A Brawler Beats an Expert, Vivi Serves as Regent (Thanks to Shuaishuai Shengli V for the 5,000 Qidian coin tip)

Sorry, I was so angry yesterday that I deleted the post asking for leave. I actually did ask for leave yesterday.

"His skills against the enemy are mediocre, yet he's so ruthless in stabbing himself—what a hero he is!"

At this moment, only one voice echoed in Katakuri's mind.

The disdain she had previously felt for being ambushed vanished, replaced by deep respect for the man before her.

Why... why... did you do this?

Brûlée, whom Katakuri was holding protectively, stared wide-eyed, her ugly face filled with shock.

"Haha, I just did what a man should do."

Ma Qiao shakily pulled out the Black Cleaver, tossed it aside, then pulled a roll of Amumu's shroud from his pocket, haphazardly wrapped it around his waist, and let out a hearty laugh.

Of course, every action of Teacher Ma has a deeper meaning.

First of all, he didn't just randomly throw out Black Cleaver.

This broken Gilgeous Black Cleaver is useless; Ma Qiao has wanted to get rid of it for a long time.

It's just a matter of finding an opportunity.

Secondly, Amumu's shroud contains mummy ash, which, according to traditional Western medicine, is a top-grade medicinal material for treating external injuries.

Legend has it that when Lincoln was having a wild idea at the theater, the paramedics used powder made from ground mummies.

Teacher Ma is now enjoying the same medical treatment as the President of the United States.

But that's not the key point.

Crucially, Ma Qiao needed Amumu's shroud to help cover his rapidly healing wounds.

Come on, he laughed heartily for so long, and Ma Qiao didn't laugh for nothing.

With Garen's passive health regeneration combined with Warmog's Armor's Armor's passive health regeneration, Teacher Ma's back injury had recovered rapidly while he was chatting and laughing.

"Charlotte Brulee, no one in the world understands your brother better than me!"

As he gestured with the motions of playing the accordion, Ma Qiao said with great pride, "It's not that I'm being modest, but if your brother were faced with this situation, I believe he would make the same choice as me!"

"What was done is done, and what wasn't done is not done. There's no need to make assumptions!"

Katakuri also threw away his trident, assuming a stance to fight bare-handed. "You're a real man, I'm no match for you."

"Haha, I believe you will too! I won't misjudge you--"

Ma Qiao also assumed a fighting stance. "Because I'm a male lecturer who understands human nature perfectly!"

"A male lecturer who is well-versed in human nature?"

Katakuri seemed unfazed, but Brûlée frowned, suddenly realizing something. "Could you be the person Shanks, Kaido, and Newgate were talking about?!"

"Huh?"

Ma Qiao was taken aback. Did the Four Emperors have internal working groups?

How did I become so famous?

Katakuri clearly hadn't heard of Ma Qiao, so Brûlée quickly explained:

"Didn't Brother Perospero want to find some psychologists, psychics, or mediums to treat Mom's Hunger Pangs...? So I was responsible for gathering some relevant information at sea."

This guy named Ma Qiao is the hottest psychology expert right now, that's for sure...

"Then this..."

Katakuri pointed to the old man, still unconscious and tucked under Brûlée's arm. "Is he also a psychology expert?"

"No, it's high-end ingredients that Flampe prepared for Mom—no, it's high-end chefs she prepared for Mom!"

Brûlée replied, "How about you knock Ma Qiao Katakuri and take him back to Whole Cake Island, Katakuri?"

"No!"

Katakuri shook his head. "This is a battle between men!"

"However, you are right about one thing."

Katakuri cast an admiring, respectful, and confidant glance at Ma Qiao:

"Ma Qiao... he really is a male lecturer who understands human nature perfectly!"

With that, Katakuri his hand and transformed a mochi into a small house with a window.

Brûlée's expression turned serious. She knew that Katakuri was getting Conqueror's Haki, so she quickly hid inside.

After thinking for a moment, Katakuri threw two more mochi balls at Vivi and Nami in an attempt to protect them.

However, perhaps sensing that Vivi and Nami posed no real threat, Katakuri did not use Conqueror's Haki to predict their movements.

