Loguetown Harbor.
After Smoker had ruthlessly cleaned up Loguetown's original garrison, the operation to conquer Arlong's territory finally got underway.
Although quite a few soldiers in the original garrison had been corrupt scum colluding with Commander Hammer, Smoker successfully reorganized the remaining capable men under his command after a thorough purge. This finally gave him, a Headquarters colonel, a force of one hundred men.
After taking over the Loguetown base, Smoker's flagship was finally upgraded from that miniature armed civilian vessel to a standard warship loaded with dozens of cannons.
Smoker finally looked a little like a high-ranking officer.
Naturally, high-ranking officers did not personally handle such tedious matters.
So Smoker leisurely smoked by himself at the bow, while his adjutant, Tashigi, busily directed the Marines as they moved supplies, inspected equipment, counted personnel, and prepared the warship to set sail.
At that moment, the busy Marines suddenly froze, followed by a wave of unconscious murmurs of admiration.
Following the soldiers' gazes, Tashigi saw a burly, imposing man in a well-tailored white suit slowly walking toward them.
"Senior Garen!"
Tashigi waved from afar and greeted Garen in a respectful tone tinged with excitement.
Garen gave a slight nod in return.
However, the Marines' attention was naturally not focused on the same thing as Tashigi's. Their eyes were all fixed on the Orange-Haired Girl in a pure white off-the-shoulder dress beside Garen.
After going shopping with Garen yesterday, Nami had actually changed out of her ever-present short-sleeved top and short skirt. She had put on the short off-the-shoulder princess dress that Garen had initially called "stunning."
"Well?"
Enjoying the admiring looks around her, Nami asked Garen beside her with some pride,
"Don't I look good dressed like this?"
"It's all right."
Hearing that familiar question, Garen instinctively tensed up, and his tone became stiff.
"Hmph!"
Nami pouted in dissatisfaction. "That's not what you said when you bought it for me yesterday."
Garen paused, then spoke his honest thoughts to Nami.
"It does look good."
"But you've got your shoulders and legs exposed."
"Who dresses like that to sail out and fight?!"
"Huh?"
Nami lowered her head in confusion to examine her slender bare shoulders and long legs extending from beneath her skirt. Then she said innocently,
"What's wrong with dressing like this?"
"Lots of girls sail out dressed this way, don't they?"
"Uh..."
Seeing Nami's completely justified expression, Garen could find no argument against it.
Compared to how the "future" Nami in his memories dressed, the current Nami, who merely wore a short off-the-shoulder dress, was indeed extremely conservative.
And the beauties sailing the seas dressed more scantily than the last.
It was truly impossible to imagine what special techniques these bold, spirited girls used to keep themselves from being exposed during intense battles.
"Wear whatever you want."
Unable to keep up with this world's open fashion due to his rigid way of thinking, Garen simply stopped commenting on Nami's clothes.
Besides, Nami did look much more pleasing to the eye dressed this way.
"This time, when we return to Cocoyasi Village..."
Nami suddenly became serious, her voice filled with resolve.
"I want them to see a different me."
Standing beside Garen, standing before that warship, Nami looked completely transformed.
It was not merely a gorgeous new outfit, but hope for a new life within her heart.
She finally had the Courage to stand up to Arlong head-on.
"Miss Nami?!"
Another surprised voice suddenly came from beside them.
Garen and Nami turned around to see Wallace, who had somehow already arrived at the harbor.
Two days ago, he had already decided to follow Garen, this humanoid news-making machine, to Cocoyasi Village and report on the heroic deeds of Knight Garen.
Wallace clicked his tongue in amazement. "Miss Nami has changed so much!"
"May I take a photo?"
"Of course!"
Nami gladly accepted the request.
However, instead of taking out a camera as usual, Wallace pulled out a strange large snail and held it in his hand. He then struck a photographer's pose toward Nami and Garen.
Both Nami and Garen were slightly taken aback.
Garen carefully examined the large snail in Wallace's hand, which was clearly a living creature, and asked in astonishment, "Is that... a Den Den Mushi?"
"That's right!"
Wallace proudly introduced his new equipment.
"This is a Visual Den Den Mushi with camera functions."
