Mouse Catches Cat

At last, Garen got his wish. He put on a Marine private's uniform and became a private third class under Lieutenant Nezumi.

Of course, as Marines from a Grand Line branch, all of them would automatically rise three ranks once they reached the East Blue.

Lieutenant Nezumi would become Captain Nezumi, Sergeant Major Qiangsen would become Lieutenant Qiangsen, and Garen would rise to corporal, becoming a junior officer.

The Marines formerly stationed at the 16th Branch would be added to Twitch's forces.

As a captain, Twitch would have over three thousand men under his command. It sounded formidable.

But the Marines at the East Blue branches were just as weak as the East Blue's pirates.

Even the delinquent Marines under Nezumi were far above the average East Blue Marine in combat ability.

As an officer brought in from outside, Nezumi was allowed by Comil to take not only all his own men to the East Blue, but also supplies and equipment worth 100 million Beli aboard the ship.

With money and men at his disposal, Nezumi wouldn't be reduced to a figurehead even if he was somewhat lacking in strength.

It was a small privilege of being a Marine Vice Admiral's nephew, perhaps.

Two days later, Nezumi's Ship set sail again.

"Stinky old man, are you really willing to let Big Brother Garen leave?"

On the deck, Vivi held a cup of juice and gazed absentmindedly at the Justice flag fluttering in the wind.

"There's no reason to stop a man from heading out to sea... Besides, Garen's a born soldier."

Ma Qiao gave an ambiguous answer.

In truth.

Of course he wasn't willing to let Garen go.

What a useful tool he was!

Now that Garen had left, only Ashe and Ryze remained at his side.

Hmm...

And Teemo in the basement.

"By the way, what exactly did Big Brother Garen say during the psychological test?"

Vivi asked curiously, "I noticed both Vice Admirals were looking at you two differently afterward! And why is your talent allowance higher than a major's salary?"

"Who knows..."

Ma Qiao shook his head. "Maybe handsome guys get special treatment wherever they go...

All right, enough about that. The laundry's piled up these past two days, so you'd better work hard at your training!"

With that, Ma Qiao tossed the bundled-up stinky socks, white suits, and red underwear to Vivi.

Before her little pink fist could land, he used the Flying Thunder God Technique and vanished from the spot.

"Damn it (〃＞皿＜)!"

"I feel like I'm being exploited, but I really want that Flying Thunder God Technique!"

Vivi looked at the empty deck and stamped her foot. Then she picked up the clothes, turned, and headed for the laundry room.

Twenty-eight hours later, Ma Qiao and Vivi disembarked at Whiskey Peak.

Twitch and Garen, along with all the officers and men aboard Nezumi's Ship, would cross the Calm Belt and head straight for the East Blue.

Of course, that was from Vivi's perspective.

From the perspective of the delinquent Marines aboard Nezumi's Ship, Ma Qiao hadn't disembarked.

At Captain Nezumi's invitation, he was traveling with them to the East Blue for sightseeing and research.

As a male lecturer well versed in human nature, he naturally had to travel and see more.

The main reason he had laid this groundwork was that he had already placed a Vision Ward aboard the Nezumi and could Teleport there at any time.

That way, Ma Qiao would be able to travel frequently between the Grand Line and the East Blue in the future, without having to cross that damned Reverse Mountain.

Reverse Mountain was the entrance to the Grand Line, but it was also the exit.

In the original story, Red-Leg Zeff, Don Krieg, the North Blue king who executed the liar Noland... and a number of other third-rate forces had all returned to their respective seas from the Grand Line.

And judging by the story, people had frequently left the Grand Line in every era.

Naturally, none of them could have left through the Calm Belt, much less sailed all the way around the Grand Line and left from Laugh Tale.

So the answer was obvious: Reverse Mountain wasn't just the entrance, but the exit as well.

The enormous waterfall atop Reverse Mountain carried the currents from the four seas into the Grand Line. Near sea level, there was an equally turbulent underground waterway that ran through a cavern and split into four, flowing toward the four seas.

Ma Qiao had already seen the waterway beneath Reverse Mountain through Gangplank's eyes.

