Searching for Pluton!
On the seventh day, which was also the last day of Vidal's decision to stay, after finishing what he needed to do, he finally went out for a stroll by himself.
This was a plan he had devised before coming to Alabasta; he was here to find something, something that only Alabasta possessed.
However, he couldn't say that to others, so he casually came up with an excuse that would excite Cobra and his men.
The excuse was that they needed to see if there were any other places where they could tap into groundwater!
Look, look! With this reason, how could the Alabasta people not be excited? Upon hearing this, they wished Vidal would immediately take a tour of the entire country!
Unfortunately, an excuse is just an excuse. After leaving, Vidal traveled north along the Sandora River because he had a hypothesis that he needed to verify.
The origin of this conjecture is this great river; when looking at a map of Alabasta, I always felt that there was something strange about this river.
Vidal felt that it was more like an artificial river than a natural one, for three reasons: first, its location was too central, situated right on the center line of the entire island.
Of course, this could also be interpreted as, even if it were man-made, it could have been created by the previous kings of Alabasta to alleviate the nation's freshwater shortage.
Given that Alabasta is such a large country, using the center line as the reference point is reasonable to ensure fairness.
The second reason is the source of the river. Alabasta is a desert kingdom and does not have Iceburg, which are the most common water sources. Therefore, the Sandora River is very likely to be water from underground.
This doesn't seem strange at first glance, but it becomes a little odd when combined with the third reason.
That is, Cobra said that the river's current was very strong, strong enough to hold back the sea for hundreds of years, but in recent years it has suddenly weakened, and will continue to weaken over the next thirty years.
What could be the reason for this?
Alabasta lacked a spirit of scientific exploration, but Vidal did, though he wasn't interested in the river itself.
Instead, he felt that the river might be a clue to what he was looking for.
Thirty-one years in the future, Nico Robin, in the underground burial hall of the Kingdom's Royal Tomb in this country, reads the Poneglyphs and confirms with her own words that the thing is in Alabasta!
That's right, what Vidal is now searching for in this day is the Ancient Weapon that the World Government has been searching for for hundreds of years without success, and that Crocodile in the future has been longing for but unable to obtain.
Pluton.
Now that we're in this country, it would be a shame not to look for this most unique being in the world.
Furthermore, he felt that he had a high chance of finding Pluton, and this confidence stemmed from the power of the Woods-Woods Fruit.
The Woods-Woods Fruit is a top-tier plant-type Devil Fruit, capable of sensing the location of all plants and trees within a vast area, including precious Devil Fruits like itself.
How would this ability help in the search for Pluton?
The key point is that Vidal speculated that Pluton was made of wood, or at least that it wasn't entirely made of wood.
Although the wood used is probably not ordinary wood, but the wood of the legendary Treasure Tree Adam!
This conjecture is based on the legend of Treasure Tree Adam.
Legend has it that there was an island where war was constantly raging, and the entire island, including its cities and people, was almost completely destroyed in the ravages of war.
But there is one giant "tree" that still stands tall and unyielding, no matter what happens, the tree remains standing there.
After the war, people nestled against this tree and built new cities and countries.
There are only a handful of these trees in the entire world; people call it the strongest tree...
Clearly, in this legend, there wasn't just one Treasure Tree Adam, but several. So why are they gone now?
Did people in the past not understand the concept of renewable resources and cut them all down?
That's possible, but it might not be for that reason. If it's the former, then there's not much to say, but what if it's the latter?
What made the ancients so eager to cut down the Treasure Tree Adam, even at the cost of depleting its resources? If it wasn't to burn it for firewood, then it was to build something.
Combining this with the contents of 'Vladimir's Diary' that he had seen in Sleep Ancient Town, he is now more than 60% confident that what is being built is 'Pluton'!
To counter the siege of the Twenty Kingdoms and the power of Imu, the Ancient Kingdoms were forced to cut down all the Treasure Tree Adam.
The Adam Wood still circulating in the market today is very likely actually leftover scraps from the creation of 'Pluton'.
But as I said before, all of this is speculation, all of it is uncertain, so we'll have to wait and see when we get there.
Alabasta is too big for him to explore entirely, at least not now, but he could take a walk around the source of the Sandora River.
Pluton's value was so great that even when passing through the bustling Rainbase, Vidal didn't stop for a moment, at most leaving a detached glance before drifting away.
Because of the distance, he was running at full speed, with his Photosynthetic Energy at its maximum, and he transformed into a green Inazuma as he traversed the vast yellow sand sea.
Vidal's running speed isn't particularly advantageous compared to others in his class, let alone compared to a monster like Borsalino, but that doesn't mean he's slow; it's roughly the same as the previous Moving Crab.
However, while Moving Crabs need to rest after running a certain distance, he doesn't. In this respect alone, he can travel much faster over long distances.
Vidal ran tirelessly for nearly four hours before he saw that the river had disappeared, replaced by endless sandstorms once more.
Somewhat disappointed, he had thought he would see some hills or sand dunes here, but instead it was just a flat desert.
That makes sense, though; if something were obvious, the World Government and Crocodile wouldn't have failed to notice it.
"Call--"
Taking a deep breath, Vidal stopped and looked around. Then, he lightly stomped his right foot, and in the next instant, twelve large trees rose up around him.
But their purpose is not to shield him from the wind and sand, but to stretch out their roots to explore any possible anomalies underground.
At the same time, the sensory abilities of the Woods-Woods Fruit and Observation Haki merged into one, scanning outwards in all directions with all their might.
But, unsurprisingly, there was nothing there, nothing he sensed. Vidal felt like he had been incredibly stupid.
But that's alright, he can take his time. He still has half a day; he'll definitely finish scanning this area!
For the next three hours, he would sweep through an area, leaving a tree nearby as a marker, and then destroying all the other trees without leaving a trace.
Even these marked trees eventually need to be cleaned up!
"Eh"
Just as the sky began to darken and the temperature gradually cooled, Vidal suddenly noticed that the roots of those large trees had emerged from a certain stratum about fifteen meters underground.
"There's space down here!"
Vidal stared in surprise at the layer of yellow sand beneath his feet, but his Devil Fruit ability told him that there was no wood or plant beneath it.
He looked at the location and realized it wasn't directly above the source of the Sandora River, but rather to the west.
But now that we've finally found it, we have to go down and take a look.
However, we need to clear away these trees before going down, otherwise it will be troublesome if someone comes later.
Finally, a wooden spear emerged from his palm and pierced the ground. After it passed through the earth and entered the hollow area, he 'transformed into a tree' and teleported himself there via the wooden spear.
In this way, the wind and sand blew, and the spot where Vidal had been standing was restored to its natural state.
"Such a huge underground space!"
In the darkness underground, Vidal, forced to emit his own light, used the bright green light to see his surroundings.
It looks a bit like a large mausoleum, and a bit like a mine tunnel. The artificial traces are very obvious, and there is even water flowing outwards.
Could it be connected to the distant Sandora River?
Suppressing his excitement, Vidal slowly walked into the pitch-black depths. Would Pluton be there?