Pirates: How Many Divisions Do the Five Elders Have? The Pirates' Treasure

"That damn old geezer! He made me scrub the floors for a whole week without teaching me a single trick for catching pirates!"

Inside the Big Bird Spin-Spin Tavern, Vivi stuck her little backside up, pressed both hands on a towel, and scurried back and forth as she scrubbed the floor.

Beads of sweat on her forehead had long since soaked her sky-blue hair.

Her pet duck, Karoo, was working hard to scrub the floor alongside her.

As a giant land duck, Karoo could only hold a rag in his flat bill and do his best to help his mistress finish the day's chores.

Garen, who had originally been responsible for cleaning the floor, was off to the side, repeatedly performing an exercise he called "lifting the earth."

"Nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-one... nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-two... nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-three..."

Vivi stole a glance at the big man doing handstand push-ups and clicked her tongue.

What a hardworking warrior. He's almost done ten thousand, and he doesn't seem to be planning to stop at all.

No wonder he could send a big man flying with one punch...

Three days ago, another Pirate Hunter who prided himself on his strength had caused trouble in the tavern, only for Garen to punch him through a window.

It had left a deep impression on Vivi.

Sure enough, no one is born strong. To gain enough power to protect what you love, you have to keep working hard!

Vivi encouraged herself and continued scrubbing the floor with all her might.

Fortunately, the tavern had been closed to customers since yesterday. Otherwise, Vivi would have been a little embarrassed to have her backside sticking up like this.

"Come to think of it... where did that old geezer, Sister Ashe, and Grandpa Ryze go? I haven't seen them since yesterday morning."

Garen didn't stop training.

Still doing handstand push-ups, he answered, "Miss, the boss and the others went on a mission. They'll be back soon."

"A mission?"

Vivi's eyes widened. "A mission to catch pirates? Why didn't that old geezer take me along?"

"The boss thought you'd slow down his sword draw."

After a moment's thought, Garen added, "That's just a figure of speech. The boss can't actually use a sword."

Vivi ground her teeth.

Of course she knew what he meant. That old geezer actually thought she was a burden!

Though Vivi couldn't claim to be a particularly skilled fighter, she believed she could still be of some help.

The Peacock Slashers she had practiced with since childhood were a very unusual kind of concealed weapon, shaped like long chains, and could always catch enemies off guard and disrupt their rhythm.

It was precisely with those meager skills that Vivi had passed the Baroque Works interview and become an intern.

"Damn it, I need to become a full member and work my way into the upper ranks as soon as possible. That old geezer's missions affect my internship score!"

Vivi sat down on the floor in frustration.

"Hey, hey, hey. You're slacking off while I'm away, are you?"

The tavern door suddenly swung open, and Ma Qiao strode in with his head held high.

Ashe and Ryze followed close behind.

Ashe was shrouded in a cloak, with a dark-gold recurve bow on her back and what looked like dried blood on her face.

As for the bald Ryze, his gray beard, glasses, and bartender's uniform usually made him look like a fashionable old man. Now, however, he had a sack slung over his shoulder, and his bare upper body was covered in bulging muscles that looked full of explosive power.

As a mage tank, Ryze was far tankier than people imagined.

"You're not hurt, are you, old geezer? Ah, no, I mean, did the mission succeed?" Vivi stood up and looked at Ma Qiao.

"It succeeded, but not completely."

Ma Qiao spread his hands. "We caught the pirate with a bounty of three million Beli, but we didn't find his treasure..."

"Um..."

Vivi stared blankly and pointed at the bundle on Ryze's shoulder. The glint of gold jewelry shone through the gaps in it.

"These are just some local specialties we picked up. They're certainly not treasure!"

Ma Qiao denied it outright and discreetly directed Ryze to take the sack into his office.

Hey!

That sack of treasure should be worth more than the three-million-Beli bounty, shouldn't it?!

Vivi opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but ultimately said no more.

In any case, the mission counted as complete, and her internship score had gone up by three points, bringing her one step closer to promotion.

As for the old geezer secretly working against his own organization, she would turn a blind eye.

After all, Baroque Works looked like a criminal organization no matter how she saw it.

Undermining a criminal organization...

That should count as doing a good deed, right?

Young Vivi hesitated, torn between the two sides of her sense of justice.

Letting Vivi see a small slip like that was actually a little test on Ma Qiao's part.

Ma Qiao wasn't afraid she would betray him.

Leaving aside the fact that he knew Vivi's biggest secret, Ma Qiao could have rested easy even without it.

Over the years, Ma Qiao had long since placed a variety of Vision Wards throughout the tavern and the surrounding area, lighting up the entire minimap.

Vision was always the most crucial part of winning a match.

As a Silver expert, Ma Qiao knew this well.

Fortunately, Vivi had no intention of reporting him. Even when she took the opportunity while bathing to contact Igaram on the royal family's pocket Den Den Mushi, she spoke only about investigating Mr. 0's identity.

Having confirmed this, Ma Qiao was deeply gratified and began considering giving his obedient student Vivi some access to information about him in the future.

After all, she was a rich young woman with potential and was well worth investing in.

After converting all the pirates' treasure into Q coins, Ma Qiao left part of his mental energy in the tavern, then turned a farming book in the bookcase called Sow Postpartum Care.

The bookcase slowly moved aside, revealing a pitch-black doorway.

Holding a dim yellow torch, Ma Qiao descended the narrow steps.

The steps and the rock walls on either side were rough, but exceptionally sturdy.

After five years of excavation, this secret base was beginning to take shape.

At the end of the tunnel, a space of more than 7,500 square meters had been divided into several rooms.

In the largest room, barrels of liquor and cases of cigarettes were piled up.

If a knowledgeable pirate or bounty hunter had been there, they would have been surprised to discover that the Big Bird Spin-Spin Tavern's specialty tobacco and liquor were actually just the cheapest goods in the East Blue.

Several emerald-green bottles stood beside the tobacco and liquor.

Hunter's Potion, a restorative item from the game League of Legends, had been removed in version 9.9.

Yet here it was, in this basement in the world of pirates.

Adding Hunter's Potion to liquor or tobacco greatly improved the taste and prolonged life.

Unfortunately, Hunter's Potion was extremely precious. A tiny bottle cost four million Beli, so only a nearly imperceptible trace could be added to each cigarette and each bottle of liquor.

The life-prolonging effect it provided was no longer enough to offset the harm caused by the tobacco and alcohol themselves.

Even so, the Life-Shortening Cigarettes and Short-Lived Ghost brand whiskey Ma Qiao sold could still be considered health drinks and were very reasonably priced.

Ma Qiao hadn't come to the basement to do any blending today. He passed through the tobacco and liquor storeroom and reached a spacious, special secret chamber at the very back.

There was a peculiar shop here.

If a League of Legends player had been here, they would have recognized it as identical to the shop in the Rift.

It even had the same strange creature of unknown identity as its shopkeeper.