Sea Cat

Preparations had long been made in the Alabasta Royal Palace to welcome the young King of Tru.

Given the state of their nation, Tru Kingdom was now a country they had all been eagerly watching.

Its sound economic development and its success in ensuring that the people no longer went hungry were Cobra's true reasons for seeking guidance.

After all, one thing he had said was correct: throughout the entire Grand Line, only Alabasta possessed an Eternal Log Pose leading to Mary Geoise.

It could even be said that only their royal palace had such a thing.

That was why Cobra had dared to say that the other party would definitely come here.

Yet there was no need for him to say any of this. Nova would have come here regardless.

After all, this concerned the weapon Pluton. That thing was lying quietly within his own country, and the only record of its location was in the Alabasta Royal Palace.

Although only one person in the world could now read those Poneglyphs, Nova did not dare guarantee that things would continue along their original course.

His appearance was very likely to alter the course of piracy, so this threat naturally had to be eliminated in advance.

If he had not been heading to Mary Geoise this time, he would not have remembered this matter at all.

That was why he had decided to send Junhe to resolve this potential future threat.

Although no one knew what Tru Kingdom would become in a few years, at the very least, anything that could threaten them had to be strangled in the cradle.

Nova was not indulging in some wild fantasy. He merely wanted to maintain the stability of his country. When he learned that the weapon Pluton was actually located within his own nation, even he had been greatly startled.

But since things had already come to this, while there was no chance to change it, he could at least make preparations for everything within his power.

After another two days of sailing, the massive desert nation of Alabasta appeared before them.

Unlike the island nations they had seen before, this was a truly enormous country.

Yet as far as the eye could see, it was almost entirely desert. Pale yellow sand stretched all the way to the shore.

There were scarcely any green trees, either. This was the Grand Line. Even two countries not far apart could have climates and environments as different as heaven and earth!

"Your Majesty, the Grand Line really is unbearable. It was freezing over there yesterday, and now, after only such a short time, it's unbearably hot here!"

Gogoya wore a sun hat, and the buttons of her shirt had already come undone enough to reveal her underwear.

She was not the only one thinking that way. Everyone else felt the same.

"What have you seen so far? The Grand Line is famous because it is the sea route of everyone's dreams. It is precisely because it is filled with uncertainty that so many people come here to challenge themselves," Nova said leisurely as he lay on a deck chair.

A parasol stood on the deck. Nova wore nothing but a pair of beach shorts, bare-chested beneath a huge pair of sunglasses. He lay in the shade, sipping an iced drink as he spoke in relaxed contentment.

There was not much to do while sailing at sea. At most, they could leisurely drink tea and gaze out at the ocean.

"Your Majesty, ever since we entered the Grand Line, I've noticed a bird following above us. I don't know whether it's just my imagination, but it always feels like it has never flown away from over our heads!"

Junhe was also leaning against the deck, speaking lazily.

"You're not mistaken. That bird has indeed been following us. Not since we entered the Grand Line—it has been following us since we set out!"

Nova turned slightly, cracking open one eye as he spoke to Junhe, who was lying in the shade.

The moment he said that, Junhe immediately sprang up. His eyes fixed tightly on the bird high above that had been watching them, and a wary expression instantly appeared on his face.

"No need to be nervous. We haven't done anything else anyway. If it wants to follow us, let it follow us. Who knows how many countries in this world are watching us now? There's no need to bother with it!"

Nova curled his lips faintly upward, raised his drink for another sip, then spoke unhurriedly.

"Should we really just ignore it?" Gogoya asked as well.

"It doesn't matter. Let it watch."

Nova seemed utterly unconcerned about it. For them, catching that seagull overhead would have been ridiculously easy; they could take it down with barely any effort.

But there was no need for that. They were sailing at sea, after all. Even if this seagull disappeared, something else hiding elsewhere and observing them would probably appear before long.

It was nothing more than the newspaper's usual tactics. They could tell what those things were for with their eyes closed.

Since Nova had already said so, the other two did not pay it much mind. Just as their king had said, let it watch. It did not affect them anyway.

"Your Majesty... what a huge cat!"

Not long after they had started chatting, they heard someone else shouting.

Nova could not help sitting up curiously. Removing his enormous sunglasses, he saw that beside their sailing route was indeed an enormous beckoning cat.

Its body was pure white, and one paw was slightly raised, as though it were greeting them.

The thing looked at least fifty meters tall. It stood twenty or thirty meters above the sea, not to mention the portion still submerged beneath the water.

To ordinary people, the sight might have seemed somewhat terrifying, but the people on this ship were merely curious. They had no other thoughts about it at all.

There was no fear, no astonishment.

Everyone simply found it strange. Such a creature could actually appear in the sea. For most people who had never gone out to sea, it was indeed something worth admiring.

The sight drew everyone's attention, but having already encountered something as huge as Laboon, this thing seemed a little small by comparison.

"So cute!"

Gogoya leaned over the rail and said it with a delighted grin.

"I thought it was something else. It's just Alabasta's local Sea Cat. Continue sailing," Nova said.

After saying that, Nova lay back down, paying no attention at all to the Sea Cat's appearance.