Although they planned to throw Crocodile off, Xie Wen and the others did not deliberately wait for the Unlucky Duo to arrive. Instead, they continued their journey.
Of course, to spot the Unlucky Duo as soon as they arrived, Xie Wen and the others kept their Observation Haki on alert. Considering the mental strain, they took turns acting as the "sentry," getting some Observation Haki practice in along the way.
And so, Xie Wen's group began a cycle of wandering the desert following Klee Meow's directions → Klee Meow throwing bombs → blasting out something good → continuing to wander the desert.
During this cycle, they also encountered monster attacks, sandstorms, desert bandits, and the like, but things always ended up back at Klee Meow throwing bombs and blasting out something good in the process.
A treasure-hunting cat was a treasure-hunting cat, after all. Besides the three bottles of unknown potions they had found at the start, Xie Wen and the others gradually found more treasures, some buried by windblown sand, some swallowed by monsters, and some carried by desert bandits. Most of the time, though, these treasures were gold, jewels, and... gunpowder.
That was right. When Klee Meow bombed the sand, she could actually blast out gunpowder, and it would not even detonate along with her bombs, remaining perfectly intact in barrels or other containers.
Besides those, some weapons that had not rusted away could also count as treasure. Unfortunately, none of them could be added to Xie Wen's weapon catalog, but since the materials used to make them were quite good, he put them away anyway.
(=ω=)
Just as Xie Wen and the others changed direction for the fourth time according to Klee Meow's "treasure radar," Link Meow suddenly tugged at the hem of his clothes, tilted his