The port had a desert feel to it. Its overall atmosphere resembled Egypt, though there seemed to be a touch of India mixed in.
On the docks, merchants wrapped in linen headscarves discussed business while sharing mint tea from clay pots.
Stone troughs in the market were piled with all sorts of local desert goods, and veiled women wove between the stalls.
This was Nanohana Town, a port town in southern Alabasta.
"...Hey! Is that... hmm, looks like a Babylon ship."
A young merchant spotted a church flying through the sky. The sunlight kept him from getting a clear look at first.
Only after making out the shape of this "unidentified flying object" did he realize what it was.
"Obviously. When it comes to flying ships, there's only the Golden Lion, who's hiding who knows where, and the Great Angel these days."
An elderly man sighed with feeling.
The flagship of the "Mechanical King, Babbage" could fly too, of course. It just rarely ventured out.
Babylon, on the other hand, had dozens of "flying sailing ships" popping up randomly all over the world.
After more than three years of this, in a major country like Alabasta that had frequent contact with the outside world, even port residents who had never seen one had heard of them.
"Who's the Golden Lion?"
The young man's question made a vein bulge on the old man's forehead.
-The Red Tears.
The moment the flying church landed, with its sacred chalk-white color scheme and lavish gold-and-red decorations, cries of amazement rose from the port's residents.
Although the Red Tears could land on all sorts of terrain, all things considered, a dock still offered the most complete facilities for a "ship."
So it still docked at the port.
Then a group of conspicuous figures emerged from