Courting Death Never Stops

As Penguin Devil Fruit User, he is indeed one of the beasts in a sense.

After all, birds are descendants of dinosaurs and belong to the archosaur family.

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that penguins are the strongest marine archosaurs of our time.

Okay, all of the above is just Ma Qiao's self-consolation.

The Penguin-Penguin Fruit is indeed one of the worst Zoan Devil Fruits, to be fair.

Currently, the only benefit Ma Qiao has gained in the Zoan category is probably the ability to drink seawater; Ma Qiao hasn't really explored much else.

He had seen this sentence in an encyclopedia published in the South Blue.

"The female penguin must remain completely still so that the male penguin can stay on her without falling off. Their mating time can only last for 3 minutes."

This terrified Ma Qiao.

However, it seems that felines have even shorter lifespans. I wonder if those Cat-Cat Devil Fruit Users will be affected by these side effects.

Fortunately, although the Penguin-Penguin Fruit is Zoan Devil Fruit, Teacher Ma actually developed it as Paramecia.

Judging from the daily self-rewards, this terrible side effect did not occur at all.

Kaido, by offering a large sum of money as a greeting gift, clearly wasn't after Ma Qiao's title as Zoan Devil Fruit user.

Jack is the kind of guy who dares to talk back to even the Uranus people, but he still has great respect for the older brothers he considers his mentors.

Ma Qiao had Tahm Kench bring over a table and chairs for Jack to sit down.

"Since you're already here, why bring a gift? Have some fruit, have some fruit."

While having Graves, Xin Zhao, and the others drag the gold and silver jewelry that Jack had brought into the cabin, Ma Qiang warmly invited Jack to eat watermelon.

Ma Qiao had seen elephants eating watermelons at the zoo; they were so crunchy and delicious.

It's great to see a free performance now. Especially since this is an elephant with an iron jaw.

Jack, oblivious to Teacher Ma's curious gaze, boldly picked up a watermelon and stuffed it into his mouth, not even spitting out the rind.

After eating seven or eight watermelons in a row, Jack finally let out a burp. "Brother Ma Qiao, you're too kind! Our Kaido mentions your name every time he finishes drinking lately!"

"My name?"

Ma Qiao was stunned. Had his name already reached the ears of the Four Emperors?

Jack popped another watermelon into his mouth, chewing as he mumbled something.

"Ever since that time Kaido left Onigashima to spar with that Shanks brat who calls himself the Four Emperors, he's been constantly mentioning your name."

"To be honest, I came to the East Blue to find you on Kaido's orders. I didn't expect to run into you on the Grand Line. It really saved me a lot of trouble."

"So it was Shanks, that talkative guy."

Ma Qiao was speechless.

This guy seems to be a drunkard as well, and Kaido is the drunkard among drunkards.

It's hard to say whether these two guys will have a drink after a big fight.

What might two successful, widowed middle-aged men talk about if they've had too much to drink?

Of course, they were talking about their children.

Unfortunately, both of these guys have a daughter who's a real handful.

That's probably how it happened; his reputation as a "male lecturer who is well-versed in human nature" reached Kaido's ears.

Sure enough, Jack pulled an invitation from his pocket.

"To be honest, our Kaido has a young master who has been influenced by negative ideologies, resulting in a strange and unreasonable personality. Kaido has always had a great headache about him."

"Kaido has heard that you are very skilled at educating teenagers. Even Vice Admiral Garp, the hero of the Navy, has praised your teaching methods. Therefore, Kaido hopes to hire you as our young master's tutor at a high price."

Jack addressed him as "Young Master" repeatedly, his expression completely natural.

But Ma Qiao knew that it wasn't some respectable young master, but a genuine white-haired girl.

Although the size is a little big, it's still much more normal than Princess Shirahoshi's.

If I were to drink the Elixir of Iron, I could easily lead the charge.

Well...

This is not the focus.

Ma Qiao asked, puzzled, "Brother Jack, since Kaido knows I have close ties with many high-ranking Navy officials, why would he still want me to tutor his son?"

Well...

Jack bent down and lowered his voice, saying, "Alliance is alliance, and business is business. The world isn't all black and white."

Vice Admiral Garp is also an old friend of Kaido, and Kaido is the first to believe what he says! Not to mention Shanks' side...

Ma Qiao nodded.

Jack is right. In this world, black is not black and white is not white; the two are inherently intertwined.

Kaido controls Wano Country, the origin of Seastone, making him the world's largest arms manufacturer. Even the World Government and the Navy are his clients.

As for Shanks, it's even more hard to say.

In short, in the world of One Piece, whether you are guilty or not, and whether you need to be punished, ultimately depends on your strength.

If you are weak, even if you are just a shipwright who builds a ship for the Pirate King, it is a serious crime that will cost you your life.

If you are strong enough, even the first mate of the Pirate King can live a life of hedonistic pleasure in the bustling Sabaody Archipelago.

In short, the weak are guilty, while the strong are exempt from punishment.

As for Kaido trusts him, Ma Qiao feels he has a certain level of confidence.

The most important factor here is the endorsement of Garp's credibility.

