Upon hearing Gawain's words, Cobra nodded emphatically.
"Of course, how could I let you, Saint Gawain, give so much for nothing!"
Please rest assured, I will definitely..."
"No rush!"
Before Cobra could finish speaking, Gawain Teuchi him.
Gawain smiled and said to Cobra.
"What exactly you need to give is not something we need to discuss now; after all, I should offer you assistance first!"
Before my aid had even arrived, I brought up the matter of the compensation I wanted to receive...
That would be rather impolite.
At this point, Gawain smiled and patted Cobra on the shoulder.
"So don't worry, once I've finished dealing with the remaining matters on Jaya, I'll go to Alabasta with you."
As for the days before we set off for Alabasta, let's rest well on my ship first!
As he spoke, Gawain waved to Kalifa.
"Kalifa, arrange rooms for King Cobra and his entourage. The King will be staying with us for a while."
"Yes, sir!"
Kalifa nodded respectfully, then quickly left to make the arrangements.
At this point, even if Cobra wanted to refuse, he had lost the strength to do so.
So Cobra could only sigh softly, then nod heavily.
"In that case, I'll leave everything to Saint Gawain!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Cobra couldn't help but sigh again, because even with his abilities, he could tell that Gawain had ulterior motives.
As the saying goes, what's free is often the most expensive.
The fact that Gawain wouldn't even mention the reward for his help only proves that what Gawain wants now is countless times more than what he's willing to give!
What exactly did Saint Gawain see in him?
Could it really be my daughter?
If it's true, what should I do?
After much deliberation, Cobra finally nodded.
What could he do? It was all due to the circumstances. So, in the end, Cobra silently accepted Gawain's arrangement.
While Gawain and Cobra were discussing a series of issues concerning Alabasta...
Falcon Pell and Wolf Chaka also cautiously approached the Black Ice Terrace members.
As Jaka walked toward Kaku and the others who were leading their men to the kitchen for lunch, Chaka shook his head at Pell.
"Pell, we... are afraid we don't have the right to refuse Saint Gawain."
After all, he is World Nobles, and World Nobles with extraordinary power!
"Yes!"
Pell nodded dejectedly.
"Who would have thought that Saint Gawain's Xuan Dark Bird Group had always coveted the Bird-Bird Fruit?"
If I had known about this beforehand, even if he had already arrived in Alabasta, I don't think I would have shown myself in front of him and his crew!
But it's too late to say all that now, in other words...
If my allegiance can make Saint Gawain more determined to help and save our Alabasta...
Even if I submit to him, it wouldn't be unworthy of my identity as the guardian of Alabasta!
At this point, Pell looked at Kaku and his group with a determined expression.
In Pell's eyes, Kaku and his group were very relaxed. After finishing their routine training, they walked towards the cafeteria in small groups, chatting as they went.
Following in their footsteps, Pell and his companion arrived at the cafeteria. As soon as they entered, looking bewildered, the staff handed them trays.
Holding their plates, the two exchanged a bewildered glance, but after that, they seemed to understand.
They're practically being robbed of their people by Gawain, so what's a meal from Gawain compared to that?
So the two of them followed Kaku's lead, picking up some things from the buffet area while listening to the conversations of the people around them.
The members of Black Ice Terrace mostly discussed their recent work, such as helping to build Jaya, capturing and raising Southbird, and dispersing and leaving some people behind to carry out security work at the Hydrological Observation Station under construction on Jaya.
Meanwhile, the soldiers stationed at Black Ice Terrace who were about to remain in the Jaya area to guard the island and the Hydrological Observation Station received farewells from their comrades.
The farewell ceremony was far from simple. Since there was no shortage of food and drink on Gawain's ship, about sixty or seventy people gathered together, drinking, chatting, and singing songs to say goodbye to their comrades who were about to stay behind.
Immediately afterwards, the atmosphere among the Black Ice Terrace members improved, and as they sang, they started talking about Uta's music.
They stated that they all bought more than one copy of Uta's album for their collections.
However, considering that Uta's album was carved on Gawain's ship...
So, does this mean that Gawain was subtly recouping the salaries paid to the Black Ice Terrace members through their own purchases?
The wool comes from the sheep, right?
Besides that, the members chatted about Fish-Man Island and the Four Emperors Whitebeard and Red-Haired Shanks, who had recently appeared near the Dark Bird Ship.
When discussing the Four Emperors, even the warriors of the Black Ice Terrace held immense admiration for the strength of both the Four Emperors and Rayleigh and his subordinates.
Hearing this made Pell and Chaka relax a lot. After all, this sea belonged to the strong. Even if they were both being dominated, the feeling of being dominated by the stronger was far better than being dominated by someone as cunning as Spandam!
