Chapter 146: Shadows over the Harbor: Ambitions Take Root

“Step, step, step…”

“I really like this ship,”

Four-year-old Capone Bege strolled through the harbor with his bodyguards when his eyes landed on Baruch’s ship.

He’d never seen a ship this stunning before.

After all, Baruch and his crew had picked it up in a New World underground market—naturally, it looked far better and was sturdier than anything sailing the Four Seas.

No wonder Capone Bege immediately wanted it for himself.

Viske lounged against the ship’s side, eyeing the young Capone Bege curiously.

“Kid, this is our ship,” he said.

Capone Bege just shook his head.

“If I lay claim to it, that makes it mine.”

“So, I’m ordering you—get off my ship, now.”

Glancing at the bodyguards, Viske figured this kid must have been spoiled rotten back home.

“You ever been to the New World?”

Capone Bege rubbed his chin with his right hand.

New World? What’s that?

Where exactly is the New World?

“No, I haven’t. What’s the New World, anyway?”

Viske swung himself off the ship and landed lightly on the dock.

He crouched down in front of Capone Bege.

“Well, the New World… let’s put it this way. It’s a brutal place.”

“It’s paradise for the strong but hell for the weak.”

“Kid, swaggering around the Four Seas won’t cut it in the grand scheme of things.”

“The real stage is the New World.”

With that, Viske turned and headed back to the ship.

But as he spun on his heel, his expression grew serious. When he squatted in front of this kid, he’d felt dozens of hostile presences closing in from all sides.

Chances were, those people belonged to Capone Bege’s family.

Now was definitely not the time to pick a fight with the Mafia.

On paper, the Capone Family had already taken control of the entire underworld in West Blue.

Murder, gambling, arms trafficking, even sparking wars between nations—they did it all, except slave trading.

That, in fact, was because Karl demanded it.

Karl detested the slave trade more than anything, and no matter how far the Mafia in the Four Seas spread, he would never allow them to get into the business.

Every region’s Mafia managed to monopolize their own seas, funding themselves handsomely—violent monopolies, through and through.

The Capone Family in West Blue had already stretched its reach into the first half of the Grand Line.

They were the very first family to push their influence into the front half of the Grand Line.

They’d started moving in six months ago.

This was only after Karl signed off on it—after all, the Grand Line wasn’t fully under their control yet, but it wasn’t too late to make their move.

During these three years, the Tongtian Chamber of Commerce from West Blue and the Tongbao Arsenal from North Blue became frequent partners.

Their business had already expanded to cover almost the entire sea.

With the formulas and equipment Karl provided, they now controlled more than 25% of the world’s trade.

That kind of economic power caught global attention years ago.

If the Celestial Dragons weren’t busy with the God Valley incident, they’d probably have cracked down on these two organizations already.

But that day is coming. Once things settle in God Valley, the hammer will fall.

A quarter of all trade means they control about 15% of global wealth—more than what dozens of member nations pay the Celestial Dragons in Heavenly Gold combined.

Plus, with the Shaolin Great Rejuvenation Pills Karl gave them, they rarely need Karl himself to step in—they can handle most issues on their own.

Meanwhile, the Pirate Hunter Guild of East Blue teamed up with the World Economic News Paper.

Over the past three years, Pirate Hunter Guild branches have sprouted all across the Four Seas and the first half of the Grand Line.

These days, you’ll find a Pirate Hunter outpost in even the most remote little towns.

By taking down pirates and raking in huge bounties,

they’ve been able to use that money to shelter orphans left alone by wars—training them since childhood.

In five or ten years, the first batch of Pirate Hunters will have come into their own.

The World Economic News Paper handles intelligence, Pirate Hunters handle action—a pretty smooth partnership these past few years.

But down in South Blue, the Heaven’s Net assassin organization has become legendary, long since replacing what used to be the House of Assassins.

A year ago, Heaven’s Net and House of Assassins had a final showdown—there could only be one rule the sea.

With Karl’s secret backing, House of Assassins never stood a chance.

And once they were wiped out, Heaven’s Net naturally took over as the new top dog among underworld assassins.

Their leader, Daren, even personally assassinated a Vice Admiral-level powerhouse.

His successful hit got trumpeted by the press, and soon business was booming across the seas.

With so few Admiral-level fighters around, being able to take down a Vice Admiral and make it out alive is no small feat.

This new assassin group is in a different league from the old House of Assassins.

Meanwhile, with stability across the Four Seas, Karl received a glut of Devil Fruits these past years—dozens at least.

Most were Zoan-types or standard Paramecia, nothing too flashy, so he handed them out to his subordinates.

It’s just motivation—after all, you want the horse to run, you have to feed it.

Over on Cake Island, Davis and the others hadn’t had much to do in three years, so their skills improved by leaps and bounds.

Ledfield, after a year of work, managed to earn the Golden Light Spell for himself, and now wields it with confidence.

Under Karl’s training, Borsalino stopped relying so much on his Devil Fruit.

Speed is great and all with the Glint-Glint Fruit, but against Karl’s strength, even Borsalino had to yield.

Now 18, Borsalino’s reached Vice Admiral level.

Sakazuki and Issho, at 14 and 15, have climbed to the peak of Rear Admiral—just a step away from Vice Admiral.

But Borsalino only trains hard when Karl’s around.

Seeing this, Karl realized it’s best to shape kids while they’re young, so he found a way to bring in children from the original timeline once they turned six.

That included ten-year-old Moria, nine-year-old Kuzan, seven-year-old Kuma, seven-year-old Urouge, Magellan, Abel, and even six-year-olds Jinbei and Crocodile.

If Borsalino’s nature couldn’t be changed, the other kids would turn out differently—he was determined to nurture a positive spirit in all of them.

Especially Moria and Crocodile—their mindsets were most at risk, so Karl regularly gave them political lessons.