In the dim tavern, it was no longer just Link as a merchant, but a large crowd of people gathered, each surrounding every table in the tavern.
Among these people, some were dressed like hooligans, some didn't look like good people, and some were smiling like honest businessmen.
Representing Logue Town's underworld, these people, guided by the news brought by Link, all gathered at this tavern, whispering to each other, bringing back the long-lost vibrancy of the dark tavern.
This kind of tavern was meant to be like this.
Link, at this time, was touching a seal ring on his finger, with a reminiscent look in his eyes, and said, "I used to be a noble too, but I fell from grace. This seal ring is a symbol of my family. The person who has it is my enemy, I..."
"Stop, stop, I don't have time to listen to your stories, make an offer already." Sage waved his hand, not wanting to hear his nonsense.
This seal ring was the item Link specifically requested, originating from a wealthy noble in Logue Town.
Sage had Lily go and retrieve this seal ring, and incidentally looted the noble's treasure.
As for this seal ring, it was quite simple, its commemorative value far exceeded its practical value, and Link gave a million Belly as compensation.
Middlemen are really rich!
As for the authenticity of the item, that depended on whether the noble had any fakes. Sage wasn't responsible for authentication; this had to be judged by the customer themselves, as he was only responsible for selling.
With his words, the noisy tavern suddenly quieted down, everyone looked at each other until Link, acting as the representative, held out a finger and said, "Ten billion Belly, this is all the money we eighteen black market merchants could pool together!"
This amount, wherever it is mentioned, is considered enormous.
"Ten billion, huh..." Sage pouted, clearly a bit dissatisfied.
"This is enough, Sage! You only have half a day anyway and might not even be able to gather goods worth ten billion Belly."
Link said, "Since we can specify the goods, weapons, gunpowder, medicines, and jewelry and gold are what we need first. Other goods need reevaluation. As for food and clothes, they are the least needed. Once we seize them, just send them beyond the Logue Town range, and we'll have people take over."
The potential to gain enormous profit by taking on some risk, especially when the navy guarding the port is incapacitated and the existing navy is unable to stop the Disaster Pirates, made it an easy decision for them.
This decision was also unanimously agreed upon by everyone.
"It's better to gain something than nothing. The goods you mentioned, after I've secured enough for travel, the leftovers will be handed over to you, but with jewelry and gold, you take as much as you can plunder."
Sage stood up, raised his glass, and said to everyone, "To our successful cooperation!"
Everyone stood up, raising their glasses. After everyone finished drinking, Sage laughed heartily and said to the bartender, "Old man! The drink's good, hope you're still alive when I come next time!"
With that said, he left the tavern with Lily.
With the objective achieved, there was no need to stay any longer.
It was not until they reached the street that Lily couldn't help but ask, "Sage, can they be trusted?"
"Merchants need credibility, especially black market merchants. Without it, they'd be worthless. Don't worry, no one would gamble with their future."
Sage said, then chuckled again, "Lily, my plan is perfect, right? Coming to Logue Town, not only did we replenish supplies here, but we also made a lot of money. This is way better than ordinary robbery! Once we reach the New World, with enough funds, I can achieve my dream of being a big landowner!"
"Isn't just having land enough?" Lily asked puzzled.
"Superficial! Just having land isn't enough; being a landowner isn't that simple."
Sage spread his hands, "Listen, Lily, even someone like the king has things they cannot control. So-called kings are just rich, pitiful fools trapped in castles, mistakenly thinking they control everything."
"But a landowner is different. A landowner is the master of the land, and everything belongs to the landowner! And the kind of landowner I want to be should have everything in my territory!"
"Finance, news, storage... Whether it's agriculture or business, if it ought to exist on the land, it will exist in my land, and I'll rule it! Everything belongs to me, no matter who it is, they will ultimately serve me!"
He clenched his fist tightly, baring his teeth, "But those things can't be taken by force, they have to be created, and for that, more funds are needed. As long as there's enough money, I can achieve this ultimate dream of mine, understand, Lily!"
No matter which profession he pursued, Sage wanted to rely on reaching the pinnacle of that profession to achieve his dream of being a landowner.
You need something to exploit if you're going to exploit people.
He had no interest in being a chieftain or anything like that; he'd rather be the richest landowner, having everything, better than everyone else, and best if everything was at the top and belonged to him. That was his ambition!
Fishing and farming, living life easily is fine, but he wanted to use the most expensive fishing rod to catch the biggest fish in the world, use a golden hoe to farm the best land, and relax while enjoying the world's top-tier services!
Just like the saying 'If it doesn't work out, I'll return to the countryside to farm,' there's a world of difference when a regular person says this compared to a billionaire.
He was the former now, but he wanted to be the latter!
Looking at the excited Sage, Lily opened her mouth, hesitated, then said after thinking for a long time, "It doesn't seem that easy..."
"Of course, it's not easy, so we have to proceed step by step. We don't even have a domain yet; we haven't even entered the Grand Line, let alone the New World." Sage laughed heartily.
No, it wasn't a matter of the Grand Line.
It was a matter of bad luck.
Sage... seemed to have been wealthy initially, just lost everything because he wanted to start a business.
With this kind of luck, if he still insisted on starting a business...
Perhaps simply buying a piece of land might more easily achieve his goal.
Lily pursed her lips, eventually not saying it out loud.
Because she felt saying it wouldn't do any good.
"Let's go, Lily, and see what the others have plundered."
Sage laughed and led Lily to the bustling area of Logue Town.
At this time, Logue Town was becoming increasingly lively, with the doors of shops on the commercial street broken down, and the goods inside had their own ideas, no longer wanting to be imprisoned in the display windows, breaking free and rushing to freedom.
Similarly, the treasures and Belly in the Rich District also didn't want to be buried in dark safes and storage rooms, wanting to circulate freely in this world, calling out to the agents of justice, and being taken away.
The pirates looted one trophy after another, stuffing them into chests or barrels, excitedly running to the port with them.
"Captain! Captain!"
A few pirates saw Sage and ran over excitedly, led by the three-meter mute first recruited by Sage in the Bridge Kingdom.
At this moment, he was gesticulating excitedly, pointing at something. The other pirates displayed a cloak, with one pirate shouting, "Captain! This is a good thing we found, a gift for the Captain!"
It was a fur cloak, long enough to reach Sage's calves. It was entirely black, but shimmered with a hint of crimson at the tips of the fur, made from some unknown material yet looked very exquisite.
It looked very expensive at a glance!
Sage's eyes lit up, taking the cloak and draping it over himself, "Not bad, I like it!"
Just in time, when he fought Garp, the 'Sword Mountain Cloak' he confiscated from Krieg was gone, and now having a luxurious fur cloak matched his identity.
"Good job!"
Sage praised them and continued, "Load more essential supplies onto the ship; once it's full, leave the remaining goods outside of Logue Town. I just made a deal, and someone will buy our goods on-site."
"So get busy; how much money you can make depends on yourselves, more work, more gain, hurry up, and pass the word to the others."
"Yes! Captain!" several pirates responded and quickly ran off to deliver the message.
"That's why I like these people; they have enthusiasm and a strong will."
Sage pointed to the pirates running off, smiling, but then suddenly paused, a mysterious red dot flashing in his eyes, instinctively looking toward the port.
"Oh well..."
"Sage?" Lily asked curiously.
"A group of people wants to block us; the timing feels off... Is it because of those small pirates that they called for reinforcements?"
Sage shook his head with a smile, heading towards the port, "Let's go, Lily, back to the port, we don't need anyone disrupting my grand plans for wealth now!"