Onigashima, Beasts Pirates executive meeting.
Kaido sat in the seat of honor. After finishing the report in his hand, he tossed it onto the table for the other executives to read.
Most of the Beasts Pirates' executives were just as uneducated as Kaido. They likely only skimmed the key points. Even if they didn't fully understand the whole report, just looking at those highlights was enough for them to sense that something was wrong.
Every executive who finished reading wore an expression that mixed delight with confusion, unable to understand how things had turned out this way.
"Where's Kurosaki Rei? I want him to explain this to me."
Kaido spoke up. The results shown in the report went against their many years of experience running factories, and even more so against their instincts as pirates.
"Mr. Rei left the port this morning. He should be arriving at Onigashima any time now."
King the Wildfire spoke. Recently, he had been the executive observing the changes in Wano from the closest vantage point, and also the one who had interacted with Kurosaki Rei the most.
From his initial cold indifference to the change in how he addressed Kurosaki Rei now, one could clearly see how his attitude had shifted.
Precisely because this highly influential All-Star within the Beasts Pirates treated Kurosaki Rei kindly, the other executives—despite having little direct contact with him—no longer dared to look down on Yamato's friend.
"Perfect timing then. Have him come straight here."
Kaido didn't think much of it. He just felt that Kurosaki Rei showed up right when he needed him, which was nice.
Before long, Kurosaki Rei was brought into the conference room. Seeing that it was packed full of people, he was a little surprised—he hadn't expected everyone to be in the middle of a meeting.
This was also his first time seeing all the Beasts Pirates' executives gathered together. Big ones, small ones, all sorts of strange appearances—it was truly a spectacle. If they all activated their Devil Fruit abilities, it would be like a gorgeous zoo.
By now, a month and a half had passed since he and Yamato began governing Wano. The three pilot factories had already been operating for two weeks. His purpose in coming to Onigashima this time had been to discuss some new projects with Kaido.
He hadn't expected that the moment he walked in, all the executives would turn their heads in unison, staring at him with wide eyes.
"You came at just the right time. Tell me what's going on here."
Kaido pointed at the report on the table. "You brat—don't tell me you forged these numbers?"
Kurosaki Rei glanced at the report and immediately understood what the executives were discussing.
He had sent this report to Onigashima the night before last. Although Kaido had told him and Yamato to go ahead and act freely, on certain major matters Kurosaki Rei still waited for Kaido's tacit approval before moving forward—such as building factories and launching pilot reforms. Naturally, he also needed to keep Kaido informed of the results.
"How could I? Is the Governor doubting the contents of the report?"
Kurosaki Rei smiled. After over a month in the Beasts Pirates, he had a pretty good grasp of their atmosphere.
When facing the strong or those of value, Kaido was quite tolerant. The hierarchy among executives wasn't overly rigid either, so Kurosaki Rei's manner of speaking had become increasingly casual.
"Your report says that the new factories' output over the past two weeks is thirty percent higher than the old factories' output over the same period. Isn't that falsified?"
Kaido asked with a serious expression.
"What's there to fake? If I wanted to make you happy, Governor, I might as well have written that output tripled."
Kurosaki Rei walked forward and picked up the report. He knew full well that Kaido probably hadn't read the detailed explanations and that, in the end, it would all have to be explained verbally.
Besides, he hadn't actually written the report himself. He had the Kozuki retainers compile the statistics and draft it. After reviewing it and confirming it matched reality, he sent it straight to Kaido.
Some of the executives grew impatient at Kurosaki Rei's words. Jack the Drought spoke up:
"Kid, don't be so arrogant. You'd better know what you're saying. This is a thirty percent increase in output, and as far as I know, those workers are all newcomers."
Kurosaki Rei nodded. "That's right. Precisely because they're newcomers, the output should have been lower. According to my original estimates, reaching fifty percent of the old factories' capacity would already have been acceptable."
The moment he said this, the executives were stunned. Kaido's eyes, meanwhile, shone brightly.
"Kurosaki Rei, explain this properly. What's really going on here?"
Among the crowd, only Black Maria and King had thoughtful looks in their eyes, as if pondering the crux of the matter.
"It's very simple."
Kurosaki Rei smiled as he explained. "First, everyone has misunderstood one thing. The workers I selected are all elites. Although they never worked in the old factories, they're outstanding craftsmen. Setting aside the SMILE factory for now, in the weapons factories and Seastone processing plants, they can start work immediately and perform exceptionally well."
He pointed to a column in the report.
"In fact, the weapons factories and Seastone processing plants have already met my expectations. Compared to the original factories, their output is fifty percent higher. The SMILE factory's capacity is worse—it's only about the same as before. The thirty percent increase noted later is the total combined output."
Kurosaki Rei's explanation shocked many of the executives yet again. Kaido snatched the report from his hand and carefully reread the figures in each column, delight spreading across his face.
"Mr. Rei, you said the SMILE factory's output is poor. Why is that?"
Black Maria asked. "Is it because something deviated from your plan, preventing improvement?"