As long as Qiao Biluo's true colors are not exposed to the world, his words remain a guarantee of absolute credibility.

Ma Qiao believes that the relationship between Garp and Kaido is definitely not good.

Decades ago, during the Battle of God Valley, Garp and Roger joined forces to defeat the Rocks Pirates.

The once mighty Rocks fell. Kaido was also severely wounded in this war; had it not been for Linlin bringing him the Fish-Fish Fruit, Model: Azure Dragon, he might have died.

And his injuries were undoubtedly caused by Garp's Riot Games.

But that's how people are; the tougher they are on themselves, the more they tend to trust others, and Bellamy is a prime example.

"I am Kaido's trust. If I were to refuse, it would seem rather impolite."

Ma Qiao nodded and accepted Kaido's invitation.

Ma Qiao could understand Kaido's disappointment in his daughter.

After all, if his daughter also became a fanatical follower of Kozuki Oden and tried to murder him all day long, Ma Qiao might do something irrational.

Of course, Kaido isn't a good person either.

If Yamato's act of sacrificing her own family and wielding the sword of filial piety stemmed from sympathy for the people of Wano Country and out of disgust for Kaido's various evil deeds, then Ma Qiao could actually understand and admire her.

However, Yamato has never shown the slightest sympathy for the lower classes.

For more than a decade, Yamato has never shed a tear or felt sorrow for the suffering of the people of Wano Country.

On the contrary, only the scene of Kozuki Oden being boiled in oil, and Kozuki Oden's diary, moved Yamato to tears and deeply touched him.

The reason she swung her sword at her father was simply because he admired Kozuki Oden.

Her reason for protecting Momonosuke was simply because he was the son of Kozuki Oden.

After her father fell into the depths of lava, she showed no grief whatsoever, but immediately began plotting to board the Straw Hat Pirates' ship as Kozuki Oden.

Even Ma Qiao couldn't stand this kind of persona and it required correction and psychological intervention.

"Only..."

Changing the subject, Ma Qiao pulled out another invitation. "Brother Jack, as you can see, the Marine Headquarters has invited me to participate in their spring recruitment drive in Water 7, so I might have to go later to help Kaido discipline his son."

"What? The Navy's spring recruitment is being held in Water 7 this year? Isn't that nearby?"

Jack paused, then suddenly his face lit up with excitement. "Brother Ma Qiao, do you know who's leading the team?"

"How can I tell you that? It's a naval secret!"

Ma Qiao pulled out a badge from somewhere. "Look, I'm an unofficial member of the Marine G-2 Branch, so I have to be disciplined..."

Halfway through his speech, Ma Qiao couldn't continue.

Then, Jack slowly took out another box from behind him.

With a snap, it opened, revealing a wad of banknotes.

"Brother Jack is a really honest guy!"

Ma Qiao shook his head and handed the box to Xin Zhao. "Even if you give me money, I will absolutely not reveal to you the crucial intelligence that Admiral Akainu is personally leading the team. It's not mainly about the money; it's because I'm afraid you might act impulsively, brother!"

Jack finally boarded his mammoth pirate ship with great excitement and sped off towards Water 7.

Ma Qiao then ordered the Golden Nico to slow down and circle around to a nearby island to sell the Giant Axe Pirates' ship.

Sure enough, just two days later, while Ma Qiao was enjoying local delicacies on a small island, he saw in the newspaper that Jack the Drought of the Beasts Pirates had attacked a Marine Headquarters training ship, been defeated by Admiral Akainu, and gone missing.

Shaking his head, Ma Qiao couldn't help but feel a bit of admiration for Jack.

In the world of One Piece, disappearing without a trace is basically equivalent to escaping death.

To be able to escape from someone as ruthless as Akainu, Jack really is still the invincible cockroach he always was.

Furthermore, looking at the newspaper in his hand, Ma Qiao was still very envious.

Big Bird News, relying on its online platform, will inevitably replace traditional print media; this is an inevitable trend. However, at this stage, Ma Qiao's paparazzi team is still far too weak.

Vivi is my personal photographer, which is barely enough for me.

Asking her to go out and become a war correspondent or a paparazzi infiltrating the inner circle of important figures is a bit of a stretch.

Ma Qiao couldn't help but think of Absalom, the user of the Clear-Clear Fruit, who, after being defeated by King Luffy, once made a living as a paparazzi.

If you want to be a paparazzi, being invisible is indeed a very useful ability.

However, if you can only remain invisible while stationary like Teemo, or only for a short time like Shaco, then it's not very useful.

After much deliberation, the most suitable candidate seems to be Evelynn, the Widowmaker possesses an innate ability to become invisible.

Ma Qiao wrote her name in a small notebook.

This is yet another promising candidate to become a lackey of capital.

However, Ma Qiao cannot recruit her for the time being.

Because the upcoming trips to Water 7 and Onigashima are quite dangerous, Ma Qiao must reserve sufficient funds as a backup plan.

He shook his head, took a picture of the important content from the newspaper, and sent it to Vivi, asking her to reprint it immediately in "Big Bird News".

Then, Ma Qiao crumpled the newspaper into a ball and casually threw it into the trash can.