The Big Bird Consortium's New Year's Eve Feast

The prototype of Alabasta is Ancient Egypt, and some say it is ancient India.

But whether in Egypt or India, ancient Civilizations have always placed greater emphasis on family and ancestors.

For Vivi, the ancestral graves were not a frightening place, but rather a place where the living and the dead communicated.

The Nefertari Family has an ancient legend that if you bring your loved one to the royal tomb at the turn of the year and sincerely pray to the statues of your ancestors, you will receive blessings and happiness.

Of course, Vivi couldn't tell Ma Qiao about these things.

Although the Drought in Alabasta has ended, and even the Baroque Works has come out into the open and officially opened its headquarters in Shurima.

But to this day, no one has informed Princess Vivi of the end of her undercover mission.

Vivi knew that a true actor cannot stop performing until the director yells "cut."

So she remained comfortably by Ma Qiao's side, "playing" the role of a junior executive in the Baroque Works and Ma Qiao's partner.

Ma Qiao was standing next to Vivi.

The latter clasped his hands together, his expression solemn as he bowed his head and murmured something before the statue of what appeared to be one of the Nefertari Family's ancestors.

Helpless, Ma Qiao had no choice but to follow suit and lower his head to babble.

"Uncle."

After a while, Vivi looked up and asked, "What did you wish for?"

"World peace."

Ma Qiao said matter-of-factly, his face full of righteous indignation.

'Pooh!'

Cobra, who was crouching behind the statue, wished he could jump out immediately and expose this hypocritical scoundrel!

World peace?

Bah!

Just now, Cobra clearly heard that bastard muttering, "Steamed lamb, steamed bear paw, steamed deer tail, roast duck, roast chicken, roast goose, braised pork, oven-roasted duck, soy sauce chicken, cured meat, preserved eggs, small sausages, dried meat, sausages..."

Damn it, where did this bastard hear about so many delicious things?!

Cobra, as the King of Alabasta, was generally frugal and didn't crave elaborate food. However, he considered himself a worldly person, having dined in Mary Geoise before. But...

Even the Celestial Dragons don't eat as well as this brat!

Swallowing hard, Cobra put down the offering in his hand.

As a player in the open beta of the massively multiplayer online role-playing game "Infinite Tsukuyomi," and a veteran user among the top 50 in terms of online time, Cobra also received a ticket to attend the Big Bird Consortium's annual meeting.

He had originally planned to return to the capital for the New Year.

Upon closer reflection, I realized that my daughter is in Shurima, the internet cafe is in Shurima, and even the best food is in Shurima.

In the deserted royal palace, only the head maid Tiragotan, who looked excessively like a married couple with Igaram, could no longer stay (as shown in the picture).

It's better if the king doesn't even return!

On the way back, Vivi kept hesitating to speak.

Her rosy cheeks clearly screamed, "Ask me! Ask me!"

Ma Qiao stroked Karoo's head so much it was almost bald, but finally couldn't resist Vivi's intense gaze:

"That.

"What did you wish for? Can you tell me?"

"No, it won't work if you say it out loud!"

As Ma Qiao expected, that was all the tricks the little girl had.

"But I just said my wish out loud..."

"Yeah, so world peace is simply impossible..."

Vivi wrapped her arms around Ma Qiao's waist from behind, looking up at the brilliant stars in the night sky. "However, at least in the places we can help, we can enable more people to live a peaceful and tranquil life. That's enough."

"Yes, we're both amazing!"

Ma Qiao smiled and nodded.

The next day was the last day of the year 1518 in the Sea Circle Calendar.

Early in the morning, everyone was dragged out of bed by Ma Qiao to prepare for the New Year's Eve dinner.

Some minor incidents also occurred during this period.

For example, Ms. Reiju, in an extremely ungraceful sleeping posture, stretched out her leg and locked it around Ma Qiao's neck.

If it weren't for the fact that Teacher Ma's physical condition has improved significantly, this woman would have almost achieved the feat of "murdering in my dreams."

As for the other ladies, apart from Vivi, none of them had an elegant sleeping posture.

Ma Qiao gathered these sleepy-eyed guys together.

Vivi, being very considerate of the hostess, proactively assigned tasks to these "guests who were staying overnight."

If you want to stay overnight under Teacher Ma's roof, it's impossible not to work.

Teacher Ma has disliked that little drunkard, Yamato, for a long time.

