Pirates: How Many Divisions Do the Five Elders Have? Bristle and Crocodile's Invitation

The world of One Piece has never been a world where you can defeat an absolute powerhouse simply by relying on or mobilizing the people.

Although Oda has repeatedly emphasized the importance of troop strength on various occasions, for the time being, Ma Qiao has not yet discovered a way to wear down an absolute powerhouse with grunts.

Moreover, the value of ordinary people's lives to Ma Qiao goes far beyond that of cannon fodder.

Because the people can create wealth, and for Ma Qiao, wealth is the guarantee of fighting power.

It can be said that Ma Qiao was destined to be the ruler in the One Piece world who placed the greatest emphasis on population and productivity.

The spring and summer of 1519 in the Sea Circle Calendar were destined to be extraordinary for the Goa Kingdom.

In June, the wall of separation was torn down, and the identity politics that had lasted for centuries was completely shattered.

Faced with the obsequiousness and even groveling of the nobility, the lower-class citizens once again demonstrated their class weakness.

After the initial wave of protests subsided, Regent Ma Qiao's decisions were resolutely implemented under the influence of guns and bayonets.

Those who harbored discontent fell silent, those who hesitated and watched followed suit, while those who embraced progressive ideas unleashed Infinity Edge fighting spirit.

At the same time, the astonishing salaries and benefits offered by the Big Bird Consortium to these natives of the East Blue shattered the last vestiges of pride among the ordinary citizens.

A vigorous large-scale production campaign quietly unfolded.

For the aristocracy, he used force to suppress them; for the urban class, he used both appeasement and violence; and for the scavengers, Ma Qiao adopted a comprehensive safety net policy.

To be honest, although scavengers lead a miserable life, it doesn't mean that they are all kind and gentle people.

A truly naive and innocent person could never survive in Uncertain Substance Terminal.

However, since the Ma Qiao regime liberated them, they naturally became Ma Qiao's base of support.

In reality, many scavengers have lost their ability to work and do not meet the Big Bird Consortium's employment standards.

After a disability assessment, the Big Bird Consortium will provide these individuals with a daily allowance equivalent to that of Shurima refugees, along with guaranteed medical services.

Indeed, medical aid is also essential for stabilizing the situation in the Goa Kingdom.

Even if those scavengers rescued from the Uncertain Substance Terminal still possess the basic qualities to become workers, they have been completely detached from normal society, both physically and psychologically.

Garen and Ma Qiao, each activating their level 5 [Courage] aura, provided psychological counseling to the scavengers, helping them gradually integrate into normal society.

Dr. Dr. Mundo and his medical team then provided further free treatment to each scavenger.

Parasites, malnutrition, joint disease, respiratory damage.

A variety of chilling diseases have appeared among these scavengers.

Combined with Health Potion, Oracle's Extract, and other miraculous medicines, the Big Bird Medical Team adheres to the principles of healing the sick and saving lives while being economical, treating the most patients at the lowest possible cost.

According to statistics, among the scavengers aged fourteen to sixty, about seven out of ten eventually met the employment standards of the Big Bird Consortium after treatment and became proud pig farmers.

However, having only workers is not enough without technical leaders.

At the same time, Ma Qiao transferred Joseph and other key technical personnel from the Cocoyasi pig farm, and also specially recruited Sejuani, the "pig Sejuani," as a special technical advisor.

Sejuani is the Warmother of the Winter's Claw tribe. She is not only a powerful warrior, but also an excellent pig farmer, to the point that she can even communicate with pigs.

It is said that the pork trained by her is fatty but not greasy, and is especially delicious.

Of course, besides valuing her pig-raising skills, the most important reason Ma Qiao recruited her was because he was interested in Sejuani's pet—the giant wild boar Bristle.

Generally, recruiting a hero doesn't bring their equipment; for example, when Ma Qiao recruited Gangplank, he didn't get his pirate ship.

To this day, Gangplank's battleship blueprints are still gathering dust in Ma Qiao's pile of documents.

But Sejuani's situation is different.

Her Bristle Queen 'Skaarl Kled Valor, is a battle pet that can be brought along, and it has special effects depending on its skin.

For example, with Sejuani's Snowdown skin, Ma Qiao can even get a giant Poro sticking out its tongue and acting cute.

Of course, for the time being, Ma Qiao hasn't found a way to extract value from those furry creatures, so he doesn't have any immediate plans to spend money to buy Sejuani a skin.

Sejuani has brought a magnificent, giant wild boar, truly awe-inspiring and beautiful.

