One piece : A Lotus

Although Smoker looks a bit sinister, and those who don't know him usually think of him as a vicious pirate, in reality, he is a positive character.

And even though Zephyr's words stirred his heart a bit, he is not the type to make decisions when his mind is heated. He still needs some time.

After Ezekiel left Logtown, he headed straight to Cocoyasi Village in East Blue. Now that he had arrived in East Blue, the first thing he needed to do was find the little thief because of her unusual talent as a navigator and the suffering she was enduring at that time.

The streets of Cocoyasi Village were somewhat dirty due to the destruction by the Fish-Men pirates. The villagers had been oppressed by the pirates for a long time, and their spirit had weakened.

Ezekiel walked through the street and saw almost no one. Once, he encountered a child who ran out of the house alone. The child quickly disappeared around the corner of the street upon seeing Ezekiel.

Only when Ezekiel reached the very center of the village did he see a man wrapped in many bandages, who seemed to be severely injured.

This was the local sheriff, Mr. Genzo from Cocoyasi Village. Ezekiel pondered for a while before he remembered him.

"Hey, stranger, I don't know how you got here, but I advise you to leave this island as quickly as possible; there's nothing for you here..." Genzo paused, looking at Ezekiel . Out of kindness, he offered appropriate advice to the mysterious figure cloaked in a cape.

"I'm a trader," Ezekiel smiled. "I heard there are special mandarins here that can only grow in East Blue, so I want to buy plenty. Can you help me?"

Genzo paused briefly. He heard Ezekiel's rather immature voice and realized that the person before him was quite young.

Ezekiel opened his cloak, revealing his harmless appearance. Genzo sighed with relief. It turned out that he was just an unassuming young man, though apparently not a poor one. He must be a young gentleman from some noble family.

"How much do you want?" Genzo was even more at ease because selling mandarins would be beneficial for Cocoyasi Village. Especially now, with a pirate crew in control, no trader dared to visit this island. Perhaps this young man was merely a fool or fearless of pirates.

"I'm offering a hundred million Berries for the mandarins," Ezekiel said.

"A hundred million Berries..." Genzo repeated his words, and then his pupils suddenly narrowed. "But how many mandarins do you need then?.."

"I'm paying a hundred million Berries a year for a hundred million bags of mandarins," Ezekiel replied.

"One hundred million Berries every year?!" Genzo was in shock; he looked at this young gentleman, his lips trembling. What the hell?! Is he joking?! "And you... you're willing to pay one hundred million Berries?" he asked.

Ezekiel slowly pulled out a thick contract with the seal of an official bank of Alabasta and the signature of the King of Alabasta.

"Alabasta is a large Kingdom located on the Grand Line, with a population of over 220 million people, but this country lacks vitamin-rich fruits, so the King entrusted me with purchasing them worldwide. The current annual budget for this is... 1 billion Berries; 100 million Berries is just an insignificant amount for the country."

Ezekiel wasn't joking. Alabasta is, after all, a desert country, a place where fruits are genuinely needed, and nothing could impress a small thief more than this.

Genzo suspiciously took the contract in his hands, carefully read every word, and after reading, finally looked up and skeptically said:

"The aforementioned 'Alabasta' will pay 100 million Berries in the first year... Is this true?"

Ezekiel looked at Genzo and genuinely felt sorry for him, as he had never seen the world. After all, even ten-year-old Nami could do everything possible to earn 100 million Berries—no matter what method she uses. This sufficiently demonstrates that 100 million Berries is actually nothing.

And from a commercial perspective, purchasing 100 million bags of mandarins and sending them to Alabasta is equivalent to at least one billion bags...

So Ezekiel would indeed show the middle finger to those pirates who go out to sea for money. Why be a hopeless pirate in such a wealthy world, where you can simply earn?

Even many years later, the bounty for an emperor will reach 5 billion Berries...

Just look, how can this be taken seriously? Although the bounty for any emperor is merely 5 billion Berries, the wealth they possess might not amount to 400 billion.

Ezekiel wanted to use money to pave the way, break through this world, and show them the true power of finance.

Hey, guys... what do you think about money?

Moldy treasure kept somewhere over there is not treasure at all!

"Young sir, I don't know your name..." Genzo started speaking more cautiously after he was almost sure of the truth.

"Call me Ezekiel ," Ezekiel smiled. The name "Ezekiel " was not associated by people with the King of Alabasta, Ezekiel Nefertari.

Then, Genzo politely invited Ezekiel to Nami's house. According to him, all the tangerines in Cocoyasi were planted with the help of Ezekiel's family. After all, planting is a science too.

The two of them walked, talking and laughing, and they had a good rapport with each other. Now Genzo didn't suspect the young man of lying. Such behavior is definitely not common for ordinary people and impossible for a liar. This calmness and nobility cannot be artificially created; this person must have a high status in Alabasta.

By the way... he came from the Grand Line!

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