If Gangplank hadn't put a point into W at level one and eaten an orange, he would have given up the Ma Qiao family's first blood.

In any case, Ma Qiao had no interest in taking the long way to the East Blue. Using the Teleport skill was more convenient.

At least it would be much easier to go to the East Blue and stock up on cheap liquor, cigarettes, cola, and the like in the future.

The only problem was the limited carrying capacity, which made large shipments difficult.

The G-2 Marine Branch's special talent allowance.

200,000 Beli a month!

Vice Admiral Miguel had generously paid him three months' allowance in advance, totaling 600,000 Beli.

The down payment on the sparkling liqueur coffee supply contract: 400,000 Beli.

Ma Qiao's trip to the G-2 Branch had brought him a direct income of one million Beli.

Although it didn't look like much, this money would keep flowing in, come rain or shine.

Still, it was a long way from the 16 million Beli needed to teach Vivi the Flying Thunder God Technique.

After two straight weeks of washing stinky socks and red underwear, Ma Qiao felt that Vivi's patience was gradually running out.

She was already wondering whether she had fallen for a huge scam that would cost her both her labor, meaning housework, and her money, meaning the necklace.

Fortunately, the small warship, renamed the Good Guy Twitch, had safely reached the East Blue.

To avoid Vivi's gaze—seven percent resentful, three percent suspicious, and ninety percent ready to eat him alive—Ma Qiao had lately been spending much of his time aboard the Good Guy Twitch.

The sun sank in the west.

The sea looked like a pot of red-oil hot pot.

After they left the Calm Belt, the fish in the sea became normal again.

Holding fast to the angler's creed of never going home empty-handed, Ma Qiao had sat on the gunwale fishing for an entire day.

But night was approaching, and he still hadn't caught a thing.

If nothing else works, should I drink some seawater before going back to the tavern? Then it wouldn't count as going home empty-handed, right...

Just as Ma Qiao was thinking this, the Marine in the lookout suddenly rang the bell.

"Did they spot another pirate ship?"

Ma Qiao still couldn't muster much interest.

The East Blue lived up to its reputation as the Weakest Sea. The Twitch hadn't run into any pirates of note along the way.

Even Nezumi's delinquent Marines could send those minor pirates fleeing in terror just by grabbing the ship's cannons and firing a wild barrage.

"Enemy attack!"

"Enemy attack!"

The lookout's shouts rang out loud and strong.

These delinquent Marines had spent their time in the Grand Line trembling with fear. They had never fought a battle this comfortably in their lives.

"Fire!"

"Fire!"

Sergeant Major Qiangsen—or rather, Lieutenant Qiangsen, as he should now be called—kept stuffing solid cannonballs into the breech-loading cannon, shouting excitedly.

A moment later, the Twitch began to rock violently amid the rumble of cannon fire.

Ma Qiao knew the Twitch wasn't under attack. It was firing.

Not many pirate ships in the East Blue were equipped with cannons. Most relied on the primitive tactic of pulling alongside and boarding.

Just as in their previous encounters with pirates, the distant pirate ship immediately turned and fled after a barrage.

"After them!"

Wearing his newly issued Justice coat, Twitch stood showily on the deck, issuing orders.

Garen, by comparison, could still only wear a short-sleeved Marine shirt. Standing off to one side, he looked like a lackey.

Of course, no one actually treated Garen according to his rank of corporal.

He was a talent Vice Admiral Comil held in high regard.

Besides Mr. Ma Qiao, he was also the only man aboard who dared spray rat poison at Commander Twitch.

He and Commander Twitch could bicker from breakfast until dinner, then carry on arguing the next day.

The delinquent Marines weren't fools.

This clearly wasn't discord, but a friendship unique to men!

Thus, Garen's actual position was now the same as Sergeant Major Qiangsen's: he was an officer's aide aboard the ship.

The Twitch was fast, but the other ship clearly knew the local waters well. With the sky growing darker, the Marines ultimately lost track of the pirate ship with a black cat figurehead.

Come to think of it, a "mouse" chasing a "black cat" was rather amusing...

Wait!

A black cat?

Ma Qiao suddenly lowered the fishing rod in his hand.