If it weren't for Kaido's new quarterly allowance already being sent, Ma Qiao would have already sent Yamato out to perform breaking rocks on her chest in the streets.

But today, Yamato was finally able to unleash his full potential.

Under the guidance of head chef Kam, Yamato began making mochi.

Yamato held up a large wooden mallet and happily pounded the rice cakes.

However, when they got carried away playing, both the wooden hammer and the mortar broke down.

Ma Qiao pulled out his notebook and, with slightly trembling hands, wrote, "The wooden stick needs more training to prevent it from breaking..."

In contrast, what's rather surprising is that Reiju actually has quite a few cooking skills.

Even Tahm Kench gave him a thumbs up, showing his approval.

However, due to her physical condition, Reiju wore thick gloves and wielded the knife with lightning speed, cutting the vegetables into even, long thin strips.

"No wonder she's Lieutenant Sanji's sister."

Ma Qiao couldn't help but sigh with genuine emotion.

"Mr. Ma Qiao, are you threatening me again?"

Wearing a chef's outfit with a high side slit, Reiju tiptoed and whispered sweetly in Ma Qiao's ear.

"Miss Reiju, please have some self-respect. I didn't mean that."

"If it weren't for your sister's delicious body, why would you pay so much attention to my good-for-nothing, stupid younger brother?"

A sly Reiju curved her full lips, and a smug expression of knowing everything shone on her face.

"Hey, hey, hey, get back to work! Stop whispering!"

Vivi, who identified herself as a disciple of Tahm Kench and was also dressed in the head chef's uniform, jumped out at the right time.

Having just reprimanded the slacker with ulterior motives, Vivi turned around and saw Nico Robin resting her chin on her hand with a faint smile.

"Why are you here too?!"

Vivi gripped the spatula tightly. "You should at least help with the chores!"

"I'm helping!"

Robin smiled and pointed towards Nami's side.

Nami and Baby5 were seen busily making dumplings.

In front of them, a dozen hands were methodically rolling out dough, adding meat filling, and pinching dumplings.

"Why, why are you so skilled at this?!"

Vivi was on the verge of tears. "Isn't this food from Uncle Ma Qiao's hometown?"

"Ah, yes, Dog-Shu-Jin-Sama cooked it for me five years ago. Although this is my first time trying it, it doesn't seem too difficult..."

Vivi:...

Of course, the New Year's Eve dinner for the Big Bird Consortium couldn't be prepared solely by these "wise and intelligent" and "skillful" girls.

In fact, the dumplings and rice cakes they made were all homemade, cooked at Ma Qiao's house.

A true banquet with a continuous flow of guests and a grand feast naturally requires a professional team.

Ma Qiao wanted to borrow a chef team from Big Mom Pirates, but unfortunately, his influence with Linlin Teacher Ma wasn't enough to sway her, and he was flatly refused.

After being rejected, Mr. Ma Qiao said, "Charlotte Linlin, you ignore me today, but you'll regret it tomorrow."

Pantheon, the King of Bread; Akali, the Fist of Sashimi; Leona, the Goddess of Barbecue; Olaf, the Steak Berserker; Sivir, the Pizza Girl...

Of course, we can't forget the mushroom expert Teemo, the brewing expert Gragas, and the five-star chef Tahm Kench, who oversees everything.

With such a stellar lineup, coupled with the well-trained chefs of Big Bird Food City, and after a full day of hard work, an extremely sumptuous feast finally began as night fell.

Those who received the invitation this time are all core employees of the Big Bird Consortium, who are the foundation for the Big Bird Consortium's continued progress over the next ten years.

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that these people come from all over the world.

There were East Blue people from the Cocoyasi agricultural base and the Syrup Village industrial park, Alabasta people working for the Big Bird Consortium, and even Shandia people from the Sky Island.

Of course, there are also famous internet celebrities like the Buggy Pirates who have no fixed abode.

Of course, as wanted criminals by the World Government, Buggy and his crew were quite self-aware.

They all changed into long cloaks to cover their figures.

Galdino was wrapped tightly in his cloak, sneezing incessantly.

He was successfully thawed, and according to the biological and physical laws of the One Piece world, none of Galdino's cells were pierced by the ice crystals formed by the water inside the cells, thus preventing permanent and irreversible damage.

He just has a cold.

"Alabasta is such a cold place!"

Buggy the Clown couldn't help but sigh.

He remembered that when he passed through this area with Captain Roger, there was a very cold country, I think it was called something like Drum Kingdom, while Alabasta was very hot.

