Chapter 46: Please keep reading! Everything belongs to the World Government!

Part of the issue was that the Navy was too dominant, but in Imu's view, there were also significant problems within the structure of the World Government itself—perhaps even greater problems in that regard. The thought brought him a sense of irritation.

He casually picked up the red wine from the coffee table, poured some into a crystal glass, swirled it thoughtfully, and took a sip. Suddenly, holding the glass, he stood up and slowly walked out of the treehouse.

Perhaps it was psychological; he felt somewhat stifled, so he decided to take a walk.

Stepping upon the silver-gray ground beneath his feet, under a sky filled with the Milky Way and countless stars, he strolled gently under the bright moonlight, occasionally inhaling the fragrance of the red wine.

The nearby maids, ready to serve at any moment, did not dare to stare. They bowed their heads respectfully, hands placed before them.

As he walked, following instinct and habit, Imu approached a piano that had no embellishments, presenting a pure silver appearance.

This piano had a name, given by his predecessor three hundred and forty-two years ago: the "Moon Goddess Piano."

Imu glanced at the full moon in the heavens, sat casually on the piano bench, set the bright red crystal glass aside, and lightly brushed his right finger across the black and white keys.

Over these hundreds of years, while his predecessor resided in the deepest reaches of Mary Geoise, he had not been idle. After all, he was human and needed distraction; thus, he had intermittently encountered many things, but only two could truly intoxicate him.

Music and painting.

Comparing the two, his passion for music was greater.

However, his so-called "music" had nothing to do with singing; it referred purely to the playing of instruments. The long passage of time had allowed him to master many instruments, to the point where even calling him "proficient" would be an understatement.

And among all the instruments, his predecessor's favorite was the piano!

Sitting before this "Moon Goddess Piano," many memories of playing solos under the moon gradually surfaced in Imu's mind. His slender fingers could no longer remain still; he simply lifted both hands and slowly began to play one note after another.

As he played, he became increasingly skilled, his ten fingers growing more agile. At first, he merely played the melodies his predecessor often played, but before long, the melody changed abruptly, becoming more grand, powerful, and full of spirit. This sight instinctively drew the maids' attention, and they watched cautiously out of the corners of their eyes.

The name of this piece was "The Great Fortress," one of Imu's favorite tracks from when he used to follow the series.

The soul-stirring piano melody sent his mind back into deep contemplation.

The departmental structure of the World Government, while appearing somewhat organized, revealed many deficiencies upon closer inspection.

Regarding administration, the highest department was the Council of State, managed by Saint Topman Warcury, with the Department of Administration and the Department of Finance beneath it.

The Department of Finance was responsible for the issuance of Berries, bank management, and the collection of the Heavenly Tribute, while the Department of Administration managed much more and much broader areas, including construction, taxation, auditing, industry, and so on.

But the problem lay in two things: first, the staff in each department was very small; second, the division of departments in every aspect was too simplistic, which gave an impression of extreme complexity and chaos.

Of course, the so-called "small number of people" was only from his perspective, because according to his future plans, the current number of government employees would be far from enough.

For example, following this Reverie, the next World Government meeting would have to address the issue of reforming the Heavenly Tribute.

If he wanted to implement a flexible, proportional fee system similar to the United Nations dues of his previous life, it would be impossible for the member nations to calculate it themselves, as it would need to account for a country's population, economy, industry, and various other factors.

In his previous life, most countries and the UN itself had financial teams, but the development levels of the member nations in this world were uneven. A large portion remained in an ancient state of society; even a major power like Alabasta would find it difficult to possess enough excellent, professional financial talent.

Consequently, if he wanted to implement proportional fees, the World Government would have to shoulder this burden and assess the actual situation of every member nation, which would require a vast number of professionals in various fields.

Then the problem arose: where would these professionals come from?

Logically, they should be selected from specialized training schools, but based on the actual situation he had observed, the World Government had no departments related to education whatsoever.

Most of the member nations under its jurisdiction also lacked many schools; education among the nobility was conducted through private tutors, while the commoners at the bottom could only rely on oral traditions passed down by elders.

In other words, if he wanted a large number of professionals, he would first have to start by building schools... how despairing was that?

For a moment, the melody beneath Imu's fingertips changed again, sounding much more troubled and filled with helpless, negative emotions.

Under such circumstances, if he wanted to reduce the amount of the Heavenly Tribute to lessen the pressure on poor and small nations, his only choice would be a crude "one-size-fits-all" approach—reducing the amount for everyone regardless of whether they were large, small, rich, or poor.

But if he did that, the annual income of the World Government would inevitably plummet, and even with its existing foundations, it likely wouldn't last more than a few years.

Therefore, the best way was still proportional fees: large and rich nations pay more, small and poor nations pay less.

So, what way could solve the problem of the talent shortage?

Imu thought for a long, long time, but his playing fingers did not stop; they merely continued to repeat the piece "The Great Fortress."

For a time, an extremely tense atmosphere permeated the entire Moon.

That's it!

Suddenly, Imu, who had been keeping his eyes closed, snapped them open. Simultaneously, an invisible aura erupted from him, causing the glass containing half a cup of red wine to tremble, and the rhythm of his playing gradually quickened.

Because of the difficulty of transportation between islands, the development levels of the nations in this world varied greatly.

But this also meant that there were not only backward nations but also advanced ones. Some of these nations were similar to the modern era, some had reached modern levels, and some even reached a futuristic stage.

From ancient times to the future era, civilizations from every period could be found on this sea; that was the most incredible part.

It was another kind of "complete set of organs," it was just that the positions of the organs were somewhat disorganized.

The North Blue!

That was it; that was what Imu had thought of. It was a sea area possessing a large amount of heavy industry and cities and hospitals with a modern or near-modern aesthetic.

A place like that could not possibly lack a relatively mature education industry; modernized industry and commerce would certainly require a large number of technical, medical, and financial talents.

Besides that, although there were relatively fewer in other seas, there were also islands with high levels of civilization, such as Loguetown in the East Blue, Water 7 on the Grand Line, the futuristic nation of Balqimoya, and so on.

The World Government could completely recruit, or even conscript, the necessary talents from these nations to expand its various departments!

The more Imu thought about it, the more excited he became. He realized he had previously fallen into a misconception.

The most suitable management method for this world was not to develop everything from scratch through "farming," but rather the dispatching of talent and the allocation of resources.

Whatever was needed, he only needed to find where it existed, because this sea had everything; it just depended on whether one could find it, whether one knew how to find it, and how to utilize it well once found.

For example, if a member nation had no electricity and even lacked the ability to manufacture basic parts—essentially an ancient nation—the conventional wisdom would be to build everything from the ground up, which was the standard approach for most transmigrators.

But for him, Imu, he only needed to have people from another modernized member nation deliver the required materials, equipment, and talent.

Wasn't this also the main reason he placed such importance on the Sea Train?

Although there were no Sea Trains now, he could simply have the necessary professionals from various countries travel by ship; it would just be a bit more troublesome at most!

What the World Government lacked, it could obtain as long as the member nations had it.

In short, the World Government's affairs belonged to the World Government, and the member nations' affairs also belonged to the World Government. As for non-member nations... hehe, they could, of course, also belong to the World Government!

Stopping his playing, Imu happily picked up the wine glass beside him and leisurely brought the bright red liquid to his mouth.