Rubbing the Whale

"All right, Lord Rodney." Big Slug Sister slowly crawled down from Laboon. All of Laboon's new wounds had healed, and he was in good health.

However, treating Laboon had also consumed a considerable amount of Rodney's Chakra, so he needed some time to recover.

Big Slug Sister's ability to speak surprised Crocus a little, but he had traveled through wind and rain with Roger. What kind of scene had he not seen? It was only a talking slug. Well, he had not seen many talking animals, so Big Slug Sister had genuinely given him quite a shock.

"You can talk?"

"Mm. Big Slug Sister is very powerful. She isn't good at fighting, but when it comes to healing wounds, no one could surpass her back then." Rodney confidently patted Big Slug Sister's body, only to end up with a hand covered in mucus...

"What an amazing ability." Crocus praised her.

"Lord Rodney, the Natural Energy here is much denser than before. It's almost enough to cultivate Senjutsu," Big Slug Sister whispered.

"How long would cultivation take?"

"That's still unclear, but it would be a little slower than in Shikkotsu Forest."

"Then let's put that aside for now. Sorry for the trouble this time, Big Slug Sister."

"It was nothing. I'll be leaving now." After saying goodbye, Big Slug Sister vanished in an instant. Crocus praised her again. "Your ability is really useful. Was that enormous slug sent away using your Devil Fruit Ability?"

"More or less. I sent Big Slug Sister back to where she came from." Rodney smiled faintly.

He asked, "Old Man Crocus, when are you planning to set out?"

"What? You want to come with me?"

"Yeah. If there's a ship going my way that I can hitch a ride on, of course I'm going to hitch a ride." Rodney shamelessly admitted that unless he had a mission, he would definitely travel with Crocus.

"Hoho, sure. I'm going to Sabaody Archipelago first to call on an old friend. Are you heading there?"

Sabaody Archipelago? So he was going to find Silvers Rayleigh. Moria was probably going to have a bad time.

The crew of the Pirate King might be old now, but in the One Piece World, getting old did not mean becoming weak. This was especially true of those old monsters from back then.

Garp, Sengoku, Whitebeard, Rayleigh... Their strength might have declined, but by how much? Even if they were not as strong as they had been in their youth, they still stood at the peak of this world.

Your old man is still your old man.

Crocus's profession was ship doctor, but almost none of the people aboard Roger's ship were pushovers. Fighting alone would not be a problem. Facing Moonlight Moria, however, would be somewhat troublesome. Bringing along the Dark King would make things easier. If he wanted Moria to return Brook's shadow, he would also need to intimidate him with force.

Besides, Crocus probably wanted to see his vice-captain and have a reunion.

"Oh, right. Buggy from your ship was sent to prison by me," Rodney said.

"Hahaha, that kid with the Red Nose? You sent him to prison? Forget it. I suppose that's just that guy's bad luck." Crocus recalled the little fellow with the Red Nose and laughed without concern. He believed Buggy would never be restrained. Although that kid was cowardly, he was a man the captain had taken a liking to. He was definitely not simple.

He continued, "So, Rodney, was it? Get ready. We're about to leave."

"That's it?"

"Mm." Crocus nodded. They would travel there on Laboon, and at night they could rest inside Laboon's body.

As for food, they had their own ways of surviving at sea. They only needed to prepare enough fresh water and wine.

"Hm?"

Rodney's vision blurred, and a mission appeared.

Mission: Disband Baroque Works

Mission Rank: B

Reward: Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique, Water Release: Water Formation Wall, Mystical Palm Technique, Eternal Chakra Fruit, 5,000 Mission Points.

Mission: Defeat Crocodile

Mission Rank: B

Reward: Bloodline Limit: Boil Release, Fire Release: Flower Snapdragon Claw Red, Fire Release: Head Carving Bitter, Lightning Release: False Darkness, Lightning Release: Raging Thunder Tiger, 5,000 Mission Points.

Two missions?

Rodney was surprised and fell into thought. He had only planned to take the route to Alabasta, so why had missions suddenly been issued?

And there were two of them.

But these rewards were incredibly tempting.

Were the rewards for B-rank missions really this generous?

"What's wrong?" Crocus saw Rodney stop, standing there blankly and staring straight ahead as if he had been bewitched.

"Nothing. I just remembered something." Rodney shook his head. He walked to the cliff and saw the Sea Cow MooMoo poking its head out of the seawater. "You're free now. Go wherever you want."

Sea Cow MooMoo silently sank into the water, moving with incredible speed. It looked as if it did not want to stay another moment.

"Oh my, do you hate me that much?"

Of course it did. Sea Cow MooMoo was more frightened when it saw Rodney than when it saw Arlong. It had been desperate to leave this bringer of disaster as soon as possible. At least now its life was no longer in danger, and it was truly free. It just did not know who would feed it. Hachi had raised it back when it was with Arlong.

"Then we'll be leaving too. It's been a long time since I left this place. Laboon, let's begin another journey." Crocus patted Laboon's skin, and Laboon let out an excited, joyful cry.

"How are we leaving?" Rodney asked.

"Go inside Laboon's stomach. We'll head to the nearest place first. Kid Rodney, as it happens, that's the same route you chose."

"Yeah, exactly. I'm going to Alabasta."

Crocus thought for a moment and said, "I remember you're a pirate hunter, right? What? Are you planning to go after the Shichibukai there?"

Alabasta was where the Shichibukai Sand-Sand Fruit user, Crocodile, was based. He often destroyed pirates who reached the country, causing the people to regard him as a hero.

The Shichibukai were pirates recognized by the World Government. They could plunder legally without being pursued, and were considered dogs of the World Government.

Crocodile, Gecko Moria, and Doflamingo were like sieves, filtering the pirates who passed through one layer after another and reducing their numbers. They greatly eased the Navy's burden. Although people disliked them, it had to be admitted that the three had helped the Navy to some extent.

"Haha, Old Man, don't put it that way. I can't beat a Shichibukai right now... Well, probably." Rodney remembered that Crocodile's Devil Fruit was countered by water. Sand lost its effect after absorbing water, just like Gaara's sand. He simply did not know whether water created with Water Release Chakra would work.

If it did, then even without Haki, he could defeat Crocodile.

The Sand-Sand Fruit's ability was practically heaven's aid in Alabasta, but it was also easy to counter. Besides, Crocodile was entirely focused on searching for clues about Pluton and had not trained his Haki. In a fight, the odds would probably be forty-sixty.

He was like some chuunibyou god—appearing too early and ending up getting screwed over.

Rodney continued, "I have some things to investigate in Alabasta. My eyes saw a few things, and I want to get to the bottom of them."

"Oh?" Crocus became interested. "May I ask what they were?"

Rodney thought for a moment before explaining, "Someone is secretly using Dancing Powder."

"Dancing Powder? That kind of thing can't be used in a country like Alabasta, where water is scarce." Dancing Powder was used to induce artificial rainfall, but its effects were extremely overbearing. Centered on the place where it was used, it drew in the surrounding water vapor to produce rain.

Stealing from others to resolve one's own water shortage was practically fatal for a desert country.

"Did you see who it was?"

Rodney shook his head. "Only fragments. That's why I want to go take a look and deal with that fellow." He made a throat-slitting gesture, his expression murderous.

"Then go ahead, but this old man may not be able to accompany you."

"No, I'm very grateful that you're taking me. If MooMoo took me, it would slow down in a place this vast. I'd also have to wait here for a pirate ship coming from over there and rob them. That would be troublesome."

"Haha, let's go get some wine and water and make preparations. Come help too."

"Sure thing."