Without a doubt, "Bristle" is the king of Vask Boars.

Simply put, he's the Pig King.

In my previous life, even a single breeding pig could be worth tens of thousands of RMB.

The rice water it produces is also quite valuable.

"Bristle" is definitely the king of kings among kings.

Moreover, the Vask Boar, chosen as a battle pet by the Winter's Claw tribe, is far superior to ordinary boars.

To cope with the harsh cold of Freljord, and to support the burly, heavily armored, and axe-wielding tribal warriors, Vask Boars are much larger than ordinary boars, with more developed muscles and a thicker layer of fat.

Ma Qiao estimated that only the mountain Mountain God boar that was chopped in two by Kozuki Oden in the Flower Capital could overwhelm the Vasker boar in size.

However, Ma Qiao had already studied it and found that the Mountain God pigs had very poor reproductive capabilities and extremely slow growth rates, making them unsuitable for raising as meat pigs.

In comparison, the Vasque pig's reproductive capacity and market speed are within an acceptable range.

Of course, these traits are still far from what Ma Qiao expected.

Therefore, only through crossbreeding and continuous selection of superior traits can we eventually obtain the super pig breed that Ma Qiao hoped for, where "the whole village slaughters one, and that one eats for half a year."

Bristles have made significant contributions to this series of cultivation processes.

Ma Qiao didn't treat it badly either.

Those so-called "pig kings" on Earth may have thousands of offspring, but in reality, they are most likely still pitiful creatures who have never even touched a sow when they die.

Ma Qiao. Maggio is a very kind person.

They wouldn't use such despicable methods as using iron frames to collect rice water to constantly squeeze the Bristles.

Of course, it's also possible that Bristle is exceptionally gifted and has a superior IQ, and those rudimentary iron climbing frames simply cannot trick him into revealing his essence.

So Ma Qiao could only use a bunch of big, white sows to make his brother Bristle fall into a gentle trap.

By July, new pig farms were springing up like mushrooms after rain in the Goa Kingdom.

Bristle gradually went from wanting to hit ten, or even a hundred, to realizing, "I really don't have a single drop left."

Thanks to its tireless efforts, the pig farming industry in the Goa Kingdom is thriving.

In a country where the economy is in ruins and everything is waiting to be rebuilt, and where political obstacles are cleared and a united force is formed, the people will not live too badly.

Living a decent life, in the world of One Piece, would be like living in paradise.

Public opinion in the Goa Kingdom regarding Regent Ma Qiao has taken a sharp turn for the better.

Their private nickname for Ma Qiao evolved from "Ma the Skinflint" and "Ma the Rebel" to "Father Ma."

Ma Qiao:???

To be honest, the title "Dad" is a bit unlucky.

As far as Ma Qiao knew, until the last Tsar Nicholas II was killed along with his entire family, Russian peasants affectionately called him "Little Father."

As for the other Jack Ma...

Ma Qiao gave another national address, refusing to allow the public to refer to him in that way.

In his speech, Ma Qiao emphasized that the subjects of the Goa Kingdom, like the employees of the Big Bird Consortium, were his half-brothers.

Of course, there were two exceptions.

Those were the Stelly, who had to respectfully address Ma Qiao as his second grandfather.

These two were also sent to the Goa Kingdom's second state-run pig farm as nobles in need of labor reform, to work as nursery workers for sows.

As an elder, Ma Qiao presented his treasured copy of "Postpartum Care of Sows" to his second grandson and granddaughter-in-law as a gift, which shows his kindness.

The vigorous production campaign continued until the end of September, when the situation in the Goa Kingdom finally stabilized.

Ma Qiao finally had time to travel between the Goa Kingdom and Shurima, integrating resources from both sides. Through the connections of Garp and Zephyr, he gradually added Big Bird Fresh Big Bird Braised Meats to the Navy's procurement list.

On this day, as usual, Ma Qiao went to his beloved little internet cafe to surf the internet for a while, and chat with his buddy Zephyr and old rascal Garp, discussing the operational possibilities of substituting pigs for cows.

However, after searching around, Ma Qiao couldn't find either Garp or Zephyr.

At that moment, Crocodile suddenly appeared in front of him with a strange expression.

Ma Qiao, sipping his chilled watermelon juice, looked up and asked in confusion:

"Crocodile, is something wrong? I've made it clear, if you want a discount on internet fees, you'll have to wait until the end of the month when they have a promotion."

In the original story, after losing most of his subordinates at Baroque Works, Crocodile transformed from a ruthless and ambitious figure into a newspaper-reading idiot who spent his days just staring at the newspaper and grinning foolishly.

