Alabasta

"It really is Windfire Wheel."

"You look like a completely different person from before."

"N-No... I'm Super Windfire Wheel now." Windfire Wheel held out his index finger and wagged it, speaking to everyone with a smug look on his face.

"Then, Super Windfire Wheel, aside from looking more handsome than before, how else are you stronger?"

"There are plenty of ways I'm stronger than before. I'm faster, more agile, and I can last longer too."

"But those changes might not be obvious enough for you to really feel the difference. See these two Super Windfire Cannons mounted on me?" Windfire Wheel proudly pointed at the two cannon barrels on his body.

"Those two cannons don't look like much either!"

Questioned like that, Windfire Wheel immediately snapped in displeasure, "Hmph, then I'll show you just how powerful these two Super Windfire Cannons of mine are." With that, Windfire Wheel turned and aimed the muzzles at a small snow-covered mountain in the distance.

"Super Windfire Cannons, activate!"

"Fivefold Chain Cannon!"

In an instant, blue energy gathered in the barrels. Five clusters of blue energy shells shot out one after another, and when the blue energy struck the small snow mountain, it directly blasted its peak flat.

"Impressive, impressive!"

"Windfire Wheel, you've become so powerful now." Vivi looked at Windfire Wheel in surprise.

"Of course. I'm Super Windfire Wheel now."

Suddenly, Leo and Jose ran over to Rody's side and looked at him expectantly. "Lord Rody, we want to eat Devil Fruits too. Is that okay?"

"Sure. If we come across suitable fruits, I'll let you eat them." Rody did not care much about it. There were so many Devil Fruits in the world anyway; when the time came, he could just pick two for them.

The purpose of this trip to Drum Island could be said to have been perfectly achieved. They had obtained the Munch-Munch Fruit and confirmed that it was feasible to use the Domain to hunt Devil Fruit users and acquire their Devil Fruit abilities. Now it was time to set sail for Alabasta and meet that desert crocodile.

"Come on, get in."

Rody called out to the others, opened the off-road vehicle's door first, and took the driver's seat. Everyone else got in one after another.

"Hehe, in that case, Dr. Kureha, we'll be taking our leave now." Nami smiled as she said goodbye to Dr. Kureha.

"Thank you very much for telling me the secret to staying young. I hope that when we meet again, Dr. Kureha, you will still be as energetic as ever." Mike thanked Dr. Kureha respectfully.

"Ehehe... Honestly, every last one of you is so rude. I already told you, I'm still a young, single lady." Dr. Kureha drained the liquor from her bottle in one gulp.

"Let's go!"

With Nami's shout from the passenger seat, Rody started the off-road vehicle and sped toward where their ship was docked.

Watching the vehicle gradually disappear from view, Kureha shook the empty bottle in her hand and adjusted the glasses on her head. "Alabasta... that's a special country... Forget it. I should go see how much medical skill that idiot son of mine has learned." With that, she turned and left.

What I long for isn't snow~, but a winter with you~

A burst of singing drifted from the off-road vehicle racing across the snow.

"Rody, whose song is this?" Nami turned on the car stereo and asked Rody curiously.

"This? I don't know either. Windfire Wheel created this vehicle, so you can ask him. He should know," Rody answered casually.

Nami glanced at Windfire Wheel speeding through the snow ahead. She figured that even if she shouted, he would not be able to hear her, so she could only wait until they got back to the ship to ask him. She then continued fiddling with the car stereo curiously.

"Hold on tight. I'm accelerating."

Alabasta, Rapeseed Flower, harbor.

"Captain Igaram, is the princess arriving today?" Falcon Pell, the vice-captain of Alabasta's royal guard, asked Igaram beside him. He was tall, with dark purple makeup around his eyes and beneath them, dressed in a white robe and headscarf covered in black quadrilateral patterns.

"Yes. I already confirmed it with the princess over the Transponder Snail," Igaram answered firmly.

"Captain, can that Slayer really defeat Crocodile?"

"Crocodile is one of the Seven Warlords, and when he played the hero in this country, we all witnessed his strength. No attack could touch his physical body, and he could casually unleash sandstorms. He was practically a humanoid natural disaster." Pell recalled the terror of Crocodile in action.

"Crocodile is indeed extremely strong as one of the Seven Warlords, but I have never fought him, so I don't know exactly how strong he is."

"Then, Captain, you and Princess Vivi still..."

"However, I have fought Slayer. No... that could not even be considered a battle. When I encountered Slayer, merely the aura he gave off made my body tremble and shake."

"Then..." Pell still wanted to ask more.

"Enough. The princess has arrived." Igaram cut off Pell's question and headed toward the ship docked at the harbor, with Pell following close behind.

"Igaram! Pell! It's you two!" The moment she got off the ship and spotted the two coming to greet her, Vivi cried out excitedly.

"Your Highness." Igaram and Pell bowed in salute.

"How is Father's health now?"

"The king is in good health. It's just that his spirits have not been very good. The rebellion in the country has left him mentally exhausted."

"Enough catching up. Take me to Crocodile now. I have no interest in listening to you talk nonsense here." Rody interrupted the three of them.

The large off-road vehicle raced through the scorching desert.

"This is so comfortable. I can't even feel the heat in the desert at all." Nami leaned back in her seat and sighed.

"Yeah, it seemed feeding the Munch-Munch Fruit to Windfire Wheel had been a wise decision after all." Rody, wearing sunglasses, replied with a smile.

Suddenly, a giant lizard burst out of the desert ahead, opening its huge jaws at the vehicle Rody was driving, a hint of human-like cunning glinting in its eyes.

Rody smiled faintly and pressed a button in the driver's seat. Two barrels extended from the off-road vehicle's headlights, glowing with blue light. Two blasts of blue energy shot forward, blowing two massive holes through the giant lizard's body. The vehicle drove straight through the holes blasted into it.

"Windfire Wheel, why did it stop at those ruins ahead?" Nami asked in confusion.

Rody drove the off-road vehicle over and stopped beside Windfire Wheel. In the desert ruins, a gaunt old man was relentlessly digging through the sand.

"This used to be an oasis. How did it become like this?" Vivi said in disbelief as she looked at the ruins before her.

"My name is Vivi. Excuse me, sir, wasn't this the rebel army's headquarters?" Vivi asked.

"The rebel army headquarters has already moved to Katorea," the old man said carelessly without looking up. Then, as though he had heard something startling, he raised his head. "Did you just say your name was Vivi?"

He then looked at Vivi excitedly. "It's me. Don't you recognize me?"

"Well, I suppose that's understandable. I've gotten a little thinner."

As if remembering something, Vivi's eyes suddenly widened as she cried out, "Uncle Toto!"

The old man immediately burst into tears. "That's right, it's me."

Through his tears, the old man told them Yuba's story.

"That damned Crocodile... Mr. Rody, please, you have to defeat Crocodile," Vivi pleaded through her tears.

Looking at the crying Vivi, Rody said calmly, "Heh. In this world, every misfortune—from that of an individual to that of a nation—stems from one's own weakness."