Kurosaki Rei shook his head. "Not exactly. From the very beginning, I never expected the SMILE factory's output to be very high. I already mentioned the reason—these are all newcomers. Even though I carefully selected them from among Wano's talented craftsmen, their skills are fine for weapon processing and the like. But the SMILE factory involves too many unfamiliar technologies. Without systematic training, it's very hard for people to work efficiently there."
"In that case, if we assign craftsmen from the old SMILE factory to lead and train the new factory's workers, wouldn't output increase significantly?"
Maria pondered aloud. She felt that under the new factory model, even the SMILE factory might be worth anticipating.
"That's true in principle."
Kurosaki Rei paused, then added, "But I don't recommend doing that. I'll explain why later."
"Kurosaki Rei, so the new factories really do have high output—but why exactly?"
Kaido asked impatiently. He wanted to know the secret, and whether it could be replicated in his old factories.
Ignoring the SMILE factory for the moment, his mass-market goods had seen a full fifty percent increase in output. If production were scaled up further, how much money would that bring in? Just thinking about it excited him.
"It's simple. Because they are free workers."
Kurosaki Rei explained. "They work with self-awareness and initiative. They genuinely want to do their jobs well. Naturally, that's far more effective than being forced to work."
"A person's mental state has a huge impact on work efficiency."
Kaido thought for a moment, feeling he didn't quite understand. He raised a surface-level question:
"But we didn't force the old factory workers to work either. We paid them wages."
Kurosaki Rei swept his gaze over the executives and saw the same expression on their faces as Kaido's. Helplessly, he explained:
"In a sense, what the Governor used to do and what I'm doing now are the same—people work because they're pressured by something."
Seeing their confusion, he continued:
"But the two factory models are completely different. In the old factories, workers had poor待遇. Their wages were only enough to fill their own stomachs. They worked under terrifying high pressure and were beaten and scolded at the slightest provocation. In reality, they lived like slaves."
"How is that slavery? We paid them wages and made sure they could eat their fill. Isn't that good enough?"
Black Maria frowned slightly. She had been the one who designed the previous factory management plan.
"No wonder…"
Kurosaki Rei muttered softly. As an S-type dominatrix, Black Maria loved the whole slave-play approach. So even with wages, the factories ended up twisted.
"What did you say?!"
Maria was displeased, feeling she was being seriously underestimated.
"I mean, Miss Maria, you've fallen into a misconception—that the wages we gave were enough for the workers to eat their fill."
Kurosaki Rei raised a finger.
"If it were just the worker alone, then yes, they could eat enough. But in reality, many adult workers have families. After buying food with their wages and sharing it with their families, they themselves can't eat enough."
Under Maria's shocked gaze, he continued:
"Once a person can't eat enough, they have no strength. Long-term hunger also makes people depressed and apathetic. In that state, how could their work possibly be efficient? When they space out, overseers think they're slacking off and whip and curse them. Once workers are injured, they become even weaker and start to hate the Beasts Pirates. In such circumstances, you'd be lucky if they didn't sabotage things—how could you expect high efficiency? It's a vicious cycle."
Kurosaki Rei's voice grew heavy.
"Of course, this vicious cycle doesn't last very long. Under such conditions, people don't live long. I don't know if anyone's kept statistics, but I estimate there aren't many craftsmen who survive more than ten years in those factories."
His blunt words laid bare the flaws of the old factories' vicious cycle, and many executives finally understood.
After thinking it over, they were shocked to realize that Kurosaki Rei was right.
"Mr. Rei, I know very well what slaves are like."
At this point, King spoke up.
"If you say the people in the old factories were slaves, I'd agree it's not far off. But why do you say free workers are stronger than slaves?"
Both King and Kaido had seen the world's darkness and cruelty. King himself had been a slave, and even used as an experimental subject for inhuman experiments.
To him, slaves were the private property of their masters—told to do whatever the master wanted. Masters didn't need to pay slaves wages, just give them enough food to survive.
Although Kaido paid factory workers wages, King felt there was no real difference. In essence, they were still given just enough food to barely survive, and managed entirely according to a slave-driving system.
This management style was born from their own experiences. They had seen how slave masters operated: overseers wielding whips to drive slaves to work, without needing to invest extra costs or talk about human rights.
Thus, even though King deeply hated slave masters, he also acknowledged that this was a cheap way to drive labor.
Hearing King's question, Kurosaki Rei smiled.
"This is the counterintuitive part. Don't you all think that using slaves has very low economic costs?"
The Beasts Pirates members all nodded, their faces clearly saying: Isn't that obvious?
"But in reality, the economic cost of using slaves is not low at all."
Kurosaki Rei continued.
"All of you are great pirates who've roamed the seas. You've visited many countries—some feudal monarchies, some slave states. Haven't you noticed that countries with slave systems are often economically weaker than feudal ones?"
Kurosaki Rei didn't state this as an absolute. After all, in the history of the world he knew, there had been powerful slave states too—but those societies were structurally complex, and in the end, they also collapsed because of slavery.
🌟 The story is already written… waiting to be unleashed.Part One is officially complete — and it's now available
Go check it out and dive into the full experience.
Claim early access here: [email protected]/voidink08
🔓 You hold the keys to bonus chapters:💬 10 reviews unlock 1 bonus chapter🔷 100 Power Stones summon another
🔥 Your power determines how fast the tale unfolds.