Pirates: How Many Divisions Do the Five Elders Have? The Justice of "Being a Good Person"

After Ma Qiao summoned Twitch, he spent another 30 million Beli to learn Twitch's Q skill, [Ambush].

It was a practical skill comparable to the Clear-Clear Fruit, the so-called fruit of Sanji's happiness. Once activated, it could render its user invisible for quite a long time.

Though it was called [Ambush], it was also extremely useful for escaping and gathering material.

That was one reason Ma Qiao had chosen to recruit Twitch early.

But after that, Ma Qiao's savings were once again nearly exhausted, leaving him unable to raise Twitch's level.

So Plague Rat Twitch was still only a level-one hero, with nothing but a Doran's Blade to protect himself. He was extremely squishy.

Fortunately, the original Lieutenant Nezumi had been useless, so Vice Admiral Momonga had used very little force when testing his strength.

After taking a beating that left him with only a sliver of health, Twitch used the summoner skill [Heal] and recovered to a safe level.

But to keep the violent man before him from suddenly attacking again, Twitch pretended to be exhausted.

As the king of the sewers, Twitch was an excellent actor too, even if he wasn't as professional as the Virtuoso.

His perfectly measured performance actually lent his earth-shatteringly ugly face an air of righteous determination.

Momonga froze.

It was the first time he had seen a trace of an upstanding person in his nephew's face.

Momonga was deeply comforted. In his eyes, Twitch no longer seemed like a useless man struggling to his feet, but an indomitable fighter!

"You've finally grown up! You're no longer sinking further down the path of scum!"

Momonga stepped forward, choking up. He wanted to offer some words of wisdom, but couldn't get anything out.

"Uncle, this experience made me realize the error of my ways. I didn't have a choice before, but now, I want to be a good person!"

"Good! Good! Good!"

Momonga said "good" three times before he managed to calm himself down.

"Being a good person... that's a fine ambition, but... being a good person alone isn't enough to survive on these seas!"

Many faces appeared in Momonga's mind.

Saint Donquixote Homing, father of the current Shichibukai, Donquixote Doflamingo;

Jaguar D. Saul, the gentle giant who protected Ohara;

Bartholomew Kuma, the "tyrant" who had voluntarily signed up for the modification project because of that woman...

And many, many more.

As a vice admiral, Momonga had seen far too many good people in his life.

But their fates...

Momonga said solemnly, "If you really want to be a good person, find a way to grow stronger! A powerless do-gooder will only hurt the people around him!"

Twitch nodded hurriedly and shouted in the manner of a hot-blooded shonen protagonist:

"I'll work hard to get stronger, Uncle! I'll uphold the justice of 'being a good person'! I'll make the name of Twitch the Good Person resound across the seas!"

"Oh? Twitch? As in a pang?"

Momonga nodded. "A good name. If you want to uphold justice, pangs are unavoidable. I hope you'll always remember that."

"By the way..."

Vice Admiral Comil, who had been drinking coffee and enjoying the show of an uncle beating his nephew, suddenly spoke up:

"Nezumi, what was the name of that negotiation expert you mentioned? Ask him to come to the base before you leave for the East Blue. Our branch's joint-defense talent pool happens to be short of negotiation specialists..."

Nezumi had previously reported to the branch that a major pirate had appeared at Whiskey Peak and that a negotiation expert named Ma Qiao had resolved the crisis with fearless courage. But given Nezumi's usual character, Comil hadn't taken the report to heart.

Now, however, it seemed that the negotiation expert might really be capable.

He had even managed to turn a scumbag like Nezumi from his wicked ways. He had to be exceptional.

As a Marine Branch guarding the Grand Line, the G-2 Branch had to deal with countless hostage crises every year.

Very few of those crises were resolved perfectly, without harm to the hostages.

Those vicious major pirates weren't people who could be easily persuaded to change their ways.

