Seeing the Bad Girl Again

Half an hour later, Ma Qiao lay in bed, turning a peacock-green gemstone necklace over and over in his hands.

"Is this thing really worth a hundred million Beli?"

Ma Qiao had his doubts.

He knew nothing about gemstones.

And he didn't have an expert like Taric around to appraise it.

Still, he figured Vivi was trustworthy.

If Nami had tried to sell Ma Qiao a necklace like this, he wouldn't have believed a word she said.

But Vivi said it was a precious keepsake from her grandmother, so it was most likely a Nefertari family heirloom.

"Could it be something ridiculous, like a key to Pluton?"

Ma Qiao let his imagination run wild.

But he also knew that no matter how reckless Cobra was, he couldn't possibly have casually handed his daughter the key to an Ancient Weapon without telling her what it was.

At most, he had only sent his beloved daughter to infiltrate a criminal organization.

That hardly made him a deranged father...

Probably...

With a sigh, Ma Qiao put the necklace away.

Fortunately, Princess Vivi wasn't a walking curse like Tsunade, so accepting her necklace probably wouldn't cause any problems.

But...

This was still a tricky matter!

Ma Qiao rubbed the spot between his brows.

According to how his ability worked, gold and jewels could also be redeemed at a discount.

The only catch was that once redeemed, they would vanish completely.

Even if the necklace wasn't something ridiculous like a key to Pluton, it was at least a keepsake from Vivi's grandmother. Redeeming it outright seemed like a bit of a waste.

Ah, I'll keep it as collateral for now. Later, I'll have that fellow Cobra cough up a city's tax revenue to redeem it!

Ma Qiao thought viciously.

But in any case, the fact that he couldn't turn the necklace into cash for a long time still gave Ma Qiao a considerable headache.

Since he had accepted the necklace, he had to teach Vivi the Flying Thunder God Technique.

The so-called "Flying Thunder God Technique" was, of course, not something one could master through hard training alone.

Teaching Vivi the skill [Flash] through [Penguin Style Secret Art: Capital Injection] was something Ma Qiao had already planned to do.

During the earlier fight with Santini, Santini had deliberately attacked Vivi, which had caused Ma Qiao some trouble.

If their opponent had been stronger or possessed a stranger ability, he might already have succeeded in killing her.

And if Crocodile cracked down on freeloaders in the future and Ma Qiao felt he needed to pack up and run, it would be more convenient if Vivi knew a move or two to save her own life.

That was the sad reality of being an ordinary person.

In fact, Ma Qiao had always admired Nami and Usopp.

Those two "ordinary people" had actually managed to travel so far alongside Wang Luffy, Liu Zoro, and those other inhuman beings, getting back up no matter how badly they were hurt. He really didn't know whether to call it good luck or an incredible "constitution."

Or perhaps they simply weren't ordinary people at all.

After all, leaving aside whether Nami had mermaid blood, there was no doubt that Usopp's father was a Sweet Commander, or even an emperor's right-hand man.

In any case, Ma Qiao didn't believe a person's willpower was really all that useful.

People in the world of One Piece were said to be as hard to kill as cockroaches, but when it came to putting them through the wringer, nobody even bat an eye.

"Ordinary people" like Nami's adoptive mother and Zoro's childhood friend had died from minor injuries that would have been utterly insignificant to the main cast.

Ma Qiao wasn't sure whether, under his influence, Vivi still counted as a member of the main cast, or whether she had the ability to survive grievous injuries.

So it was better to be cautious.

[Flash]ing straight into a grave was common in League of Legends too, but there was no denying that in most situations, [Flash] was the best life-saving skill.

The key was that it was relatively cheap.

As a summoner skill, [Flash] cost twice its [purchase] price to inject, or sixteen million Beli.

And as a capitalist, Ma Qiao thought it perfectly reasonable to charge twice that, so he quoted Vivi a price of thirty-two million Beli.

He had thought the price was reasonable, but the princess turned out to be in no shape to pay it.

The rising capitalist had only just bared his fangs, and the old, washed-up aristocrat had already started selling off her ancestral property.

That left Ma Qiao at a loss.

His total assets had increased and the projected return was excellent, but the Big Bird Group's liquid funds had nearly run dry, and its cash flow was about to break!

Fortunately, after careful thought, Ma Qiao remembered a sum of money he could get his hands on for certain.

Since the Cat Burglar's treasure trove in Cocoyasi Village was destined to be embezzled by a despicable Marine, why couldn't the one embezzling it be me?

Once he had figured that out, the weight lifted from Ma Qiao's heart.

Ma Qiao casually told Vivi, "Eat well, sleep well, and do your chores well. That is the path of training in Ma Family Kung Fu," and sent her off to wash clothes. Then he put the matter out of his mind.

Three days later.

Lieutenant Nezumi's "anal fissure" healed without medicine, and he finally no longer had to walk around clutching his backside.

For inflicting such a grievous wound on the backside of a future legendary Marine hero, the great pirate Black Diamond Karen Santini, who had vanished into thin air, had earned himself a place in the history books.

Igaram prepared a grand farewell ceremony for Lieutenant Nezumi.

Now, he was actually reluctant to see Lieutenant Nezumi reassigned.

This time, aside from taking two bribes, Lieutenant Nezumi had done nothing excessive. Even at the farewell party, he had merely drunk a large barrel of rancid goat's milk.

It was so hard to see such a fine superior leave!

But all gatherings must come to an end, and the Nezumi set sail once more.

Ma Qiao and his party left with him.

Ma Qiao was going to G-2 Base to register, open an account, and collect his pay.

He also needed to get Garen enlisted as a Marine private.

Considering how easily the likes of Koby, Helmeppo, and Jango had gotten into the Marines, Ma Qiao figured the background checks in this world were probably a complete joke.

For an upright young man like Garen, with his bold brows and bright eyes, wouldn't enlisting be a breeze?

Ma Qiao was more worried about Vivi, who had insisted on coming along.

He had thought Vivi would find an excuse to stay on the island.

After all, she was the princess of Alabasta and had attended the Reverie. Some of the Marines might recognize her.

But Vivi had no such concerns.

She put her long blue hair up again and slathered her face with thick makeup, complete with fiery red lips utterly unsuited to her age and false eyelashes like windshield wipers.

Limited skin: Bad Girl Vivi, available again.

After testing it on the Marines under Lieutenant Nezumi's command, Ma Qiao confirmed that face blindness in the world of One Piece affected both sides of the law.

But to be fair, Vivi's whole air really was worlds apart before and after her disguise.

The once charming noble girl, with a hint of determination about her, had instantly become a delinquent who disturbed the peace in the middle of the night on a roaring motorcycle.

Of course, Vivi's clothing was still very conservative.

There were no fishnets, garters, stockings, or other delinquent outfits.

After all, where clothing was concerned, Ma Qiao had to help his brother Cobra keep his rebellious daughter in line, lest she go down the same crooked path as Nami later on.