Surprisingly, Vivi hugged Nami and dodged the harmless mochi with a Flash.

"Brother Ka, my woman doesn't need your protection."

Ma Qiao stopped Katakuri from unleashing his second burst of energy, shook his Ice Fist, and said in a deep voice, "Bring it on!"

"Well, then I'll have to apologize. The outfield is just too noisy."

Katakuri nodded, and an astonishing aura suddenly erupted from his body:

Like a Runaan’s Hurricane on flat ground, sand and yellow dust flew everywhere.

Ma Qiao remained unmoved, while Crocodile, in a show of bravado, lit a premium cigarette that he usually couldn't afford to smoke.

The cigarette glowed and dimmed amidst the surging Conqueror's Haki, but Crocodile's expression only twitched almost imperceptibly.

This demonstrates his solid foundation as a veteran Shichibukai.

As for Ma Qiao, he had already flashed to the front of Vivi, Nami, and the panting Chaka who had finally arrived.

This was the first time Ma Qiao had ever personally encountered something Conqueror's Haki.

How exactly Conqueror's Haki works has always been a perplexing question.

For example, when Red-Haired Shanks boarded the Moby Dick, he unleashed a powerful burst of Conqueror's Haki with every step he took.

This Conqueror's Haki appears colorless and formless, yet it truly exists, somewhat resembling Kenpachi Zaraki's spiritual pressure in Bleach.

Not only was the incredibly sturdy timber of the Moby Dick damaged by the Shanks man's Conqueror's Haki, but the newcomers of the Whitebeard Pirates also collapsed and fainted one by one.

But their fainting occurred without any warning.

However, Katakuri's Conqueror's Haki is completely different.

It lacks the understated elegance of the Shanks, Conqueror's Haki and the feeling of a heavy sword without a sharp edge, instead appearing sharp and unrestrained.

His Conqueror's Haki manifested as a visible blue storm, sweeping outwards and towards Ma Qiao, Vivi, and the others.

Charlotte Brulee, hiding in the mochi house, shrieked, "This is Katakuri's true power! Prepare yourselves!"

Ma Qiao ignored Brûlée's incessant chatter and smiled as he watched Katakuri clench his fists, making a gesture resembling straining to defecate, and continuously exploding with rage.

"You know what? I... heard the sound of the wind..."

Ma Qiao turned around, drew his sword from Chaka's waist, and shouted in the direction from which the blue storm was coming:

"Face the storm!"

"Hasak!"

"What kind of swordsmanship is this?"

Both the still enraged Katakuri and the bewildered Chaka had the same question in their minds.

This is actually a sword technique that allows one to control the wind!

On the sandy ground, which was several meters wide, a waterfall of wind suddenly rose up, like a high wall.

Katakuri's Conqueror's Haki enough to split mountains and shatter rocks, and capable of sending people flying and stunning them, vanished completely upon encountering Ma Qiao's Wind Wall.

The Conqueror's Haki, which was not blocked by Ma Qiao's Wind Wall, continued to spread in all directions.

The royal guards, who arrived late, were all blown backward like human kites, their eyes rolled back, and they lost consciousness.

As the Wind Wall dissipated, Ma Qiao looked around and shook his head helplessly.

How exactly do these lowly fodder in the One Piece world outlast the powerful ones? Oda, you old bastard, you need to explain this to us!

In any case, Ma Qiao couldn't think of a way to break the deadlock for the time being.

It's definitely more effective to develop more high-level heroes than to accumulate troops!

Although Katakuri was somewhat surprised by the appearance of the Wind Wall, he was not surprised that Ma Qiao was able to block his Conqueror's Haki.

"Very interesting, very powerful swordsmanship, but what's next? How are you going to fight me, who can see into the future? With your superb swordsmanship?"

Katakuri thought Ma Qiao was a great swordsman and that he had deliberately tested him by using the axe earlier.

However, he soon saw that Ma Qiao had once again discarded the Long Sword to the side.

"I am indeed a master swordsman."

Ma Qiao stepped forward and replied without changing his expression, "However, our Ma family swordsmanship does not use metal or stone as swords; that would be a lower level."

