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 became a terrifying force.
Elbaf boasted tens of thousands, perhaps even hundreds of thousands of adult giants.
Converted into combat strength, this meant 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 immense.
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 became pirates or mercenaries.
The Moderates, on the other hand, had agreements with the World Government. 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—some 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 something as simple as a drinking cup.
A single giant-sized cup cost dozens, even hundreds of times more to produce than a regular human cup.
Yet, the currency value remained the same, 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 development 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 some existing cooperation with the World Government 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 Government'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 immense strength, they were not a wealthy nation.
From the perspective of giants—who could live 300 to even 500 years—800 years of World Government rule wasn't that impressive.
For younger giants today, the World Government was simply something 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 Government had tried and failed to integrate Elbaf into its system.
For humans, spending centuries on diplomacy was an eternity.
For giants, it was merely 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 regime, 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 something 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 merfolk and fish-men, such as Shirahoshi and King Neptune.
For thousands of years, they had already established a social system accommodating individuals ranging from merely large to massive.
This meant 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 consumed nearly 100 times 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-Men, their productivity was 30 to 50 times greater.
This meant 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 framework, Elbaf would finally integrate into the global economy.
It was the perfect arrangement.
—
Once enough trust was built, Claudius intended to officially incorporate Elbaf into the World Government's system.
When the strongest nation joined, the legitimacy of the new government would become undeniable.
Thus, during this period, Claudius had already made preparations.
He simply waited for the upcoming Reverie, where he would personally meet Elbaf's representatives, ensuring they wouldn't be caught off guard.
"Prince Loki, huh?" Claudius murmured, spotting the name 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 moment, a knock came at the door.
"Enter," Claudius responded.
Nia, stepped in, holding a gilded document.
"Your Highness, this was sent by the Five Elders," Nia said, handing him the document.
Claudius nodded, opened it, and smirked.
"It's settled."
This document was the official recognition from the World Government, Crocodile was now the King of Alabasta.
All of the Nefertari family's privileges within the World Government would be transferred to him.
Alabasta would remain a member nation.
Of course, this didn't come 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 Government.
So, after a few days of bureaucratic delays, Alabasta was now firmly under Claudius' control.
Crocodile—once a mere pirate—had become a king.
***
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