At least one thing was certain: they had indeed entered Alabasta's territory.
This thing was one of Alabasta's specialties. Nova had not expected to encounter it this time, but on second thought, it was perfectly normal.
"Your Majesty, should we disembark at the city of Nanohana in Alabasta, or go directly to their royal capital, Alubarna?" Gogoya asked.
"Nanohana?"
Nova thought for a moment before saying, "We'll disembark there. It'll be a good chance to see Alabasta's local customs and properly understand the state of this country."
"Yes, Your Majesty. I'll make the arrangements right away!" Gogoya said.
In Nova's memory, Nanohana seemed to be known for producing perfume. But with Alabasta in its current state, let alone perfume, they probably could not even grow flowers.
At the same time, though, he came up with an idea. His kingdom's business had not yet been able to reach the Grand Line at all, since the costs were simply too high. But if there were an intermediary country serving as a sales base, those costs could be reduced substantially.
After thinking about it for a while, he stopped dwelling on it. The weather here was simply too hot. He almost wanted to jump straight into the sea for a good rinse, but having eaten a Devil Fruit, seawater was nearly lethal to him.
Alabasta's weather was no ordinary kind of harsh. The scorching heat came with an intense dryness; even while standing in the shade, one's lips would dry out before long.
The ship moved very slowly through this area, since it had to rely entirely on wind power. Yet in Alabasta, wind was practically a luxury.
As evening approached, the group finally arrived at Nanohana. It was more or less as they had imagined, though it did have an enormous harbor.