After mooring the ship at the port, the four stepped onto the docks of Nanohana.
"It's so hot… As expected of a desert kingdom."
As soon as she stepped out, Carina was hit by the harsh rays of sunlight.
"Is it? It feels fine to me," Nami said, lips curling in a smirk.
"Shut up."
Carina rolled her eyes."Don't stand in front of me — are you showing off your Devil Fruit ability?"
"Hehehe, did I get caught?"
Nami stuck out her tongue, showing a smug smile.
"Let's go buy cloaks first."
Looking up at the cloudless sky and the blazing sun overhead, El led the three girls toward a nearby stall.
After purchasing a map of Nanohana, the four went to a shop, bought four cloaks, and put them on. Then they bought portable water flasks and filled them with fresh water.
Walking through the desert, it was easy to get lost, and without enough water on hand, a single mishap on the road could mean dying of thirst.
If you didn't rent camels, traveling from one city to another would take a full day on foot.
After buying cloaks and water, the four did what they always did: they booked the most expensive room in the most luxurious local hotel, and then began exploring Nanohana.
As one of Alabasta's main entry cities, Nanohana was busy with trade and travelers. In addition to fishing and transport, it was also famous for its many kinds of perfume.
Although the three girls didn't need perfume yet, that didn't stop them from being fascinated by Nanohana's specialties. They ended up buying several different fragrances "for future use."
El didn't stop them. After all, it wasn't his money being spent.
After buying perfume, the four continued to wander around, purchasing local specialties and tasting various Alabastian dishes.
By noon, after dropping off a pile of goods back in their room, the four rented two camels and set off for Katorea.
Katorea — the rebel base in the manga's future timeline.
But for now, it was still an oasis city on the right bank of the Sandora River, forming the "three oasis cities" of Alabasta together with Elumalu and Yuba on the left bank.
In these three cities, the price of fresh water was relatively low, far cheaper than in the other three major cities of Alabasta.
However, as soon as they arrived in Katorea, the four did a brief circuit and returned in disappointment.
It was simply too backward.
Although the Kingdom of Alabasta had millions of people and was counted as a rare superpower, the lack of resources on Sandy Island meant that countless people couldn't even fill their stomachs, let alone enjoy a prosperous economy.
As for Katorea's specialties, Nanohana had almost all of them as well.
Naturally, the four were too lazy to waste time there.
By the time they returned to Nanohana, night had already fallen. The four decided to rest there and depart for the capital, Alubarna, the next morning.
While the four were resting, they had no idea that their movements were already being watched, and that certain people had finally confirmed that their next stop really was the Kingdom of Alabasta.
In the oasis city of Elumalu, in a dim room lit not by lamps but by candles, a seagull — an odd sight in the middle of a desert — flew in through the window and landed on the shoulder of a man in a white suit.
A low voice broke the silence.
Under the flickering candlelight, two beautiful women in white suits sat opposite the man.All three of them wore smooth white masks over their faces.
"We're really being played," one of the women said, voice full of complaint. "The way these four little brats sail is honestly insane."
"How can anyone enter the Grand line, immediately buy a bunch of Eternal Poses at the first stop, and then keep changing course to sail aimlessly?"
"Since we've found them, their luck ends here."
The man stroked the seagull on his shoulder and spoke quietly:"We've wasted a lot of time on this mission. It'll probably affect the Boss's evaluation of us."
"We end this tomorrow."
Because they were in "vacation mode" on this leg of the journey, the four didn't get up early to train as usual. Instead, they slept in until they woke up naturally.
After washing up, they had a light breakfast, bought another barrel of fresh water and a bag of fruit, mounted their rented camels, and headed out toward the capital, Alubarna.
Nanohana was far from Alubarna. Even with El's Observation Haki capable of covering half a medium–sized island, he still couldn't sense the capital from their starting point. That alone showed how huge Sandy Island truly was.
The long travel time left all four of them bored.
So they kept chatting to pass the time.
When the three girls drifted into topics only girls understood, El couldn't really join in and started to space out.
The current Alabasta was very different from the version in his memories.
Crocodile had yet to set his eyes on "Pluton," had yet to seed rebellion in the kingdom with Dance Powder, and Robin had not yet helped him usurp the Nefertari royal family in exchange for clues to the Poneglyphs.