After their mood improved considerably, and once most of the Black Ice Terrace had finished their meal, Pell and his companion decided to join them for a tour of their daily work and training.
There's no need to talk about training; after all, we're all men of the sea, and almost everyone with a bit of skill pays attention to maintaining a consistent training rhythm.
As for the daily work of the Black Ice Terrace members, Pell even personally participated in the maintenance of the Dark Bird Ship for a period of time with them...
This refers to the work of applying tung oil to the wings of the Dark Bird.
Time flies, and three days later, another three days passed. At six o'clock in the morning, Gawain got up to train as usual.
However, his training is no longer what it used to be.
Besides undergoing grueling training under high gravity, Gawain now needs to focus more on real combat.
As for his actual combat opponents, at least in the last few days, Gawain has been fighting Jinbe.
When Vivi was awakened by the deafening thunder, she groggily followed her father to the rest area to watch Gawain's battle.
Although Gawain had told them before that it wasn't necessary, they didn't want to stay in bed and sleep in while Gawain was already awake.
That they found incredibly rude.
Thus, Vivi was deeply shocked by the constantly rising lightning beside Gawain and by Jinbe's fists and feet that stirred up a raging wind!
Although he had only possessed the Rumble-Rumble Fruit for a little over twenty days, the enhancements it brought to Gawain Rumble-Rumble Fruit those twenty-odd days were unimaginable!
Even after Gawain became thoroughly familiar with the Devil Fruit, he was still no match for Gion Rayleigh and Issho.
But apart from those three monsters, Gawain was actually capable of fighting anyone else!
At this moment, the area within an 80-meter radius around Gawain was filled with the shadows of lightning.
The varying strengths of the lightning forced Jinbe to distribute his Armament Haki throughout his entire body!
Although protected by Armament Haki, moderately strong lightning could not harm Jinbe in the Jinbe, but this would maximize the depletion of Jinbe's Armament Haki and stamina!
As for Jinbe, he maintained a helpless expression throughout his battle with Gawain!
He suddenly lunged forward and raised his elbow to strike, but both the elbow and the impact hit nothing but air!
At the same time, Gawain's figure appeared and disappeared within the range of the lightning. He actually transformed the Rumble-Rumble Fruit from Enel's clumsy, big, and rough version, the Thunderbird Thunder Dragon Zoo mode, into a smooth and fast Flying Thunder God mode!
Comparing Gawain to the Flying Thunder God Technique is incredibly apt; he doesn't even need to throw out any kunai engraved with the Flying Thunder God symbol.
Wherever his lightning strikes, it can be seen as a mark of the Flying Thunder God. Once he fully unleashes his lightning, within the range of his lightning's coverage and influence, he can go almost anywhere he wants!
In this way, Gawain ruthlessly used his superior speed to make Jinbe do useless work.
Although Gawain's punching power at this moment was far from enough to cause Jinbe significant damage, Gawain's annoying tactic of frequently dodging and landing two punches on Jinbe at the same time was still impressive.
Jinbe's temper was already flaring up from all the harassment!
But even that's not the most disgusting part!
What's most disgusting is that Gawain knew very well that his current physical strength and constitution were not enough to unleash extremely high-intensity or extremely wide-range lightning skills.
Gawain explored the potential of lightning in a compact and efficient manner.
Just like before, he had briefly controlled the nerve reflexes of Cobra and his group.
Since every cell in the human body is filled with bioelectricity, Gawain took advantage of this and occasionally affected the bioelectricity in Jinbe's body.
This also caused Jinbe bizarre moves all the time. For example, the next second, Jinbe, who was on a tense defensive stance, suddenly lost control of his hands and raised them high in front of Gawain.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, Gawain quickly moved away from Jinbe's left side and then delivered a Gawain punch, which landed squarely under Jinbe's armpit.
This area is considered one of the most vital parts of the human body, so even though Gawain wasn't very strong, Jinbe still swayed a couple of times in pain.
Before Jinbe retaliate, Gawain vanished in the blink of an eye, reappearing more than seventy meters away from Jinbe...
So, seeing Gawain eager to try his luck ahead, Jinbe raised both hands in frustration.
"My lord, if you keep fighting like this, then there's no point in continuing this battle at all..."
Your Observation Haki is as skilled as a monster's; almost all my movements are under your observation. Apart from that, you've never confronted me head-on, always maintaining the style of striking once and then fleeing a thousand miles away!
That's not manly at all, sir! You need to fight with more flair!
Although your style of play makes it almost impossible for you to lose, if you keep going like this, it will probably take more than seven or eight days to completely wear me down.
