Pirates: How Many Divisions Do the Five Elders Have? The Next Target

"Yes, yes!"

Teach nodded with a sheepish grin, and Bin changed the subject, saying, "Speaking of Kaido need so much wine for?"

Marco was equally suspicious. "If they're just drinking it themselves, the quantity is far too large, not to mention they have to pay us tolls. The cost seems a bit too high..."

"This..."

Whitebeard frowned as well; this was indeed a bit unusual.

Gangplank, standing to the side, said, "Pops, I heard that Wano Country has opened as a port."

"Opening a port?"

Whitebeard was taken aback.

As Kozuki Oden's... good brother...

Okay, this Oden is the only character who joined the Whitebeard Pirates but wasn't Whitebeard's son.

Whitebeard was well aware of the difficulties in opening Wano Country to the world.

But does opening a port count as founding a nation?

It's open, but not fully open?

No.

Gangplank explained, "Only the Great Bird East India Company is qualified to obtain the exclusive trading rights in Amigasa Village... I know this mainly because my hometown in the East Blue is currently selling Wano Country handicrafts very well..."

"Hiss..."

Marco gasped, "The Ma Qiao brothers have expanded their business from the East Blue to Onigashima? That's incredible!"

"Kura la la la~"

Whitebeard laughed heartily, "No wonder he's the man who saved Teach twice!"

"This..."

Teach said weakly, "Brother Ma Qiao saved me once, but this time I swam back on my side by myself."

"Is that so? Well, it's not that much different..."

Whitebeard said nonchalantly, "A real man should repay kindness with kindness and avenge wrongs. Teach, you owe that kid Ma Qiao a life."

Teach nodded repeatedly, patting his chest to show that, apart from Pops Whitebeard, the Ma Qiao brothers were the best to him in the whole world.

I will definitely work hard to repay him in the near future, just like I repay you, Pops, for raising me!

"Kuralala~ Silly child, I don't need any repayment. Having you all as my family is the happiest thing for me!"

Whitebeard chuckled and shook his head, saying gently, "Speaking of which, it was my Pops. Marco, the kid who followed me the longest, is already 42 years old. Even Teach, you're 37 this year, aren't you?"

With that, Whitebeard tossed a wine bowl steadily in front of Teach.

The enormous wine bowl came hurtling in, but not a single drop of wine spilled.

Teach felt a chill run down his spine, knowing Pops Whitebeard was still as sharp as ever, his control over his power remaining as superb as ever.

Teach quickly picked up the bowl of wine, gulped it down, then wiped his mouth and revealed a sincere expression:

"Yes, that's right. It's been 25 years since I boarded the Moby Dick at the age of 12. In these 25 years, thanks to your care, Pops, and the help of my brothers..."

"Kura la la~ What I've done is still far from enough!"

The Whitebeard shook his head. Marco, who was secretly eating a pineapple, said, "This kid is forty years old and still a bachelor. Logically speaking, I should have thought about arranging a marriage for Marco a long time ago, but this guy is simply not cut out for settling down!"

Teach, you did the right thing this time. While you're still young, you must be brave enough to pursue your love...

As he said this, the Whitebeard looked up at the sky, and it seemed as if the bright, youthful image of that man reappeared in his eyes.

However, that was more than thirty years ago.

Whitebeard was there, his old man suddenly bursting with youthful exuberance, incessantly expressing his sorrow and lament, Teach was completely bewildered.

"Love? What is that? Can't you just buy women with money...? Oh dear!"

Teach covered his head; a large bump had appeared on his forehead.

Whitebeard withdrew his left hand, which had been using the Tremor-Tremor Fruit's power remotely, and angrily rebuked, "You bastard, is this how you treat marriage? That girl's balls were crushed for you, and she was even imprisoned by the Marines in Impel Down, and all you think about is spending money to play with women... Of course, remembering to spend money is still a good thing, unlike some low-life pirates who aren't even willing to spend money."

"Wait, Pops, which girl are you talking about?"

Teach has been bedridden and has no idea what's happening in the outside world.

Marco swallowed the pineapple whole in one gulp, then pulled out a newspaper and said with a smile, "Brother Teach, don't try to hide it from everyone anymore. We all know about your relationship with the 36th daughter of the Charlotte Family!"

Teach quickly picked up the newspaper, and upon looking at it, his face immediately changed from a North American black color scheme to a pure West African color scheme.

"This... this is completely fabricated!"

