Pirates: How Many Divisions Do the Five Elders Have? The Answer

By then, the marines who had escaped the cave, the others who had come running at the noise, and some of the Pirate Hunters from Whiskey Peak had surrounded the entrance.

Ma Qiao had used Flash not far from the cave entrance.

He strode out of the cave and set down Vivi, who was still shaken, with a crisp, efficient motion. He was every bit the well-mannered gentleman.

Even Igaram, who had ostensibly led the Pirate Hunters here to support the marines but was actually prepared to rescue Princess Vivi at any cost, could find no fault with him.

Teacher Ma Qiao...

He truly was a gentleman!

Ma Qiao nodded to Igaram and modestly said that this was simply what an instructor like him ought to do.

Although she had indeed felt very nice.

Sigh...

It couldn't be helped.

Everyone hated Momonosuke.

But everyone was Momonosuke too...

Ma Qiao didn't let these little interludes delay him for long.

He left the blushing Vivi in the care of Miss Monday, the only other woman present, then turned and shouted to the marines, who had gathered in a cluster but didn't dare approach the cave:

"The captain has been taken hostage by a vicious pirate, and he's in grave danger! We have to rescue him immediately! Is anyone here an expert negotiator?"

The marines looked at one another, but none of them dared answer.

After a long bout of exchanging wordless looks, the more senior Petty Officer First Class Qiangsen finally spoke up:

"Mr. Ma Qiao, I've heard the bounty hunters all call you teacher, so you must be knowledgeable and experienced. We're all tongue-tied soldiers, and we really don't know how to negotiate with criminals...

"Could... could we trouble you to make another trip, Teacher Ma Qiao?"

"This is outrageous! Cough, cough, cough! Mamama~~"

Mr. 8 was worried about offending the marines, but even he couldn't hold back when he heard that. "Teacher Ma Qiao is just an ordinary man with little skill! There's a notorious pirate in there with a bounty of at least 15 million Beli, and he's most likely released the other prisoners too! Sending an innocent man to his death—is this how you marines carry out justice?"

At the mention of "justice," even among Captain Nezumi's scoundrels, quite a few lowered their heads in shame.

At least when they had signed up for recruitment, most of them had genuinely wanted to become marines who eradicated evil and upheld justice.

But life in the service wasn't so simple, and the marines' justice wasn't just black and white.

Even senior officers who were lapdogs of the Celestial Dragons could lose their way, so it was naturally difficult for lower-ranking marines to remain true to their original ideals.

Igaram's words made them ashamed and reminded them of their original aspirations.

Sergeant Major Qiangsen gathered his courage and was just about to volunteer to negotiate with the pirates when Ma Qiao suddenly put a hand on his shoulder:

"It's all right. Let me go. I'm a male lecturer who understands human nature. Give me three sentences, and I'll persuade the villain to release Captain Nezumi."

With that, Ma Qiao smiled and turned around. He waved with his back to the crowd and strode toward the prison cave, radiating righteous determination.

"Boohoohoo..."

A chorus of sobs rose from the crowd.

It had to be said that people in the pirate world were all broad-strokes types, every one of them ridiculously sentimental.

Ma Qiao's words moved every marine and Pirate Hunter present to tears.

"Teacher Ma Qiao is so great!"

"This is a man's romance!"

"It's so moving!"

"Mister, it's dangerous in there!"

Vivi wasn't the type to stand around crying and do nothing.

She wanted to chase after Ma Qiao, whether to stop him or to face the powerful enemy alongside him. Either would be better than crying here for nothing.

But a pair of thick, dark arms held her back.

Miss Monday shook her head and said in a surprisingly high-pitched voice that didn't match her appearance at all, "Don't worry. Teacher Ma Qiao never does anything he isn't confident about."

Vivi was taken aback. Only then did she remember Igaram saying that this Black girl, who stood over two meters tall and was covered in muscles, had once been Ma Qiao's student too.

Vivi hurriedly rose on tiptoe and whispered, "Um... do you know how Mister teleported? Can he still use that ability now?"

Vivi was certain that this definitely wasn't an ability of the Penguin Fruit.

Alabasta had two warriors known as its guardian deities.

They were Pell, who had the Bird-Bird Fruit, common model: falcon, and Chaka, who had the Dog-Dog Fruit, common model: jackal.

Vivi had grown up under their protection, and both were the most typical common Zoan Devil Fruit Users.

So even without consulting the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia, Vivi knew very well what kind of powers the Penguin Fruit ought to have.

A penguin's power might resist the cold or speed up waddling, but it definitely didn't include teleportation.

Of course, if Ma Qiao really could keep teleporting, Vivi wouldn't have to worry about his safety.

After all, that ability looked very useful for staying alive.

"No, he can't."

Miss Monday shook her head and lowered her voice too. "Teacher Ma Qiao once used that ability to save me when I was a trainee... He said that this ninjutsu, the Flying Thunder God Technique, uses up a lot of stamina. He needs a long time to recover before he can use it again..."

"Ninjutsu? Is it a secret technique from Wano Country?"

Vivi covered her mouth in surprise. As the princess of Alabasta, Vivi was fairly knowledgeable and experienced herself.

Although Wano Country had kept its borders closed for many years, the Alabasta Kingdom's library had plenty of relevant records passed down from ancient times.

Miss Monday, who came from a poor background, didn't know what Wano Country was.

She shook her head. "I don't know. Teacher Ma Qiao said it was Ma family kung fu, so it probably has nothing to do with Wano Country. But he definitely needs some time to recover before he can use that ability again."

Miss Monday knew so much about the Flying Thunder God Technique because Ma Qiao had once planned to teach her the Flash skill through [capital injection].

Miss Monday was actually a very kind person with strong principles, and she had earned Ma Qiao's approval over the course of their missions.

However...

Miss Monday was also poor. The reason she had become a Pirate Hunter in the first place was to raise money for her village to build a water mill.

Naturally, Ma Qiao had no way to teach her Flash.

After all, even the Buddha had said, "The scriptures must not be given or taken lightly."

Ma Qiao was still spending more than he earned on a sustainable basis, so he needed to charge a little patent fee.

"If he can't use it again, then doesn't that mean that stinky old man..."

Hearing Miss Monday's definite answer, Vivi's heart tightened again.

"He has other trump cards."

Miss Monday spoke thoughtfully. "It looks like Teacher Ma Qiao hasn't formally given you a lesson yet... Anyway, let's wait for him here without worrying."

"Okay."

Vivi nodded.

At this point, she could only choose to trust that stinky old man.

In a daze, Vivi realized that, at that critical moment, his calm expression as he handled everything so effortlessly had actually made him look a little bit handsome.

Shaking her head, Vivi cast the foolish thought that "that stinky old man is actually handsome" out of her mind.

He was clearly just a lazy old man who liked reading dirty magazines and loafed around all day!

He had nothing at all to do with being handsome!

But come to think of it...

Vivi suddenly stared at Miss Monday's imposing figure and asked hesitantly, "So... when Mister uses this Flying Thunder God Technique, does he have to hold someone really tight and give their butt a hard squeeze?"

"Hold someone really tight? Give their butt a hard squeeze?"

Miss Monday looked confused. "Why would he do that? Doesn't he just have to put a hand on their shoulder?"

Vivi: ???

Just as she thought...

He really was a lecherous old man!

Vivi's face turned red. She suddenly mustered her courage, ran to the front of the crowd, and shouted toward the cave, "You'd better come back alive, hey! You stinky old man! I'll be waiting for you!"