"Nami!"
Nami stopped what she was doing and looked up to see a girl about her age hurrying over.
The girl reached Nami and spread her hands helplessly. "We're almost out of bread."
"Leave it to me!"
Nami agreed readily, packed up her tools, and headed toward the alley entrance.
The open-air workshop was still operating.
She had already secured a plot of land from Reddy through Hancock to build a larger handicraft factory.
Though construction hadn't officially started yet and the land was still being leveled, the ambitious Nami had already begun training more workers in the open-air workshop. Her goal was seamless transition, maximizing profits as much as possible.
As of yesterday, the workshop had over a hundred workers.
Moreover, Nami had her own ideas. Instead of trying to recruit adults with more job opportunities, she targeted minors under eighteen.
This demographic was sizable in Loguetown and lacked stable ways to earn money.
The children Nami selected cherished this opportunity. Not a single one slacked off, since trying to fool Nami's sharp eyes wasn't easy.
"Uncle Wells!"
Arriving at the bakery, Nami tried her usual tactic of sweet-talking the owner for a group discount.
This time, however, she failed.
The bakery owner, Wells, spread his hands helplessly when Nami entered. "Nami-chan, it's not that I don't want to give you a discount. It's just that flour prices have doubled now."
"What?!"
Nami was shocked but quickly grew suspicious. "Don't try to trick me. Flour prices only rose a little yesterday!"
Money-obsessed Nami had gone to great lengths to control costs.
Raw materials like shells were no longer free due to the popularity of handicrafts, which was unavoidable.
Aside from profit-sharing with workshop members, food was the biggest expense by far.
Because of this, she had been closely monitoring food prices in Loguetown.
Wells scratched his head, equally baffled. "I don't know either. It's like flour prices suddenly shot up today."
"I don't believe you."
Nami turned and ran out of the bakery.
Wells shook his head with a wry smile, not taking it to heart.
Before long, Nami had visited all the bakeries and food shops in town, and the results left her stunned.
The entire town seemed to be running out of food overnight!
One shop owner even kindly advised her to buy quickly because prices would keep rising.
Refusing to give up, Nami rushed to a fish shop and was surprised to find that fish was now about a third cheaper than bread.
"Nami-chan, these fish are from Amazon Lily."
The friendly fish shop owner, who knew Nami well, explained, "The women of Amazon Lily are born fishermen. It's just a shame there aren't enough of them, so they can't bring back much in one trip. Still, the supply is stable for now."
"Thanks, Uncle!"
Nami smiled sweetly and ran out of the fish shop.
The warrior women of Amazon Lily were indeed skilled at fishing, but their main focus was hunting Sea Kings. Other fish were just a side gig.
The East Blue had Sea Kings, but not many.
Amazon Lily's fleets hunted in the Calm Belt, only casting nets for regular fish on their way back.
A round trip took at least three to five days.
Even so, Amazon Lily's fleets had nearly monopolized Loguetown's fish market.
Since they didn't care much about these extra catches, they sold them cheaply.
Nami had learned all this from Hancock and knew even more than the fish shop owner.
Instead of rushing to buy bread, Nami ran straight to the construction site outside town.
The site was still heavily guarded.
She had barely reached the perimeter when Bartolomeo stopped her.
"Bad people are trying to hurt Reddy!"
Nami was a clever girl who had put in the effort to understand the personalities of Reddy's key subordinates.
For example, Hancock would always help if it involved Reddy.
And Bartolomeo, standing before her now, would take any matter related to Reddy extremely seriously.
"Who dares?!"
Bartolomeo was furious.
Nami put on a serious face. "Only Reddy can solve this problem. Please take me to him."
"I can't handle it?"
Bartolomeo looked disappointed, missing another chance to serve Reddy.
Nami shook her head like he was naive. "Come on, violence won't fix this. It takes brains. Do you have brains?"
Bartolomeo glared.
Nami quickly corrected herself. "Oops, I mean wisdom. Are you wiser than Reddy?"
"Of course not."
Bartolomeo nodded solemnly.
There was no problem Reddy couldn't solve.
"Then wait here."
Bartolomeo pulled out a Den Den Mushi.
...
"Abnormal rise in food prices?"
Reddy looked strangely at Nami standing before him.
Honestly, he was surprised by her sensitivity to this issue.
Loguetown had rapidly become a world-famous tourist destination and trade hub.
Earning money hand over fist was no exaggeration.
The sudden influx of wealth had left locals dazzled, forgetting that Loguetown couldn't sustain itself—its lifeline was in others' hands.
And that was exactly the case.
Now that his finances were no longer tight and he had more manpower, Reddy had already received intel on the situation.
He even knew the reason behind it.
The prisoner exchange was confidential.
The Navy hadn't publicized it either, but the first installment of ransom—200 billion Berries in cash and an equal amount in gold—had arrived just yesterday.
The gold had already been sent to Punk Hazard for safekeeping.
The remaining 200 billion Berries had also been allocated.
His frontman, Sivedia, had returned to the Cia Kingdom to organize shipments, but it would take time to transport bulk food supplies to Loguetown.
With food prices spiking abnormally at this exact moment, Reddy couldn't help but suspect something.
"Reddy..."
Nami's cutesy voice snapped Reddy out of his thoughts.
"Something else?"
Reddy chuckled.
Nami grinned. "Can you sell me some food at normal prices? I have money."
Reddy thought for a moment, then suddenly smiled. "How about we make a big deal instead?"
...
"Cheers!"
A dozen merchants in the room raised their glasses, faces flushed with excitement.
After waiting so long, their moment had finally arrived.
Thanks to their manipulations, food prices in Loguetown had doubled overnight.
But this was far from enough to satisfy them.
Risking the wrath of an Emperor for monopoly profits? This meager gain was nothing.
"Keep releasing food in small batches. We need to control prices."
The sharp-faced man, the only one in the room not visibly excited, reminded them seriously. "Right now, it's still within that man's tolerance. We must be careful not to push him too far."
"When can we start selling freely?"
A fat man couldn't wait to ask, only to be met with mocking looks.
"My dear Edward, we are merchants."
The sharp-faced man smiled exaggeratedly. "Shouldn't we keep this business going for the long term?"
The others burst into laughter, their eyes turning into Beri symbols.
Ten times?
Twenty times?
Fifty times?
No!
Anything less than a hundredfold increase would mean they weren't professional enough!
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