The Journey of Alabasta

After half a month of sailing, Rodney finally arrived at his destination, the Alabasta port city, Nanohana.

Not long ago, he had bid farewell to Laboon and Crocus and entered this country. On the day he left Little Garden, the goldfish that could devour an island was shattered by Dorry using Elbaf Spear, and the lifespan of his sword came to an end.

During those two weeks, in addition to training, Rodney also created a clone to learn navigation and medical knowledge from Crocus, mainly medical knowledge.

Medical Ninjutsu primarily uses Chakra to stimulate rapid cell division, thereby accelerating healing, but cell division has a limited number of occurrences. Over-stimulating one's cells can lead to a shortened lifespan, so it's better to use medicine for minor injuries.

At the same time, he also asked Crocus what things could be eaten in the wild and what things couldn't.

However, he mostly ate meat. He needed to be careful with plants in general, because if he ate something strange, he might just kick the bucket, and then he'd have no place to cry.

For half a month, he forced himself to memorize what Crocus said, using his Sharingan to remember it, and then strengthening his memory, turning it into his own knowledge.

The Sharingan is so useful.

Near Alabasta, he bid farewell to Laboon and Crocus, using Wave Riding Strike to travel through the sea.

Then he encountered a Sea Cat, so he adopted the Sea Cat as his mount, because people in Alabasta believe that Sea Cats are sacred creatures. Similarly, the appearance of a Sea Cat also represents a sign that he is entering the climate of Alabasta.

Being delivered to the port by the Sea Cat, he jumped onto the shore and, amid the shocked gazes of the nearby people, asked, "Um, is there a place to buy water around here?"

Water Release can indeed create water, but, well, he always felt weird about drinking water that he himself spat out.

Although he used this trick when he ran out of drinking water at sea in the East Blue, he would avoid using it if possible.

Landing on the shore, he felt a hot, dry wind blowing in his face. This place didn't feel like a coastal city at all, but more like an inland area. Looking as far as he could, all he could see was yellow sand.

I guess it's no surprise that this is a country with scarce water resources.

"Over there." Someone pointed the way. Rodney threw him a Belly with a decent denomination, thanked him, and then left.

Because of the scarcity of fresh water, in addition to bars, there were also water bars here, specializing in supplying water, and water was as expensive as alcohol. He bought a barrel of water, carried it on his back, and then bought a map of Alabasta.

Opening the map, this was the port city of Nanohana. Then, going west, crossing the desert, he could reach Alabasta's only major river, the Santara River. Crossing the river, reaching the opposite bank, entering the arid city of Alubarna, and then heading north, passing through the oasis of Yuba, he could arrive at Crocodile's base, Rainbase, known as the City of Dreams.

"But I could go by water..." He could start from Nanohana and then enter the mouth of the Santara River.

Yes, the mouth of the river. This wide river that crosses Alabasta is a large river formed by seawater intrusion. If it were fresh water, then cities built along the river could feed countless people.

Unfortunately, it is a saltwater river.

Traveling along the Santara River would be attacked by the Santara Catfish that live in the river, which would be very troublesome.

Traveling by land would also be quite troublesome.

He took out a coin, heads for land, tails for water.

Ding!

The coin spun in the air and fell into his palm.

Heads!

Okay, go by land.

He found someone again to confirm the direction, bought a sand sled, and after learning a few tricks from the owner, he easily learned how to use the sand sled.

The sand sled was like a sailboat in the desert, relying on wind power to move. The wind here also blew erratically. For this reason, Rodney specifically exchanged for Wind Release: Breakthrough, for emergencies.

He put the water on the sand sled, stood firm, tied the rope around his waist, and raised the sail.

Whoosh!

The sand sled flew out like an arrow, and Rodney grasped the wind direction and began to rush towards the Santara River.

"A Bounty Hunter? Joestar J. Rodney? He's already in Nanohana? The direction of movement is west. If he goes this way... heading north will lead to Rainbase. What's his target? Baroque Works?" In the kingdom's largest casino, in a hidden office in Rainbase, a very intellectual female voice said.

"He easily defeated Mr. 8 and Miss Monday. His strength should not be underestimated, but since the boss has ordered you to be killed, there are still high-ranking agents in Alabasta... Oh, let's send Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine. Two Devil Fruit ability users should be able to defeat the Bounty Hunter who is suspected of being a Devil Fruit ability user."

Having decided on the personnel to carry out the mission, the woman smiled and continued to devote her energy to the work in front of her.

Good news, after crossing the desert, Rodney directly had the sand sled cross the Santara River, and then discovered that the sand sled could not only move quickly on the sand, but also on the water. Although it leaked a little, he didn't need to worry about those details. The speed of the leak was slow enough for him to reach the other side of the Santara River.

That was enough.

"Hmm?" He glanced down, his gaze piercing through the river water, and a huge shadow was rushing over here.

Damn it, something else is coming.

It was like this when I was traveling at sea, Sea Kings would run up at every turn. Don't they know how to change their approach?

"Wind Release: Breakthrough!"

A gust of wind blew on the sail, and the sand sled suddenly accelerated and rushed out again. Behind him, a behemoth rushed out, its huge mouth swallowing a mouthful of water.

Eyes the size of houses looked a little dull, saw Rodney, and swung its giant tail to chase after him.

"Damn it, how can a catfish grow so big? What did it eat to grow up?" Rodney ignored where the sand sled was flying and spat out several fireballs in one breath, which exploded on the Santara Catfish.

The Santara Catfish was in pain and swayed its body, trying to avoid it. Its body slammed into the water, stirring up waves, and the waves propelled the sand sled, making it run faster.

Rodney laughed and blew out another gust of wind to make the sand sled run faster.

Jumping out of the sea, coming to the sand, he lowered the sail, raised the sand sled, poured out the water inside, and shook off his robe. To prevent his skin from being sunburned, he specially put on an Alabasta robe, and also wore windproof sunglasses on his face. The whole set of equipment cost him a lot of Belly, that profiteer!

The sun's temperature was high, unbearably hot. During the day, the desert offered no shelter, and the temperature was especially high. Coupled with the sun's intense exposure, the sand's temperature was also very high. If it weren't for the special material of the ninja footwear on his feet, they probably would have melted already, right?

In just a few minutes, the sand skiff was dried. He placed it back on the sand, stood on it, and put the remaining water into his pouch. He raised the sail and charged out once again.

In just a few minutes, he arrived at Alubarna, also a port city. However, Alubarna was far less prosperous than Nanohana; on the contrary, it was much more desolate, with very few people. Because Alabasta was located in a desert area, it was dry and had little rain. In addition, someone was using Dancing Powder, making the moisture outside the capital extremely scarce. It hadn't rained in other places for over a year, and the entire country was filled with complaints.

Moreover, not long ago, the palace reported that the king was secretly using Dancing Powder, which was banned throughout the world, making the people's resentment even stronger. It was said that a rebel army had gathered near Nanohana, but there were still relatively few people at the moment.

Rodney put away the sand skiff and parked it in front of a hotel, or rather, the only hotel.

In such a large city, there was only this one hotel. The once-prosperous city had become sparse, and many people had moved to the nearby oasis of Yuba or crossed the Santara River to Nanohana.

"Because there's just too little usable water here; it can't support so many people at all." The hotel owner was a thin old man with a kind face, who said with a smile, "Guest, you'd better leave here; this place is really not suitable for living."

"But why are you staying, sir?" Rodney asked.

"Because this is my home. There's still a little water left, enough to keep those of us who stayed alive for a while. Unless it's absolutely necessary, I won't leave my home."

This was their home; they wouldn't leave it so easily.