The Ring Finger Cell

At the banquet, the Pirate Hunters were at an absolute disadvantage. Going by seniority, Ma Qiao could have sat just below the two intermediate agents.

Instead, he chose to sit at the far end of the table with Vivi.

Ma Qiao was a little worried that Lieutenant Nezumi would play the part of a lecherous young master harassing an innocent little girl.

But the man seemed to love only treasure and showed no interest in beautiful women.

Of course, it was also possible that Vivi, who was at the tail end of her little-girl years, simply wasn't his type.

As the drinks flowed, Ma Qiao noticed that Lieutenant Nezumi seemed to keep leering at Miss Monday, the extraordinarily strong black woman.

Ma Qiao could only express his admiration.

Once everyone had eaten and drunk their fill, Lieutenant Nezumi stood and patted down his coat. "All right, it's getting late. Let me see the quality of the pirates you've caught. Don't worry, I'll pay you at least half their total bounty."

The Pirate Hunters present were all furious, but none dared speak out.

Half?

They risked their lives to catch wanted criminals, and he wanted half as a kickback just like that?

That was even more fucking crooked than a pirate!

Quite a few hotheaded men clenched their fists until their knuckles creaked.

Mr. 8 hurriedly signaled for everyone to stay reasonable.

Attacking a Marine officer wasn't as serious as attacking a Celestial Dragon, but it would definitely cause major trouble.

If they brought retaliation from a Marine Branch down on themselves, it would be a disaster.

Never mind those powerful Vice Admirals and Commodores. Even a unit led by a low-ranking officer would be more than Whiskey Peak could handle, as long as the officer wasn't a freak like Lieutenant Nezumi.

Mr. 8, or rather Igaram, an officer of the Alabasta royal guard, really wasn't strong enough to amount to much. His strength was vastly inflated.

Lieutenant Nezumi sneered as he looked around at them, amused by the way they swallowed their anger.

Suddenly, he noticed a guy nearby wearing a red scarf. He didn't seem upset at all and was instead chatting and laughing with the ugly, slender woman beside him.

Kid, you sure know how to put on a show!

Lieutenant Nezumi thought he was already putting on quite a show by wearing a hood in the middle of summer, but he hadn't expected to find someone wearing a scarf in the middle of summer here.

How irritating!

Even worse, there seemed to be more plates and meat bones in front of this guy than there were in front of him. They were piled into a little mountain half as tall as a person!

He could eat a fucking lot!

A walking rice bucket!

Just who the fuck was this banquet for, me or you?

Could he be trying to attract the attention of the lovely, full-figured black beauty beside me, with her full lips and well-developed biceps?

Absolutely infuriating!

If Ma Qiao had known what Lieutenant Nezumi was thinking, he would have expressed his appreciation for the man's taste in beauty and surely scoffed at his assessment of him as a rice bucket.

If you weren't eager to eat, there was something wrong with your head!

When eating for free at an organization banquet, how could you serve the organization better if you didn't eat your money's worth?

Besides, the first law of the pirate world was that fighting power was directly proportional to appetite.

Perhaps because there was no spiritual energy, chakra, or anything of the sort, food was the most common source of power in the pirate world.

Even engines could use cola as fuel, which was very unscientific.

But Ma Qiao had long since accepted this setting and enjoyed it.

Who could say no to eating more without gaining weight?

Usually, to save money, Ma Qiao could only eat until he was completely full.

Today, the food and drink were on the organization's dime, so of course he had to eat just a billion bites more.

Mr. 8 and the others knew about Ma Qiao's appetite, but they hadn't expected it to cause trouble this time.

Lieutenant Nezumi pointed at them and shouted through a drunken belch, "You two, hic—yes, I mean you, you ugly man and woman! Lead the way for me. I hope the pirates you caught this time are genuine wanted criminals!"

Ma Qiao looked around. Everyone except Vivi had consciously taken a step back.

Curling his lip, Ma Qiao patted Vivi on the shoulder to signal that she shouldn't worry. Then he looked up with a smile and extended his hand. "Captain, it's a pleasure to send you on your way—ah, no, I mean it's a pleasure to show you the way. Right this way, please!"

The cell where Whiskey Peak held its prisoners was halfway up the Ring Finger, the second-highest peak after the Middle Finger, where the Big Bird Spin-Spin Tavern stood.

Ma Qiao remembered that the one who had designed all this was Bon Clay, who had still been an intermediate officer at the time and later became the famous Mr. 2.

Surely the "Ring Finger Cell" laid out by him, a believer in the way of the okama, had a profound meaning.

The cell was halfway up the mountain and wasn't very high, but Lieutenant Nezumi naturally wasn't going to walk the mountain path himself.

He took a liking to the adorable Karoo and rode on his back, rubbing and kneading his head.

Vivi was heartbroken watching from the side.

Unlike Igaram, this was the first time Vivi had learned that the scum among the Marines could be so awful.

This guy was almost as revolting as the big-mouthed king of the Drum Kingdom whom she had met at the Reverie as a child.

Of course, compared to the Celestial Dragons, Lieutenant Nezumi was really just a white lotus.

Vivi thought the best thing her ancestors had ever done was give up their status as Celestial Dragons and return to the Alabasta Kingdom.

By the time Lieutenant Nezumi had plucked enough duck feathers to make a Canada Goose jacket, they finally reached the Ring Finger Cell.

It was a cell converted from a natural limestone cave, and it was very deep and secluded.

Lieutenant Nezumi motioned for the Marines accompanying him to light their torches. He was going inside to inspect the goods.

If there were no problems with the number of prisoners or their identities, he would call the Den Den Mushi on the warship and contact the branch to send a transport ship specifically for criminals to collect them and take them directly to Impel Down to await trial.

Drip, drip.

Cloudy drops fell from the stalactites onto the ground, making an unsettling sound.

In the torchlight, the cave looked even more dark and terrifying.

It was Vivi's first time entering a place like a prison, and she felt a little uneasy.

Fortunately, the smelly uncle walking in front of her looked unexpectedly reliable from behind.

Vivi quickened her pace and stayed close behind Ma Qiao.

Lieutenant Nezumi and the delinquent Marines swaggered along behind them.

They were Marines from the G-2 Branch. What hadn't they seen?

Soon, the cave opened up, and several cells made of refined iron appeared before them.

"You bastards, you're too despicable! You locked us up while we were drunk! Let me out if you've got the guts, and we'll settle this fair and square!"

Curses like that rose and fell one after another.

There were hundreds of Pirate Hunters on Whiskey Peak, and over the course of an entire quarter, they had caught no small number of small fry.

Of course, the pirates in the cells with bounties exceeding five million Beli had mostly been captured by the tactic of ambushing them after they got drunk.

Neither Ma Qiao nor Lieutenant Nezumi paid any attention to the men's pointless shouting.

Although the way they had been captured was indeed somewhat despicable, there was no need to observe any code of honor with these pirates, who had committed all manner of evil.