"Nami!"
A girl ran over, sweating profusely.
Nami finished handling the shells in her hands before raising her head and waving at her.
This shabby alley was no longer as dirty and messy as before. It had been turned into an open-air workshop.
The people working here were all children, none of them very old.
The younger ones were responsible for washing the shells, while the slightly older children picked out the uniquely shaped or particularly beautiful ones from the mountain of shells and sent them to the next stage of processing.
The ones who turned these carefully selected shells into simple handicrafts were girls around fifteen or sixteen years old.
"We're rich!"
The girl grabbed Nami's hand, her face full of admiration.
Nami smiled confidently.
This was just the beginning!
Though she was young, she had traveled to more places than any of her peers here, giving her a wealth of experience.
She had been in Loguetown for several days now. Though she hadn't met Reddy, she had discovered a huge business opportunity.
Despite the fact that the East Blue war had only ended recently, the endless stream of merchants and tourists rushing in had immediately given her an idea for making money.
Create simple handicrafts and sell them to these rich, gullible tourists.
So she spent a day gathering everyone.
At first, no one believed her.
But when Nami made a few shell handicrafts that were instantly bought up by tourists, everyone was convinced.
That was how this open-air workshop came to be.
"Just wait, I have even better ways to make money."
Nami looked up with ambition, her eyes turning into the symbol of Berries.
Fish-Man Island!
Because of the Arlong Pirates, she hated fish-men, but that didn't stop her from trying to use Fish-Man Island to make money.
When it came to shell handicrafts, they were the real professionals.
"Nami, we're almost out of shells!"
A boy ran over in a panic.
The town had plenty of shells, but the ones suitable for making handicrafts were not that many.
"Wait here, I'll go hurry them up."
Nami stood up, gave some instructions, and walked out of the alley humming a tune.
When she passed the square, she stopped, a flash of satisfaction in her eyes.
The square was crowded—with hanging corpses.
The world was never short of weak but reckless people.
These corpses had all once been pirates.
The influx of merchants into Loguetown had brought enormous wealth, attracting countless pirates.
Loguetown was located at the entrance to the Grand Line.
After plundering, pirates could easily cross the Reverse Mountain and enter the Grand Line.
But these pirates, blinded by greed, had all ended up hanging in the square.
Though the corpses had been treated for preservation and odor, the air here was still unpleasant.
But to the townspeople, it was no problem at all.
Some even came daily just to see the fate of the pirates who had tormented them for years.
The townspeople's behavior influenced the outsiders.
Despite the square being filled with corpses, it couldn't stop the curiosity of tourists and merchants, who all came to take a look.
"Cocoyasi Village must be like this too."
Nami thought to herself as she headed to the fish market to restock.
Only there could she get the freshest shells.
But before she had gone far, the smile on Nami's face disappeared as she stared at a group of people approaching from a distance.
"Marines..."
Nami bit her lip, a flash of hatred in her eyes.
If it hadn't been for Captain Nezumi's protection, the Arlong Pirates wouldn't have been so rampant.
Her eyes darted around, and then she ran straight toward Tsuru's group.
"Oof!"
Nami bumped into Tsuru's shoulder, stumbled back two steps, and fell onto her behind.
"Little girl, I'm sorry."
Tsuru smiled wryly and helped Nami up.
This was a popular tourist spot, crowded with people. Even she hadn't expected to bump into someone.
"It's fine, goodbye."
Nami forced a smile and tried to slip away, but Tsuru stopped her.
"Don't you know the rules of this town?"
Tsuru chuckled and pointed at the distant square, teasing, "Little girl, committing crimes here means you'll end up hanging over there. So... give me back my wallet."
Nami was shocked. She hadn't expected her pickpocketing skills to fail against an old lady.
Tsuru shook her head with a smile. "As an apology for bumping into you, how about I treat you to something to eat?"
"I... I don't want it!"
Nami threw the wallet she had just stolen back at Tsuru and ran off, disappearing into the bustling crowd in seconds with her agility.
Tsuru sighed helplessly.
She could guess that Nami hated the Marines for some reason and had tried to steal her wallet as revenge.
...
"Bell-mère..."
Nami walked through the crowd with her head down, her emotions complicated.
She really had wanted to steal Tsuru's wallet as revenge for the Marines protecting the Arlong Pirates.
But Tsuru's kind tone and smile reminded her of Bell-mère, who had been killed by Arlong.
"Why are the Marines in Loguetown?"
Nami clenched her fists as if to reassure herself. "They must be here to cause trouble for Dr. Reddy. This is my chance to meet him and make my request."
With that thought, she turned and ran back.
Soon, she saw Tsuru's group again.
"Why are they going to the construction site?"
Nami knew that the site outside Loguetown was the future new district and that many prisoners were working there.
But she didn't know that most of them were elite Marines. She thought they were just gangsters captured during Loguetown's crackdown.
Soon, Tsuru's group was stopped.
Nami recognized the guy named Bartolomeo.
She had approached him before, using every trick in the book—acting cute, whining, even using a sweet voice—but Bartolomeo had been completely uninterested and shooed her away in disgust.
"Hah?"
Bartolomeo had an infuriatingly arrogant attitude. "The Marines want to see Boss Reddy?"
"You—!"
The adjutant was furious, but Tsuru stopped him.
Still wearing a gentle smile, Tsuru said, "We mean no harm. Dr. Reddy will surely want to see us too."
"Go back and wait. When Boss Reddy is willing to see you, I'll let you know." Bartolomeo remained unmoved, casually picking his ear with his pinky.
Even Nami couldn't stand it.
"Then we'll trouble you."
Tsuru had met all kinds of people, some far more arrogant than Bartolomeo, so she wasn't angry. She thanked him politely and left with her group.
"Not even the Marines can get in?"
Nami was disappointed. She had hoped to tag along, but even Tsuru's group had been turned away by Bartolomeo.
Then she slapped her forehead.
She had almost forgotten her main task—restocking!
...
"The Marines are already here?"
Reddy put down his fork and wiped his mouth with a napkin.
He had been to Amazon Lily, Fish-Man Island, and Dressrosa recently, and even fought with Garp.
He wasn't surprised that the Marine negotiation team had arrived late.
"Are they trying to show that the Marines aren't in a hurry?"
Reddy chuckled and stood up from the dining table.
If he were a native of this world, he might have been fooled by Tsuru's act.
But he wasn't.
The Marines had deployed forces in the East Blue war that matched the scale and quality of the Summit War in the original story.
Losing 50,000 elite Marines was a devastating blow to the Navy.
Tsuru was shrewd, but Reddy didn't want to drag this out any longer.
Because he was about to go bankrupt again.