This enormous military expenditure starts with logistics. The World Government directly converts the cash value of supplies like food into physical goods and distributes them to Marine bases. This alone accounts for nearly eighty percent of all logistical spending.
Ortoren understood this perfectly, so he naturally planned to follow the same model. The food cultivation zones developed in the Calm Belt, along with the artificial lifeform technology he had just obtained from Dr. Vegapunk, were all meant to be used for food production and supply.
Next came base salaries. The World Government could never pay every marine in cash. Instead, it established dedicated Navy accounts, stored within the central bank it created, the World Bank, which also served as the issuer of the Belly currency. When military funds were allocated each year, the World Government simply transferred the amount into the Navy's main account. From there, the Navy handled payroll internally, settling wages with its personnel on scheduled paydays.
On the surface, it looked as though the World Government was providing enormous military funding. In reality, it was nothing more than a mass of numbers stored inside the World Bank's system.
None of it was actual cash.
As long as the World Government's financial system remained intact, its so-called massive spending on the Navy was far less frightening than it appeared.
There was no scenario where the entire Navy would simultaneously withdraw all of their wages from the World Bank at once.
No one in the world could handle a cash flow of that magnitude. Not even the World Government, despite its eight hundred years of history.
The same was true for warship procurement and weapons purchases. Direct cash transactions were rare. Most deals were settled through account transfers with suppliers. In plain terms, it was still just data changing hands, not piles of cash being delivered.
So despite how terrifying the Navy's annual budget looked on paper, the amount that actually translated into physical cash circulation was negligible, and that was exactly how it should be.
Otherwise, the World Government could never afford to sustain the Navy. In fact, no force in the world could support the Navy purely with cash.
Ortoren was well aware of this reality, which was why he adopted the same approach. If he didn't, he could work himself to death and still never raise enough funds to cover naval expenses.
In the early days, G-5 relied on plunder-based dividends, sustaining itself by seizing wealth from pirates.
But as G-5 continued to expand, this model clearly became insufficient. Eventually, G-5 shifted to the same system used by the World Government. Funds were centralized into G-5's main account, then distributed to individual marines' personal accounts on payday.
However, because G-5 did not operate under Marine Headquarters' accounting system, this account was not held at the World Bank under the World Government. Instead, it was based in an exchange operating within the Dark World.
Later, under Tesoro's management, this exchange gradually evolved into what became known as the New World Bank, gaining widespread popularity throughout the Dark World. Of course, it was not the first bank outside the World Government's control. Long ago, similar institutions had already existed. In the West Blue, for example, various mafia families each maintained their own banks.
However, due to the chaos of the New World, no one had previously possessed enough influence or credibility to establish a bank that the entire New World would recognize.
That changed with Ortoren.
Now, many figures in the Dark World, including the Usury King, Lu Feld, regarded the New World Bank as their primary financial institution.
Totto Land even went so far as to designate it as the official national bank.
The salaries of the G-5 Marines were also paid through this bank.
In other words, Ortoren, much like the World Government, was ultimately paying his subordinates with nothing more than data.
However, at best, this system could only allow the New World Navy to survive by relying on it. Given the current credibility and scale of the New World Bank, it was simply impossible for it to function like the "World Bank" and centrally manage the military expenditures of the entire Navy.
This was precisely why Ortoren was determined to make Golden City bigger and stronger. Within the Golden City plan, there was one critical pillar. All transactions and settlements inside Golden City would be led and handled by the New World Bank.
In other words, as Golden City continued to develop and attract enough wealthy individuals, enormous sums of capital would flow continuously through this platform into the New World Bank. The natural result would be the New World Bank breaking free of regional limitations and expanding its influence across the entire world.
The people within the Navy system needed to know that such a reliable bank existed. They needed to trust that it was a powerful financial institution capable of safeguarding their assets, and to trust that the "data" credited to their accounts was real and valid.
Only when things reached that point could Ortoren be considered to have a real chance of shouldering the Navy's massive military expenditures.
Because only then could he adopt the same method as the World Government to pay the Navy's salaries. Otherwise, the burden would be far beyond what he could withstand.
Of course, if the World Government ever realized what he was doing, they would not sit by and watch. What was the simplest way to strike at a so-called financial system or bank? A bank run.