Although Comil didn't think the negotiation expert Nezumi had mentioned could solve every problem perfectly, it would still be a good thing to have him as an alternative if he could save even one or two hostages.

Twitch nodded, then suddenly seemed to remember something. "Commander, the Marines aren't going to make Mr. Ma Qiao work for nothing, are they?"

Vice Admiral Comil laughed. "Of course not. Our branch isn't short of funding. Experts in the talent pool receive a generous annual stipend, and if he contributes to an incident, there's a special bonus too!"

"Oh, then there's no time to lose. I'll set out and invite Mr. Ma Qiao right away!"

Clutching his stomach, Nezumi scrambled to his feet, his eyes shining as he spoke.

In the League of Legends lore, Plague Rat Twitch was a hero known for his cunning.

He quickly settled into the G-2 base, sorted out Lieutenant Nezumi's connections, and even strengthened his bonds with Nezumi's gang of disreputable friends.

Just as Ma Qiao was a freeloader in Baroque Works, Twitch naturally wasn't really going to be "Twitch the Good Person" in the Marines.

At the very least, one of his important tasks from now on would be to smuggle goods and protect smuggling operations for Boss Ma Qiao, as well as poach people from the Marines.

Naturally, he couldn't use Marines of the "Smoker" type, with their excessive sense of justice, for that dirty work.

Lieutenant Nezumi's original loyal followers were quite suitable.

Once he got rid of the worst scum, including the degenerates who had murdered innocent people and claimed credit for it, the remaining friends and subordinates who upheld "Ambiguous Justice" would make excellent partners.

It was all for the sake of ultimate justice!

Of course, all that came later.

For now, Twitch still had to establish his image as a man who had turned over a new leaf in front of his superiors.

Through a few superficial gestures, he gradually improved his image in their eyes.

Perhaps it was because the original Lieutenant Nezumi had been so awful...

As long as I'm awful enough, whatever I do will look like I've turned over a new leaf.

As for a minor matter like his sudden love of moldy cheese, no one cared at all.

Nezumi's change was surprising.

And the story of a male lecturer from Whiskey Peak who understood human nature began to spread through the Marines.

For the first time, the name Ma Qiao also reached the ears of high-ranking figures at the level of Marine Vice Admiral.

Ma Qiao felt no guilt toward Vice Admiral Momonga.

Although he had killed Momonga's nephew and swapped him for a fake who betrayed the people he worked for, it was what the uncle and nephew deserved.

As a Marine Vice Admiral, Momonga had bent the law for personal reasons, shielding and indulging his nephew. He had already failed the people's expectations of justice.

By doing this, Ma Qiao could be said to have rid the people of a menace.

Of course, besides ridding the people of a menace and carrying out justice on heaven's behalf, there were benefits to be had.

After learning the details of Lieutenant Nezumi's daily routine, Twitch activated his scanner and began searching for the lieutenant's assets.

Perhaps Nezumi had never imagined that his home would one day be searched, and security at the Marine Branch's officers' apartment building was extremely reassuring, so his assets weren't hidden very well.

Twitch easily found all of Lieutenant Nezumi's savings, about 130 million Beli.

At first glance, the figure was staggering, enough to buy a major pirate's head.

But on closer thought, Nami, a Cat Burglar with nothing but beauty who didn't sell her body, had managed to save enough in eight years to buy five of Arlong's heads. Nezumi had been a petty official guilty of massive corruption for the better part of his life, so 130 million Beli wasn't much.

Twitch then sold all the furniture, daily necessities, watches and jewelry in Nezumi's home, keeping only a razor and soap, and exchanged them for over a million Beli.

He put a noble spin on it: he was bidding farewell to his old self and traveling light to the East Blue to find his own justice.

This improved Nezumi's reputation among his superiors once again.

Three days later, Twitch packed up all his valuables and once again set sail for Whiskey Peak.

The wealth taken from the people would be put toward a greater undertaking...