Cooperation
Just as rumored, Sir Noford was a refined and easy-going... big fat man!
However, Ma Qiao was not surprised by this.
In the world of One Piece, the daughters are all beautiful and the Pops are all strange and unusual; this is basically a standard setup.
Shirahoshi, Yamato, Reiju... all of them are like this.
Vivi's Pops, Cobra, was already considered a decent-looking man.
On the contrary, the mothers of these beautiful daughters generally possess good temperament and beauty.
Therefore, it's not unacceptable that the father of the petite and adorable Miss Kaya looks exactly like Mr. Xiaochuan.
Ma Qiao firmly believed that he must have a beautiful wife...
This Mr. Xiaochuan, or rather, Sir Noford, as a seasoned businessman, certainly knew what kind of business opportunities it meant to cooperate with a conglomerate with military ties.
News of the Marine Headquarters Colonel Smoker's flagship at the Syrup Village was already common knowledge.
Ma Qiao further hinted that the protector behind his Big Bird Consortium was none other than Vice Admiral Garp naval hero who appeared to be virtuous, upright, and kind, but was actually greedy, lustful, and adept at accumulating wealth.
"Think about it, why is Vice Admiral Garp always so insistent on returning to the East Blue to visit his family?"
Is he intentionally or unintentionally hiding something?
What secret does he have that he's hiding?
Hearing Ma Qiao's rapid-fire questions in a low voice, Nuoxiaochuan, who was knowledgeable and well-versed in Garp's deeds, immediately revealed a profound smile on his usually expressionless face.
Everything is understood without words!
That's right!
It's strange that Garp, a naval hero, absolutely refuses to bring his grandson to live in Marineford.
Moreover, there seems to be a hidden reason behind his refusal to be promoted to Admiral.
Taking his grandson away would eliminate his excuse to frequently return to the East Blue, and his promotion to Admiral would mean losing precious time.
With just a slight hint from Ma Qiao, the eight characters "controlling the local area and forming cliques for personal gain" unknowingly jumped into Nuoxiaochuan's mind.
The way he looked at Ma Qiao suddenly changed.
He is a businessman through and through, a businessman with powerful connections!
Nuoxiaochuan was quite familiar with this tactic.
His knighthood was actually bought with money from a kingdom, in order to facilitate the expansion of his business and reduce unnecessary trouble.
With both sides getting what they needed and their interests aligned, the negotiations progressed quickly.
Ma Qiao couldn't understand why this quick-witted and cunning businessman was so easily trusted by Kuro in the original story, and then almost had his entire family wiped out.
It can only be said that it was most likely a trick of Destiny...
Overall, however, Sir Noford was quite tactful and not greedy, and Ma Qiao's business talks with him were very pleasant.
Den Nuo Fande Den Den Mushi was originally one of the products operated by Kaya Trading Company, a subsidiary of Novoland, but it wasn't initially considered a flagship product.
The fact that Nuo Fande named his chamber of commerce "Kaya" is enough to show how much he dotes on his daughter.
To Ma Qiao's slight surprise, Ma Qiao did not see Mr. "Klahadore" at the Nuo Fande estate.
It's also possible that he's still some lowly servant, with no chance to appear on screen.
However, even if Kuro weren't in Syrup Village, Ma Qiao wouldn't be surprised.
After all, he knew that with his frantic flapping of the butterfly's wings, Kuro's life trajectory had already taken a major detour.
It would be reasonable for Kuro to abandon or change his plans.
Moreover, even if Kuro really were in the manor, Ma Qiao had no intention of exposing him.
Such a good scapegoat shouldn't be easily eliminated.
Ma Qiao planned to organize a team to try and find that guy after the Syrup mobile phone accessories factory went into production.
For now, all we can do is hope that Urpo D. Kuro has good luck and doesn't get caught by the Navy.
Syrup Island is not particularly large.
However, apart from the remote Syrup Village, there is still a considerable amount of vacant land on the island.
Ma Qiao plans to invest in opening a mobile phone accessories factory here, producing small accessories such as breeding boxes, keychains, and belly screen protectors for the Big Bird Brand Den Den Mushi.
As for the cost of purchasing the land...
Syrup Island belongs to a small kingdom that Ma Qiao has never even heard of, Nuo Fande purchased his knighthood from that kingdom.
But Syrup Island was not his fiefdom; a mere knight was not worthy of having one.
However, whether or not it is a fiefdom is actually irrelevant.
In the world of One Piece, apart from bustling cities like Holy Land Mary Geoise, the capital of Alubarna Alabasta, and Sweets City on Whole Cake Island (the headquarters of the Big Mom Pirates), most places have very cheap housing and land prices, some even as low as 0.
On many remote islands, you can simply plant a flag, build a house, and the land is yours.
Without water and electricity infrastructure, bridges and roads, or even a security force to defend against pirates, these lands are worthless.
Syrup Island is just a rural area; while the land isn't exactly worthless, it's so cheap it's practically free.
Of course, it's unrealistic to expect those blockheaded nobles to come up with policies to attract investment; everything has to be done by ourselves.
So, with Nuo Fande's consent, Ma Qiao boldly designated approximately 8 square kilometers of land on the map as the construction site for the Big Bird Industrial Park.
Ryze will be in charge of the Big Bird Industrial Park.
Koby was the first worker in the industrial park.
Besides him, Ryze will also recruit a large number of idle young people to work in the factory on Syrup Island.
Other villagers can also work as temporary laborers during the off-season.
As it gradually grows in scale, the Big Bird Industrial Park will naturally attract labor from other surrounding islands to work as screw installers.