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Chapter 111: A Chance Encounter
"Let's go do some shopping first. Clothes, food, essentials for desert travel... Vivi said the vast majority of this country is desert."
After Ganyu left, these logistical details naturally fell to Nami to handle.
As she spoke, the group disembarked one after another. Footsteps echoed on the wooden gangway before fading into the distance.
Only one person was left behind—a green-haired man whose face was turning black with rage.
He stared at the retreating backs of his crewmates for a long time before finally roaring, "Are you making me guard the ship alone again?!!"
"We're counting on you, Zoro!" ×5
The group shouted back in unison without even turning their heads. Their voices drifted from the direction of the harbor before quickly disappearing into the bustling crowd.
Zoro stood stiffly in place.
"Those... bastards..."
"Gwa gwa gwa gwa gwa."
Karoo ran over, flapping his wings as if to tell Zoro that he wasn't the only one left on the ship.
"Oh, I didn't expect you to still be here."
Zoro's expression softened considerably. He remembered that Vivi's riding duck had stayed behind on their ship.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Light footsteps approached. Miss Goldenweek, Marianne, walked out of the cabin, carrying a bulging cloth bag on her back, looking fully prepared for a long journey.
The little girl still wore her usual blank expression, but her steps were lighter than usual.
Zoro and Karoo watched as she walked past them, heading toward the gangway.
It wasn't until he realized she was actually leaving the ship that Zoro couldn't help but call out to her.
"Hey, where are you going?"
This was the person the horned woman had brought on board. If she got lost, it would be hard to explain later.
Marianne paused for a moment and said plainly, "Home."
"Hah? Your home is in Alabasta?" Zoro was stunned, genuinely surprised.
To be honest, he didn't have much interaction with this little girl. Since she rarely spoke proactively, he sometimes forgot she was even on the ship.
Marianne nodded and asked, "Can I go now?"
"Hmm..." Zoro lowered his head, thinking for a moment.
This little girl didn't really have any ties to them; in fact, she was originally an enemy. Since she had decided to disembark, there was naturally no need to stop her.
"Fine."
Zoro waved his hand and sat down against the mast, hugging his swords. He half-closed his eyes, preparing to rest while guarding the ship.
Karoo mimicked his posture, squatting on the ground and closing his eyes to rest.
The scene looked rather amusing.
Marianne didn't leave immediately. She stood there thinking for a moment, then suddenly rummaged through her backpack. In a matter of seconds, she somehow produced a cup of hot tea.
She carefully placed the tea in front of Zoro and weighed down a handwritten note under the cup.
After doing all this, she shouldered her bag and walked briskly down the gangway. Her small figure quickly merged into the crowd at the port.
Zoro opened his eyes, took a sip of the tea, and then glanced at the note on the deck. A hint of surprise flashed in his eyes.
"Tomorrow morning... at [Rainbase]?"
.....
Meanwhile, in a familiar restaurant in the center of the port city.
A short-haired female Marine wearing glasses was reporting to a white-haired man smoking two cigars.
"Captain Smoker, we've received news from the harbor. The Straw Hat crew has landed."
They were, naturally, Tashigi and Smoker.
That day, after Smoker was defeated by Ganyu and the Straw Hat Pirates escaped Loguetown, Smoker didn't wait long before taking a Marine warship and charging into the Grand Line after them.
Along the way, they tracked the clues left by the Straw Hats. After several errors in judgment and course corrections, they managed not to lose the trail.
After a period of investigation, they finally confirmed that the Straw Hats' next destination was this country.
And so, just a few hours ago, they arrived on this island as well.
"Is that so? They're finally here!"
Smoker stood up abruptly, threw on the Marine coat he had casually draped over his chair, picked up his weapon—the Nanashaku Jitte—at his feet, and strode out of the restaurant.
"Where is their exact location? Are you sure it's the entire crew?"
He asked as he walked, the cigars in the corner of his mouth shifting slightly with his words.
"Straw Hat Luffy and several other crew members have gone ashore, but 'Frost Arrow' and 'Pirate Hunter' are not among them," Tashigi reported, adjusting her glasses as she kept pace with him.
"Not among them?"
Smoker's steps paused. A look of doubt flashed across his pale eyes, but he quickly issued a deep command:
"If they aren't here, they should be on the ship. Have the men at the harbor ambush the area around their pirate ship first. If there's a chance, confirm whether anyone is actually on board. Remember, do not act without orders."
He knew how strong the people on that ship were. Ordinary Marines posed no threat to them whatsoever.
"Yes!" Tashigi nodded and immediately took out a Den Den Mushi to relay Smoker's orders.
After she finished notifying everyone, Smoker continued, "Let's go meet that Straw Hat kid first. I've already experienced 'Frost Arrow' and 'Pirate Hunter.' I wonder what kind of... surprise their captain has in store."
Tashigi fell silent for a moment. Her mind flashed back to the execution platform in Loguetown, where the straw-hatted boy had pulled her back from the brink of death.
If not for Straw Hat Luffy, she likely would have fallen from the platform and died.
Thinking of this, her expression became somewhat complicated. "He is also a very special individual."
"Straw Hat Luffy," "Pirate Hunter," "Frost Arrow."
Each one was different, yet each had left an incredibly deep impression on her.
She had never seen such a unique pirate crew. It was no wonder Captain Smoker was convinced they would become the World Government's greatest enemy in the future.
Since disembarking, Luffy had run off on his own. Before long, guided by his sense of smell, he found a restaurant.
His longing for Ganyu seemed to have transformed into an appetite the moment he got off the ship.
He didn't even notice the people on either side of the aisle. He sprinted straight through, dashing past a man and a woman standing at the restaurant entrance, and burst inside.
"Old man! Hurry, I want meat!"
As soon as he entered, he rushed to the counter, slamming the table and shouting for the owner.
Outside the door, the man and woman stood motionless, seemingly not yet reacting to the gust of wind that had just passed them.
"Captain Smoker, the person who just rushed past... seemed a bit familiar..."
Tashigi looked blank. If she hadn't seen it wrong just now, a straw hat seemed to have flashed between her and Smoker.
"Move!" Smoker reacted faster than her. He grabbed his weapon, turned around, and charged back into the restaurant.
He swept his gaze over the customers filling the shop. He hesitated for a split second, not launching an attack immediately.
Instead, he shouted at the figure who was still ordering food:
"Straw Hat Kid, you are under arrest!"
Everyone inside the restaurant stopped eating and looked up.
"Is that... Am I seeing things? A Marine?"
"Why would the Navy come to our country?"
Only when they noticed the Marine coat draped over Smoker did the crowd realize that a Marine had been eating in the restaurant with them.
This was a rather rare occurrence in this country.
Alabasta was a remote nation, and nominally, it was the territory of the Warlord of the Sea, Crocodile.
To avoid misunderstandings with the Warlords, the Navy usually did not actively enter their territories.
This was the delicate balance between the World Government and the Seven Warlords of the Sea.
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