Pirates: How Many Divisions Do the Five Elders Have? A Small Misunderstanding?

Without a doubt, Ma Qiao was a good teacher.

Though he was not quite as outrageous as Teacher Kaido, who had beaten the Sun God into Awakening with three blows, he was still extremely dedicated to his duties.

During Miss Monday's six-month internship, Ma Qiao had taught her more than a hundred ways to slack off in that treacherous organization, and had also honed her combat abilities.

Ma Qiao believed that, if the butterfly effect had not affected the Straw Hat Pirates, the inexperienced Zoro would never have been able to take Miss Monday down in a single slash three years later.

It would have taken at least three.

For that very reason, Miss Monday held Ma Qiao in such high regard that, even after becoming a full member, she had continued to gather news about him, both deliberately and by chance.

When she noticed that Mr. Ma Qiao and her junior apprentice sister seemed to share a slightly strange connection, Miss Monday shared that news with her.

Ma Qiao had no reason to hide those exploits, so he readily nodded.

Once she had confirmed they were true, Vivi could barely contain her excitement. She clutched Ma Qiao's red scarf tightly, her big eyes sparkling, and it was clear at a glance that she had a thousand things to say.

That gave Ma Qiao quite a fright. He thought the girl's next words would be, "Please save my country and my people, I'm begging you!"

Fortunately, Vivi did not reveal that she was a princess. Instead, she asked firmly, "Uncle Ma Qiao, may I ask if you know the president? I really want to know who he is!"

"I'm really just a low-ranking member who slacks off. I've just been around a bit longer, that's all. How would I know the mysterious president?"

Ma Qiao reached out, picked the girl up, and set her on a dining chair. Already knowing the answer, he asked, "You want to know who the president is? Why?"

"Because... because..."

Vivi hesitated, then said as though it were only natural, "Because I admire him! Baroque Works aims to build a utopia of everlasting peace. I really admire the president for having such an ambition!"

Ma Qiao looked at her face with a faint smile.

At first, the tips of her ears burned from lying. Then she gradually remembered that her country and its people were at stake, and her expression grew resolute. Finally, she deliberately added a touch of coquettishness, taking advantage of her pretty face. Vivi's expressions were particularly amusing.

If Ma Qiao had not known who she was, and that the place where Crocodile intended to build his utopia was Alabasta, he might almost have believed the girl's nonsense.

Sure enough, Yin Susu had been right: the prettier a girl was, the better she was at lying.

But Yin Susu had left one thing unsaid.

The more handsome a man was, the better he was at lying too.

Ma Qiao shook his head. "Apart from the vice president, Miss All Sunday, no one knows Mr. 0's true identity. All the orders within the organization come from her."

Just as Vivi's eager anticipation turned to disappointment, Ma Qiao changed tack. "But I suppose you could say I was the one who introduced Miss All Sunday to the organization..."

Vivi: ???

Ma Qiao counted on his fingers. "Hmm, about five years ago, I was out for a walk when I bought that woman from a bunch of human traffickers. Yep, she cost me all 500,000 Beli I had saved at the time!"

Seventeen years ago, the archaeological holy land of Ohara had been destroyed by a Buster Call. Its sole survivor, Nico Robin, had been only eight years old when she went into hiding in the Underworld to evade capture by the World Government.

After being betrayed countless times, Nico Robin had begun making a living by betraying others, walking a tightrope by exploiting human nature.

Five years ago, at the age of twenty, Nico Robin had ended her wanderings in the West Blue and entered the Grand Line... where Ma Qiao, who had just transmigrated, had spent everything he had to buy her while out wandering...

Robin at twenty...

Though she lacked some of the captivating allure she would have in her mature years five years later, a young woman with such a smoking-hot figure and exotic beauty had cost only 500,000 Beli, the equivalent of a little over 20,000 yuan...

It sounded unbelievable, but that really was the market price at the human auction houses in the Sabaody Archipelago.

Humans, male or female, all had a starting price of 500,000 Beli.

Slaves from the rarer Tontatta, Mink Tribe, Longarm Tribe, Longleg Tribe, and Snake-Neck Tribe had starting prices of 700,000 Beli.

Fish-Men and male Merfolk started at one million Beli.

Female giants started at ten million Beli.

Only rare categories such as male giants and female Merfolk could fetch tens or even hundreds of millions.

In the pirate world, where racism ran rampant, race and sex were the key factors determining a slave's price.

An ordinary young mermaid like Camie could fetch an auction price that would leave the vast majority of great pirates in the dust.

But if Camie were an LGBT mermaid, she would be worthless.

The Celestial Dragons did not care for political correctness, which was one of their few virtues...

In short, as a human, even someone as beautiful as Hancock, if the special abilities of her Devil Fruit were not taken into account, was merely a relatively high-quality human female slave in the eyes of those Celestial Dragons and nobles—a common plaything that would not last long.

A few million Beli would have been the absolute limit for her price.

Robin was certainly quite beautiful too.

But this was only near the entrance to the Grand Line, still a long journey from the Sabaody Archipelago.

The closer goods were to their place of origin, the cheaper they naturally were.

That was especially true in a place like the Grand Line, where transportation costs were high.

In the eyes of the human traffickers, an "ordinary" beautiful young woman was worth only 500,000 Beli.

A Robin for just over 20,000 yuan!

Even a slightly realistic life-size doll cost more than that!

Without thinking, Ma Qiao had immediately pulled out everything he owned and bid for her...

Ma Qiao swore that he had really just been curious.

He had wanted to get a close look and confirm young Robin's skin tone...

The final answer was that Robin, whose character design was that of a Slavic girl, had very fair skin.

It was just that...

If two fair little hands had not sprouted from Ma Qiao's back and viciously strangled him while he was observing her, the experience would have been even better...

Fortunately, the misunderstanding had ultimately been cleared up, more or less.

Though his behavior had looked somewhat rude, he really had meant well!

Of course, Ma Qiao believed that even if he had not bought Robin, she would most likely have escaped on her own.

Perhaps, like Rayleigh, she had deliberately allowed herself to be captured by a slave ship so she could make it safely over Reverse Mountain.

In any case, a second-rate slave ship like that had neither the Celestial Dragons' explosive collars nor Seastone Handcuffs. To Robin, it was nothing more than free transportation.

Besides, as far as Ma Qiao knew, the slave ship had mysteriously sunk shortly after departing, and all the slaves aboard had gained their freedom.

That was most likely Robin's doing...

As Ma Qiao saw it, his appearance had been nothing more than an ordinary little snapshot in young Robin's dark life.

Even today, that seemingly joking master-servant contract was still gathering dust in Ma Qiao's desk drawer...

Though Ma Qiao called himself a capitalist, he was actually a poor one.

He loathed the slave trade and human trafficking, and had never taken the contract seriously.

The inscrutable young woman, on the other hand... well, at twenty-five, she still counted as a young woman, right?... was always saying strange things.

In short, the so-called "purchase" had been nothing more than a small misunderstanding.

At least, that was how it was for Ma Qiao.