Bege revealed his intentions with a smile.
He planned to use the Revolutionary Army to capture powerful pirates and criminals from across the seas. With Ben Kosa's Fuse-Fuse Fruit, he now possessed the means to control others; this was undoubtedly the fastest way for Bege to strengthen his forces.
As long as the Revolutionary Army captured formidable pirates and criminals for him, he could rapidly assemble a powerful crew.
What Bege stood to lose was a vast fortune, but as long as his strength was sufficient, he could continuously generate more wealth.
Dragon remained expressionless, but his mind was calculating the pros and cons. Bege, on the other hand, was brimming with confidence. He was certain Dragon would agree.
The Revolutionary Army was currently lacking in manpower, funds, and pretty much everything else. If the Revolutionary Army wanted to expand quickly, money and resources were essential. Right now, the most significant asset they could offer was the strength of their core members, led by Dragon himself.
They were already covertly recruiting like-minded individuals while simultaneously eliminating some pirate crews and evil factions to fund their activities.
Now, it was merely a matter of selling those they originally intended to kill to Bege, which would also earn them a substantial sum. Moreover, these pirates and criminals were already guilty of heinous crimes, so Dragon felt no moral burden in selling them. He might even rationalize that these criminals were contributing to the great revolutionary cause, a way to atone for their sins.
Bege's proposal was an incredibly good deal for the Revolutionary Army.
Dragon pondered for a few seconds before agreeing.
Thus, the first transaction between Bege and the Revolutionary Army was completed smoothly and amicably, and both parties even reached an agreement for deeper cooperation.
In the New World, on a small deserted island in the southwestern quadrant, a colossal pirate ship, an absolute behemoth, was anchored just off the coast.
Bege's ship, the Sky God, was a massive warship capable of carrying giants, but it was dwarfed in comparison to this behemoth.
However, the hull of this gigantic pirate ship was rather crude and severely damaged. Its surface and masts were riddled with patches, resembling a tattered old garment covered in countless mends.
Aside from its immense size, it had little else to commend it.
On this particular day, the weather took a turn for the worse. A violent storm raged, with tumultuous waves crashing across the sea. The pirate ship bobbed precariously, the mooring ropes securing it to the island stretched taut.
Suddenly, a humanoid behemoth rose on the island. It stood a full thirty meters tall, even larger than a giant.
This colossal figure crossed the island's forest in two strides, reaching the shore. With its bare hands, it gripped the ship's bow and dragged it closer. Then, it lifted the entire massive vessel and placed it onto the beach before sitting down beside it.
Many pirates in rain slickers huddled around the colossal figure, seeking shelter from the downpour.
Amidst the raging tempest, another equally large pirate ship emerged, navigating through the storm and rocking unsteadily as it approached the deserted island.
This massive warship was none other than the Sky God.
Bege had been spending some time in the New World searching for mineral deposits on its islands. His arms business required vast quantities of iron ore and other mineral resources.
In truth, Skypiea possessed a type of Iron Cloud that could substitute for iron ore, and weapons produced from it were no inferior to those made from traditional iron. However, the production volume of Iron Cloud was very low, insufficient for large-scale, bulk manufacturing.
Currently, he had the cloud craftsmen and weapons experts collaborating on developing a mass-production process for Iron Cloud, but progress was still minimal, so it couldn't yet replace iron ore.
This trip was specifically to find islands rich in mineral deposits.
Known islands in the New World with abundant mineral resources were either occupied by pirates, controlled by the Marines, or in the hands of underworld factions.
Finding new mineral-rich islands was no easy task and required a significant investment of time.
Naturally, Bege opted for the simplest method: he selected a few easier-to-deal-with pirate crews, eradicated them completely, and seized their islands and mineral resources.
In nearly a month, they had secured two medium-sized mining islands and three smaller ones.
Furthermore, he had directly attacked a large Marine mining island, making off with every last piece of ore that had already been extracted.
Today, they had been preparing to return to Lemon Island when the storm suddenly hit. The wind and rain were extremely fierce, preventing the Sky God from flying, forcing it to sail through the tempest.
The unexpected appearance of the island brought a sigh of relief to Bege and his crew. The Sky God accelerated towards it, and they naturally spotted the behemoth-class pirate ship on the shore.
"Whoa, whose pirate ship is that? It's enormous! Bigger than the giant warship currently under construction back on Skypiea, isn't it?" The Sky God slowly approached the shore, appearing remarkably small next to the colossal vessel.
"If I recall correctly, that pirate flag should belong to the Majin Pirates, right?" Modi spoke up.
Everyone turned to look at Modi. He continued, "The captain of the Majin Pirates is Majin Little Oars Jr., a descendant of the legendary continent-puller, Majin Oars. It's said he stands thirty-eight meters tall. I reckon only a ship this massive could accommodate him."
"Good heavens, thirty-eight meters! That's even taller than Dorry and Brogy!" Moria exclaimed.
Hearing the origins of this pirate crew, Bege's eyes lit up. He, of course, knew of Little Oars Jr. – a member of the Ancient Giant race, far stronger than regular giants. In the original story's most spectacular arc, the Summit War, Little Oars Jr. single-handedly overwhelmed all the giant Vice Admirals of the Marines.
Moreover, Little Oars Jr. was known for his profound loyalty and emotional nature. During the Summit War, he charged towards the execution platform alone to save Ace, ultimately being cut down by concentrated fire.
Most importantly, at this point in time, this Little Oars Jr. had not yet joined the Whitebeard Pirates.
Which meant Bege had a chance to recruit him.
"Make landfall!" Bege grew excited. Little Oars Jr. would be an incredible asset, even more qualified than Dorry or Brogy to captain the Giant Warrior Pirates.
The Sky God rapidly approached the island.
On the island, the crew members of the Majin Pirates spotted the Sky God and scrambled in panic to report to Little Oars Jr.
One of them even tripped over a branch, falling flat on his face and eliciting laughter from the others.
His face smeared with mud, the pirate slowly yelled, "Captain, the Fire Tank Pirates are heading our way!"
"The Fire Tank Pirates? The crew of that 'Demon Dragon' big-shot pirate? What the— why are they coming here?" The surrounding crewmen instantly jumped to their feet, their faces etched with panic.
"Captain, what should we do?" the crewmen chorused, looking towards Little Oars Jr.
Little Oars Jr. kept his head down, looking listless and dejected. He mumbled in a muffled voice, "Don't worry, they're probably just here to take shelter from the rain. Even if they wanted to fight us, there's not much we could do. Let's just focus on staying out of the rain for now."
"Oh no, the Captain hates rainy days! He always gets lethargic and loses all his spirit when it rains," the crewmen lamented, seeing Little Oars Jr.'s indifference, their panic intensifying.