"This is truly unexpected."
Tsuru stood on the deck, gazing at the distant sea, a hint of surprise flashing in her eyes.
About a hundred meters above the sea in the distance floated an island.
And about five hundred meters above that island, there were two more islands suspended in the air. Their unique styles immediately allowed Tsuru to recognize them.
Amazon Lily!
Fish-Man Island!
Tsuru had already known that Reddy had taken control of these two kingdoms, but she never expected him to display them so openly.
"There are even more islands above!"
The shocked cry of her adjutant brought Tsuru back to her senses. She looked more carefully.
Sure enough.
About five thousand meters above the twin islands floating side by side, there were two more black dots, one large and one small.
If one didn't look carefully, it would be easy to miss these two islands suspended about six thousand meters in the air.
"Punk Hazard... The other island seems very important." Tsuru was immediately intrigued by these two islands.
Loguetown at the bottom, Amazon Lily and Fish-Man Island in the middle, Punk Hazard at the highest point... If the island almost level with Punk Hazard didn't have special significance or importance, Tsuru would refuse to believe it.
"There's no information on that island."
The adjutant was already flipping through the intelligence they had gathered, but after searching through everything, she found no records of that small island.
"I understand now."
Tsuru suddenly spoke, startling the adjutant, who had been unwilling to give up and was about to search through the intelligence again.
"Do you remember that uninhabited island that suddenly appeared near Water 7?"
The adjutant and the other female soldiers on the deck immediately recalled the island that had once briefly become a trending attraction.
The adjutant quickly flipped to the section on Water 7 in the intelligence files and found the record of that island.
However, the record was very brief, summarized in just one sentence.
"That island seems to have once been a battlefield."
The adjutant hesitated for a moment, then, out of respect for Tsuru, offered a gentle reminder.
The intelligence indicated that it was the site of a battle involving Admiral Kizaru, King of the Beasts Pirates, Charlotte Katakuri of the Big Mom Pirates, former Warlord Doflamingo, and Reddy.
What value could such a place possibly have?
Tsuru chuckled. "Have you forgotten that Dr. Reddy once spent time with a group of orphans in Water 7?"
The adjutant quickly found the relevant intelligence and frowned. "But there's no evidence that Dr. Reddy took those orphans away and settled them on that island."
"That's because the environment in Water 7's underground waterways is very complex, making it difficult to find clues."
As she spoke, Tsuru's mood grew somewhat somber.
The underground waterways of Water 7 were home to many homeless and unemployed individuals, and their numbers were not small.
Both the tourism and shipbuilding industries should have been enough to support all the residents of the island, yet the unemployed living in the underground waterways undeniably existed.
For a place hailed as the world's shipbuilding capital, this was nothing short of a disgrace.
The biggest contributing factor was pirates.
Water 7 held special significance for both lawful and unlawful factions, but not everyone was willing to follow the rules.
Especially pirates.
And if the Marines couldn't prevent such situations, it was a failure of duty.
"Alright, let's proceed."
Tsuru didn't dwell on the issue any longer.
There was no solution to this problem.
The Marines' duty was to protect the people, but in the end, their strength was insufficient.
About half a day later, the warship docked at the harbor.
"Look, isn't that Marine Vice Admiral Tsuru?"
The arrival of the warship surprised most of the people at the harbor, drawing curious gazes.
Only a handful of well-informed merchants smiled knowingly.
Confirmed!
After the battle in the East Blue, the Marines had not only lost Loguetown but suffered a crushing defeat.
This time, they were here to negotiate for the release of prisoners!
What made them even more curious was how many prisoners Reddy had captured to warrant the personal involvement of Vice Admiral Tsuru.
"Let's go."
Tsuru paid no attention to the curious or hostile looks around her and calmly led the way up the stone steps leading to the island.
The harbor area was a massive stone platform.
The platform was divided into storage areas for goods and leisure areas for crew members to rest.
At the far end of the platform was a wide stone staircase broad enough for ten carriages to travel side by side.
Tsuru quickly grasped the future layout of Loguetown.
After merchant ships arrived, goods wouldn't be transported onto the island but stored in the harbor's storage areas.
Merchants in a hurry to sell could find buyers in the leisure area.
Those who wanted to wait for better prices had two options.
One was to wait patiently in the leisure area for the right buyer, and the other was to explore business opportunities on the island while conducting transactions in designated venues.
Tsuru hadn't seen Reddy's plans for Loguetown, but she could guess that a trading center would be established on the island to facilitate transactions between merchants.
From this alone, Tsuru saw a focus on "stability."
By winning over the merchants, Loguetown would never decline.
Thinking back to the three laws Reddy had enacted, Tsuru couldn't help but smile wryly.
This was at least ten times better than what other kingdoms had managed.
The stone steps weren't steep but were very long.
After about an hour, Tsuru and her group finally stepped onto solid ground.
"This is Loguetown?"
The adjutant and the other female soldiers stared at the bustling crowd before them in shock.
They had been to Loguetown before.
Loguetown was large and densely populated.
But compared to their memories of the town, the prosperity before their eyes was almost unbelievable.
There were too many people!
It was as if the entire population of several hundred thousand had crowded into one of the eight main pathways.
Railings had been installed along the island's edges, and well-dressed tourists were taking photos with Den Den Mushi.
A rest area had even been set up nearby, with at least a thousand tables occupied by nobles and merchants engaged in lively discussions.
Servants weaved through the crowd, so busy they could barely keep up.
"Are those... children?"
The adjutant watched as a young server, his face still carrying traces of youth, delivered a bottle of rum to a customer and was stunned.
"It seems... they are."
Tsuru saw more.
These servers were all very young, at most fifteen or sixteen years old, their rough, sun-darkened skin clear evidence of past hardships.
Further along the railings, children with baskets slung over their arms moved among the tourists, selling simple handicrafts.
These handicrafts weren't particularly well-made, and the materials were just shells and the like.
But in the lively atmosphere, the tourists didn't hesitate to buy one or two souvenirs.
The children didn't haggle or pester.
After completing a sale, they immediately moved on to the next tourist with excitement.
"Vice Admiral Tsuru..."
The adjutant lowered her head, her emotions complicated, her thoughts too tangled to put into words.
On the faces of Loguetown's residents, she saw something different.
Something she rarely saw on the faces of people in other kingdoms.
"The Marines shouldn't be Dr. Reddy's enemy."
Tsuru walked toward the town with her hands behind her back, saying as she went, "He has accomplished what we could not... Perhaps I should offer him some help."