"Is that so?" Rodney thought for a moment. He had no direct understanding of Yuba's water shortage. After all, this place was nowhere near as short on water as Alubarna, but it did have sandstorms. If not for Doto and the others' efforts, it probably would have ended up like Alubarna as well.
However, judging from the sandstorm just now, this place would probably dry up in less than half a year.
Since Koza was still here, that meant things had not yet deteriorated to the point where he would join the rebel army. It showed that he still had faith in Cobra, but Crocodile was meddling behind the scenes, trying to erase the oasis city of Yuba from the map.
But the atmosphere here was a little...
Forget it. This was not something he needed to worry about. As long as he disbanded Baroque Works and defeated Crocodile before the rebellion began, everything would be fine. The Sand-Sand Fruit, huh...
After bidding Doto farewell, he did not ask why the old man had appeared here. Perhaps he was nocturnal?
Standing before the narrow window, he gazed out at the silent desert in the night. If he had Shukaku or Gaara's sand, he wondered what kind of expression Crocodile would make when they fought. It would definitely be interesting, right?
However, sand was meaningless against sand. Crocodile's weakness was far too obvious, and he relied too heavily on his Devil Fruit Ability. With the advantages of the time, place, and people here, he could unleash terrifying power, but the moment he came into contact with water, the sand would clump together, temporarily nullifying his Devil Fruit Ability. His strength would plummet at that point.
Crocodile's strength would definitely be far inferior to Rodney's then. Heh heh, by that time, wouldn't he be at Rodney's mercy?
Thinking of this, he could not help laughing to himself. He laughed like a villain, his expression extremely ugly.
Early the next morning, as the sky began to brighten and the sun had yet to rise, the air was still tolerable. Rodney rose early, ate breakfast, and happened to run into Koza carrying a shovel.
He asked curiously, "Koza, the sandstorm hasn't come. What are you doing?"
Koza explained, "Digging a well. Yuba can't rely solely on the waterways. Otherwise, everyone here will die." Water was undoubtedly precious to this land, no different from life itself. The human body needed water, especially in this arid desert.
Yuba really did not have much water left. They could not rely solely on those waterways.
"I'll help too." Rodney smiled.
"How could we let you do that? You've already helped us so much."
"It's fine. I have nothing else to do anyway. There's no harm in resting here for a while." Rodney shook his head with a smile and said, "Prepare a few more shovels for me. I can use a lot of them."
Remembering the ability Rodney had used during the sandstorm, Koza nodded. After thanking him, he sent someone to find a pile of shovels.
Shadow Clone Technique!
He created more than a dozen clones. Together with Koza, they found a place nearby with vegetation and began digging.
"Hey, everyone! For the sake of water, dig hard!"
"Yeah!!"
The Shadow Clones raised their shovels and worked in groups of two or three. Relying on Chakra and monstrous strength, they dug incredibly quickly. Some of the Shadow Clones found the shovels awkward and directly used Earth Style instead.
Koza stood there blankly, holding his shovel and not knowing what to do, because the Shadow Clones had already dug out a huge amount of sand and piled it to one side.
Rodney flung away a shovelful of sand, crouched down, and felt the soil. It was somewhat moist rather than completely dry. It seemed they had found the right place, so he called over several Shadow Clones and had them begin digging furiously.
The farther down they went, the damper and cooler the sand became. He nodded, feeling that things were promising. When he looked up, he realized he was already in a large pit more than ten meters deep. He shouted, "Hey, Koza! Koza!"
"Mr. Rodney, I'm here." Koza lay at the edge of the pit and looked down.
Rodney said, "We found the right place. There should be water here."
"That's wonderful!" Koza clenched his fists, unable to contain his joy.
"Go get some tools for moving sand. I've already tamped down the surrounding area, and I really can't pack it any more."
"Understood. Please wait a moment." Koza excitedly ran back and returned with a group of people to transport the sand.
After that, the Shadow Clones began transporting sand together with Koza and the others. They moved more and more, and the sand grew heavier and heavier. The sand was full of water. They did not pile it to one side, but planned to distill the moisture from it before drinking it.