Now it seems very likely that my memory was confused.

After all, that happened more than 20 years ago, so it's normal not to remember clearly.

Buggy ate Akali's delicious sashimi, feeling like he was about to bite his tongue off.

Buggy dipped a mouthful of wasabi in his mouth and felt like he was in heaven.

Shanks, who prides himself on being a party master and throws a party wherever he goes, is nothing more than Shanks pathetic child playing house compared to the parties his Ma Qiao Buggy.

"But..."

After eating over a dozen bowls of pork intestine sashimi, Buggy asked:

"Brother Galdino, is the freakish navy you mentioned really real?"

"Cough cough cough... Of course it exists, and it's very likely still in this country!"

While coughing, Galdino nervously turned around, using Alvida's massive body to shield himself from view.

After confirming that no one had noticed him, Galdino stated confidently, "I told him my prescription was two or three thousand degrees, but in reality, my nearsightedness is only a little over nine hundred degrees. I'm just nearsighted, not blind!"

"So this is the portrait of the attacker you drew?"

Buggy silently pulled out a sketch.

Just as the navy issues wanted posters for pirates, pirates also compile lists of the most dangerous navy personnel so that they can avoid their attacks if they encounter them at sea in the future.

In reality, because Kuzan's strength was too great and the speed at which he froze Galdino was too fast, the latter did not realize that he was frozen by the fruit's power and thought he had encountered some kind of extreme weather.

Of course, all of this is also related to Galdino's severe myopia.

Although he didn't believe he had been frozen solid, he knew that the man wearing a naval admiral's cloak and black fishnet stockings was definitely a dangerous individual.

He might be a transvestite martial artist far superior to Bon Clay.

So Galdino drew a sketch of this monstrous navy from memory.

However, due to severe myopia, this sketch is truly just a "sketching".

Aside from his dark skin, tall stature, curly hair, and thin build, there was no other useful information.

Buggy shook his head. "Brother Galdino, don't be too nervous. You only made a mistake because you weren't wearing your glasses. Next time you run into that freak, if we brothers work together, we'll be unstoppable and definitely beat him to a pulp!"

"But for now, let's enjoy the delicious food before us!"

Although it was supposed to be a New Year's Eve dinner, the grand banquet hosted by Ma Qiao felt more like a Halloween masquerade party.

There were so many people at the banquet wearing all sorts of strange masks, trying to hide their identities.

Crocodile was drinking with his older brother Cobra, who was also wearing a mask.

One is like a cabbage you've painstakingly raised, only to be eaten by a wild boar that somehow appeared out of nowhere. The other is like a criminal organization you've painstakingly built, which somehow slipped out of control and automatically went legit.

Two ambitious middle-aged people, who had hoped to make a difference, suddenly realized that they were the most superfluous ones.

We can only drown our sorrows in wine, but they only make us more miserable. Let's comfort each other.

Also appearing in hiding were the popular livestreamer, Miss Meat-Meat), and her best friend, Miss Bingbing.

"Garp, those guys are Buggy and Galdino's gang, right?"

Kuzan pulled down his hood, gently lifted a corner of his mask, poured a strong shot of sake down his throat, and then asked, "Are we really going to do nothing? Wouldn't that be going too far?"

"You won't even call me 'teacher' anymore..." Garp sighed.

Don't change the subject!

Kuzan said coldly, "Galdino is one thing, after all, he just beat up some trash, but Buggy the Clown is an important figure related to Roger's son..."

"Are you referring to Urpo D. Kuro?"

Garp picked his nose, then flicked it with his little finger.

"Damn it! Who's so disgusting!"

Usopp coughed loudly, clutching his throat, "I ate a booger!"

"Uh... how come you knew it was a booger just because it flicked into your mouth?"

Still dressed in his work clothes, Kuro couldn't help but complain, "What kind of rubbish do you usually eat?!"

"Sorry, sorry!"

Garp quickly waved his hands. "Hey, you two workers, I didn't mean it, it's all this guy's fault!"

He didn't point at Kuzan.

"Hey? Aren't you the livestreamer uncle we met on the street the other day?"

The outgoing Usopp, along with the reluctant Kuro, joined Garp and Kuzan at a table.

"Grandpa, you look very muscular. Are you a streamer too? A streamer from the gym section?"

Garp paused for a moment, then immediately nodded and said, "Ah, yes, yes, I'm really good at bodybuilding..."