Alabasta: Vivi's Bargaining Chips / Alabasta: How Smoothly It All Went

He had only been moving for a few more minutes when a wave of heat swept past, and a medium-sized wooden ship came racing over a nearby mound of sand with a whoosh.

Yes, ships could sail across the desert, though steering them took some skill.

And most of those who sailed ships through the desert were Desert Thieves.

"Boss, look! There are two people over there!" On the wooden ship, a boy in a crude hemp outfit held a telescope and excitedly called to a middle-aged man who was drinking water. The man wore a tea-green headscarf secured by a band across his forehead, set with a blue gemstone.

Hearing him, the middle-aged man immediately lowered his waterskin and hurried excitedly to the boy's side. He took the telescope and looked toward Lin Mo and Pell. He was still rather excited when he spotted Lin Mo, but as he swept the telescope sideways and saw Pell, the smile gradually froze on his face.

Seeing his unpleasant expression, the boy asked in confusion, "Boss, what's wrong?"

"What's wrong? Have you even got eyes?" The middle-aged man lowered the telescope and whacked the boy hard on the head. "Pell, the deputy captain of the royal guard, is right there! Didn't you recognize him?"

"Huh?" The boy clutched the large lump the man had raised on his head and said tearfully, "Sorry, Boss. I didn't notice..."

"Boss, should we go around them and retreat?" another subordinate whispered in the middle-aged man's ear.

The middle-aged man fell silent for a moment, then raised the telescope again and surveyed the area around Pell and Lin Mo. Seeing no one else nearby and no guards accompanying Pell, he hesitated, gritted his teeth, and made the worst decision of his life. "Retreat? Why would we retreat?