Orange Town is a medium-sized port town that was originally just an ordinary small town until it was chosen by the Marine as a logistics base and then developed.
The entire town covers an area of less than ten square kilometers, with a Marine logistics base and a civilian port. Its prosperity is barely passable in the East Blue, being a bit remote.
Merchants in the East Blue often use the town's port as a resupply point, and obscure pirates also frequently visit the town.
It can be said that Orange Town is a mixed bag, and even with the Marine patrolling during the day, order is barely maintained.
There are many stalls on both sides of the market, bustling with people coming and going.
Many vendors set up stalls selling fish skin, seafood, weapons, ancient relics, and even things called 'treasure map fragments'.
Many brawny men with swords at their waists were haggling loudly, clearly not good people.
Besides, occasionally, Fishmen with fins on their bodies and strange heads could be seen wandering the streets. Most of them also carried swords and weapons, looking somewhat unsettling.
After all, it was the early days of the Great Pirate Era, and pirates in the East Blue were rampant, daring to wander under the very nose of the Marine.
This also proves that the current World Government and Marine have weak control over the East Blue, to the extent that pirates run rampant right outside the Marine's gates.
Martin was used to this and went straight to a large general store in the town center. The store had a sign that read "Kim's Trade" above its entrance.
This large general store was like a small supermarket. The left display cabinet was filled with various foods, while the right side was filled with various navigation equipment, emitting a mixed aroma. In the very center, the counter was filled with weapon consumables like swords and steel ingots, which seemed a bit out of place.
Martin tapped the counter with his index finger: "Boss Kim, give me 100 dried shrimp, 10 large hams, 10 turkeys, plus 100 catties of white fish, and also 200 catties each of rice and flour. And three cans each of pepper, chili, salt, caviar, blueberry jam, and plum jam."
Kim, the fat boss who had been buried behind the counter fiddling with an abacus, immediately looked up, his chubby face beaming with a smile: "Oh, it's Ensign Martin, welcome, welcome..."
"I've resigned from the Marine. Just call me Martin from now on."
Martin reminded him.
With the clatter of the abacus, Kim quickly looked up: "That's a total of 284,850 Berries!"
"What? 284,850... Berries?"
Upon hearing this, Martin's expression almost broke: "Hey, Kim, are you kidding me? Why the sudden price increase? Normally, this much food would cost 150,000 Berries. This has almost doubled."
Kim quickly explained: "You don't know, the price of raw materials in town has increased too much recently. All ingredients have gone up in price, and I have no choice. This is the market price now; if you don't believe me, you can ask elsewhere."
"I heard that sea monster frequently attacks fishing boats and grain ships. Many people are afraid of capsizing, so they simply reduced transport and fishing. Plus, the number of pirate attacks on merchant ships has increased significantly recently, causing many goods to be transported poorly, so prices can only increase where they are."
Damn it...
Besides that sea monster, pirates are also causing trouble. This is going to disrupt the entire East Blue.
Presumably, that sea monster is the Lord of the Coast, which bit off one arm of the future Four Emperors, Red Hair Shanks.
He wondered if Shanks had already lost an arm to it.
Speaking of which, his wedding cost him a lot of money, and now he doesn't have enough money for food, instantly becoming penniless.
This world is truly chaotic enough.
"Martin, do you still want this food?"
Kim looked at Martin, whose veins were bulging on his forehead, and tentatively asked.
"Yes, pack it all up and have someone deliver it to my home."
Martin gritted his teeth: "Also, take a look at my sword."
Kim sighed with some difficulty: "Martin, as I said before, this shop does not accept ordinary swords. There are too many of them."
Martin handed over the sword wrapped in cloth: "I have two swords here, both are Good Swords."
"Both are Good Swords?"
Kim reached out, took the bag, and weighed it, a very surprised expression on his face.
He opened the cloth bag, picked up the two blades lying inside, and examined them carefully, his eyes gradually widening. Then he flicked the blades with his fingers, making them produce a light, crisp sound, while also listening attentively.
"This blade pattern, this material, this sound, this smoothness... it really is a Good Sword. One of the swords has a beautiful pattern and an even better sound; it can be considered a Fine Good Sword. The other one is also quite good among Good Swords!"
After Kim carefully inspected the two swords, his eyes gleamed, and a smile appeared at the corner of his mouth: "Martin, how do you plan to sell them?"
Martin said casually: "You decide the price. We're old acquaintances, just make sure the price is fair."
Kim raised his hand and clattered the abacus: "At market price, a Fine Good Sword is 350,000 Berries."
"The purchase price for ordinary Good Swords is usually 100,000 to 150,000 Berries per sword. This sword is of good quality, so I'll buy it from you for 200,000 Berries."
"That adds up to 550,000 Berries. And for the food, I'll round it down to 280,000 Berries. So, you'll get 270,000 Berries."
"Does that work for you?"
"Yes, let's do the deal."
"Martin, if I may ask, you suddenly brought out Good Swords this time, and even forged a Fine Good Sword. Could it be that your forging skills have broken through?"
Kim asked with a smile while counting the banknotes.
Seeing the smile on the other person's face, Martin nodded: "That's right, I was lucky enough to break through. I'm already an Intermediate Knife Craftsman!"
Kim's smile grew even wider: "Martin, I knew I hadn't misjudged you. Congratulations, congratulations..."
"Let me tell you a little secret: the Marine has recently been controlling the transportation channels for materials like iron ingots and steel ingots. Especially for military materials like steel ingots, the control will become stricter and stricter, and there will be a lot of room for price increases in the future."
Martin understood that Kim wanted to curry favor with him and do him a favor. He thought for a moment, then simply pushed several stacks of banknotes back, and took out all the money he had on him. He spent 400,000 Berries with Kim to get some iron ingots, a large quantity of steel ingots, and two hundred catties of coke.
Iron ingots are not valuable; one hundred catties of iron ingots cost 20,000 Berries. The price of steel ingots has already started to rise, several times that of iron ingots, currently about 80,000 Berries per hundred catties.
Iron ingots need to be refined by oneself and are generally only used for forging ordinary swords. Steel ingots can be used directly by Knife Craftsmen and are the main raw material for Good Swords. Coke may also be in short supply recently.
This outing truly left him with empty pockets, completely broke!
Fortunately, all the materials were in place.
"Martin, you must visit my shop often in the future! I'll give you discounts that no one else gets..."
Before he could finish speaking, a large black shoe flew through the air with a whooshing sound. Martin felt a strong gust of wind coming from behind him and immediately twisted his body to dodge.
As a result, the shoe hit Kim squarely in the face, covering him in dirt and making him stumble back two steps.
Who?
Who dared to launch a sneak attack?
Martin spun around abruptly, his hand gripping the hilt of Senbonzakura at his waist, ready to draw his sword!