That's right, it's dragging them down, not crushing them...
Because I've never even witnessed lightning longer than a meter...
You're just torturing me...
At this point, Jinbe refused to move anymore. He sluggishly darted into the pool like a salted fish and refused to get up again.
Beside Jinbe, Issho, who had been resting by the pool, wore a relieved smile.
"On the contrary, I really like your style. Even with the power of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, you still don't look arrogant at all."
The adults are very aware of their own strength and stamina, and their current fighting style is all about conserving strength and stamina as much as possible.
Moreover, the style of retreating far away when the first strike fails also aligns with our expectations of our superiors: that they should not become a weakness for our team!
Moreover, both physical strength and power can be developed through training.
As long as we persevere in training, relying on the Kuma's recovery and my gravity, as well as the adult's own lightning body tempering...
In the next one to two years at most, the adult's physique may reach the level of Gion Vice Admiral!
By then, with a sufficiently strong body, plus the power of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit...
Even if you still can't defeat Whitebeard and Garp, you can at least fight to a draw with all the monster-level powerhouses!
As Yixiao finished speaking, she tilted her ear and nodded slightly to Gawain. But just as Yixiao stopped speaking, Kuma continued from the side.
"However, there is a problem here, which is..."
I'm not a professional doctor; bouncing away injuries and fatigue is just a characteristic of my Devil Fruit!
I cannot provide medical assistance to adults forever.
Have you noticed that ever since the adult obtained the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, the Paw-Paw that bounces out every time I hit the adult has become increasingly dark in color?
Ever since the adult activated the Thunderbolt Body Tempering mode, the hidden injuries within the adult's body have been increasing exponentially!
If this continues, the adults' bodies might be completely ruined by their relentless training before they even reach monster levels!
Yes, indeed, even if the adult's health collapses, I can still continue to treat the adult's injuries.
But you wouldn't want me to treat your hidden injuries every half hour or hour, even if you don't exercise, would you?
At this point, Kuma waved to Gawain.
"Therefore, sir, I recommend that we do not go to Alabasta for the time being."
Although there was a rebellion there, it was nothing compared to your physical health!
We'd better sail around Alabasta first, then head to the Drum Kingdom to find a sufficiently professional and excellent doctor!
Alternatively, you could send me and Mr. Rayleigh together to find Mr. Crocus, the excellent doctor who extended Roger's life by several years, based on Mr. Rayleigh's description!
"Etc!"
As Kuma was speaking, Rayleigh, who was leisurely fishing on the ship's side in the distance, suddenly interrupted.
"Kuma, have you Revolutionary Army gotten used to starting rebellions?!"
"So much so that you can actually say something like 'rebellion doesn't matter.'"
As he spoke, Rayleigh pointed to Cobra and Vivi, who were staring in disbelief in the distant rest area.
"Look what you've done to the king and princess! We, the Dark Bird Group, aren't pirates; we're a righteous team, okay?"
So how could we not care about a rebellion happening in another country?
At this point, Rayleigh smiled and waved to Cobra.
"Brother Cobra, haha, don't listen to Kuma's nonsense."
Don't worry, Gawain and we are both concerned about your situation. We've been searching for fresh water and vegetables on Sky Island and Jaya for the past few days.
Six days have passed now, and we should be almost ready to pack, so we should be able to set off soon!
As soon as he finished speaking, Rayleigh smiled at the nervous Vivi.
"Princess Vivi, haha, she's about the same age as Uta, but she hasn't even gotten to know them properly these past few days. That's not like a proper princess at all."
Anyone who didn't know better would think that Shirahoshi and Uta were neglecting you...
At this point, Rayleigh waved to Shirahoshi and Uta in the distance, and at the same time, Shirahoshi and Uta shook their heads vigorously.
They weren't ignoring Vivi; it's just that Vivi really wasn't in the mood to play with them.
Standing to the side, Gawain pursed his lips as he looked at the helplessness and sorrow on Vivi's face.
Then, Gawain waved to Kalifa.
"Kalifa, how much longer do we need to prepare?"
"Sir, the Hydrological Observation Station was completed yesterday, and since then we have been focusing on collecting freshwater and vegetable samples."
"Oh, really? Then we can definitely set off!"
Gawain simply waved his hand.
"We only need to provide Alabasta with the first batch of fresh water and food; as for the follow-up, we need the Alabasta to participate."
We only had two or three thousand people on our ship, while Alabasta has a population of over ten million.
How could three thousand people possibly prepare the supplies needed by tens of millions of people?
Therefore, all we need to solve is the most pressing problem!
Since it's an urgent matter, the sooner we set off, the sooner Alabasta can resume production, right?