Dier tossed the poorly written financial report onto the table, looking at Gunpowder with undisguised disdain.
He had expected Gunpowder to be somewhat foolish, but never imagined the man would be completely brainless.
This island didn't belong to any nation, with only one small town and a few villages. The town mayor was a highly respected elder who barely managed anything.
With some effort, Gunpowder could have easily seized the mayoral position and declared himself king.
Yet this idiot did nothing productive—just collected protection money, fought pirates when they appeared, and indulged in food and drink when they didn't.
His only ambition was capturing Dier and Robin to join Bullet for a better life.
The short, stocky Gunpowder awkwardly bent over, sweat trickling down his face:
"We do have businesses... this tavern is ours."
"Oh~ And does this tavern usually have customers?"
"Well..." Gunpowder swallowed hard, shaking his head nervously:
"No..."
"Of course not!" Dier slammed the table, grinding his teeth:
"This is a gangster hangout! What ordinary person would come here to drink?!"
Calm down, calm down. If this guy had any brains, he wouldn't have fallen for the trap so easily.
Dier took a deep breath to quell his rising anger.
Blackfire was now his possession, and he naturally wanted it to thrive.
"From now on, protection fees will be collected weekly. Cancel all those daily, every-other-day, or random collection schedules."
"And establish clear standards—those earning more pay more."
"You'll handle centralized purchasing of agricultural products from surrounding villages—buy low, sell high."
"Call in all the important figures—electricity suppliers, water distributors, port authorities. I'll make them your allies."
"Keep your men in line. Establish rules—no bullying civilians."
"After some effort to improve your image, you can legitimately become mayor."
"You..."
Seeing Gunpowder already drenched in sweat, Dier suddenly found himself speechless. He waved helplessly:
"Go train or something."
"Right away, boss!"
Gunpowder looked as if pardoned from execution. Wiping his sweat, he hurried out of the tavern.
Eating, drinking, and bullying were his specialties, but managing a town was clearly beyond this illiterate thug's capabilities.
"I shouldn't have expected so much from him. I'll find someone smarter for management—he can just be muscle."
Dier sat at the bar counter, casually taking the glass from Robin's hand:
"No alcohol for minors."
"Yesterday you had me shoot people without hesitation!"
"Alcohol is different. Eleven- or twelve-year-olds can fight with kunai, but drinking must wait until adulthood."
Dier pushed a cup of black tea toward Robin, dropping in a sugar cube:
"So drink your tea."
Robin stirred the dissolving sugar, her brow furrowed with unease:
"Are we staying here permanently?"
"Hmm... Our identities haven't been exposed yet. With food, clothing, and shelter all provided, we could live here in seclusion if we lay low."
The World Government's pursuit wasn't particularly intense.
After all, she was just a little girl, so the Five Elders didn't pay her much attention. Only Spandam and Spandine, the father-son duo, targeted her.
It wasn't until later when Robin joined the Straw Hat Pirates and got closer to uncovering the void century's history that the World Government began taking her seriously.
In the original story, even a helpless Robin who couldn't disguise her face with the Flower-Flower Fruit managed to escape.
Now that she could disguise her appearance and had a hypnosis master by her side, escaping became even easier for Robin.
Not to mention they had subdued Blackfire, allowing them to stay completely hidden without leaving any traces.
"But I don't plan to stay here forever. My dream is to travel the world, and besides..."
Dier's fingertips flickered with flames: "The more belief I gather, the stronger my abilities become."
In this dangerous world of pirates, traveling alone required considerable strength, and his cheat ability destined him not to grow stronger in obscurity.
Robin took a sip of black tea, her expression relaxing.
She carried on Ohara's will, aiming for the Poneglyphs. Staying in one place wouldn't bring the Poneglyphs to her.
Dier dispersed the flames in his hand and turned to speak earnestly:
"But we can't abandon our foundation here either. We need to make Gunpowder the town mayor. Then, wherever we go in the future, we'll repeat this process."
"Who knows? Many years from now, we might control the entire West Blue."
"But Robin, I'm not good at management. At best, I can copy what others do. So..."
Robin tilted her head curiously: "So?"
"Use that brilliant brain of yours to figure something out!!"
"Sigh~ Leave it to me."
Though she was a doctor of history and not skilled in town management, she resolved to do her best to help Dier.
In the following days, Robin became busy with work.
She had Gunpowder restrain his subordinates from oppressing civilians.
"Protection fees" were officially renamed as taxes, collected weekly per capita and temporarily set at three tiers: 500, 1,000, and 1,500. The elderly, children, and other income-less groups were exempt.
This method was still somewhat crude. Once they had accountants, they would reform it further to tax based on individual income.
The island's infrastructure was quite developed, with basic amenities like water and electricity available.
The water was twice-purified seawater. Once-purified was called True Water, suitable for washing and showering. After the second purification, it became fresh water for drinking.
Electricity came from a small hydroelectric station—so small it covered at most 130 square meters. Dier once wondered how such a tiny station powered the entire town.
Then he remembered Franky's unbelievable energy technology.
Three cola bottles could power his cyborg body for half a day—it didn't even have to be cola, any three bottles of liquid would do.
Three barrels provided even more impressive energy, enough to fire the village-destroying Lion Roar Cannon or make a ship fly!
Dier could only sigh in admiration at the marvels of pirate technology.
Such profitable industries naturally couldn't be left to outsiders. Within days, they were smoothly incorporated under Blackfire's banner.
Additionally, the port, construction, shipyards, and other businesses couldn't escape Blackfire's grasp either.
The island's only specialty tourism industry—hot springs—was also taken over.
Robin's workload had skyrocketed, as this ragtag team had all sorts of minor issues requiring her personal attention.
In contrast, Dier's work was much more relaxed.
He'd wake up, put on his mask to go fishing, return to use Hypnosis on new recruits, then go back to sleep.
Wake up, put on his mask...
A month passed—Robin had grown thinner, while Dier had caught five fish.
"Another empty haul?!"
After a long day of work, Robin returned home and couldn't help but complain at the sight of the empty fish bucket:
"Did you forget to bait the hook again? Fish in the sea aren't stupid—they won't bite a bare metal hook."
"Fishing is about enjoying the process, Robin. You focus too much on results."
Dier rolled over in bed, turning his back to Robin, and covered his face sheepishly.
Truth be told, he had baited the hook—it's just that most of the time, he'd reel it back in empty.
To save face, he lied and claimed he hadn't used bait at all.
Maybe I should add 'guaranteed catch with every cast' to my ability list later...
"Gunpowder's reputation has mostly been rehabilitated, and Colleen's learning progress is decent.
In a few days, we can push for Gunpowder to become town mayor, then have Colleen handle the actual administration."
Colleen was a newly recruited fifteen-year-old girl with decent learning ability—Robin planned to have her manage the town in the future.