The secret crime syndicate Baroque Works founded by Crocodile was still unheard of at this point.
Right now, Alabasta was simply too peaceful.
Recalling the story from the original manga, El's thoughts drifted.
Speaking of which, Robin should only be eighteen now and still in the West Blue, not yet having entered the Grand line.
Thinking of that, El couldn't help feeling a touch of pity. As one of the most tragic heroines in the original story, Robin had always had a special place in his heart.
After twenty years on the run, she still hadn't turned truly "black." That alone told El that Robin's presence wouldn't carry that foul aura he so hated.
If they met, El would definitely reach out to her. After all, every otaku is a hopeless LSP, and El was no exception.
Robin's face, her figure, and that big–sister personality — all of it was exactly his type.
It was a pity she wasn't here.
"Hmm?"
The passive danger sense that came with Observation Haki pulled El's consciousness back to reality.
Looking at the wavering air ahead in the desert, El suddenly frowned and warned the three girls beside him:
"Get down and walk. There are three hostile auras ahead."
"Eh— is it the enemy?"
The three girls, who had been chatting, were stunned.
Nami looked surprised."No way, we run into enemies in the middle of the desert? Local bandits or something?"
"Not bandits," El replied calmly."But the world's biggest human traffickers."
"The first force to find us… It really is them. Their agents are everywhere."
"The first force? Agents?"
Hearing those two keywords, the three girls instantly understood what he meant.
"So our first enemy on the Grand line is Mary Geoise?" Nami said, hands on her hips, regret heavy in her voice."Looks like we won't be able to squeeze money out of Mary Geoise and the Navy Headquarters anymore."
"It doesn't matter," Carina replied lightly. "We can still hunt pirates and exchange their heads for bounties on the black market."
"Even with the black market taking a big handling fee, we'll still make a profit."
"They're here."
This time it was El who spoke again.
In the shimmering air ahead, like a mirage in the heat, three figures in white suits and white masks appeared out of nowhere and walked slowly toward them.
Just seeing the three tall figures, whose presence radiated an oppressive weight even from afar, made Carina and Kuina's faces turn serious. Their bodies instinctively tensed, goosebumps breaking out along their skin.
They didn't know why their bodies reacted that way, but it was enough for Carina and Kuina to understand: these three were definitely not opponents they could handle.
Such murderous intent… they're not ordinary CP members.
Like the two girls, El felt goosebumps all over.
But unlike them, El — who had Observation Haki — understood the cause.
The murderous intent of those three was simply overwhelming. Their hands were clearly drenched in blood.
Fortunately, that overflowing killing intent also brought El a bit of good news.
Murderous aura was also a kind of spiritual energy. Someone who could control invisible killing intent had a chance of awakening Haki.
These three blood–stained CP members didn't even bother to restrain their killing intent, which meant they obviously weren't Haki powerhouses.
And that meant that, as long as they didn't have seastone weapons, they were definitely not Nami's opponents.
Thinking of this, El couldn't help but smile inwardly.
Keeping Nami hidden had been the right move.
"Young Swordsman El. Come with us. Our boss wishes to meet you."
"Don't bother struggling," the woman on the right added with a sultry laugh. "Or this big sister will really come to love you."
As El observed the three with his Observation Haki, they stepped fully into view.
The tall man stared at El through his mask. His voice held no emotion, just a sense of superiority.
In contrast, the woman at his right let out a charming chuckle.
Clearly, none of the three girls were even worth a glance.
In their eyes, the only person here worth paying attention to was El.
And El, as he was now, was just a young swordsman who could launch flying slashes.
Such talent at this age was indeed astounding.
But no matter how gifted a genius was, until he fully converted that talent into strength, he was still weak.
The three of them had killed countless such "geniuses."
If their boss hadn't been worried about unexpected variables, he wouldn't even have sent all three of them together.
If El resisted, they didn't mind letting this gifted child experience what true pain felt like.
"I really hate your arrogance."
Seeing all their thoughts laid bare in his mind's eye, El felt his lips curl.
He would not allow anyone in this world to be more arrogant than him.
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