Alabasta Journey

After half a month of sailing, Rodney finally reached his destination—the port city of Nanohana in Alabasta.

Not long before, he had bid farewell to Laboon and Crocus and entered this country. On the day they left Little Garden, the island-devouring goldfish had been shattered by Dorry's Elbaf Spear, bringing his sword's life to an end as well.

Over those half a month, aside from training, Rodney also created a clone to learn navigation and medicine from Crocus—mainly medicine.

Medical Ninjutsu primarily used Chakra to stimulate his own cells into rapidly dividing, thereby accelerating healing. However, cells could only divide a limited number of times. Excessively stimulating them would shorten his lifespan, so minor injuries were better treated with medicine.

At the same time, he asked Crocus to teach him which things in the wild could be eaten and which could not.

Most of the time, though, he ate meat. The things he generally had to be careful with were plants. If he accidentally ate something strange, he might just drop dead. By then, there would be nowhere to cry.

For half a month, he had forcibly committed everything to memory, using the Sharingan to remember Crocus's words before strengthening those memories and turning them into his own knowledge.

The Sharingan was truly useful.

Near Alabasta, he bid farewell to Laboon and Crocus, then used Wave Riding Strike to travel across the sea.

That was how he encountered a Sea Cat. He promptly made it his mount, because the people of Alabasta considered Sea Cats sacred creatures. Their appearance also signified that he had entered Alabasta's climate.

The Sea Cat delivered him to the harbor. He jumped onto the shore to one side and, amid the astonished gazes of the people nearby, asked, "Um, is there anywhere around here that sells water?"

Water Release could indeed create water, but drinking water that he had spat out himself felt strange.

He had used that trick before when his drinking water ran out while he was at sea in the East Blue, but he avoided it whenever possible.

As soon as he stepped ashore, he felt a hot, dry wind blow against his face. This place was nothing like a coastal city; it looked more like the inland. As far as the eye could see, there was nothing but yellow sand.

Could this be what you got from a country short on water resources?

"There." Someone pointed the way. Rodney tossed him a reasonably valuable amount of Beli, thanked him, and left.

Because fresh water was scarce, there were water bars here in addition to taverns, specializing in selling water. Water was just as expensive as alcohol. After buying a barrel of water and carrying it on his back, he went to buy a map of Alabasta.

Opening the map, he saw that this was the port city of Nanohana. Heading west and crossing the desert would take him to Alabasta's only major river, the Santara River. After crossing it and reaching the other bank, he would enter the dried-up city of Alubarna. Then, by heading north and passing through the oasis of Yuba, he could reach Crocodile's base, Rainbase, known as the City of Dreams.

"Though I could take the waterways..." He could depart from Nanohana and enter the mouth of the Santara River.

Yes, the mouth. This broad river that crossed Alabasta had been formed by seawater flowing inland. If it were freshwater, cities would have been built along it, and no one knew how many people it could support.

Unfortunately, it was a saltwater river.

If he traveled along the Santara River, he would be attacked by the Santara Catfish living in it. That would be troublesome.

Traveling overland would be troublesome too.

He took out a coin. Heads meant land; tails meant water.

Clink!

The coin spun through the air and landed in his palm.

Heads!

Good. He would take the land route.

He found someone else to confirm the direction, bought a sand skiff, and learned how to use it after practicing a few times with the owner.

The sand skiff was like a sailboat in the desert, moving by wind power. The wind here was fickle as well, so Rodney had deliberately exchanged for Wind Release: Breakthrough in case of emergencies.

He placed the water on the sand skiff, steadied himself, tied the rope around his waist, and raised the sail.

Whoosh!

The sand skiff shot forward like an arrow loosed from a bow. Rodney caught the wind and began racing toward the Santara River.

"A bounty hunter? Jotaro J. Rodney? He's already reached Nanohana? He's heading west. If he continues like that... he'll reach Rainbase by heading north. What is his objective? Baroque Works?" a highly intellectual-sounding woman's voice said in a hidden office in Rain Dinners, the kingdom's largest casino.

"He easily defeated Mr. 8 and Miss Monday. His strength cannot be underestimated. But since the boss ordered us to eliminate him, and the high-ranking agents currently in Alabasta include... Oh, then send Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine. Two Devil Fruit users should be able to defeat a bounty hunter who is suspected of being a Devil Fruit user."

After settling on the people who would carry out the mission, the woman smiled and continued focusing on the work before her.

The good news was that after crossing the desert, Rodney had directly driven the sand skiff across the Santara River. He then discovered that the sand skiff could move quickly not only across sand but also over water. It leaked a little, but such minor details could be ignored. The leak was slow enough for him to reach the opposite bank.

That was enough.

"Hm?" He glanced downward. His gaze pierced through the river water, revealing a massive shadow approaching from that direction.

Damn it, something else was coming.

It had been the same when he was traveling at sea. Sea Kings kept coming at him for no reason. Couldn't they try something else?

"Wind Release: Breakthrough!"

A gust of wind blew into the sail, and the sand skiff suddenly accelerated, shooting forward once again. A massive creature burst from behind them, its enormous mouth swallowing a mouthful of water.

Its house-sized eyes looked strangely adorable. When it saw Rodney, it swung its huge tail and chased after him.

"Damn it, what kind of catfish can grow this big? What did it eat?" Rodney no longer cared where the sand skiff was flying. He exhaled several fireballs in one breath, blasting them into the Santara Catfish.

The Santara Catfish cried out in pain and thrashed about, trying to dodge. Its body crashed into the water, raising huge waves. The waves pushed the sand skiff along, making it move even faster.

Rodney laughed and blew out another gust of wind, making the sand skiff speed up even more.

The sand skiff leaped out of the water and reached the sand. He lowered the sail, lifted the skiff, and poured out the water inside. Then he shook out his robe. To protect his skin from the sun, he had specifically put on an Alabastan robe and a pair of windproof sunglasses. The whole outfit had cost him quite a bit of money. What a swindler!

The sun was brutally hot. The daytime desert had no shade whatsoever, making the temperature especially high. Combined with the blazing sunlight, the sand itself was scorching. If not for the special material of his ninja sandals, they probably would have melted already.

In only a few minutes, the sand skiff had dried. He placed it back on the sand, put the remaining water into his waist pouch, raised the sail, and shot forward once more.

In just a few minutes, he arrived at Alubarna, another port city. However, Alubarna was far less prosperous than Nanohana and much more desolate, with very few people around. Alabasta lay in a desert region and was dry, with little rain. On top of that, someone had used Dancing Powder, making the water vapor outside the capital extremely scarce. Other places had already gone more than a year without rain, leaving the entire country seething with resentment.

Moreover, not long ago, the palace had announced that the king had secretly used Dancing Powder, which was banned throughout the world. This had further deepened the people's anger. Rumor had it that a rebel army was gathering near Nanohana, though there were still relatively few of them.

Rodney put away the sand skiff and parked it in front of an inn—or rather, the only inn.

There was only this one inn in the enormous city. The once-prosperous city had become sparsely populated, and many people had moved to the nearby oasis of Yuba or crossed the Santara River to Nanohana.

"There simply isn't enough usable water here to support so many people," said the innkeeper, a thin, elderly man with a kind face. Smiling kindly, he said, "Traveler, you'd better leave. This place really isn't suitable for living."

"But, old man, why have you stayed?" Rodney asked.

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

This was their home. They would not leave it so easily.