Ma Qiao feels that Crocodile is now somewhat inclined to become a spammer online.

If it weren't for his backend access, Ma Qiao would never have guessed that this guy was actually the moderator of the "Infinite Tsukuyomi" forum on Baidu Tieba, with a level of thirteen.

Crocodile's self-chosen online name is just so incredibly annoying.

"What can my arrogance do to me?"

If I had to say, the name does indeed suit the character he uses in the game, Uchiha Sasuke, very well.

Furthermore, if Crocodile truly transformed from a woman into a man through the hormonal abilities of the Okama King Ivankov, then choosing such a name would be quite reasonable.

Due to the stereotypes formed in his previous life, every time Ma Qiao saw this ID, he would always picture a primary school student with a snotty nose and hair combed like an adult.

Looking at the young boss, Ma Qiao, who was clearly lost in thought, Crocodile asked in a somber tone, a cigarette dangling from his lips:

"Do you want to come along this time? I don't want to be on the same ship as Garp and the others."

"Want to go together?"

Ma Qiao was taken aback. "Where to?"

Don't you know?

Crocodile said with a speechless expression, "The Reverie is about to be held in Mary Geoise. As the Regent of the Goa Kingdom, you should be attending, right?"

"Reverie? Wasn't that held last year?"

Ma Qiao frowned.

If he remembered correctly, two years after King Luffy entered the Grand Line, in the year 1522 of the Sea Circle Calendar, a Reverie was held in Mary Geoise. Princess Shirahoshi, Princess Rebecca, Princess Vivi, and others gathered in Mary Geoise, making it a truly delightful and spectacular event.

Now it is 1519, and logically speaking, the last Reverie should have been held last year, so it should have nothing to do with me.

"Don't you even read newspapers? How can you call yourself a true media warrior?"

Crocodile looked disdainful. "Last year, a plague broke out in Mary Geoise, and the 1518th Reverie was postponed to this year. As a World Government Member States and a member of the Group of Fifty Great Powers, the Goa Kingdom certainly cannot be absent."

"Oh, this..."

The thought of going to Mary Geoise sent chills down Ma Qiao's spine.

To be honest, he would rather go to Whole Cake Island and face Big Mom than go to Mary Geoise and encounter those despicable Celestial Dragons.

"On another note..."

Ma Qiao thought of a question and looked at Crocodile with a puzzled expression, "Do the Shichibukai also have to attend the Reverie? I don't think I've ever heard of such a rule?"

"Hmph, so you call yourself the Regent, kid!"

Crocodile's face, which had been gloomy for months, finally revealed a smug smile, "I am now the sworn brother of King Cobra of the Alabasta Kingdom, and this time I will escort King Cobra to the Holy Land Mary Geoise as his bodyguard."

There was one more thing Crocodile didn't say.

He endured humiliation and hardship to recognize a good -Cobra as his sworn brother, not on a whim, nor for the sake of the title of king's brother.

Crocodile was inspired by Ma Qiao's indirect usurpation of power to come up with this idea.

According to Crocodile, Cobra is the only male heir of the Nefertari Family.

He has only one daughter.

According to relevant intelligence, Cobra's daughter appears to be studying a foreign language in some faraway place.

Crocodile wasn't quite sure why Cobra wanted to send his only daughter abroad to study a foreign language, but he knew it was a great opportunity.

If only his daughter could disappear forever without anyone noticing, and then one day, his brother Cobra could be sent on his way, then his sworn brother, whose legitimacy was extremely weak, could rightfully take over the country.

Crocodile believed that Ma Qiao did not do this, because Ma Qiao was, after all, an honest man who was wholeheartedly devoted to the survival of the organization, and should not have devised such an insidious, despicable, and complex plan to usurp power.

However, with his brilliant example before him, Crocodile felt that his plan had a very high probability of success.

Seeing that Ma Qiao was still hesitant, Crocodile used his trump card:

"Let's go together, young master Ma Qiao. King Cobra has said that he will cover the travel expenses for this trip..."

"Crocodile... aren't you judging people with too much outdated thinking?"

Ma Qiao, hands in his pockets, shook his head and said:

"Do you think I'm still that stingy office worker from a few years ago, struggling to make ends meet? No, I'm now a private entrepreneur managing tens of billions in assets! I don't care about money at all; money has absolutely no interest to me."

"So, when do we set off?"

--A side note--

The Shaomai is admitted to being short, but I really have something to do tonight, so this is all I have, not a single drop left. (′?皿?`)