## Chapter 74: Exchange House and Making Friends
In the days following his successful joining of the Rocks Pirates, Hades was surprisingly low-key, contrary to what others might have imagined.
Aside from exploring the entirety of Hachinosu, he only got to know three pirates.
One was Edward Newgate, the future Sea Emperor "Whitebeard," the "Strongest Man in the World."
Edward Newgate had not established his own faction within the Rocks Pirates.
His dream of having a family was even considered somewhat laughable in the eyes of other pirates.
Having sent most of the treasure he obtained back to his hometown, he could be said to be dirt poor.
Without treasure, how could any pirates be willing to follow him? Moreover, Edward Newgate didn't even have such an idea at the moment.
Meeting Edward Newgate was actually an accident.
While Hades was in a bar, Newgate walked up with a bottle of wine and sat across from Hades to strike up a conversation.
His precise goal was to mooch drinks, the kind where he didn't pay.
And the bottle of wine he brought was also mooched from other pirates.
After all, Hades was genuinely rich, with the identity of "Son of Jaeger" and the backing of the Kronos Kingdom, a superpower nation.
Regarding Hades' background, originally only a few high-level individuals knew, but with Hades' arrival, all of this information was dug up.
The first thing he did after joining the Rocks Pirates was to spend money to buy a luxurious villa in Hachinosu.
Living in Hachinosu naturally required money.
Various industries on the island were secretly backed by different factions, and these factions all submitted to the Rocks Pirates and had to pay protection fees.
In other words, the entire island was the assets of the Rocks Pirates.
The development of the Rocks Pirates required a large amount of funds.
How could they manage without money?
Many people personally witnessed Titan pulling out boxes of Beli from his stomach, as if there was no limit.
Just two days later, an exchange house quietly opened for business.
It handled various exchange services, converting valuable treasure and items into Beli.
Hachinosu was a gathering place for treasure in the New World, where countless looted treasures converged.
Converting this treasure into Beli was a huge business.
On the same day, most of the exchange houses in Hachinosu announced their temporary closure, leaving only a few remaining.
With fair prices and exchange rates higher than other exchange houses, this naturally attracted the favor of many pirates.
Pirates were driven by interests; they wouldn't possibly ignore an exchange house offering better rates.
Two more days passed, and the remaining few exchange houses also successively closed down.
By then, only the newly opened exchange house was operating on the entire island, monopolizing the exchange house business in Hachinosu and buying out the other exchange houses.
Such heaven-reaching methods naturally sparked debate among others, as the backs of these exchange houses were mostly stood upon by the kings of the underworld.
Only a few people knew that Hades' shadow was behind this exchange house.
He had somehow managed to make numerous Dark Kings yield.
This, however, made those who knew even more wary of Hades, giving him an unfathomable aura.
Edward Newgate received this news through Shiki.
He was also somewhat curious.
Besides mooching drinks, he also had the intention of deliberately befriending Hades.
One should know that the wine Hades ordered at the bar every time was among the most expensive ones.
Newgate couldn't afford them and was reluctant to buy them, usually drinking the cheapest ones.
Those precious spoils and fine wine didn't stay in his hands for long.
As long as he latched onto Hades, this rich patron, he could drink as much wine as he wanted in the future.
Hades did not refuse Newgate's deliberate attempt to befriend him; he didn't care about a little money at all.
Going back and forth, the two became familiar.
Newgate told Hades a lot of inside information about the Rocks Pirates.
Some of it Shakky had mentioned to him, but it was far less detailed than what Newgate told him.
The exchange house was naturally opened by Hades.
King of Arms Victor, one of the Dark Kings, was a core member of the Netherworld, secretly controlled by the Tartaros Royal Family.
By giving other Dark Kings a batch of munitions or allowing them discounts when purchasing munitions,
These Dark Kings would naturally give Victor face and yield the market in Hachinosu.
Moreover, the interests contained within the exchange house business were actually not that large.
It could only fool naive newcomers like the future Straw Hat Pirates.
As for the pirates on Hachinosu Island, which one wasn't a seasoned veteran, or even vicious pirates that the Underworld Forces dared not offend?
Sometimes the Beli paid out was even higher than the value of the treasure received, making it a completely losing business.
However, for Hades, this was a huge profit.
As the Great Sea continued to descend into chaos, the World Government would print more Beli to alleviate financial pressure, which would lead to a decrease in the purchasing power of Beli throughout the World.
In other words, Beli would continuously undergo devaluation.
The more Beli held in hand, the greater the eventual loss.
In this way, the World Government might not be affected.
But the civilians, various factions, and even Member Nations using Beli around the World would suffer complete losses.
Pirates were not greatly affected because the Beli in their hands didn't stay for long; most of it was spent within a short period.
The Kronos Kingdom exchanged excess Beli for treasure and valuable items through the exchange house, preventing the Kingdom from being affected by the devaluation of Beli.
In other words, this was a win-win situation.
The other person was Shiki, whom he met through Newgate.
As for the third person, Charlotte Linlin.
She actively approached him, with intentions even stronger than Edward Newgate's.
That burning gaze, that greedy heart, seemed to want to devour Titan.
How could Hades not know what Charlotte Linlin was thinking? Facing the request she made, Hades unequivocally refused on behalf of Titan.
Even so, Charlotte Linlin outwardly gave up and befriended Hades, but in her heart, she had not given up on pursuing Titan.
This naturally could not be hidden from Hades.
Meeting future Sea Emperors was also beneficial to him, so Hades did not refuse.
It must be said that the young Charlotte Linlin was truly beautiful, a goddess in the hearts of who knows how many pirates.
However, there's no logic in guarding against a thief for a thousand days when the thief only needs one day.
Hades would one day deeply regret not severing ties with Charlotte Linlin.
There were still a few days until the Rocks Pirates' annual Recruitment Convention.
During their time in Hachinosu, Hades and Titan did not give up on training their strength.
They sparred with each other, or with Edward Newgate, or even with Charlotte Linlin.
Training, fighting, honing technique, developing the body's potential.
The few moored marine warships were the tools Hades and Titan used for training.
They simply used their pure strength to drag the massive marine warships, with who knows how many heavy objects loaded inside the warships to increase the pressure.
However, Hades always felt some eyes observing him in the dark, though without hostility.
In reality, Hades had also discovered them.
His father, "Death God" Ye Ge's old subordinates.
This was the legacy his father left him.
For a Crown Prince like Jaeger, most of the subordinates he recruited were trained as vassals, who would directly become part of the Kronos Kingdom in the future.
They would either join the army, or join Hades, or serve as pirates to protect the Kronos Kingdom.
Several of them had followed Jaeger even before the Rocks Pirates were established, and most joined under Jaeger's protection after the Rocks Pirates were formed.
Excluding those who died fighting for revenge after Jaeger's death, those who remained were absolute elite, powerful individuals famous within the Rocks Pirates.
Even the younger pirates, after ten years of growth, if they hadn't perished, were at least cadre-level pirates.
(end of chapter)