As he spoke, Ma Qiao turned to Vivi and said, "Watch closely, I will only demonstrate once: the 'Six Pulse Divine Sword' from our Ma family's 'Nine Forms'!"

"Six Pulse Divine Sword?"

Vivi stared wide-eyed at Kaxilan: "You old geezer, this move isn't in the Ma Family Nine Forms you mentioned before?"

Uh... no?

Ma Qiao waved his hand dismissively. "Don't worry about such trivial matters, just focus on your studies!"

As he spoke, Ma Qiao raised his right hand, clad in Iceborn Gauntlets, and flicked his Middle Finger forward. A strange golden energy blast shot out from his finger, shattering the...

A large rock next to Katakuri.

"Sorry, sorry, I messed up the QQ!"

Ma Qiao waved his hands repeatedly.

But Katakuri was not about to believe his lies.

His face was full of solemnity.

Because his extraordinary Observation Haki, which allowed him to Future Sight, or more precisely, to predict his opponent's next move, had just failed.

But there was no time for Katakuri to think. Ma Qiao used Arcane Shift to jump to a position that even he found puzzling, and then fired a Mystic Shot in the general direction of Katakuri.

[Mystic Shot], Ezreal's signature skill in his early days, when he was Riot Games' favored son.

He has both AD and AP scaling, and can apply all attack effects, meaning it's considered a basic attack.

It can be said that it is precisely because of the existence of [Mystic Shot] that Ezreal has become an ADC with a completely different style from other ADCs, and has also become a hated ADC by countless casual players in low-elo games.

Because most low-level players simply cannot make good use of Ezreal's passive ability to stack their attack speed and maximize their basic attack damage.

Conversely, they often achieve very good KDA when playing Ezreal by utilizing the extremely long range of [Mystic Shot] and the superior mobility of [Arcane Shift].

However, when actually calculating their output, their Ezreal is often pitifully small.

Alternatively, the final statistics may look good, but most of the output may be "ineffective" or "inefficient" output during the poke phase.

When it really comes to the crucial moments of team fights, Ezreal in low-elo games often transforms into a master of observing from the sidelines and a master of healing the enemy front line.

Even worse, many low-elo Ezreal don't deserve to be called ADCs at all; they should be called "QDCs" (player-controlled ADCs).

Because their damage output relies entirely on Q, and even then, it's just random Q attacks!

Coincidentally, Ma Qiao is exactly that kind of QDC player who is good at both getting points and maintaining his KDA.

More importantly, Ezreal's attack skills, such as [Mystic Shot], [Essence Flux], and [Trueshot Barrage], are all non-targeting skills with relatively wide projectile ranges.

Whenever Ma Qiao gets the champion Ezreal, he basically just spams Q and W randomly during team fights, not even knowing where he's supposed to throw his skills.

Since even Ma Qiao himself doesn't know, Katakuri certainly doesn't know either.

Since ancient times, a brute can defeat a master; a novice can kill a seasoned expert with a flurry of punches

Even if you've been a top player for ten years, ranking first in the national server, predicting the location of a Silver player's non-targeted skills is extremely difficult.

While shouting nonsensical names like "Zhongchong Sword" and "Shaoshang Sword," Ma Qiao unleashed a frantic WQ combo at Katakuri.

With his incredibly high cooldown reduction, Ma Qiao transformed into...

Kizaru of Light?

That's at least how Katakuri and Crocodile see it.

"When did this guy learn the Yasakani no Magatama from Borsalino?"

Crocodile's small eyes held a great deal of doubt. "Isn't he a penguin? I could understand if he learned a move or two from Kuzan, but how does he know Borsalino's moves?"

"Hey! Master Sha, you can't slander this uncle! This is his Ma Family Kung Fu, not some 'Yasakani no Magatama'!"

Vivi, standing to the side, angrily corrected her.

After all, if, according to him, Uncle Ma Qiao was Borsalino's disciple, then wouldn't he himself be Borsalino's grand-disciple?

The mere thought of Kizaru's lewd face made Vivi feel every cell in her body resist.

"I understand the logic..."

