The next day, as dawn was just breaking, dozens of News Coos flew in formation toward Marine Headquarters, each carrying as many phones as they possibly could.
They received a commission for every phone they delivered, so these News Coos were as excited as if they had been injected with adrenaline.
The income from just these two days had already surpassed their total income from the previous six months!
The phone sales at Marine Headquarters had completely 'blown up'!
In front of the newsstand, there was a sea of people, all Marine soldiers who had come to buy phones.
However, these new recruits were all tight-lipped, cautious to the core, causing the phone craze to temporarily spread only among the lower ranks.
"Hey, did you hear? The News Coos brought more phones today!" a Marine soldier whispered, his eyes full of anticipation.
"Shh, keep it down! If the officers find out, we'll be in trouble," another soldier quickly covered his mouth, looking around warily.
"Don't worry, as long as we don't say anything, the officers won't know. "
"Yeah, these phones are much more interesting than newspapers, especially that TikTok—it's simply amazing!"
"Exactly, I almost couldn't sleep last night, just kept scrolling through videos. Those beautiful women are just too gorgeous!"
"Shh, stop talking, someone's coming!"
The two soldiers immediately fell silent, pretending to look elsewhere nonchalantly.
Meanwhile, the staff at the newsstand were also incredibly busy.
While maintaining order, they quickly handed phones to customers, not forgetting to promote newspapers. "Newspaper + Phone, two hundred Berries, grand opening special!"
"Give me a phone!"
"Hurry, I want two!"
"Don't rush, one by one!"
The staff were in a flurry, but inwardly, they were all laughing madly.
They knew that as long as these phones remained popular, their commissions would keep pouring in.
"Hey, buddy, more phones arrived today, hurry up and get in line!"
"I know, I've been waiting here for a while. I heard the News Coos brought even more phones this time!"
"Hope I can buy one this time—I really don't want to wait anymore." A soldier patted his comrade's shoulder, his eyes full of excitement.
As they spoke, the two joined the long queue.
However, not far behind them, Vice Admiral Onigumo was observing everything with cold eyes.
Frowning, he muttered to himself, "What are these soldiers up to? Phones? TikTok? What kind of magic do these things possess to make these guys so obsessed?"
He shook his head, turned and left, preparing to go back and deal with these guys who weren't focusing on their duties!
Loguetown,
In the smoke-filled office, Smoker and Tashigi sat in chairs.
Ever since the Straw Hat Kid escaped from his grasp last time, Smoker hadn't been happy.
If that man hadn't suddenly appeared, how could he have failed?
"Mr. Smoker, letting the Straw Hat Kid go wasn't your fault—you don't need to blame yourself," Tashigi tried to comfort him.
"Hmph! I don't need your comfort," Smoker remained stubborn.
However, at this moment, he wasn't concerned about the Straw Hat Kid crossing Loguetown to the Grand Line, but rather his mind was full of thoughts about the relationship between the Straw Hat Kid and that man.
How did he appear here?
This was something he couldn't figure out.
As he was lost in thought, the cigar in his hand reached its end.
He lit a new cigar, but his peripheral vision unexpectedly caught sight of something Tashigi was fiddling with in her hand.
Rectangular, metallic sheen, just the right size to hold in her hand, and from time to time, Tashigi would cover her mouth, trying hard to stifle a laugh.
"What are you doing?" Smoker suddenly asked.
"Huh?!" The sudden question startled Tashigi.
After reacting, seeing Smoker's eyes staring intently at her, her face immediately turned red. "N-Nothing..."
"I saw it. What is that thing in your hand? Why are you playing with it so intently?" Smoker asked with a frown.
"Huh? You mean this?" Tashigi pointed to her phone, her expression full of confusion.
"Exactly," Smoker's tone carried a hint of impatience.
"This is a phone—it's very popular lately. I saw a lot of people bought them, so I bought one to try, and found it's really fun!" Tashigi explained.
Saying that, she took out her phone, found the camera function, and snapped a picture of Smoker with a click. "Senior, look, this is the photo I just took."
Tashigi flipped the phone over, and before Smoker could frown and react, she showed him the photo she had just taken.
Smoker was a bit impatient, but his gaze casually swept over it.
This glance was significant—his eyes immediately became fixated. "You just took this? How is it so clear! It's infinitely better than photos taken with a Visual Den Den Mushi."
Tashigi smiled and used two fingers to zoom in on the photo, while continuing. "And that's not all—not only can you take photos anytime, anywhere, and the photos are clear, but you can also zoom in, like this."
Smoker looked at the enlarged image of himself on the phone. Even the scar on his face was clearly visible, and he was greatly shocked.
If he wasn't in front of his subordinate, he might have even widened his eyes in disbelief.
"It's just taking a photo. Why were you laughing non-stop just now?" Smoker forcefully suppressed the shock in his heart and cleverly changed the subject.
"Hahaha, Mr. Smoker, these videos on here are too funny."
"Videos? What's that?" Smoker began to suspect that he was out of touch with the times. How could he not understand anything Tashigi was saying?
And Tashigi also realized that Mr. Smoker really seemed to not know what a phone was.
"Mr. Smoker, let me explain it to you. This thing is called a phone—the News Coos brought it a few days ago, and it suddenly became popular."
She first briefly explained the function of the phone, then began to introduce its entertainment features. "The app for watching videos on it is called TikTok APP—it's full of fun videos."
Tashigi scrolled through the videos, slowly explaining. "And after registering your own TikTok account, you can also post videos."
As she spoke, Tashigi scrolled to a video of a Marine base. "Huh? Which Marine base mess hall is this? It looks well-decorated."
Smoker also became interested, although these Marines were too bold—they even filmed the Marine base.
"These kids, they're absolutely lawless."
Tashigi, however, pouted, somewhat dismissively. "It's not that bad—they didn't film anything confidential, they're just sharing some daily life."
Smoker let out a cold snort.
Immediately after, a figure appeared on the video screen that he was familiar with to the core—pink long hair, a white Marine coat, a beautiful face, a focal point wherever she went!
It was Hina!