Pirates: How Many Divisions Do the Five Elders Have? Cobra's Revenge
Alabasta, the capital of the kingdom.
Your esteemed hotel.
Since the severe drought began, only two cities in the entire country have experienced rain.
One is Rainbase, where Crocodile resides, and the other is the capital of Alabasta.
This is why Clark asked Ma Qiao to use Dance Powder to frame Cobra.
In the original storyline, Baroque Works spies posing as members of the King's Guard successfully carried out the plan, causing the Nefertari Royal Family to completely lose the support of the people.
But Ma Qiao never understood why the people of Alabasta never considered why it always rained in this Rainbase city.
A dynasty with 4,000 years of history, unbroken for generations—is its credibility really less than that of a legitimate foreign pirate?
The only explanation is that Cobra, as king, simply did not understand the importance of public opinion.
He kept saying he cared about the people, but he didn't believe in their power. After all, in the world of pirates, the strong are respected. Ordinary people are just ants.
Or perhaps, as a descendant of the Nefertari Family, Cobra is naturally the king, so he doesn't care about public opinion.
On the contrary, Clark, who was originally a pirate, even wanted to take over the country legitimately. To silence public opinion, he had to win the support of the people.
This is undeniably a tremendous irony.
Quite by chance, just as Ma Qiao and his team finished their PowerPoint presentation, the heavens were moved to tears.
In a room filled with exotic styles, looking at the pattering rain outside through the glass window, one can't help but feel a sense of melancholy.
Those who suffered the most from this conspiracy to seize power were the ordinary people.
But in reality, the drought was just a trigger.
In countries like this, which have made no progress for thousands of years and have never even experienced a dynastic cycle, various problems have accumulated to a rather serious degree.
By the time King Luffy landed in Alabasta, the drought had lasted for three years. Now, the drought has actually lasted for less than a year, but the entire kingdom is in turmoil, and the king has lost control of many regions.
In any case, Ma Qiao would never have the naive idea that a country will become better simply by beating up so-called villains, like Luffy.
Through a series of coincidences, Ma Qiao gained the opportunity to make his mark in the first half of the Grand Line, the strongest nation in the world.
This presents an excellent opportunity to pin the blame on Crocodile even if some uncontrollable situations arise and attract the attention of the World Government, making him the scapegoat.
This is a much more suitable experimental sample than the previous small-scale Big Bird Consortium in the East Blue.
"Joe, can those staged photos really convince people?"
Nami has changed into a cool tank top.
She leaned against the windowsill, as if trying to see the island that haunted her dreams through the misty rain.
"Staging photos just makes what we want to show more impactful; those things are real, aren't they?"
Seeing Ma Qiao's earnest explanation, Nami suddenly smiled, a very happy smile. "Silly boy, I want to thank you. Everyone in Cocoyasi thanks you. You're right, those things are real, and we must show them in an even more beautiful way."
"I must say, your sister is a marketing genius."
Ma Qiao thought of Nojiko, whose self-taught staged beachcombing style inspired him to further improve Big Bird Network's live streaming platform.
However, the sales of the Big Bird Den Den Mushi are not particularly ideal at present.
In any world, people's acceptance of new things is always delayed.
Not everyone is as rich as Garp, who can casually pull out 200,000 Beli to buy a Big Bird Den Den Mushi and top up the phone credit every month.
Of course, as the factory expands, costs are continuously reduced, and the price of Den Den Mushi) will drop sharply.
Furthermore, depending on people's spending power, different sub-brands can be created for the Big Bird Den Den Mushi.
In addition to the small Den Den Mushi, larger Den Den Mushi, equivalent to tablets and computers, can also be released in the future.
Of course, these ideas only solve the supply-side problems, but how to open up the consumer market remains a difficult problem worth pondering.
Based on Ma Qiao's limited business knowledge, when a product is indeed very good but lacks brand awareness and recognition, advertising and celebrity endorsements are definitely the best solution.
However, the world of pirates is very different from my previous life.
In terms of advertising, the world itself lacks media brands. Big News Morgans' newspapers have a near-monopoly.
Moreover, his main income came from the profits of News Coo selling newspapers door-to-door, rather than advertising fees.
This Bird-Bird Fruit's kind is very cunning, and Ma Qiao thinks it's unlikely he'd be willing to cultivate a potential rival for a pittance.
Therefore, ordinary advertising won't work; Ma Qiao has to find another way.
As for spokespeople, while there are various popular celebrities in the world, there is no doubt that the most influential people are those active on the high seas.
When it comes to marketing, who can compare to Buggy, the close friend of one of the Four Emperors, the trusted advisor to the Pirate King, and the biggest beneficiary of the Paramount War?
Just as Ma Qiao was planning how to use Buggy to implement a world-class marketing strategy for the Big Bird Den Den Mushi, someone knocked on the door.
The newcomer was none other than Jackal Chaka, the acting commander of the Royal Guard of the Kingdom of Arabia.
His eyes unconsciously searched the area, and when he saw the princess dressed neatly, sitting quietly in the corner enjoying the falling rain, he breathed a sigh of relief.
This was something His Majesty the King had repeatedly instructed him to observe in detail.
"Your Majesty is really something, how could you have such strange suspicions!"
Chaka shook his head helplessly.
He pulled an appointment letter from his pocket, cleared his throat, and said, "Mr. Ma Qiao, after careful consideration by His Majesty the King, it is determined that your talents are indeed of great importance to our country. Therefore, we will appoint you as the Kingdom's... Minister of Agriculture and bestow upon you the title of Baron. Congratulations!"
Ma Qiao's hand, which had been accepting the letter of appointment, froze in mid-air.
"Wait, did I hear that right? Are you sure you said the Minister of Agriculture and not the Minister of Finance?"
"You heard me correctly, Your Excellency Baron Ma Qiao."
As always, Chaka said solemnly, "In your presentation just now, you demonstrated unparalleled insights into agricultural guidance, which deeply impressed our King. He believes that the underdeveloped agriculture of Alabasta is the root cause of the people's hunger, and he hopes that you can replicate your miracle in the East Blue across the vast territory of the kingdom."
"I've lost my mind!"
Ma Qiao couldn't help but protest, "Don't you know what kind of situation your Alabasta Kingdom is? Isn't your land just a desert? And right now you're in the midst of a severe drought, what future is there in developing agriculture!"
"That's what you need to be concerned about, Minister of Agriculture, His Excellency Ma Qiao."
Chaka bowed and was about to turn and leave when he suddenly remembered something. He took out a map and pointed to a location on it.
"Normally, barons cannot possess fiefdoms, but you are a renowned agricultural expert in the East Blue, therefore His Cobra has decided to entrust you with the administration of 60,000 square kilometers of land in the northwest of the capital."
His Majesty's expectation is that the output from your fiefdom within a year will be sufficient to meet the daily needs of the people in the capital.
He said it was a special reward given because he recognized your talent as a young person...