Uncle, Can You Still Cut It?

Buru buru buru~~

Just then, the Den Den Mushi in the office rang.

As a veteran member of Baroque Works with a great deal of seniority, Ma Qiao not only ran a tavern as a cover, but also owned a Den Den Mushi of his own.

Owning a Den Den Mushi in the world of One Piece was even more of a flex than owning a mobile phone in the nineties. It was a symbol of status.

"Moshi moshi, who is this?"

"Ahem, mamama~~"

The unmistakable sound of someone clearing his throat came from the other end of the Den Den Mushi. Ma Qiao knew it was the curly-haired agent in charge of Whiskey Peak, code-named Mr. 8.

"Teacher Ma, has the trainee reported in yet?"

Mr. 8 addressed him very respectfully.

It wasn't because Ma Qiao was particularly strong, but because he had so much seniority.

Time went a particularly long way in the world of One Piece.

Luffy and the others went from being pummeled by Arlong's crew to taking on the forces of the Four Emperors in less than three years.

Ma Qiao, meanwhile, had joined Baroque Works at fifteen as a member of its first batch of trainees. He had already been with the organization for over nine years.

Five years ago, because he was diligent, hardworking, and eager to improve, the organization had even selected him as a candidate for a future leadership position and given him a Devil Fruit.

But the Wax-Wax Fruit originally allocated to Ma Qiao was swapped out by the treacherous Galdino, who later became Mr. 3.

Ma Qiao ate the Penguin-Penguin Fruit, which was considered the worst of the lot. The double blow of the terrible taste and the shock sent him into a coma, during which he unexpectedly awakened memories of his past life—the memories of a corporate drone who had worked a 9-to-9, seven-day schedule on Earth and died suddenly from overwork...

After that, everything changed...

According to the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia, none of the Penguin-Penguin Fruit's past users had come to a good end.

Not only could they not fly or swim, but the boost to their combat abilities was pitifully small.

The strongest Penguin-Penguin Fruit user had only managed to develop a style called Penguin Fist, and his bounty had barely reached three million Beli.

In short, everyone regarded Teacher Ma as a complete loser and a pitiful wretch.

Everyone believed that the blow had turned Teacher Ma from a rising star full of drive into a veteran member who coasted through work.

"Trainee? What trainee? A trainee for the tavern?"

Ma Qiao didn't understand at first.

The voice on the other end explained, "Didn't you see the notice posted in the square? The organization's new batch of trainees has arrived here. I assigned you a very cute little girl, so make sure you take good care of her!"

"A cute little girl? Didn't you say the same thing two years ago? The girl who showed up had skin as black as coal, arms thicker than my legs, and could eat half a pig in one meal!"

Ma Qiao demanded.

That "little girl" had cost him quite a bit in food.

"Yare yare, don't say that. At least she was a strong fighter, wasn't she? She's been promoted to an intermediate agent and become my new partner, code-named Miss Monday!" Mr. 8 said, laughing it off.

Ma Qiao wasn't surprised in the least to hear this from Mr. 8.

That black girl with monstrous strength, who could strip a doorpost bare with her hands, was indeed strong enough to be an intermediate agent.

Besides, although Ma Qiao couldn't remember the details clearly, he remembered that when the Straw Hat Pirates entered the Alabasta Kingdom two years later, Mr. 8's partner had indeed been an exceptionally muscular black woman. But Zoro had taken her out in an instant.

Wait, the Straw Hat Pirates would arrive in another two or three years?

Ma Qiao suddenly realized that the princess full of fighting spirit would be coming undercover around this time too...

"Teacher Ma, in any case, the newcomer should have arrived by now. I'll leave her to you. Bye-bye! Ahem, mamama~~"

Almost at the same moment Mr. 8 hung up the Den Den Mushi, Ma Qiao's mind stirred.

Switching to Ryze's perspective, he saw a delinquent girl with smoky eye makeup and long, light-blue hair piled high on her head. She was holding a letter of introduction and asking about something.

It really is her!

Bring her over.

Ma Qiao gave the order.

Nefertari Vivi, the only princess of Cobra, king of Alabasta, would be hailed five years later as the most beautiful princess in the world.

Ma Qiao was face-blind, so he couldn't say for sure whether she was the most beautiful princess, but the girl certainly had a pretty good personality.

Strong, brave, and responsible.

She was just a little absentminded.

