The sky was cloudless, a vast expanse of azure blue that looked as if it had been washed clean by water, making one feel exceptionally refreshed.
Sherlock sat on his magic carpet, speeding rapidly across the endless sands, kicking up two exaggerated waves of sand in his wake. After removing the rest of the "dead weight," the four-fold Mirror Image Fusion magic carpet displayed a flight-like speed. Not long after leaving Yuba, Sherlock could faintly make out the rough outline of a city ahead.
The City of Dreams — Rainbase.
"Calculating the time, Luffy and the others should have reached their destination. I hope these agents of chaos can act like their usual selves."
At first, upon hearing that Sherlock wanted to go to Rainbase alone, Luffy was one hundred percent unwilling. It wasn't until the Sorcerer repeatedly emphasized that the decisive battle would be in Alubarna, and that he was only going to Rainbase to invite an "ally," that the dork of a captain reluctantly agreed.
However, when he found out that Sherlock was going there to destroy things, the rubber idiot's eyes practically glowed with light, wearing an eager expression that left Usopp and the others looking at each other in silence.
It seemed that the reason this guy loved to cause destruction wasn't just because the idiot had no sense of restraint, but because he had a powerful desire for destruction in his very bones!
As time slowly passed, the small city before his eyes gradually grew larger. Just then, Sherlock subconsciously looked up and discovered a tiny black dot on the distant horizon, exceptionally conspicuous in this blue sky without a single wisp of cloud.
"A bird? But how can there be such a large bird in the desert?" Sherlock narrowed his eyes slightly, then activated his ability.
—Transmission Mirror.
On the transparent lens, the magnified image of that distant black dot slowly surfaced.
"This is..." Sherlock's expression changed. He briefly recalled the words Vivi had spoken back on Little Garden, and immediately revealed a look of realization.
—Mirror Image Fusion!
Whoosh! The magic carpet flashed with light, its speed increasing abruptly. Then, with a tooth-aching sound of breaking air, the five-fold Mirror Image Fusion magic carpet carried Sherlock as it transformed into a stream of black light, shooting into the sky like a sharp arrow. Because the speed was so great, the resulting gale blew a massive crater into the sandy ground, scattering dust everywhere.
On the other side.
After learning that the mastermind behind the scenes was Crocodile, Vivi's father, Cobra, made a prompt decision to order the entire Royal Army to Rainbase to crusade against the Sand Crocodile. Meanwhile, one of the Guardian Spirits of Alabasta, Pell the Falcon, was dispatched to Rainbase for reconnaissance.
As Pell soared freely through the boundless sky, he pondered silently in his heart.
(Truly a King of extraordinary magnanimity... It is precisely because of this that I consider it an honor to serve such a wise ruler!)
(Even if you are a Shichibukai, I can absolutely never forgive you! Sand Crocodile!)
A gleam of light erupted from Pell's sharp hawk-like eyes. He flapped his wings with force, and his already exaggerated speed increased once again. Looking down at the scenery flashing by on the ground and feeling the whistling wind around him, he felt a heartfelt sense of pride in his ability, the Tweet-Tweet Fruit, Model: Falcon.
(After all, this is one of the five recognized abilities in the world that allows flight...) Closing his eyes, Pell grinned.
"Yo!" An abrupt, clear male voice rang out from Pell's left side.
Pell subconsciously turned his head to look, and the scene before him shocked him so much he almost nose-dived right out of the high altitude.
A handsome youth wearing silver-rimmed glasses was sitting upright on a moderately sized carpet, flying rapidly alongside him in the sky. The flying carpet beneath the youth glowed with a faint halo and dragged a tail of light behind it like a meteor.
(A flying carpet... is this a magic carpet? Then is this man a Genie of the Lamp?) Pell suddenly remembered the fairy tales that were once widely circulated in the desert kingdom. His beak hung wide open, his eyes round and staring; he actually didn't know what to say.
The two looked at each other, both silent. For a moment, the scene was somewhat comical.
"You must be Pell the Falcon. I heard Vivi mention you..." Sherlock bowed elegantly to the dumbfounded bird-man before him, then gently pushed up his glasses and asked unhurriedly, "So, what have you come here to do?"
On the streets of Rainbase, "Black Cage" Hina and "White Hunter" Smoker led a group of Marines down the wide avenue, causing the surrounding pedestrians to glance sideways repeatedly, all with curious gazes.
"Really now, have the people here never seen Marines before?" Jango muttered softly. The gazes, which felt like people looking at monkeys in a cage, made him feel very displeased.
Walking beside him, Fullbody nodded in agreement.
