Moria was busy pondering his grand plans for making money.
Meanwhile, not far away, inside a massive open pit, a large group of pirate slave laborers were using all kinds of tools to smash apart rocks and clear debris from the ground.
Among these pirate slaves, two figures stood out in particular. They were former officers of the Red-Haired Pirates.
Lucky Roux and Yasopp.
Both wore shackles. One held a hammer, the other a pickaxe, working in coordination as they took turns smashing apart the exposed stone and clearing it away.
Lucky Roux no longer had the plump figure he once did, though his muscles were still solid and well-defined. Yasopp's skin, on the other hand, had darkened noticeably from prolonged exposure to the sun.
"Yasopp, put some strength into it," Lucky Roux said as he brought his hammer down, glancing at Yasopp beside him. "If we don't clear this area, there won't be any lunch."
Yasopp shot him an annoyed look.
"Can you have a little ambition? Are you really planning to work for them here for the rest of your life?"
"What choice do we have?" Lucky Roux replied helplessly. "If we don't finish the work, we don't get fed. If we don't eat enough, we can't finish the work. And when it comes time for the final assessment, you know what happens."
This assignment was already considered one of the better ones.
If they performed poorly here, they might get sent somewhere far more dangerous, like Flevance in the North Blue, to mine Amber Lead.
And if they still couldn't perform there, things would only get worse. Slaves with no value weren't allowed to live.
At that point, they would be treated as organ reserves. That beast Doflamingo would sell them into the underworld, where they'd be carved up piece by piece. After that, their bodies would be stuffed with shadows and turned into the most miserable zombie laborers under Moria's command.
And according to rumors, that still wasn't the end.
They hadn't seen it themselves, but some long-serving slaves had mentioned that starting around last year, these zombies had gained new uses. Once they became heavily worn, they'd be collected in batches. Those that still looked relatively "fresh" would be selected and transported away, though no one knew exactly what for.
At least, people like them had no way of knowing.
But the veteran slaves all said the same thing. This never used to happen. In the past, worn-out zombie laborers were mostly sent into the Calm Belt to be used as fertilizer for plantations.
It was obvious that those bastards had found new ways to exploit zombies.
In truth, that was exactly the case. Corpses that were relatively intact and looked fresher were claimed as achievements of the Coast Guard in suppressing the Revolutionary Army, then handed over to the CP agencies for processing.
Just last month, in the Alcor Sea of the New World, it was said that the newly formed Coast Guard and CP agencies had jointly launched an operation against a Revolutionary Army combat unit.
Later reports claimed the Revolutionary Army suffered a major defeat there, losing nearly two thousand troops.
As for the details, it was nothing more than a smokescreen released by Vergo, Dragon-san, and Spandine.
Incidents like this would only become more and more common.
"We have to find a way to escape," Yasopp said through clenched teeth. "If we stay here, sooner or later we'll end up buried as fertilizer in some plantation."
They had previously been assigned to farm in the Calm Belt and had only been transferred to this Gold City construction site not long ago.
"Escaping was already hard enough in the Calm Belt," Lucky Roux said with a sigh. "Now that we're in Totto Land, it's even worse. Whole Cake Island is only a two-hour sail away, and the sea is packed with surveillance sea slugs. The only way out of Totto Land leads toward G-5's jurisdiction. How are we supposed to escape?"
The Calm Belt had been difficult to flee as well.
Neither of them were Devil Fruit users, but they weren't monsters like Rayleigh either, capable of swimming across the Calm Belt on sheer strength alone.
That godforsaken place was crawling with Marines, under tight security, and filled with nothing but large ships. Even if they somehow managed to steal one, the two of them wouldn't be able to get it moving. Their only option would be to swim away from the island. But once they hit open water, they wouldn't even know which direction was which, and the sea was packed with Sea Kings. They might not be a problem at first, but given enough time, they'd end up as snacks sooner or later.
So for the time being, the only thing these two could do was keep their heads down and work honestly.
Hearing Lucky Roux say all this, Yasopp felt a mix of anger and helplessness.
Just then, Lucky Roux spoke again.
"But it's impossible for every project to be like this. Let's perform well for now and try to stay assigned to this construction team long-term. Maybe one day we'll be sent somewhere more convenient. When that happens, the environment will change, and we might finally get a chance to escape."
