Alabasta

"Hah." Li Ziming looked at the vast desert before him. "Being here reminds me of the time I got lost." He spoke with lingering embarrassment.

"I never would've guessed you were so directionally challenged." Robin looked at Li Ziming in surprise, her eyes full of amusement.

"I'm not directionally challenged." Li Ziming curled his lip. "Anyone would get lost in a place covered in nothing but sand, okay?"

"Whatever you say." Robin completely ignored his excuse and replied indifferently.

"Honestly..." Li Ziming was helpless. Getting lost last time was a fact, so he could not even argue.

"Alright, we're about to reach Alabasta. We'd better disguise ourselves." Robin reminded him, then pulled out a local desert-style outfit. After changing into it, she covered her face with a veil.

"Yeah, yeah." Li Ziming also took out an outfit. On his face was a leather aviator cap like those worn by pilots during the World War. Though it only covered the upper half of his face, anyone unfamiliar with him still would not be able to tell who was beneath it.

"Can't you use a more normal mask?" Robin said helplessly. It concealed him well enough, but such an unconventional mask was still far too conspicuous.

"Don't worry. I'm doing the opposite of what they expect. Those guys definitely won't imagine we'd dare come back after being wanted, much less swagger around as openly as I am." Li Ziming spoke smugly.

"Do whatever you want, but we're mainly here to gather information this time. Don't cause any trouble." Robin warned him uneasily.

"Relax, relax. I won't." The more Li Ziming said that, the less reassured Robin felt. Yet as she watched him walk away, all she could do was silently pray that nothing would happen.

The moment Li Ziming entered the city, he completely forgot about gathering information. He looked around and began wandering aimlessly. "Come to think of it, I've never seen what a desert city looks like before." Then he noticed startled cries constantly coming from a shop.

"Is something interesting happening over there?" Li Ziming entered the shop with shining eyes. The first thing he saw after pushing open the door was stacks of plates. In the middle of them sat a man wearing an orange cowboy hat, with the Whitebeard Pirates' emblem on his back. His head occasionally drooped, while the fork in his hand still held a piece of meat.

"What happened to that guy?" someone asked the person beside him quietly.

"Who knows? I heard he accidentally ate a Desert Strawberry."

"Desert Strawberry? You mean that spider that looks like a strawberry?"

"Yeah. I heard that a few days after eating one, you suddenly die, and then your corpse spreads infectious viruses within a few hours."

"Hey." Li Ziming walked over to Ace and reached out to pat him.

"Don't touch him, kid! Maybe his body's already covered in viruses!" someone kindly warned Li Ziming.

"It's fine, it's fine." Li Ziming waved a hand. "The Whitebeard Pirates' Second Division Commander is a Logia user. He's not going to be taken down by a poisonous spider."

Boom! A ball of fire flew toward Li Ziming.

"You're a bounty hunter?" Flames burned around Ace's right hand, though there was little fighting spirit in his eyes. Perhaps he did not consider Li Ziming worthy of being his opponent.

"It's nothing. I was just curious because it's rare to meet such a famous pirate." Li Ziming paid no mind to Ace's attack, but the small explosions continuously going off from the hand on Ace's shoulder made it clear that he was not quite as unconcerned as he claimed.

"Bombs?" Feeling his shoulder remain in an elemental state, Ace grew irritated and prepared to use his signature technique, Fire Fist, to finish him.

"You dare eat here so openly, Second Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates? Do you think the Marines have no one?" Smoker, smoking a cigar, appeared at the restaurant entrance. "And you, Bomb Man."

"Oh? This involves me too? Actually, I was just thinking of having a word with you Marines. Bomb Man sounds awful. Who's responsible for nicknames? Can't you come up with something better?" Li Ziming grumbled.

"You're a pretty interesting guy!" Ace had originally thought Li Ziming was no different from an ordinary pirate, but he had not expected him to argue with the Marines over his title.

