Chapter 3 Uncle, Are You Okay?
Blue Blue Blue
Just then, the office's Den Den Mushi rang out.
As one of the oldest senior agents of Baroque Works, Ma Qiao not only ran a hidden tavern on Whiskey Peak but also possessed his own personal transponder snail.
Owning a Den Den Mushi in the One Piece world was even more prestigious than having a mobile phone in the 1990s, it was a true symbol of rank.
"Moshi, moshi who's calling?"
"Cough, cough... ahem"
The familiar rasping voice came through the line, and Ma Qiao instantly recognized it as the man in charge of Whiskey Peak the curly-haired agent known as Mr. 8, real name Igaram.
"Mr. Ma, have the new interns arrived yet?"
Mr. 8's tone was unusually polite.
Not because Ma Qiao was particularly strong, but because he was a true veteran.
Time in the world of One Piece flowed strangely years could pass, yet legends were born overnight.
It took less than three years for Monkey D. Luffy to go from defeating Arlong to challenging the Four Emperors.
Since joining Baroque Works at the age of fifteen as one of its first trainee agents, Ma Qiao had served for more than nine years.
Five years ago, because of his diligence and reliability, the organization promoted him into its reserve cadre and granted him a Devil Fruit.
Originally, that fruit was supposed to be the Doru Doru no Mi (Wax-Wax Fruit) later used by Galdino (Mr. 3) but the cunning man swapped it before Ma Qiao could claim it.
Instead, Ma Qiao ended up with the Penguin-Penguin Fruit, an unimpressive Zoan-type, Common Model. The fruit's taste was so vile and its effect so ridiculous that Ma Qiao collapsed immediately after eating it only to awaken the memories of his previous life as an overworked salaryman who had died at his desk on Earth-997.
From that moment, everything changed...
According to the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia, every previous user of the Penguin-Penguin Fruit had met a miserable end.
It granted no flight, no swimming ability, and only minimal physical boosts.
The strongest known user had once developed a clumsy "Penguin Fist" martial art and achieved a bounty of barely 30 million Berries.
In short, everyone saw "Mr. Ma" as a washed-up relic a former prodigy turned bottom-tier agent.
Most assumed that, after losing his shot at a Logia fruit, Ma Qiao had simply given up and become the office's permanent "fried dough stick" veteran.
...
"Interns? What interns? You mean the tavern's got new waiters?"
Ma Qiao blinked in confusion.
On the other end, Igaram explained: "Didn't you read the notice on the town bulletin? A new batch of Baroque Works interns just arrived. I've assigned one to you a very cute young lady! Please take care of her."
"A cute young lady? That's what you said last time, right? Turned out your 'cute girl' had skin darker than black tea, biceps thicker than my thighs, and an appetite that could swallow half a Sea King!"
Ma Qiao groaned. That "cute girl" had nearly bankrupted his tavern in meal expenses.
"Ahaha, don't say that," Igaram chuckled. "At least her combat power was top-class, wasn't it? She's been promoted to mid-level agent now my new partner, Miss Monday!"
Ma Qiao wasn't surprised. That muscular, doorpost-lifting girl absolutely fit the bill for a mid-tier agent.
And somewhere in the fog of memory, Ma Qiao vaguely recalled that when the Straw Hat Pirates later landed on Whiskey Peak, Mr. 8 and Miss Monday were among the first to face them and were promptly flattened.
Wait a minute...
If the Straw Hats would reach Whiskey Peak in two or three years, that meant the princess must already be on her undercover mission!
"Mr. Ma, anyway, the new recruit should have arrived by now. I'll leave her in your care. Cough, cough... well then, bye"
As soon as Mr. 8 hung up, Ma Qiao shifted his awareness—viewing the tavern floor through the eyes of his summoned helper, Ryze.
There, a young woman with long, light-blue hair tied high, smoky makeup masking her delicate features, and a letter of introduction in hand, was asking about an assignment.
Sure enough, it was her!
Bring her in.
Ma Qiao issued the command silently.
Nefertari Vivi, the sole princess of King Cobra of Alabasta, known across the world five years later as one of the most beautiful royals alive had just stepped into his tavern.
Whether she is truly the most beautiful princess or not, Ma Qiao being somewhat face-blind.couldn't say for certain, but this little girl definitely had a good temperament.
Strong, brave, and responsible.
Just a little nervous.
Of course, none of this really mattered.