Once the money deposited in a bank could no longer be withdrawn, the bank's credibility would immediately collapse. And once its credibility collapsed, everything would be over.
This was something the World Government never had to worry about. With its legal authority to print Bellies, there was currently no financial system capable of launching a run against the World Bank.
Naturally, Ortoren had already considered this scenario. That was why he needed massive reserves, and those reserves absolutely could not be Bellies.
After all, if the World Government could print Bellies at will, what was the point of stockpiling them?
So Ortoren's answer to this problem was gold.
The City of Gold in Skypiea held enormous reserves. A whole city's worth of gold was an utterly terrifying amount. At the same time, Golden City under Tesoro's management would serve the same function, continuously drawing in gold from all over the world. Combined with Tesoro's own Goru Goru no Mi ability to manage and mobilize it, the prospects were immense.
With sufficient gold as backing, there was no longer any need to fear the World Government launching a devastating financial attack against Ortoren.
In fact, with enough gold as a foundation, Ortoren could even issue an entirely new currency in the future, backed by gold.
Of course, establishing a new monetary system was not something that could be achieved simply by tying it to gold.
Gold was merely a universal medium of exchange. What truly allowed a new currency system to function was whether the currency issued could genuinely be used to purchase goods on the market.
This was one of the fundamental reasons why Ortoren was so focused on developing productive capacity and deeply integrating himself into the trade and commerce system.
Even if the World Government refused to recognize this new currency in the future, Ortoren still needed to ensure that his "customers" holding it could buy goods in the marketplace. Given enough time, whether the World Government recognized it or not would no longer matter.
Fortunately, through years of repeated probing and experimentation, Ortoren had already largely confirmed something important. Because of this world's backward culture, education, and institutions, and because the World Government, in its more than eight hundred years since its founding, had never faced this kind of financial confrontation, its upper ranks were largely unfamiliar with such financial tactics.
It could even be said that they were completely out of their depth.
Up to this point, the World Government had never noticed that Ortoren had already begun undermining their foundations in these very areas.
It was as if they firmly believed that as long as they held the authority to issue Bellies, they would forever control the world's economic lifeline. They had never once considered that a new force capable of challenging them might someday appear.
As these thoughts ran through his mind, Ortoren continued discussing related matters with Tesoro. However, it was already quite late, and the main points had been covered. Any more detailed arrangements would have to wait until they could meet and talk in person.
With that, Ortoren quickly ended the call with Tesoro.
He didn't continue pondering anything too deep. Closing his notebook, he set it on the table. He couldn't even be bothered to get up and move to the bed. Stretching out on the sofa, he decided to make do there for the night.
Just as Ortoren drifted into a hazy, half-asleep state, the door to the room quietly opened from the outside.
Sensing the movement, Ortoren groggily opened his eyes and looked toward the doorway, then froze.
Nico Olvia.
The Rear Admiral of the Science Corps and leader of the scholars was standing there, dressed in a sexy lace nightgown, staring at Ortoren on the sofa with clear surprise. She clearly hadn't expected him to skip the bedroom and fall asleep in the living area instead.
"What are you doing?" Ortoren blurted out as he sat up abruptly, staring at Olvia in disbelief.
Hearing his voice, Olvia snapped out of her daze. She didn't answer his question. Instead, she stepped into the room, closed the door behind her, and locked it with a soft click.
Ortoren???
"The night is long, and I can't sleep," Olvia said with a teasing smile, looking straight at him. "Admiral, would you be interested in playing a little game with me?"
Ortoren swallowed slightly.
"Since when did we become this familiar?" he asked.
He wasn't stupid. He understood perfectly well what Olvia meant.
Playing a game… an adult game.
What puzzled him was that there was no emotional foundation between them at all. So why suddenly go this far?
Olvia smiled.
"Precisely because we're not that familiar," she replied calmly. "Doesn't that make things more relaxed?"
It had nothing to do with love or emotional attachment. She was simply acting on a whim tonight, and that alone was reason enough.
Understanding her meaning, Ortoren immediately stood up, stepped forward, and scooped Olvia into his arms.
"When a beautiful lady makes such an enthusiastic invitation," he said with a grin, "wouldn't it be rather inconsiderate and ungentlemanly of me to refuse?"
...
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