Yasopp thought it over for a moment, then nodded reluctantly.
"Looks like that's all we can do. Let's just finish this project properly first… I just don't know how long this damn Gold City is going to take to complete."
That was exactly what Yasopp was worried about.
A construction project on this scale, covering an entire island. If it dragged on for eight or ten years, they'd really be in hell.
...
At the same time, at another construction site, Tesoro was wearing a hard hat and holding a set of blueprints, explaining the layout to the people beside him.
"This area here is completely designated as the 'Deep Sea Zone' in the design plans. It's built specifically for the Fish-Man race and the Mermaid race. After all, your living habits and needs are different from those of surface races. According to the Admiral's intentions, this place will be transformed into an underwater world."
Tesoro pointed toward a vast area in the distance.
The foundation of Gold City was enormous. If operated at full capacity, the entire city could support a population of six hundred thousand people.
After all, much like Mary Geoise, this place didn't need to produce any resources at all. As a result, every area could be developed purely for commercial and residential use, without the need to allocate large tracts of land for farming.
Standing beside Tesoro was a large group of burly Fish-Men, led by Fisher Tiger.
Even Jinbe, who was already a Shichibukai, was present, along with many of Tiger's subordinates, including Arlong and Hachi.
"The Admiral really takes care of us," Tiger said happily after listening to Tesoro.
"The current designs only divide the area into zones. The detailed planning is completely blank," Tesoro said with a smile. "We don't have designers who truly understand Fish-Man Island here, so you'll need to handle that part yourselves. Once your designs are ready, just hand the blueprints over to Moria. His construction team will start developing the area immediately."
"No problem," Tiger replied. "I've already reported this to Ryugu Palace. King Neptune is very interested in this project and will be sending royal designers over soon. I also came this time hoping to personally invite the Admiral. His Majesty Neptune would very much like to have a friendly talk with the Admiral on Fish-Man Island."
Hearing that, Tesoro nodded, then said, "Then Tiger-san, your timing couldn't be better. Our Admiral will be arriving here very soon. The World Government plans to have Ms. Stussy, the queen of the Pleasure District, take over coordination for this project. The Admiral and Ms. Stussy have already agreed to meet here, and they're both on their way."
"Really?" Tiger said happily. "That's perfect. Saves me another trip."
As he spoke, he pointed toward a large ship anchored in the bay behind them.
"We also brought a gift from Fish-Man Island for the Admiral."
Tesoro had no idea what kind of gift was loaded on that ship, but he figured it had to be some kind of valuable deep-sea treasure.
Considering Tiger's background as a former underworld boss, Tesoro thought for a moment and decided it was best to give a reminder. He lowered his voice slightly.
"Our Admiral has always advocated honesty and integrity. He's carried out strict anti-corruption measures within the New World Navy…"
"Huh?" Tiger froze for a moment, then hesitated. "We're not trying to bribe the Admiral. We just want to express our gratitude. After all, the Admiral has helped Fish-Man Island quite a lot."
"Ahem… that's only natural," Tesoro said, nodding seriously. "But even so, you can't openly present gifts to the Admiral. Just mention it verbally when the time comes. As for what's on the ship, I'll arrange for it to be moved away discreetly."
Tiger might have been an underworld boss, but he wasn't stupid. He immediately understood and smiled.
"Then I'll leave it to you, Tesoro-san."
"All for justice, all for the Admiral, loyalty!" Tesoro laughed loudly.
In the past, the Navy's slogan had been very simple. There was only one line.
"All for justice!"
But ever since Ortoren took office as Admiral and became the governor of the New World, Navy officers here had added another line when shouting their slogans.
"All for the Admiral."
And at the end, they would add one more word.
"Loyalty!"
At first, this new slogan was only used by Ortoren's direct subordinates, such as the people from G-5. But over time, it had subtly spread to the vast majority of New World Marines.
Even the Coast Guard, though they didn't shout anything about justice or the Admiral, absolutely had to shout one word.
"Loyalty!"
It was clear that the new Navy faction led by Ortoren had begun to support him of their own accord.
Many of the old G-5 Marines felt that the Admiral's kindness was something they could never repay.
Only loyalty could express their gratitude.