Crocodile also disliked Kizaru, "But why do you call Ma Qiao 'Uncle' and me 'Master'?"

"Oh, this..."

Vivi just blurted it out.

After all, logically speaking, the man in front of him was his father's sworn brother, and he should indeed call him uncle.

But...

Vivi rubbed her hands together, embarrassed, and answered truthfully, "Um... only handsome older men can be called 'uncle'... those who aren't good-looking... can only be called 'master'..."

Thud!

Crocodile's cigarette fell to the ground, and his hair, which even Katakuri's Conqueror's Haki hadn't ruffled, was completely disheveled in the wind.

Meanwhile, under Ma Qiao's Natsume's Eight-Q attack, Katakuri was frantically dodging and weaving, finally fell victim to it.

Ma Qiao's [Mystic Shot] landed in an absurdly off-target position that even a high-level player wouldn't know how to use; it was completely off-target.

But Katakuri landed right there with a quick leap.

[Mystic Shot] slammed mercilessly into his right shoulder.

Before he could even feel the pain, Katakuri was surprised to find that a wave of icy energy instantly enveloped his shoulder.

This frosty aura even formed a force field.

This is the perfect synergy between Blue Ezreal's core item, Iceborn Gauntlet, and his skill, Mystic Shot.

[Iceborn Gauntlet]: Unique Passive - Spellblade: After casting a spell, your next basic attack deals bonus physical damage equal to 100% of your base attack damage to all enemies in an area and creates a chilling zone that lasts for 2 seconds, reducing the movement speed of enemies within the zone by 30%. The radius of the chilling zone increases with bonus armor.

Because of the ridiculously high amount of extra armor that Ma Qiao had built up for himself, the icy zone created by this Q was quite large, instantly freezing Brûlée, who had just emerged from the mochi house, along with Pudding, Flampe, and Cobra, who were wrapped around her.

"Ice Age?"

Crocodile could hardly believe his eyes.

Although, like the previous light bullets, the freezing field created by Ma Qiao this time was far less powerful than Kuzan's true Ice Age, it is undeniable that they were remarkably similar.

Crocodile knew that Ma Qiao had a good relationship with the Navy's high command.

One of the key reasons he sent Ma Qiao to Alabasta as an undercover agent was that Ma Qiao had earned a good reputation within the Navy and cultivated good relationships with high-ranking officials.

Can...

Crocodile didn't expect this guy to have such good connections!

Two of the Three Admirals surprisingly passed on their most secret techniques, though it's unclear how they managed to do so...

However, upon closer reflection, Zephyr and Garp frequented the sanatorium run by Ma Qiao for many years, and even Sengoku had appeared there at one point. Furthermore, a mysterious figure resembling Kuzan had previously appeared...

Hiss...

Crocodile felt increasingly uneasy as he thought about it.

But then I thought about it again. Ma Qiao has already made such a name for himself in the Navy, yet he still considers himself an employee of Baroque Works and is constantly working towards bankrupting and restructuring the Baroque Works...

Ma Qiao is still a kind and sentimental person!

"Ma Qiao, you are truly a gentleman!"

The frost on Katakuri's arm melted away.

Just now, when he was hit by that strange light bullet, Katakuri clearly felt his movement speed being greatly slowed down.

It was a very strange feeling.

Katakuri also had a brief sparring session with Kuzan.

Although the feeling of being Ice Block by Kuzan was intense, Katakuri believed he could still break free.

Just now, Katakuri felt that he wasn't being rigidly restrained, but it was as if his nervous system was paralyzed, and he just couldn't exert his normal speed.

What's even more terrifying is that, whether it was due to the accompanying Haki or some other strange ability, Katakuri discovered that when that attack hit him, the power of his Mochi-Mochi Fruit had completely vanished.

It wasn't the weakness and powerlessness of Seastone, but rather it vanished into thin air, as if he had never been a Devil Fruit User at all.

However, Katakuri also noticed that although he had lost his powers and could no longer freely change his body, the mochi hut he had created to protect his sisters still existed.

Therefore, it seems that the Devil Fruit's power hasn't truly disappeared, but rather been sealed away.

