"Respected Lord Reddy!"
Sivedia bowed obsequiously, delivering a concise yet detailed report on the situation over the past two days.
Thanks to his status as a noble of the Cia Kingdom, he had successfully purchased all the bulk grain held by the kingdom's nobles. The only cost was a deposit of approximately two billion Berries.
After all, no merchant would pay the full amount upfront. Using minimal funds to leverage higher-value goods was the golden rule.
However, Sivedia was not satisfied with just the grain reserves of the Cia Kingdom alone. This was a massive opportunity!
After completing grain purchases within the Cia Kingdom, Sivedia traveled to several neighboring kingdoms, splashing money generously and snatching a large, sweet piece of the pie from the Grain Alliance.
The Grain Alliance was aware that someone was competing with them to purchase grain from various kingdoms in the East Blue.
But they truly didn't care. In fact, they even encouraged it, hoping this competitor would buy more to alleviate their own financial pressure.
After all, everyone was aiming to make a fortune in Loguetown. There was no need to fight to the death.
In the end, Sivedia delivered results that satisfied Reddy: "As of last night, I've already purchased enough grain to feed Loguetown for a year."
"Well done."
Reddy was very pleased with Sivedia's achievements.
A year was more than enough time.
Sivedia quickly smiled humbly, not daring to take all the credit: "It's all thanks to you, Lord Reddy."
The clone bodies Reddy had assigned to him had truly opened his eyes.
Not the guards, but Mon, who possessed the Door-Door Fruit abilities, and Pyo, who had the Float-Float Fruit powers.
Being able to visit several neighboring kingdoms of the Cia Kingdom in a short time, purchase large quantities of grain, and transport them back to Loguetown was largely due to these two.
For a moment, he even felt the urge to ask Reddy to permanently assign these two clones to him.
This duo was practically heaven-sent for logistics.
However, it was just a passing impulse. He didn't dare to actually claim credit and make such a request to Reddy.
"Lord Reddy..."
Hoping to gain more of Reddy's attention, Sivedia hesitated before speaking: "Aren't we letting them off too easily?"
While the Grain Alliance had spent a huge sum to buy bulk grain from Nami, the grain was still in their hands.
If anything went wrong on his end, the consequences would be disastrous.
Reddy's expression turned odd as he said quietly, "You probably don't know this, but most of the warehouses on the island are mine."
...
"Nani!"
Hamilton, a self-proclaimed elite member of CP4, broke out in a cold sweat.
The rental prices for warehouses in the storage district had increased!
And it wasn't just double or triple—it was a full ten times higher!
"This is today's rental rate."
The administrator, a thin old man, kindly reminded him, "More and more merchant ships are coming to the island. Warehouses are in high demand, and the price will definitely rise again tomorrow."
Hamilton's face turned red with anger: "No, this isn't right! This is robbery!"
"Take it or leave it!"
The thin old man lost his patience, turned around, and started to walk away.
"Wait!"
Hamilton panicked and quickly stopped him.
In just one day, the logistics team Nami had organized hadn't managed to move much grain.
Still, it was about two billion Berries' worth of grain at standard prices, piled up like a mountain.
The island's climate was humid. Leaving the grain exposed overnight would cause significant losses, let alone how long it would take to deplete Nami's stock of cheap grain.
Renting warehouses became the only option.
The rent was high, but compared to the losses from mold and spoilage, it was still much cheaper.
"Hey, old man, what should we do with this grain?"
Nami urged impatiently.
The logistics business was her own, and the more she transported, the better.
If they were short on manpower, they could just hire temporary workers.
Loguetown had no shortage of people.
Moreover, with a little sweet-talking, she could even hire cheaper labor from Reddy.
Every extra minute spent here felt like losing a small fortune.
"Please handle the paperwork for me."
Gritting his teeth, Hamilton reluctantly rented all the vacant warehouses in the storage district.
For this, he paid an exorbitant daily rent of one million Berries.
After paying, Hamilton forced a smile and tried to fish for information from Nami: "Nami-chan, how much grain do you still have left?"
"Don't worry!"
Nami waved her hand confidently. "I'll definitely deliver ten billion Berries' worth of grain to you."
Hamilton froze, feeling as if he had stumbled into a massive trap.
...
In the room.
All members of the Grain Alliance had gathered.
After listening to Hamilton's barely composed explanation, everyone felt like they were going insane.
"This is robbery!"
A fat merchant was the first to explode, his eyes red.
He had earned his money through hard work—why should he pay such outrageous rent?
"Even if he's an Emperor of the Sea, he must listen to our voices!"
Another merchant roared furiously, no less agitated than the fat one.
"Right now, we only have two choices."
Hamilton spoke coldly. "First, stop immediately and end this war. Second, keep going."
The others gradually regained their composure.
"We can't stop now!"
The fat merchant bellowed, his eyes bloodshot.
He had already bet everything on this grain war, paying prices higher than the global average.
If they stopped now, how would they offload all the grain they had hoarded?
Never mind whether they could sell it—just the shipping costs would bankrupt him.
And he wasn't the only one.
Most of the merchants present were gamblers at heart, having staked their fortunes just like the fat merchant.
"I refuse to believe he can buy that much grain!"
The fat merchant, eyes red like a desperate gambler, screamed hysterically. "We must gather even more money to win this war!"
Most agreed.
The one hundred billion Berries raised today had been pooled together by everyone.
Apart from those who had already bet everything, the real big merchants hadn't even shown their full strength yet.
At the very least, raising another hundred billion wouldn't be difficult.
Even if they had to drown their opponent in money, they would do it.
Hamilton, now fully composed, watched these desperate merchants coldly.
He had already contributed all his funds.
Since these merchants were still willing to keep gambling, he had no reason to object.
However, the next day brought unfortunate news.
The rent had increased by ten percent.
Though the grain merchants winced at the cost, they could still endure it.
An extra hundred thousand Berries was nothing. As long as they won this war, they could earn back tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, even millions of times that amount.
On the third day, the rent rose by another ten percent, steady as ever.
On the fourth day, the rent increased by yet another ten percent.
On the fifth day, the rent only rose by five percent, which delighted the grain merchants.
Even better, Nami seemed to be wavering, as if her grain reserves were running low.
At this moment, their confidence soared.
...
"Has Brother Reddy really gone on a trip?"
Nami looked pitifully at Hancock, hoping for a denial.
Hancock sighed wistfully.
She had also wanted to go with Reddy to Whole Cake Island for the tea party.
Unfortunately, Reddy hadn't taken her.
Nami slumped dejectedly. "Brother Reddy is too ruthless. I'm worried I'll become their scapegoat."
The other side was using grain monopolies to make dirty money.
Reddy, not to be outdone, first used Sivedia as a front to hoard an ocean of grain, then leveraged the warehouse monopoly to turn the tables, slowly bleeding the Grain Alliance dry.
The more grain the Grain Alliance bought from her, the more rent they had to pay.
At first glance, it didn't seem like much, but the cumulative amount was staggering.
This wasn't a ten percent increase on the original rent—it was a ten percent increase on each day's rent.
With Reddy not on the island, Nami was afraid the Grain Alliance would take their frustration out on her once they realized something was wrong.
Hancock's eyebrows rose, her teeth gritting. "I hope they're bold enough to actually try something on this island."
"I love you, Sister Hancock!"
Nami clung to Hancock's arm, rubbing against her, her eyes turning into Berry symbols.
The warehouse rent had gone up.
Wasn't it only fair to raise the logistics prices too?
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
📖 Like the story? Read 120 chapters ahead!
🔗 patreon.com/atomelectron
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━