Pirates: How Many Divisions Do the Five Elders Have? But That'll Cost Extra
The big boss of Baroque Works was a woman?
Vivi was completely baffled.
If the boss was a woman, why use Mr. 0 as a code name?
And her partner was clearly a woman too, wasn't she?
Vivi's rank was too low for her to have encountered a transgender person like Mr. 2 yet, so her thinking was still very innocent. (See image.)
With her head full of questions, Vivi put the letter back where she had found it, then tiptoed out of the room.
Before long, Vivi appeared in the hallway outside the women's dormitory on the tavern's third floor. The chicken soup in her hands had been replaced by a large basin filled with shampoo, bath towels, and the like.
Just as she was about to head to the bathroom, a familiar figure stood in the middle of the hallway, repeatedly drawing the string of a plain longbow.
Vivi had once tried the longbow herself and found that she couldn't draw it no matter what she did. Only later did she learn that its draw weight was an astonishing 3,300 pounds.
In Ashe's hands, however, it seemed to be nothing more than an ordinary piece of exercise equipment, drawn and released over and over in a steady rhythm.
Looking at Ashe's graceful figure, Vivi couldn't imagine how she possessed such incredible arm strength.
According to Miss Monday, even she had once lost to Ashe in an arm-wrestling match.
Vivi silently admired her as she stepped forward to greet her.
"Ashe, practicing your archery again?"
Ashe nodded. "Yes. This is a task my king gave me."
"Hehe, Ashe, the way you address that stinky old man is still so strange!"
Vivi smiled and didn't look into it any further.
How could that stinky old man possibly be a king?
It was most likely just one of Ashe's strange verbal quirks.
In the pirate world, many people had distinctive ways of speaking.
Some liked to refer to themselves as old men even when they were young, while others insisted that everyone address them as "my lord."
Among the current batch of Baroque Works interns, there was one such strange fellow.
He called himself a prince and always wore a homemade crown on his head. It never fell off, even when he did somersaults, and he treasured it dearly. (See image.)
But in reality, he was just talking big. He wasn't a prince at all.
Shaking her head, Vivi walked past Ashe toward the bathroom.
"Miss Vivi, are you going to take a bath?"
Ashe lowered her bow and arrows, a rare, stiff smile appearing on her face.
"Yeah, it's a little hot, and I got all sweaty making chicken soup in the kitchen!"
Vivi fanned the nonexistent beads of sweat at her temple with her little hand and casually asked, "Want to join me?"
"All right."
To Vivi's surprise, Ashe agreed, completely unlike her usual self.
Vivi immediately began to stammer.
Of course, she wasn't really taking a bath in the middle of the day because she was sweaty and needed to wash.
Vivi had studied a few undercover tricks.
The bathroom was the most private space, and the sound of running water could also mask the sound of a conversation.
She planned to use this opportunity to contact Igaram through the royal Den Den Mushi.
Vivi needed outside help to figure out what was going on with Mr. Lady.
Vivi knew Ashe's icy personality well and was certain she would never agree to an invitation to bathe together, so she had only asked to be polite. She hadn't expected to miscalculate this time.
Ashe took the still slightly bewildered Vivi by the hand and plunged into the bathroom with her.
"Ashe, um, I can do that myself..."
"Ashe, not there..."
Before long, alluring, cheerful sounds rang out from the women's bathroom.
Knock, knock, knock...
The knocking sounded again.
Ma Qiao frowned.
Vivi was clearly busy, so who was knocking?
Ma Qiao got up and opened the door.
There was no one there.
But the knocking continued.
He listened more carefully and realized it wasn't someone knocking at the door at all. The sound was coming from the bookcase.
Ma Qiao turned Sow Postpartum Care, and the bookcase slid aside, revealing Teemo in his split-crotch pants.
"Sir, reporting for duty!"
Teemo gave a Yordle Scout Corps salute. "The universal Den Den Mushi mushrooms have been cultivated, and the young Den Den Mushi are growing rapidly after eating them."
"What? That fast?"
Ma Qiao was astounded.
He looked at the calendar on the wall and checked it repeatedly before concluding that only one day had passed since he had given Teemo the task.
"But now that I think about it, it really does seem like a long time has passed?"
Ma Qiao wasn't entirely sure.
Still, if Luffy could learn Ryuo in a single day, then Captain Teemo completing the development of mushroom cultivation techniques in the same amount of time didn't seem so hard to accept.
"Lead the way!"
Ma Qiao decided to see Teemo's results for himself first.
The mushroom cultivation room.
A hot, humid sensation hit him as soon as he entered.
The once-bare mushroom beds were now covered in plump, appealing mushrooms.
Red caps, white stems.
They were especially pretty.
"Captain Teemo, are you sure these mushrooms aren't poisonous?"
Ma Qiao hesitated.
"Don't worry, sir. This is how the Yordles grew mushrooms in ancient times!"
Teemo nodded confidently. "Look how happily those little cuties are eating!"
Only after Teemo pointed them out did Ma Qiao notice the many snail-like creatures crawling contentedly among the red caps and white stems.
One Den Den Mushi leisurely crawled up to a mushroom, then suddenly stretched out its neck, opened its mouth wide, and swallowed the whole mushroom in one bite.
Then it visibly grew a size larger.
"In ancient times, this is how snails ate mushrooms."
Teemo offered another explanation at just the right moment.
"That makes perfect sense."
Ma Qiao nodded and stopped thinking about it.
Teemo had done an excellent job.
Ma Qiao felt he was only one step away from becoming a communications tycoon.
But...
"Why can't these Den Den Mushi make calls?!"
Holding a lazy-looking Den Den Mushi, Ma Qiao demanded an answer from Teemo. "The calls won't connect at all!"
Although Ma Qiao was his commanding officer, Teemo still gave him a look of pity reserved for a young man with an intellectual disability and answered as though it were obvious, "If the calls won't connect, of course it's because you haven't topped up your credit!"
"Credit?"
Ma Qiao froze.
He had been in the pirate world long enough that he had forgotten such a thing as phone credit even existed.
Den Den Mushi were expensive in this world, but once purchased, they hardly cost anything more.
In any case, all the Den Den Mushi Ma Qiao had seen over the years had served their owners tirelessly and without compensation.
Even when stuffed inside a rough old man's clothes or dealt a heavy blow in battle, they would keep working as long as they had a breath left.
"Our Big Bird Brand Den Den Mushi can do all of that too, and even more, but..."
Putting on the air of an expert, Teemo held out his paw and rubbed his fingers together with practiced ease.
"That'll cost extra!"
Ma Qiao thought for a moment, then took a coin from his pocket and placed it in front of the Den Den Mushi.
The lazy-looking Den Den Mushi perked right up, both its eyes turning into the shape of Beli, just like Nami's.
It swallowed the coin in one bite, then rolled over, shell down, and exposed its belly.
Its belly formed a screen.
It was actually a touchscreen Den Den Mushi!
For now, Ma Qiao set the touchscreen aside and tried to sense where the coin had gone.
Had it vanished into thin air?
No!
That wasn't right!
Ma Qiao discovered that about 2.5 ten-thousandths of the money seemed to have entered his Penguin account.
It was just that the 100-Beli coin's denomination was too small, so the amount couldn't be withdrawn.
2.5 ten-thousandths?
Ma Qiao stroked his chin. That was a stockbroker's commission rate!
Ma Qiao didn't dare think too much about it, afraid he would remember the days and nights when he had been at the mercy of the A-share market.
Whenever he thought of those times, he couldn't stop his tears from falling into his noodles...