berry as the unified settlement currency.
At that time, how many kings who signed that contract understood the importance of economics? Even if they understood a little, it was useless.
The World Government had enslaved its member nations with Berry for over a hundred years, and even the entire Grand Line used the paper they printed as treasure.
Whether pirates fought desperately or Marines worked nine to five, those seemingly formidable strongmen were always risking their lives for the paper printed by the Five Elders.
"This... Father, what should we do?"
Vivi appeared utterly bewildered.
The brave princess dared to raise her sword against Crocodile alone, but when her enemy became the 'gods' who had ruled the world for eight hundred years, no matter how brave she was, it left her at a loss.
"Wait for the Five Elders' mercy..." Cobra closed his eyes, his hands gripping the armrest tightly, and said hoarsely, "Or, withdraw from the World Government!"
The same thing wasn't happening only in Alabasta.
Dressrosa, Flevance, Goa Kingdom, Drum Kingdom, Skypiea, Jaya, Water 7, Shandora...
170-plus World Government member nations were simultaneously experiencing severe price inflation and currency devaluation.
The people were in dire straits, holding property but bewildered to find they couldn't afford food.
They had money, even more money than before, but they couldn't buy things they used to be able to afford.
Furthermore, it wasn't just World Government member nations; countries across the Grand Line that had chosen to use Berry as their official settlement currency were all currently experiencing a massive financial storm.
Do you think there's no finance without a stock market? The meaning of finance is the economic activity where market participants use tools to transfer funds from those with a surplus to those with a scarcity.
The stock market merely plays the role of such a tool.
The Golden Emperor didn't need a stock market to stir up a worldwide financial storm, because he himself could act as the tool for transferring funds.
If he wanted to, he could even be the 'referee' of the entire world's economic market.
In this world without economic crime or financial restriction laws, Gild Tesoro, who controlled a fraction of the world's wealth and the largest bank, was the true 'god' of the economic market.
Gran Tesoro, in the topmost room, the Golden Emperor overlooked his sleepless city.
Behind him was a miniature world map carved in gold.
On each of those countries, Tesoro had planted a crimson flag.
He took a sip of golden wine, looking at the nations plunging into disaster in his hands, and a joyful smile appeared on his face.
This was the authority of gold, the power of money, the true power belonging to him, Gild Tesoro, the Golden Emperor! Not transforming into a giant golden giant to smash people, but here, sitting in his office, chatting and laughing, deciding the life and death of countless people.
Can the Warlords do it? Can the Four Emperors do it? Can the Marines do it? Those self-proclaimed emperors can only use violence to decide people's lives on their own small patch of land, but he, Tesoro, only needs to move his lips to make countless lives worse than death.
Perhaps you would say that in the face of absolute violence, all actions are futile, but violence itself is a simple thing; simple violence cannot save a complex society.
At this moment, Tesoro was undoubtedly the most powerful man in the world.
He had already placed the Five Elders and the World Government on a powder keg; with just one more spark, the government that had ruled the world for eight hundred years would experience a massive upheaval from within.
"Stella..."
Tesoro looked at the only photo of his beloved woman in his pocket watch, placed it over his heart, and slowly closed his eyes.
I will make the World Government, the Celestial Dragons, and all those damned pigs-be buried with you!!!
Flower Country.
The collapsing market brought about frenzied people.
Those who had lost the possibility of living vented their dissatisfaction with extreme violence.
These rioters stormed into the homes and shops of merchants, seizing everything they could, and hanging greedy profiteers one by one from lampposts! Waving torches and cleavers, howling, like wild beasts gone mad!
Hidden in the crowd, Koala watched all this madness, her young face filled with wavering and confusion.
In the past, they had always incited and helped the oppressed common people to resist tyranny, but what they saw now was out-of-control people creating one riot after another.
But this was indeed initiated by them, a resistance initiated by themselves, a self-sought outcome, a self-inflicted...
riot.
"Is this what we've been pursuing all this time..."
Koala's lips trembled slightly, her pale face filled with confusion.
Sabo slowly clenched his fists, whispering, "No, this isn't what we want... This isn't justice, this isn't freedom, these are... excessive madness."
People who have nothing might not resist, because they are used to the collar.
But people who once had something and then lost it, their resistance will be unimaginable.
Sabo began to doubt his own belief.
Perhaps what Poltorto told him before was right; their Revolutionary Army's pursuit of overthrowing the World Government and establishing a completely free and open world regime was just a pipe dream.
When you kill the evil dragon and become that dragon, you will find that everything you once hated becomes a necessary sacrifice.
Sharpening claws and breathing fire might be the only option to prevent the flock from destroying themselves.
But undeniably, the current widespread chaos across the seas was the best breeding ground for the Revolutionary Army's growth.
"This is not justice," Sabo silently thought of the contents of the red book Poltorto had given him.
Revolution is not a dinner party, or writing an essay, or painting a picture, or embroidering flowers; it cannot be so refined, so leisurely and gentle, so mild, kind, courteous, restrained and magnanimous.
Revolution is an insurrection, an act of violence by which one class overthrows another.
Therefore, to win in competition, one must pounce on the target like a cheetah, and mobilize all forces, using speed, agility, and ruthlessness to achieve victory in the competition.
So, revolution is never justice; revolution is... struggle!
⚔️ Level Up This Fanfic! ⚔️
Every 500 Power Stones = 2 BONUS CHAPTERS! 🚀
Want faster releases? Show your support—drop those Power Stones, leave a review, and light up the comments! Your engagement keeps this story going strong!
Let's make this novel unstoppable—Power Stones, comments, and reviews are the ultimate power-up! 💥