The important thing was that she was the sole heir to the Kingdom of Alabasta, one of the oldest member nations of the World Government, and a potential little rich lady who could guarantee long-term financial stability.
As a Penguin-Penguin Fruit user, Ma Qiao's hunger for resources and capital was almost limitless.
If he could "invest" in a future ruler early.just like Lu Buwei investing in the Qin royal line he'd surely earn a massive return later.
That sounded much better than chasing pirates for pocket change.
Of course, the situation in Alabasta was dire, and so was Vivi's.
The man orchestrating the rebellion within Alabasta was none other than Mr. 0, the enigmatic leader of Baroque Works.
To most agents, even the senior ones, Mr. 0's true identity was a mystery.but Ma Qiao knew it perfectly well.
Mr. 0 was Sir Crocodile, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, wielder of the Suna Suna no Mi (Sand-Sand Fruit), and ironically the same "hero" who once protected Alabasta from pirates.
To stand against such a boss was undeniably dangerous.
But Ma Qiao wasn't too worried.
After all, in just two years, this self-proclaimed hero of the desert would be defeated and humiliated by a rubber boy who hadn't even awakened Haki yet.
Dong, dong, dong.
There was a knock on the office door.
"Boss, we're here."
"Okay, you go back to work."
"Yes!"
Ryze bowed respectfully, returned to the bar counter, and continued serving as both bartender and clerk. When business was quiet, he'd meditate to sharpen his spiritual energy for his summoner's benefit.
Ma Qiao turned his attention toward the young Alabasta princess, studying her with curiosity.
The feeling of seeing a two-dimensional anime character suddenly made flesh was, even now, deeply surreal.
Even though she tried her best to dress like a streetwise bounty hunter, her natural nobility still shone through. Her long blue hair, tied high behind her head, framed eyes that were filled with cautious determination.
Still, the girl standing before him was years away from the elegant, confident princess who would someday cross paths with Monkey D. Luffy.
At this point, Vivi was just an anxious teenager pretending to be worldly.
Honestly, only in the crazy world of pirates could a royal princess disguise herself as a bounty hunter and nobody question it.
Seriously Clark Kent at least wore glasses.
You're too careless, kid…
At this point in time, Vivi had not yet been assigned a Baroque Works codename, since she was still only an intern operative.
Instead of the "Miss Wednesday" alias she would later use, she went by "ViVi," though she'd clumsily changed her surname.
An undercover identity full of loopholes like this? Impossible to hold for long unless the supervisor in charge of background checks deliberately looked the other way.
And that, Ma Qiao realized, wasn't entirely impossible.
As a senior agent, he knew very well who handled personnel vetting: Miss All Sunday, the calm and unreadable Nico Robin, vice president of Baroque Works and right hand to Crocodile himself.
If it was Robin, she wouldn't just "let things slide"—she'd part the Red Sea for it.
Although the Baroque Works organization couldn't exactly be called a den of fraud like a shady distillery, it was, in truth, an agency overflowing with young hotheads and reckless dreamers.
While Ma Qiao was sizing up Vivi, lost in thought, the princess was also quietly studying him.
This teacher was nothing like the washed-up, middle-aged uncle she'd imagined.
Instead, he was a tall, laid-back man with sharp eyes and an effortless air of confidence.
At about 1.8 meters tall, Ma Qiao was merely "above average" in a world where people like Zoro, Sanji, and even Luffy stood between 1.7 and 1.8 meters, and where true monsters like Doflamingo, Katakuri, and Kaido towered over three meters.
Still, he was half a head taller than Vivi's future crewmates and carried himself with the casual posture of someone who didn't need to prove anything.
Vivi herself was only around 1.6 meters tall at this time, so his height made her feel a faint sense of relief.
At least her instructor wasn't some giant like those she'd read about in Elbaf tales.
Yet his relaxed manner, floral shirt, and absurdly bright red scarf.paired with a steaming cup of "health tea" made him seem more like a lazy beach bum than a hardened bounty hunter.
He really didn't radiate security.
Still, Vivi forced a smirk beneath her smoky makeup, trying to appear tough. Pointing a finger at him, she called out boldly
"Hey! Are you Uncle Ma Qiao, the senior bounty hunter who's never been injured on a mission in five years? I'm Vivi soon to be a senior agent myself! Are you even up for this?"
The corners of Ma Qiao's smile twitched downward.
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