"Amazing!"
Kotori stepped onto the dock and gazed at the wide stone steps before her, letting out a genuine exclamation of admiration.
Because this was a secret operation, she hadn't taken a warship through the Calm Belt route. Instead, she had boarded a merchant ship and taken a detour, going through many twists and turns before finally arriving in the East Blue.
"You can do this, Kotori!"
Thinking about how she had missed the first operation of the Blade Unit, Kotori immediately cheered herself up in her heart and resolutely stepped onto the stone steps.
After reaching the island, the bustling scene before her made her gasp in amazement once again.
Loguetown held an extremely special significance within the Navy.
Having grown up in Marineford, Kotori had never truly visited Loguetown before, but she had a rough impression of it based on descriptions from other Marines.
Chaos!
Loguetown was the gateway from the East Blue to the Grand Line, and its unique geographical location made it a paradise for pirates.
Although the island was garrisoned by the Navy, it was impossible to guard against thieves every single day.
The newly set sail pirates, full of ambition to find the great treasure, wanted to increase their bounties before entering the Grand Line, and causing a ruckus in Loguetown was a great way to do so.
At the same time, they could also plunder large amounts of wealth.
But the island itself was far from peaceful.
The reason Loguetown was called the Town of Beginnings and Endings was because it was home to many losers.
These former pirates, though failures, never lacked the ambition to rise again.
All these factors combined meant that beneath the glamorous exterior of Loguetown lay an unspeakable mess of disorder.
Yet what Kotori saw was a Loguetown completely different from the one in her imagination.
Merchants gathered here, and tourists taking photos could be seen everywhere. There were also young children weaving through the crowds, selling beautiful handicrafts.
All of this left Kotori astonished, unable to understand why Loguetown, ruled by that evil man, was so full of vitality.
"Don't forget your mission, Kotori!"
After a brief moment of admiration, Kotori immediately felt ashamed of her wavering resolve. She quickly steadied her emotions and prepared to find Bartolomeo.
Based on the intelligence she had, Kotori soon spotted her target outside a large construction site on the outskirts of town.
"Huh?"
Kotori was surprised to find that, according to the intelligence, Bartolomeo was supposed to be a brutal bastard, yet now he was being pestered to the point of exasperation by a girl about her own age.
What surprised her even more was that Bartolomeo, though clearly on the verge of exploding, didn't seem as ruthless as the intelligence suggested. Instead, he was arguing with the girl like a child.
"No way!"
Bartolomeo glared at Nami, looking like he was about to lose his mind. "Where am I supposed to find people to assign as bodyguards for a little mermaid right now?"
"Don't be like that, Bartolomeo~"
Nami deployed a full arsenal of acting cute and coquettish, emphasizing Shirahoshi's status and explaining how this would affect the relationship between Fish-Man Island and Reddy.
But Bartolomeo wasn't fooled and flatly refused Nami.
He was Reddy's die-hard fan, but he wasn't stupid. He could tell that Nami, this clever little devil, was trying to muddy the waters to get a batch of cheap labor from him.
No way!
Right now, the island had several major construction projects underway, and manpower was in short supply everywhere, forcing him to hire workers from Fish-Man Island and Amazon Lily.
Bartolomeo gave her a sidelong glance. "Why don't you go ask Prince Fukaboshi?"
"That guy's no good."
Nami puffed out her cheeks and shouted, "Shirahoshi is his sister, but he said this was a trial she had to go through and refused my reasonable request."
That's right.
At first, she had set her sights on Fish-Man Island, but Fukaboshi was stubborn and refused her on the grounds that Shirahoshi needed to experience hardship.
However, as Shirahoshi got into the swing of things, the shell crafts she designed became hugely popular on the island, and a labor shortage inevitably arose.
After all, these were designs from Fish-Man Island, and younger children couldn't learn the techniques quickly, while the older children were the main sales force.
Left with no choice, Nami had come to Bartolomeo to try her luck.
In her mind, Bartolomeo, as the foreman, had so many prisoners under him that he could surely spare a batch of cheap workers. Besides, it wasn't like she wasn't going to pay.
But to her surprise, Bartolomeo, this blockhead, was completely immune to her tactics. He was adamant that these prisoners had been entrusted to him by Boss Reddy and couldn't be loaned out.
Even if Nami was also highly valued by Reddy.
Nami tried every trick in the book but couldn't persuade Bartolomeo.
"Um..."
At that moment, a timid voice cut in.
Nami raised an eyebrow.
Oh wow, this tone... another Shirahoshi?
Bartolomeo, too, was reminded of the terrible experience he'd had with that crybaby before.
"What?"
The two of them turned to stare at Kotori simultaneously, their expressions far from friendly.
Kotori was startled and quickly lowered her head to hide her expression, reevaluating her approach in her mind.
"Aren't you short on people?"
Bartolomeo, seeing Kotori like this, immediately and cleverly foisted this troublesome matter onto Nami and turned to walk back into the construction site.
"You..."
Nami was furious.
If the construction site hadn't been a restricted area strictly off-limits to outsiders under Reddy's orders, she would've chased after Bartolomeo to give him a piece of her mind.
Shirahoshi was one thing.
She had the skills to earn her keep here.
But what about this girl?
Nami scrutinized Kotori, whose demeanor was almost on par with Shirahoshi's, and immediately felt a headache coming on.
Meanwhile, Kotori was also completely baffled, not understanding what she had done wrong to make her target run away like that.
"Where are your parents?"
Nami, after all, couldn't bring herself to just abandon Kotori and leave, so she patiently asked.
"I'm a fan of Dr. Reddy!"
Kotori hurriedly recited the prepared lines in her mind. "I want to follow Dr. Reddy..."
Before she could finish, Nami raised a hand to stop her.
"Telling me this is pointless."
Nami glared at Kotori with undisguised annoyance and bluntly scolded, "I don't care what purpose you came to this island with, but you need to go home right now!"
"Huh..."
Kotori panicked slightly.
She hadn't expected Nami to see through her so quickly.
Fortunately, Nami's next words put her somewhat at ease.
"Whatever, it's too late now. Come with me first."
Nami waved impatiently for Kotori to follow. It wasn't safe to leave a girl her age alone on the island.
After all, the inns in town were always fully booked.
Kotori, still confused, followed Nami to the workshop, where she saw a giant mermaid standing among the busy children inside. Her eyes widened in shock.
Why was there a mermaid here?
Her size alone made her look incredibly noble.
"Nami-chan..."
Shirahoshi, spotting Nami's return, immediately looked to her for help as if grasping at a lifeline.
Nami left the stunned Kotori behind and walked up to Shirahoshi to ask what was wrong. She then sighed in exasperation and lectured, "You can just say what kind of materials you need instead of designing based only on what's available."
"Eh, that's allowed?"
Shirahoshi looked utterly astonished.
Nami facepalmed.
Princess Shirahoshi was indeed talented when it came to design, but she was just too naive.
The materials in the workshop were all locally sourced from fish markets and docks, so the variety was limited.
At first, Shirahoshi's designs based on these materials had been very well-received, but even the cleverest housewife couldn't make bread without flour.
The lack of material variety had stumped Shirahoshi, and her inspiration had dried up.
To Nami, this was a critical moment for the workshop's expansion. How could they let something as trivial as material shortages hold them back?
If they didn't have enough types of materials, they could just spend money to order more.
It wasn't like they were broke now.
Kotori, snapping out of her daze, immediately raised her estimation of Nami's importance by a notch.
This older girl seemed to hold a high position on the island.
Hmm, she's definitely the breakthrough point!