Actually, the proper term should be "silence".

Ezreal's Q ability can apply additional effects to all basic attacks.

Garen's [Decisive Strike] is, of course, an additional effect of a basic attack.

If Ezreal's Q skill were to include a silence effect, it would undoubtedly be a qualitative leap.

If it were anyone else, they would have definitely been asking Ma Qiao a lot of questions about his abilities, but Katakuri didn't do that.

"You win! You are the most upright and gentlemanly person I have ever met. I call you Gentleman Sword Ma Qiao!"

He said admiringly, "Your 'Six Pulse Divine Sword' is indeed very powerful. Just now I lost my speed and my Devil Fruit ability, and was left with only a negligible amount of Haki. If you had continued to shoot at me, I would have been seriously injured at the very least."

"But you didn't. You deliberately missed your light bullets and outlined my body... I felt humiliated..."

Katakuri chuckled self-deprecatingly, "If it were anyone else, I would definitely think that way, but if it's you, Gentleman Sword Ma Qiao, I know you're just acting out of kindness."

"Haha, Brother Ka, I truly have no reason to kill you."

Ma Qiao waved his hand magnanimously. "Let's get this straight, I don't approve of your mother's behavior, and among your siblings, like this Flampe, I have even less respect for them. But, Brother Ka, I do approve of you as a friend."

With that, Ma Qiao used an E-jump to teleport in front of Katakuri and extended his right hand.

"Sir, danger!"

Vivi shouted worriedly, because judging from the situation, continuing to poke from a distance was the best approach.

However, Ma Qiao wasn't worried at all.

After all, Flampe, who was known for her treacherous tactics, had already lost consciousness after having her hair parted in the middle.

The remaining people, whether it's Katakuri or Brûlée, are relatively easy to get along with.

Sure enough, Katakuri reached out his hand without hesitation.

"Etc!"

Ma Qiao looked at his small hands, which were far too delicate compared to Katakuri's, and pulled out a bottle of Elixir of Iron.

After downing it in one gulp, Ma Qiao's size increased rapidly.

"Human... human gigantification?"

Brûlée's eyes widened. "Isn't this the potion Mom has been dreaming of?"

"Brûlée!"

Katakuri glared at her, Brûlée immediately shut her mouth.

Ma Qiao shook his head and explained, "This isn't permanent; it's just a temporary solution for dealing with big guys like you."

Even so, it's still best not to tell Mom about this.

With that, Katakuri and Ma Qiao shook hands. "It's an honor to have a friend like you, Gentleman Sword!"

"Um... you don't actually need to call me that..."

"No, you deserve it!"

And so, Katakuri made his first close friend outside his own family.

However, he didn't want to stay there any longer.

As the second strongest Big Mom Pirates, once her whereabouts are exposed, a series of troubles will inevitably follow.

He must get back to Whole Cake Island as soon as possible.

However, this "as soon as possible" is a bit too fast.

Almost with lightning speed and a clanging sound, Katakuri grabbed Brûlée and disappeared into the mirror.

So much so that Ma Qiao didn't even have time to mention the scar removal surgery he originally wanted to offer for Brûlée.

Well...

Something seems off.

It seems something more important has been forgotten?

Ma Qiao rested his chin on his hand, lost in thought.

Ma Qiao fell into deep thought, but Crocodile was not.

He looked at Chaka, who had witnessed the entire situation, and at the royal guards who were gradually waking from their coma, and a feeling of sadness welled up in his heart:

"Gentlemen, it is truly heartbreaking that my brother Cobra has been captured by the Big Mom Pirates. But as the saying goes, a country cannot be without a ruler, and Alabasta cannot be without a leader. I, Crocodile, though unworthy, am willing to act on his behalf..."

"Your Highness!"

Crocodile had been preparing his words for a long time, but before he could finish speaking, Chaka and all the King's Guards suddenly knelt down before Vivi:

"Your Highness, His Cobra has been kidnapped. Captain Crocodile is right; a country cannot be without a ruler, Alabasta cannot be without one. Therefore... please forget your grief for now, and as the Princess of the Alabasta Kingdom... assume the regency!"