"It needs no film. Not only can it take and store large numbers of photographs, it can also record video."
"Once connected to special external communications equipment, it can remotely fax photos and video back to the newspaper headquarters in real time."
"A Visual Den Den Mushi?"
Nami was startled and asked with some curiosity, "This thing must be expensive, right?!"
Indeed, Den Den Mushi were already considered rare creatures in East Blue.
A more advanced Visual Den Den Mushi, with functions like a digital camera combined with a fax machine, was practically a legendary treasure to a working-class person like Nami.
Even as a professional thief, Nami had no way of learning its exact price. She only had the impression that it was "very expensive."
The difference in their social standing was simply too great.
"Yes!"
Wallace nodded lightly and continued,
"Our newspaper does not have many of these either. Only high-ranking reporters are qualified to use them."
"News gathered by ordinary reporters is not valuable enough to justify using such expensive real-time fax equipment."
"Oh?"
Garen caught the implication behind Wallace's words. "You got promoted?"
"Thanks to Lord Garen, I obtained world-class breaking news."
Wallace nodded gratefully toward Garen, then said excitedly,
"Though I am unworthy, I have already been promoted to vice president of the East Blue Daily!"
"Vice president of the East Blue Daily?"
Nami cried out in surprise. "That really is..."
The position carried far more weight than it sounded.
Because of the existence of the special creatures known as News Birds, newspapers reached nearly every island on the seas outside the Calm Belt.
Major news on the scale of the Pirate King's execution could spread across the entire world within three days and become known to everyone.
Under such circumstances, newspapers that controlled public opinion could, to a certain extent, control the direction of events on the seas. Their influence was self-evident.
And the East Blue Daily was the newspaper with the largest circulation in the East Blue Sea.
Although its influence could not compare to those major newspapers on the Grand Line, it was still enough to guide public opinion throughout the East Blue Sea.
Furthermore, the World Government's control was weak and its oversight of the news inadequate, making local newspapers even more influential.
Nami looked over Wallace's face, which was far too young for a vice president, and said in disbelief,
"Was the news we made over the past two days really that huge?"
"It actually got you promoted directly to vice president?"
"Well..."
Wallace said somewhat awkwardly,
"There was actually another small reason."
"My father is the financial backer behind the East Blue Daily."
"Mm..."
Nami's expression immediately turned strange as she recalled the enormous interview fee Wallace had casually produced earlier.
"No wonder a junior reporter like you was so generous."
"Haha."
Wallace revealed a shy smile.
"Miss Nami and Lord Garen also helped me quite a lot."
"My father never supported me becoming a reporter. You helped prove my abilities as a reporter and ultimately changed his mind."
Wallace waved the Visual Den Den Mushi in his hand again and said,
"Enough talk. Come take a picture, you two!"
"You both look perfect right now. I want to photograph you and fax it back to the newspaper as an illustration for that feature report."
"Oh?"
Garen found that strange. "You haven't published that article yet?"
"Not yet."
"This is world-class news involving a Marine hero and a Pirate King crew member, after all. It naturally has to be handled carefully."
Wallace explained with a serious expression,
"And Miss Nami is involved in the story as well. Considering the secrecy of our upcoming bandit-suppression operation..."
"I specifically arranged the release date so that the news report will likely reach Cocoyasi Village at roughly the same time as our bandit-suppression force."
"I see."
Nami nodded gratefully to Wallace.
"Come to think of it..."
Garen suddenly asked curiously, "Since it's a report about me, can I see the draft in advance?"
"No problem!"
Wallace readily pulled a stack of manuscripts from his briefcase.
"This is the news draft I wrote. Please, take a look!"
"From Steel Cutlass to Clown Buggy to the corrupt Loguetown garrison, it records all of Lord Garen's heroic deeds!"
"Very good."
Garen nodded in satisfaction and eagerly accepted the manuscript Wallace handed over, beginning to read it.
As his first time becoming a news figure, Garen was quite looking forward to it.
A moment later—
"Listen."
Garen's face darkened like storm clouds.
"What the hell are this 'Fifty-Fifty' and 'Ippon Ken Dou Swordsman' supposed to mean?!"
Before you continue