Holy Land, Mariejois—inside Claudius' palace, he sat in his study, reading.
In his hands was a book titled Information About the Kingdom of Giants, detailing the history and structure of the Giant Kingdom.
As the most powerful country in the world, Elbaf possessed an overwhelming military force.
Every giant, upon reaching adulthood, could easily attain the combat strength of a Marine Vice Admiral with only minimal training though, of course, they would be at the entry-level of Vice Admirals.
But with sheer numbers alone, this beca a terrifying force.
Elbaf boasted tens of thousands, perhaps even hundreds of thousands of adult giants.
Converted into combat strength, this ant they could field hundreds of thousands of Vice Admiral-level warriors at once.
And among them, the truly exceptional individuals could grow even stronger, which was not unusual at all.
This was the core reason why Elbaf remained firmly seated as the world's strongest nation.
Their warriors were powerful. Their numbers were imnse.
When quantity reached a certain level, it naturally led to qualitative superiority.
Their solution to any opposition? Overwhelming force.
The entire nation of Elbaf was divided into two major factions.
One faction was wild and aggressive, known to the world as the Barbaric Giants.
The other was more composed and polite, commonly referred to as the Moderates.
The Barbaric Giants were warriors at heart, wherever they went, they inevitably beca pirates or rcenaries.
The Moderates, on the other hand, had agreents with the World Governnt. Many of them, upon reaching adulthood, would choose to enlist in the Marines, becoming Vice Admirals.
The Marines even had specialized giant combat units.
Regardless of faction, the giants were a force to be reckoned with.
Claudius was reading this book because CP-X had recently established contact with Elbaf, beginning friendly cooperation.
Not all giants were warriors—so aspired to be cooks, adventurers, or simply wished to live peaceful lives.
Diversity was the foundation of any nation's society.
However, due to their massive size, the giants had struggled to integrate with other countries.
Not because they were warlike, but for a far simpler reason—logistics.
Elbaf's infrastructure was built on a completely different scale.
Their goods had no market elsewhere.
Conversely, the things they needed from the outside world were prohibitively expensive.
Take sothing as simple as a drinking cup.
A single giant-sized cup cost dozens, even hundreds of tis more to produce than a regular human cup.
Yet, the currency value remained the sa, everyone used Berries.
If a regular human could buy a cup for 1,000 Berries, a giant would have to pay 30,000 or 50,000 just to get one.
Who would sell to them under such conditions?
Factor in transportation costs, and the trade simply wasn't worth it.
As a result, Elbaf had little economic interaction with other nations.
Simply put, their economy was incompatible with the outside world.
—
Now, with the Calm Belt developnt entering a new phase, there was a greater need for labor and resources.
But Fish-Man Island's workforce was limited.
If they couldn't supply enough labor, they wouldn't be able to extract enough resources from the islands.
This was when Claudius set his sights on Elbaf.
Although Elbaf had so existing cooperation with the World Governnt such as their Vice Admirals, they were militarily self-sufficient.
As the strongest nation, even though they were located in the New World, they didn't need the World Governnt's protection.
They could defend themselves.
Moreover, due to their economic isolation, they remained self-sustaining in a tribal system, never progressing beyond a primary societal structure.
Despite their imnse strength, they were not a wealthy nation.
From the perspective of giants—who could live 300 to even 500 years—800 years of World Governnt rule wasn't that impressive.
For younger giants today, the World Governnt was simply sothing from "my grandfather's generation."
"Our Elbaf has existed for thousands of years. Why should we submit to you?"
For over 800 years, the World Governnt had tried and failed to integrate Elbaf into its system.
For humans, spending centuries on diplomacy was an eternity.
For giants, it was rely a long discussion.
A failed deal in one generation? Just wait a few hundred years and try again.
This was why nothing had changed.
—
Claudius, however, had his own plans.
If he was going to establish a new regi, then naturally, he wanted Elbaf's participation as well.
But rather than force the issue, he decided to take a gradual approach.
Step one: Cooperation.
Rather than discussing military alliances, he would start with sothing non-combative.
He would show Elbaf what benefits they could gain by cooperating.
Just like Fish-Man Island, he would begin by hiring giant laborers.
—
There were several favorable conditions for this.
First, giants weren't entirely foreign to mixed societies.
Fish-Man Island had giant-sized rfolk and fish-n, such as Shirahoshi and King Neptune.
For thousands of years, they had already established a social system accommodating individuals ranging from rely large to massive.
This ant that the infrastructure that worked for Fish-Man Island could seamlessly adapt to Elbaf.
Integration wouldn't be an issue.
Second, Claudius could pay the giants based on actual labor output, rather than setting fixed wages.
Compared to regular humans, giants consud nearly 100 tis more resources.
But in terms of physical labor, they were worth just as much—if not more.
Of course, intellectual labor wasn't their strength. But for physical work, they were unmatched.
Claudius planned to send them to the Calm Belt for mining.
A single giant could easily outperform three to five hundred regular humans.
Even compared to Fish-n, their productivity was 30 to 50 tis greater.
This ant their economic value would scale exponentially.
By generating far more profit, Claudius could afford to pay them equally high wages.
In the end, it was a win-win.
Claudius' Calm Belt projects would progress at an accelerated pace.
Elbaf would gain an enormous economic boost.
And through Fish-Man Island's existing economic frawork, Elbaf would finally integrate into the global economy.
It was the perfect arrangent.
—
Once enough trust was built, Claudius intended to officially incorporate Elbaf into the World Governnt's system.
When the strongest nation joined, the legitimacy of the new governnt would beco undeniable.
Thus, during this period, Claudius had already made preparations.
He simply waited for the upcoming Reverie, where he would personally et Elbaf's representatives, ensuring they wouldn't be caught off guard.
"Prince Loki, huh?" Claudius murmured, spotting the na in his book.
"This guy's taste is almost as bad as Robin's… Later on, didn't he fall for one of Charlotte Linlin's ugly daughters?"
He chuckled to himself.
—
At that mont, a knock ca at the door.
"Enter," Claudius responded.
Nia, stepped in, holding a gilded docunt.
"Your Highness, this was sent by the Five Elders," Nia said, handing him the docunt.
Claudius nodded, opened it, and smirked.
"It's settled."
This docunt was the official recognition from the World Governnt, Crocodile was now the King of Alabasta.
All of the Nefertari family's privileges within the World Governnt would be transferred to him.
Alabasta would remain a mber nation.
Of course, this didn't co without a price.
Normally, Claudius could have handled this directly, as he did with Dressrosa, just a few words, and it was done.
But the Nefertari family was special.
As descendants of the original twenty kings, their transition required formalities within the World Governnt.
So, after a few days of bureaucratic delays, Alabasta was now firmly under Claudius' control.
Crocodile—once a re pirate—had beco a king.
***
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