Teach quickly explained, "I don't know this woman at all, and I don't like hairy women..."

How could you say such a thing!

Marco frowned, clearly displeased.

He was very fond of this first wife of the Whitebeard Pirates.

The reason is simple: as Phoenix ability user, Marco saw his own reflection in Viscount Hiyoko.

Who knows, maybe my future baby will look a lot like me! That would be amazing!

Marco absolutely refused to allow Teach to take advantage of such a lovely girl and then abandon her. Pointing to the relevant content in the news, he said with considerable emotion:

"Look at that girl, she was put into boiling water at 100 degrees Celsius by the jailers in the Impel Down to 'sterilize' her, even her hair fell out, but she still resolutely denies having anything to do with you! She says she'd rather die than marry a black man..."

"Wait, isn't her point that I'm disabled?" Teach couldn't help but interject.

Marco shook his head. "No, look at this interview, it never mentions your disability. She just says you're dark-skinned and ugly..."

Teach: "..."

After a long silence, Teach said weakly, "Is it possible that this woman really has nothing to do with me?"

"Ha?"

Marco shook his head vigorously. "The more she says that, the more it proves she loves you. She wants the World Government to abandon its plan to use her as a hostage to capture you. Otherwise, she would have been tortured into Impel Down long ago. You must know how terrible Impel Down is..."

"Alright, alright, Teach, it's up to you: stand up like a real man, or cower under this woman's chicken wings like a despicable coward?"

In the end, Whitebeard delivered the decisive blow, posing a question that would cost him his life.

Teach glanced at the Whitebeard Pirates crew members who had gathered to watch the spectacle, and at the solemn-faced Whitebeard Pops. He knew that if he couldn't give a satisfactory answer, his days in the Whitebeard Pirates might be coming to an end.

This kind of pirate crew, bound together by shared beliefs, is just so annoying!

Teach decided that if he ever became a captain, he would definitely build a pirate crew bound together by shared interests. Only in this way could he live a carefree and unrestrained life!

But back to the present...

Teach knew that he could not leave the protection of the Whitebeard Pirates, nor could he lose his reputation as a kind-hearted person.

After all, he was already disabled and had a bounty of 550 million Beli on his head. It was absolutely not advisable for him to travel alone on the high seas.

So, Teach steeled himself, took a step forward, squeezed out just the right amount of tears, and with a thud, knelt on one knee in a zombie-like hop, falling face-first to the ground before Whitebeard, and shouted:

"Pops, I want to play basketball!"

The world is full of wonders.

Originally, there was no intention for the Whitebeard Pirates and the Big Mom Pirates to cooperate.

However, because someone used spies planted in the security department to stir up trouble, the Navy ended up bringing the two closer together to some extent.

Ma Qiao watched the news report Big News Morgans had just fabricated, and it basically consisted of an elderly man on a bus looking at his phone the whole time.

After their parting on Whole Cake Island, Ma Qiao and Big News Morgans, these two flightless birdmen, became friends despite their initial misunderstanding.

Ma Qiao had been trying to acquire a stake in the World Economy News Paper.

Based on past experience, although these well-known newspapers can be quickly overwhelmed by new media, they can still integrate with online channels.

On certain key issues, releasing information through these traditional major newspapers can be more effective.

Unfortunately, Big News Morgans doesn't seem to be short of money for the time being and has no intention of selling his shares.

Moreover, seemingly as a show of defiance towards Ma Qiao, Big News Morgans preempted Ma Qiao by publishing a series of reports about pirate lovers.

With the two major IPs, the Whitebeard Pirates and the Big Mom Pirates, plus the popular element of forbidden love between humans and animals, this issue of the World Economy News Paper sold extremely well, surprisingly showing signs of a death throes of traditional print media.

"It's so curly! It's just too curly!"

"Why are you making things difficult for other birdmen?!"

As the sea breeze blew, a tear rolled down Ma Qiao's cheek.

Penguins, albatrosses, chickens.

We're all relatives!

Why hurt each other?

Ma Qiao sighed and instructed Tahm Kench to add a chicken leg to dinner tonight in memory of Viscount Hiyoko, who is currently serving time on the sixth basement level of the Impel Down.

However, on the other hand, it was lucky for Flampe to be imprisoned in the sixth level of the Infinite Hell.

If it weren't for the double buffs of being Big Mom's daughter and Whitebeard daughter-in-law, she wouldn't have been able to endure any level of hell—hunger, heat, or extreme cold—given her weak appearance.