Of course, none of that was important.

Most importantly, she was the sole heir to the throne of the powerful nation of Alabasta, a potential little rich girl who could provide him with a long-term meal ticket.

As a Penguin-Penguin Fruit user, Ma Qiao had an almost limitless need for wealth.

If he could invest in a young heir to the throne as Lü Buwei had, he would obviously reap rich rewards in the future.

That was much better than risking his life as a Pirate Hunter to earn a little money.

Of course, the Alabasta Kingdom was in a very bad situation at present, and so was Vivi herself.

The mastermind behind the plot to overthrow the Alabasta Kingdom was Mr. 0, the mysterious boss of Baroque Works.

The other members, even the senior officers, had no idea who the mysterious Mr. 0 was, but Ma Qiao knew all too well.

Mr. 0's true identity was the big shot most likely to have changed his sex in the world of One Piece: one of the Shichibukai, a Sand-Sand Fruit user, and the man Alabasta's people called a hero, Crocodile.

Crossing swords with a big shot like that was, of course, dangerous.

But it was up to people to make things happen.

At worst, he could wait two years, and the Shichibukai big boss would be sent flying by a punch from Straw Hat, who hadn't even mastered Haki.

Knock, knock, knock.

Someone knocked on the office door.

"Boss, she's here."

"All right, get back to work."

"Yes, sir!"

Ryze respectfully withdrew and returned to the bar, resuming his duties as manager and bartender. In his spare moments, he also meditated to increase his boss's mental power.

Ma Qiao studied the little princess of Alabasta with interest.

It was a strange feeling to see a two-dimensional girl become a real, three-dimensional person.

Even though Vivi had deliberately dressed like a delinquent girl and was literally shedding bits of her beauty, she still couldn't hide her pretty face.

That said, it was still three years before the Straw Hat Pirates set sail. Vivi was not yet fourteen, and her body had not developed at all, so she lacked some of the essence of a One Piece beauty.

A beautiful girl under fourteen going out to sea to pursue the promising career of bounty hunting would probably only seem normal in the anything-goes world of One Piece.

Come to think of it, had Alabasta's only princess really just put on some simple makeup and swaggered off to go undercover?

At least Clark put on a pair of glasses to fool his girlfriend...

You're really not putting any effort into this...

As for her name, Vivi was not yet an intermediate agent, so naturally she didn't have a Miss-series code name.

The name she used was "Vivi"; she had only changed her surname.

Can an undercover identity full of holes like this really be all right?

Unless the person in charge of vetting them had deliberately gone easy on them, Ma Qiao couldn't think of any reason why Vivi and Igaram had remained undiscovered until two years later.

Then again, it wasn't impossible that someone had gone easy on them.

As a veteran member, Ma Qiao was well informed.

The senior officer currently in charge of personnel screening was none other than the vice president of Baroque Works, Nico Robin, code-named Miss All Sunday.

If it was Robin, she might do more than go easy on them; she might let them sail right through.

Crocodile's Baroque Works might not be an organization of fake liquor from top to bottom like the distillery, but it had to be said that it was full of traitors.

While Ma Qiao was studying Vivi and letting his thoughts wander, the young Vivi was also studying him.

Her instructor was not the disheveled, dispirited middle-aged man with a failed career she had imagined, but a handsome, lazy-looking fellow.

At 1.88 meters tall, he could only be called relatively tall in the monster-filled world of One Piece. He certainly didn't count as big.

But he wasn't too short either. At least he was half a head taller than her future companions Sanji, Zoro, and the others.

Vivi also had the build of an ordinary human. She was not yet fourteen and only 1.6 meters tall, so Ma Qiao's height made her breathe a small sigh of relief.

She didn't want the man who would be her instructor and fighting partner for a long time to come to be a three- or four-meter-tall giant.

On the other hand, Ma Qiao was casually dressed, with a wildly mismatched red scarf around his neck, and he was holding a cup of health tea...

He really doesn't seem very reassuring...

That was what Vivi thought, but she put on a defiant delinquent's smile to match her carefully applied smoky makeup. Pointing at him, she asked loudly and rudely:

"Hey, are you Uncle Ma Qiao, the veteran bounty hunter who's supposedly never been injured on a mission in five years? I'm a woman who's going to become a senior officer. Can you still cut it?"

The corners of Ma Qiao's smiling mouth drooped.