Even the poor had their own solutions.
If they had not been deep inside a desert, the people here might already have figured out how to distill seawater.
"Hey, hey, we found it! There's water! Wait! Stop digging!"
The Chunin heard his shout and hurried over. He discovered that Rodney was already standing in muddy water. Several clones were still digging, and the water was steadily rising. They were slowly being lifted upward with it.
"Water! There's water! There's water!"
"Hahahaha, Yuba can recover its former vitality again! Wonderful!"
"Heaven bless us! We can definitely overcome the sandstorms!"
"As long as we can wait for the rain, Yuba will surely return to its former glory!"
Finding fresh water was undoubtedly a shot of encouragement for the people here. With water came life. Yuba had regained its blood, and they could restore it to its former prosperity.
"Wonderful! The water has appeared!" Koza clenched his fists. Yuba could hold on for some time longer. Rodney reappeared beside the pool and, together with three clones, used Earth Style: Mud Wall to surround it. He said, "Find a few people to rebuild this place so it won't be exposed to direct sunlight and the water won't evaporate for nothing."
"All right, Mr. Rodney." Koza understood at once. He sent people to find Yuba's best bricklayers and have them build a sunshade with an entrance and exit, making it difficult for the sandstorm to affect the pool and preventing it from being easily buried in sand.
Although fetching water would be somewhat troublesome, it was still far better than allowing all this water to go to waste.
While everyone was cheering, Rodney looked into the distance. A cloud of dust was rising there. He narrowed his eyes, and a crimson glow appeared in them as his eyesight improved once more. Looking through the dust, he saw a large turtle smoking a cigarette and looking extremely worldly crawling toward them at high speed. It was pulling a pink carriage that looked somewhat girlish.
"That is..." Koza also noticed what was happening in the distance. Rodney slowly exhaled and said, "It might be assassins coming for me. Koza, tell the people of Yuba not to come out, or they'll be caught in the crossfire."
"But I..." Koza was about to say that he could help too, but Rodney interrupted him. "They're all powerful assassins. You won't be of any use even if you go. It's better for me to deal with them."
With that, he leaped into the air and vanished before Koza, leaving him with only his back.
Staring at Rodney's back, Koza clenched and relaxed his fists, then clenched them again. After struggling for a while, he decided to warn everyone to hide.
"Tch, they really picked a good time." Rodney stood on the road the Water-Road Transport Turtle had to pass through and blocked its path.
The carriage door opened, and a group of people emerged. A bald man came out from among them, arms folded across his chest. A large "One" was marked on his chest. He was tall and muscular, wearing monk-like clothing with snake patterns on both sides of the chest. His expression was cold and stern, and he did not look like someone who talked much.
An aura that warned strangers to keep their distance radiated from him. At a glance, he was clearly the type who was ruthless and spoke little.
Compared with him, Rodney was more concerned about the person beside him, who was sitting with one leg crossed. He wore a pink swan costume with "Bon and New Year's" written on the back, exposing two thick, hairy legs. His face was covered in flamboyant makeup. One leg was raised while the toes of the other touched the ground, making him look like a ballet dancer. He shouted, "121, 1, 2, 121..."
Mr.2 Bon Kure, a senior agent of Baroque Works and the only one without a partner. His gender... was okama.
There was nothing strange under the sun, and okama existed too. There were even quite a few of them. There seemed to be a country full of them. In the story, Sanji spent two years there in a state worse than death. For a pervert, it was undoubtedly the greatest torture. He had nearly been assimilated there...
Although Mr.2 Bon Kure was a pervert, he valued loyalty. He was not a good person, but neither was he completely bad.
Forget it. He would let him go when the time came. His gaze swept over the others before settling on a man with a "1" on each side of his face.
Mr.11, armed with a sword, Hanashu, and a Good Fast Sword from the Fifty Skillful Blades!
He had wanted a weapon, and someone had delivered one right to him.
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