"Should we go save your friend?"

A tall, imposing figure suddenly appeared behind Ma Qiao.

After severing one of Whitebeard II's arms, Zephyr bandaged his right arm again.

So at this moment he looked like a patient, but his complexion was surprisingly rosy.

"Should we go save your friend?"

Zephyr repeated his words: "I know Impel Down very well."

"That's not something you should say, brother."

Ma Qiao shook his head, wanting to retort, "Which eye of yours saw Flampe and Blackbeard as my friends?"

Well...

The three giants of free-range chickens...

Okay, we were just talking about family.

Ma Qiao shook his head, abandoning the absurd idea.

"I can see that you are a man of great loyalty and affection, while I... am just an ordinary retired old man."

Zephyr was confident that as long as he wore the mask, none of his old acquaintances in Impel Down would recognize him.

The fake retired Admiral: an unstable inverted triangle physique, a seemingly flamboyant but actually useless body of muscle, and fragile protein that is easily pierced by lasers.

A true retired naval Admiral: a perfectly rounded physique with thick layers of fat that tightly encase combat-ready muscles; the elastic fat cells contain far more energy than his withered, unfilial disciple, and laser treatment is merely a therapeutic ray to remove dead skin.

In short, Zephyr did not believe he was at risk of exposure.

Furthermore, that Sengoku guy actually used someone else's fiancée as bait for a direct hook; that's just too unbecoming of the navy's sense of justice.

As long as he didn't harm the jailers, Zephyr didn't think there was anything wrong with what he was doing.

Ma Qiao shook his head; the old man had always defined himself as a "knight-errant," not a "soldier."

There are definitely quite a few guys like that in the navy, no wonder the world is in such a mess.

Let's take another look.

Ma Qiao shook his head. "It's Teach who should save her, not me. If necessary, I'll offer my brother Teach everything I can to help, but until then..."

Ma Qiao glanced at the Eternal Pose on his wrist. "I still have something to take care of. If I hadn't been delayed by the invitation to the Big Mom's tea party, I would have been heading to that place on this voyage— Dressrosa..."

Dressrosa, an island brimming with Mediterranean charm, is known as the "Land of Love, Passion, and Toys." Its nearby coastline is dotted with mushroom rocks, the island is fragrant with flowers, and it's world-renowned for its exquisite cuisine.

Every man who comes to Dressrosa hopes for a romantic encounter.

This country, clearly imbued with Latin flair, has women who are passionate and unrestrained.

Ma Qiao certainly wasn't there looking for a romantic encounter.

After confirming that Donquixote Doflamingo, like Mountain Hag, was involved in child trafficking, as well as numerous other heinous transactions such as drugs and arms, Ma Qiao made eliminating Doflamingo a priority.

After anchoring off the coast of Dressrosa for a week, a submarine finally surfaced and arrived.

When talking about defeating Doflamingo, how can we forget Dressrosa Law, who knows Dressrosa inside and out?

To be honest, Ronaldo's immature fighting ability is indeed dispensable to Ma Qiao at this point, but the liberation of Dressrosa would be incomplete without Ronaldo.

Upon seeing Ma Qiao, Luo was overcome with excitement.

"Mr. Ma Qiao, are you really determined to take down Doflamingo?"

"Ah, otherwise why would I call you here? You're a sharp knife for fleecing those rich bastards! Every day you leave the Old Western Medicine Hospital, we lose a lot of money!"

Law's abilities are incredibly powerful; many of his tricks are beyond even Dr. Mundo.

For example, Luo could accidentally cut up a human body and then arbitrarily piece it together.

In the original timeline, Law attached Kin'emon's buttocks to the dragon's body and the Renekton's limbs to the Brownbeard.

As for these, Ma Qiao said they were all underutilization of his talents.

There are always some poor souls in the world who even the "Mr. Muscle" enlargement potion can't save.

This is where Law's skills come in handy.

Therefore, by sending Luo on this business trip, Ma Qiao did indeed lose a significant amount of money for surgery.

"Doflamingo, Ming's savings will cover my losses..."

After thinking for a moment, Ma Qiao recalled the scene in the original timeline where Doflamingo offered a huge bounty on God Usopp, and immediately felt much more at ease.

Humming a cheerful tune from his hometown, Ma Qiao, accompanied by Zephyr, Rodriguez, and a group of bodyguards, boarded the dock in Dressrosa.