Everyone Here Is Trash

The palace of the Goa Kingdom.

A luxurious carriage slowly drove into the palace gate.

When the carriage stopped, Ma Qiao took Vivi's delicate hand and stepped down from the carriage.

Wearing a bubble suit similar to those worn by Celestial Dragons, Ma Qiao swaggered around with his nose in the air, walking with an air of utter disdain.

However, Vivi was elegant in her demeanor, and her every move revealed the true grace and poise of a noblewoman.

Several nobles from the Goa Kingdom huddled together and whispered amongst themselves.

"This new regent looks far too much like Celestial Dragons."

"Indeed, look at his female companion; she appears to be a noblewoman from some great nation, but even so, her manners are still inferior to a single hair on the Regent's head."

"The Regent Ma Qiao truly embodies the demeanor of Celestial Dragons!"

"I heard a rumor from my relatives in North Blue, but I'm not sure if I should tell it?"

"Damn it, Old Henry, stop keeping us in suspense and just tell us!"

"Well, I was just saying that casually, please don't take it seriously. My relatives in the North Blue used to have business dealings with the Germa Kingdom, and a strange rumor has been circulating there that the Big Bird Consortium might have Celestial Dragons behind it..."

"Ah! Speaking of which, I just remembered something. A few years ago, when I accompanied former King Sali to a meeting in Mary Geoise, I overheard that some descendants of the Celestial Dragons also live outside of Mary Geoise. Could it be that what we're standing before us is...?"

Achoo!

Vivi took the glass bubble off her head and rubbed her nose vigorously:

"Uncle, the stench is gone now. Could you please take off that ridiculous hood? It's absolutely disgusting!"

"I'm so sorry..."

Ma Qiao casually removed the hood from his head and tossed it aside.

Nami and Yamato, who were following behind, had also had enough of this ridiculous outfit.

Especially Yamato, because she has a pair of horns on her head, Ma Qiao specially made her a brave bull-themed colorful headgear.

This made Yamato feel ashamed.

The actions of Ma Qiao and his entourage finally put the minds of the Goa nobles, who had previously speculated about his identity, at ease.

It seems this arrogant regent is not a true Celestial Dragons.

The real Celestial Dragons don't breathe the same air as ordinary people like them!

Since they're not Celestial Dragons, things become much easier.

The elderly nobleman at the head of the group secretly made a hand gesture to the waiter.

The waiter nodded and led Ma Qiao to the East Banquet Hall of the palace.

When the door opened, the scene that appeared before Ma Qiao was somewhat surprising.

Although the furnishings here can be described as luxurious, upon closer inspection, they are all very old and dilapidated, and their styles are completely inconsistent.

It is clear that these are secondhand items collected by individual noble families.

According to Ma Qiao, when King Sally and his son hurriedly left the Goa Kingdom, although they packed up and took away a lot of valuables, they could not possibly take all the furniture and household items from the palace due to the short time.

It's obvious that these items have been switched out and replaced with old and broken ones.

Before Ma Qiao could ask a question, the elderly nobleman at the head of the group spoke up, "We have prepared a welcoming banquet for His Highness the Regent. Please take your seat!"

The nobles of Goa devised two plans, A and B, to receive Regent Ma Qiao.

Now, Ma Qiao has clearly been taken advantage of and is suffering the consequences of B University's Heimerdinger treatment.

The nobles, like stars surrounding the moon, invited Ma Qiao to take his seat.

The waiters and maids continued to serve the dishes in shifts.

However, the plates used to serve the food were all broken, and the dishes themselves were a complete mess. Even the usually carefree Yamato found it impossible to swallow.

She raised her spiked club, about to make Karasu Brother's classic table-flipping move, but Ma Qiao appeased her by promising to sleep with her that night.

When they sailed together before, Yamato would always sleep with Ma Qiao in her arms and listen to Ma Qiao tell bedtime stories before she could fall asleep.

Because of his physique, Ma Qiao felt the images couldn't be described as particularly erotic.

There were even moments when Ma Qiao understood how Brook felt when he was being held in Charlotte Linlin's arms while sleeping.

"Joe, these guys don't seem to have any good intentions!"

As Cat Burglar, Nami's ability to read people is her lifeline, "Ever since we took off our masks, these Goaans' attitudes towards us have subtly changed!"

Is that true?

Vivi, a disgrace to the world of spies, was frantically cutting a piece of French bread as hard as iron with a knife and fork:

"Perhaps it's simply because the nobles of the Goa Kingdom are exceptionally frugal..."

Ma Qiao and Nami both rolled their eyes at this silly girl.

"Don't eat the food here. I've already asked Tahm Kench to prepare the ingredients for hot pot. We'll have our own food later."

Ma Qiao lowered his voice and gave instructions to the group.

Because of the individual serving system, Ma Qiao clearly saw that the plates the maids served to other nobles contained exquisite pastries.

At this moment, the elderly nobleman who was leading the group stood up and said:

"Your Highness, the Sali Family has been collecting taxes for ninety years into the future, and all the wealth they've amassed has been invested in Mary Geoise. Therefore, the capital city truly has nothing of note..."

"Yes, yes, life is hard for us nobles too. This morning, I only had six servants to help me get dressed, and I even had to put on one trouser leg myself."

"I only ate sixty-four dishes at noon. Life is tough for us nobles!"

"Your Highness, you are a renowned merchant in the East Blue, your wealth rivaling that of a nation. Since you have already helped pay this year's Heavenly Tribute, could you do us a favor and help fill the national treasury's fiscal deficit?"