"Since the Sand Crocodile took charge, this city hasn't been visited by pirates in a long time, so naturally, they don't see Marines either." Colonel Hina pushed up the sunglasses on the bridge of her nose and explained quite casually to the two subordinates behind her:
"Besides, the person in charge of the nearest Marine branch to this country, the G-17 Fortress, is that decadent guy. How could he possibly have the motivation to bring Marines here for patrol..."
"Tch, that idiot whose brain is filled with nothing but strawberry milk! It would be a miracle if he could catch a pirate!" Smoker chomped on two cigars with a look of disdain; it seemed he and the so-called person in charge of G-17 didn't get along at all.
"But, Colonel Smoker," the blue-haired girl with glasses walking behind him pushed up her spectacles and said earnestly, "Didn't Vice Admiral Hisoka just catch a pirate a while ago? I remember it was 'General' Gasparde, the traitor to the Marines. That was a great pirate with a bounty as high as 95 million berries!"
At this point, Tashigi's eyes sparkled with little stars. The innocent, airheaded swordswoman admired such powerful Marines greatly, completely unaware that she had just solidly slapped her own superior in the face. The slap resounded loudly.
"..." Smoker's face instantly went dark with black lines. He didn't speak, just took a fierce drag on the cigars in his mouth.
"Pfft..."
Watching the White Hunter getting slapped in the face by his cute female subordinate's unintentional roast, the surrounding Marines all forcibly held back the smiles on their faces, thinking to themselves that it was truly not easy for Colonel Smoker to have such a naturally airheaded subordinate.
"Ahahaha... Tashigi, you are just too cute! Hina is dying of laughter...!" Black Cage Hina laughed loudly in a very unladylike manner, making Smoker's expression look even uglier.
(Ah~ Colonel Hina is so beautiful when she laughs loudly!) x2
Jango and Fullbody seemed to be possessed by the soul of a certain curly-browed cook, wearing lovestruck expressions full of déjà vu.
"Ugh..." Tashigi only then realized what foolish words she had just said. Her fair cheeks instantly turned bright red, and she looked timidly at her superior like a frightened small animal.
Taking a deep breath, Smoker was just about to explode when he was interrupted by a familiar Buru Buru sound.
Answering the Den Den Mushi, the anxious shout of a Marine immediately came from inside: "Colonel Smoker, Straw Hat's movements have been discovered near Vato Port..."
In the sky, not far from Rainbase.
Using Mirror Reflection to deflect the wind pressure generated by high-speed movement, Sherlock sat steadily on the bird-back of Pell the Falcon, looking at the gambling city of Rainbase right before his eyes, and pushed up his glasses.
To be able to handle unexpected situations, Sherlock had the foresight to ask Vivi to prepare a token for each member of the Straw Hat crew that could prove their identity. It was precisely through this token that Sherlock had gained the trust of Vivi's childhood "exclusive mount."
"...Truly a King of bold spirit. I don't even know what to say," the Sorcerer said with a face full of admiration after learning the cause and effect of the situation. He really hadn't expected there to be a King in this world who viewed his own status so lightly.
Sherlock was not an omniscient and omnipotent god, after all. Human effort achieves things, and even the most perfect plans are full of variables.
And what he had to do was to do his utmost to make things develop in a favorable direction.
(However, with this "vehicle" here, the variables are still within an acceptable range...)
"Um, say, can't you fly by yourself? Why do I still have to carry you?" Pell asked with a puzzled look. To be honest, in his entire life, aside from flying around with Princess Vivi when she was a child, this was the first time he had carried anyone else.
Moreover, the difference between a big, tall man and a petite little girl was not just a small one.
"I am truly sorry. Although I can fly, I can only fly for a little while." Sherlock bowed slightly to the "Pure natural, pollution-free, fully automatic, portable single-person vehicle" beneath him.
"Furthermore, Pell, you won't need to do any reconnaissance later."
"Because the Royal Army will not march on Rainbase..." Saying this, Sherlock narrowed his eyes slightly, and two gleams of wisdom flashed beneath his transparent lenses.
In the basement of Rain Dinners.
"Bastard! Who the hell did it!"
Crocodile slammed his fist onto the table, his eyes bursting with astonishing killing intent, like a crocodile in a violent rage, ready to devour people.
"The weapons scheduled for transport at Torba, Wato, and Soratas ports were all destroyed. Why exactly at this time!"
The feeling was like stacking building blocks; just as you are about to place the final piece, a hand suddenly reaches out and pulls a block from the very bottom. Although it was just a small piece, it caused the towering tower of blocks to collapse with a crash.
Rustle, rustle...