"Are you mocking me?!" Smoker flew into a rage and pulled the Jitte from his back.

"Interesting." Flames ignited in Ace's palm.

"Be careful." Li Ziming yawned. "That guy's weapon is made of Seastone. If it touches you, your whole body will go weak."

"No problem. I just have to avoid getting hit, right?" Ace did not care in the slightest. In truth, that was only natural. As a famous pirate of the New World, if Ace could not even deal with a Seastone weapon, the Marines would have captured him long ago.

"Food!" Just as both sides stood at the brink of battle, a figure shouted and rushed in, sending both Smoker and Ace flying. Li Ziming had been prepared, so he swiftly used Soru to dodge.

"That was quite a spectacle." Li Ziming looked at the shattered wall, then at Luffy, who seemed completely unfazed. He was starting to wonder whether joining this crew had been a mistake.

"Right, I still have to blow that bastard away!" Li Ziming suddenly remembered what Luffy had done to his bar. However, it was obvious that someone else was even more eager to trouble Luffy—and recognize him as family.

"Luffy..." Ace looked excitedly at his younger brother before a hand pressed down on his head.

"Straw Hat!" Smoker roared furiously. He looked as though he wanted to skin Luffy alive, apparently having forgotten all about Ace beneath him.

"?" Luffy stared at Smoker with a mouth full of food, utterly confused.

"I knew you'd come to this country." Smoker said smugly. "Stop eating!"

"Why does Smoker look so big..." Luffy mumbled through his mouthful of food. "Smoker's huge."

"Bastard!" Smoker glared at Luffy furiously.

"Thanks for the food!" Luffy stuffed all the food from the table into his mouth, then ran out.

"Don't run!" Smoker angrily chased after him.

"That Luffy..." Ace looked at his younger brother's retreating figure with mixed amusement and helplessness. "Wait for me, Luffy!" With that, Ace chased after him too.

"This scene really has a ridiculous sense of scale." Li Ziming casually picked up a drink and happily watched the retreating figures.

"No, that bastard still hasn't been blown away by me!" Li Ziming put down his drink and was about to run outside.

"Sorry, the boss wants to see you." Someone suddenly stepped in front of Li Ziming.

"The boss? What does Sand Crocodile want with me?" Li Ziming was displeased.

"That's not something people like us would know. But the boss said that as long as we showed you this, you'd come with me." The man took out a white cowboy hat.

"Robin..." Li Ziming's expression darkened. "Lead the way!"

Very soon, the man brought Li Ziming to a huge office in Rainbase.

"I never expected a guy like you to still be alive." Crocodile looked at Li Ziming with contempt. Beside him, Robin wore a pair of Seastone handcuffs around her wrists and looked helplessly at Li Ziming.

"What, you're planning to use Robin to threaten me?" Li Ziming was extremely unhappy.

"That's right. A subordinate like you, one who knows so much, is hard to come by." Crocodile looked quite pleased with himself.

"You win." Li Ziming looked as though he had given up.

Bang! A stream of sand lashed across Li Ziming's body.

"Urgh!" A trace of blood spilled from the corner of Li Ziming's mouth as the tremendous force sent him flying.

"Consider this the price of betraying me. Go to Spider Cafe, meet up with the other officers, and eliminate the Straw Hat Pirates. Then I'll let the two of you go." Crocodile gave his order.

"It'd better be." Li Ziming glared angrily at Crocodile, forcing himself to calm down. Then he casually placed a hand on the man who had brought him there. An explosion erupted, and the man collapsed to the floor, his body blackened all over. Li Ziming left in irritation.

"You'll suffer at his hands." Robin shook her head. "That man won't be so easily controlled by you."

"You see things clearly. That man truly isn't the type to care much about others. But you seem to have underestimated how important you are to him." Crocodile smiled at Robin. "Let's have you serve one last purpose."

Robin's expression darkened as well, and she silently prayed that Li Ziming would not come to harm.