The nobles started crying out their poverty and misery, one after another.

After all, as an outsider who was parachuted in, it would be impossible to become the one in control of the Goa Kingdom without the approval of these local bigwigs.

The local nobles wanted to use the national treasury deficit to give this foreign regent a hard time.

Of course, if we could squeeze some money out of him to replenish the national treasury, that would be excellent.

Because if Ma Qiao didn't contribute, these nobles would have no choice but to pool their money to plug the hole.

Because the national treasury is too important to them.

Because quarantine measures are very expensive.

To keep those peasants out, we need to repair the city walls, right? And feed the soldiers, right?

The maintenance of roads, the planting of seedlings, and even the operation of fountains within the city all require funding from the national treasury.

At first, they were very polite, but later the nobles' words gradually became laced with barbs and threats.

In reality, due to the sudden death of the old king, power did not pass to Stelly as in the original story, resulting in a power vacuum in the Goa Kingdom.

As Cao Cao said, "If the country were without me, I wonder how many people would claim to be emperor and how many would claim to be king."

The power vacuum led to a chaotic situation where all sorts of evil ran rampant.

These idle, bloated, and utterly foolish nobles displayed insatiable wisdom when it came to dividing up power.

They no longer desire a strong dictator to restrain them.

"Oh?"

Ma Qiao raised a glass of sour, expired wine, gently swirled it, and observed the wine's coating on the glass like a master sommelier:

"Then, Earl Powell, what is the current deficit in the national treasury?"

The elderly nobleman leading the group, the so-called Earl Powell, raised an eyebrow and a look of delight appeared on his face.

He exchanged glances with the other nobles, held up one hand, and stated the number they had agreed upon beforehand.

"Fifty billion Beli. To keep the kingdom running, we'll need at least fifty billion Beli in funding!"

Earl Powell uttered an astronomical figure in his mind.

"Five billion Beli?"

Nami, who was filing her nails with a piece of French bread, looked up disdainfully, put her arm around Ma Qiao's, and said:

"I thought it was 50 billion Beli, Jojo. The bag you bought me in Sabaody last time cost 500 million Beli, right?"

"Uh... yes..."

Ma Qiao nodded guiltily.

The bag is real, but the 500 million is fake.

Who would spend 500 million Beli to buy a bag?

That tag was forged by Ezreal at Ma Qiao's request.

That guy is very good at making small accessories for luxury goods.

But...

Old Qiao saw Nami wink at him. Clearly, this Cat Burglar who made a living by stealing luxury goods had already seen through the scoundrel's trick of giving girls fake luxury items.

The nobles of the Goa Kingdom did not notice that Ma Qiao and his young girlfriend were exchanging flirtatious glances in front of the future princess.

All they heard was that the guy in front of them was an incredibly rich sucker!

And that is certainly true.

If it weren't for the Penguin-Penguin Fruit's incredibly lucrative, Ma Qiao would have already amassed a fortune of nearly 100 billion Beli based solely on the Big Bird Consortium's revenue.

The wealth-creating myths of emerging industries are something that these feudal nobles of the old era could never have imagined.

"Your Highness, Regent."

Earl Powell exchanged glances with the other nobles again, swallowed hard, and his greedy expression grew even stronger.

"As your companion said, we misspoke. It wasn't five billion Beli, it was five hundred billion Beli..."

"Yes, yes, we need 50 billion Beli to beautify our city."

"After this political turmoil, especially the indiscriminate bombardment by those unscrupulous navies, our families have suffered enormous losses. If Your Highness the Regent is willing to help us, you will gain the loyalty of all the nobles of the Goa Kingdom."

"Loyalty?"

The wine in Ma Qiao's hand swirled countless times.

Finally, he smiled and waved his arm.

The sour, expired wine spilled onto Earl Powell's old face, not a drop falling.

"Although I am a businessman, I don't believe that money can buy true loyalty!"

"Ah!"

Earl Powell covered his old face and asked angrily, "Do you know what you're doing? You're insulting a true nobleman!"

The other Goa nobles were outraged:

"You are nothing but a baron from the Alabasta Kingdom, what right do you have to humiliate Earl Powell!"

Please don't misunderstand!

Ma Qiao smiled and said, "I'm not insulting Earl Powell, I'm insulting all of you scum!"

With that, Ma Qiao used both hands, one powerful blow after another, sending the nobles who rushed up and tried to shove him flying.

The guards who rushed in after hearing the commotion were left to be dealt with by the three girls.

Even Nami could easily take down several fully armed guards with a stool.

Vivi also carries Peacock Chain with her at all times.

It's been a long time since I've fought, and my movements have become a bit rusty.

As for Yamato...

Ma Qiao could only pray for her unfortunate henchmen who were hit by her spiked club.

Upon seeing Ma Qiao and his gang, their fighting power proved to be terrifying.

In particular, the white-haired woman dressed as a flight attendant slammed the captain of the royal guard into the floor with a single blow.

The nobles were all in a panic.

Earl Powell pulled out a Den Den Mushi:

"Rebellion! The puppet regent has betrayed his master!"

"Unfortunately, you've forgotten that three captains from the Marine Headquarters are still in this country."

"The navy is like dogs kept by us nobles. Dogs aren't allowed on the table, which is why we didn't call them. Now it seems we'll have to let you taste the power of vicious dogs!"

Earl Powell dialed the emergency number left by the Navy with a fierce look.