Under extreme emotional agitation, Crocodile involuntarily activated his ability. The wooden table in front of him looked as if it had aged thousands of years, gradually turning into a pile of fine sand.
"It should be the work of the Straw Hat crew. Aren't they still alive..." Robin, holding a book and sitting on a sofa not far away, answered softly without even looking up. "That Sorcerer is not simple..."
Thinking of those deep black eyes under the lenses that seemed capable of perceiving everything, this intellectual beauty couldn't help but smile alluringly.
"Even with superior numbers, the Rebel Army, critically lacking in equipment, cannot defeat the well-equipped Royal Army. Shall the plan continue to be implemented? Mr. 0."
Waving his hand to disperse the fine sand before him, Crocodile took a deep breath to calm himself down. He then recalled the "small fry" Mr. 3 had mentioned. He never imagined that these small fry, who the Sand Crocodile thought couldn't stir up any big waves, would actually cause such a major problem for the plan he had painstakingly prepared for years.
"Useless trash. Feeding him to the Bananawani would be letting him off easy!" Crocodile leaned back in his chair with an ashen face, his gloomy eyes flickering, pondering some vicious plan.
A long time passed.
"Kuhahaha... Hahahaha!..." The Sand Crocodile suddenly laughed inexplicably, and the laughter grew increasingly rampant. That somewhat piercing laughter made Robin, who wanted to read quietly, frown slightly.
"How naive. Do they think destroying those weapons will quell those people's hatred for the King?..." Crocodile reined in his smile. His serious expression, combined with the massive scar spanning across his face, appeared even more terrifying.
"Didn't you want to stop the war? Just this much is far from enough!"
"Ms. All Sunday, have Mr. 1 and Mr. 4 execute the original plan. Also, help me contact Mr. 2 privately..."
East bank of the Sandora River, the reunited Straw Hat crew.
The scorching sun hung overhead, baking the sand on the ground until it was scalding hot. The pressing heatwave was ruthlessly squeezing out the remaining moisture from everyone's bodies.
And without Sherlock, that excellent travel companion, the Straw Hat crew could only walk through the desert on foot. Furthermore, they had to carry their luggage themselves, causing Usopp, who was truly experiencing the terror of the desert, to look up at the sky and shout:
"Sherlock, where are you?! Captain Usopp needs you!!"
"Usopp, rather than wasting stamina shouting and screaming, you'd be better off keeping your head down and walking honestly..." Nami glanced at the long-nose who was on the verge of collapse and admonished him earnestly.
"You, who are sitting on top of that thing, are the one least qualified to say that, okay?!" The long-nosed brother pointed indignantly at the camel carrying Vivi and Nami.
This camel had been saved by Vivi and the other two from the mouth of a giant lizard on their way to rendezvous. Afterward, this lecherous camel, who had the same nature as Sanji, became Nami and Vivi's exclusive mount.
"Hehe, there's no helping it..." Hearing this, Nami smiled and patted the camel's neck. "Who told him to only carry ladies? Isn't that right, 'Eyelashes'?"
The lecherous camel, named "Eyelashes" by the navigator, immediately let out an excited cry under Nami's gentle stroking, simultaneously revealing a lovestruck face that gave everyone a strong sense of déjà vu.
Zoro cast a look full of contempt at the camel, then deliberately asked the curly-browed cook who was smoking a cigarette nearby, "You didn't raise this camel from childhood, did you? Even the way it acts when lovestruck is so similar to you."
"..." Sanji, behaving extremely uncharacteristically, didn't reply, looking heavy-hearted.
Zoro raised his eyebrows, feeling it was very strange. "Oi, Curly-brows, what are you thinking about?"
Sanji only then snapped out of it. "Hm? Moss-head, did you say something?"
"I said, are you worried about something in your heart?" The green-haired swordsman grinned, asking with some concern.
Although these two usually seemed incompatible, cursing each other lightly or exchanging blows heavily, in reality, the relationship between Sanji and Zoro was still very good.
"Nothing, I just think it's too hot..." Sanji smiled, causing Zoro, who had sharp intuition, to frown slightly.
The little reindeer, taking all this in, silently lowered his head, feeling somewhat regretful in his heart about his earlier actions.
(Father, Pell, Chaka, Mr. Glasses...) Princess Vivi, sitting behind Nami, closed her eyes tight, praying silently in her heart.
"Alright! We walk to Alubarna just like this..." Luffy tightened the giant barrel of water on his back. Recalling the words the Sorcerer had said to him before leaving, he couldn't help but reveal a smile full of energy.
"...And then send that bastard Crocodile flying!"
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