After finishing their "visit" to the Poneglyph in Alabasta's royal tomb, Xie Wen and the others prepared to leave.
Of course, before leaving, they still had to visit the remaining cities in the Alabasta Kingdom and light up the map.
As word spread that "Sapphire Star saved the Alabasta Kingdom," Xie Wen and his group received a warm welcome from the locals in every new city they visited.
Fortunately, Robin had anticipated this early on and had not accompanied them.
Even so, Xie Wen still intended to lie low for a while, preferably somewhere he could hide and keep Cipher Pol from noticing his Palico Research Commission.
Although Xie Wen sold information about Cipher Pol at the drop of a hat, he did not underestimate their abilities. Despite Robin going into hiding at the first opportunity, some people had still seen her with Xie Wen and the others back in Rainbase. Even if those people did not know Robin's true identity, Xie Wen felt that if Cipher Pol really wanted to investigate, they would not be able to keep this hidden for long.
Of course, having taken Robin in, trouble from the World Government was only a matter of time, but delaying it a little longer was always good.
Another fairly important reason was that the newly summoned Meowrah was not skilled at fighting and needed some time to adjust.
This meant, however, that some plans would have to change slightly.
Xie Wen had originally planned to secretly double back to the Drum Kingdom and go after Wapol after taking out Crocodile. After all, the Munch-Munch Fruit could synthesize Wapol Metal, something profitable enough to let Wapol rebuild his kingdom. Even without a fragment, Xie Wen coveted it.
Now, however, it was not so convenient for Xie Wen to do