Chapter 13: Alabasta

The warship sailed out of the Calm Belt, entering the Grand Line, Paradise.

Except for Clow, who had an excited look, the others remained calm.

Captain Smoker and Tashigi had undergone training at Headquarters and had been to the Grand Line, while Lida was born there.

Kuro was indifferent, not understanding the excitement about navigating a sea that others had sailed countless times.

...

In the town of an island, inside a restaurant.

Kuro yawned.

"Smoker, the sea is so vast. Instead of trying to find Straw Hat, why not head straight to Headquarters? Then you can give me a mission. After that, you can float around in the Grand Line, and I'll head back to the East Blue."

The island was called Runess Island, with a small town where the Marines docked to replenish supplies.

Smoker looked out at the distant sea through the window and said in a deep voice, "He can't possibly navigate that quickly. Even if he got a Log Pose, he needs to record the magnetic fields of the islands."

The Marines' biggest advantage is that their intelligence is undoubtedly superior to that of pirates. 

Captain Smoker accurately knew about Luffy defeating many bounty hunters on Whisky Peak. 

However, there were no clues afterward. The sea is vast, and finding one ship is too difficult.

Even the Grand Line alone felt enormous to Kuro. The sheer size of this world was astonishing.

"Captain Smoker, the procurement is complete!"

A Marine entered the restaurant, saluted, and spoke.

"Lida, finish your meal quickly; we're leaving."

Kuro addressed Lida, who was still devouring her food.

"Yeah, yeah."

Lida nodded with her cheeks bulging, eating even faster.

.....

The group exited the restaurant.

"By the way, where's Tashigi?"

Smoker looked around, seemingly unable to find his subordinate.

"Don't know," a Marine replied. "She was around here earlier."

"Hold on, don't run!"

Suddenly, a voice came from nearby.

It turned out Tashigi, holding a sword, was chasing a man running towards them.

"Tashigi, what are you doing?" Smoker asked loudly.

"Captain Smoker, help me catch him. This man is suspicious; he's been avoiding the Marines!" Tashigi replied.

"Che, troublesome. Marines, get ready; surround that man."

Smoker began to command the surrounding Marines.

However, at that moment, Kuro's gaze paused. He looked at the man's waist, where a sword was hanging.

Swoosh!

In an instant, Kuro appeared in front of the peculiar man. He extended his leg, tripping the man who fell. Kuro swiftly grabbed the sword from him.

"Thanks, Mr. Kuro, you've been a great help," Tashigi expressed her gratitude with a bow.

"Not... I think I should thank you."

Kuro gripped the sword handle and drew the blade. "You're an expert in sword appreciation; take a look at what this is."

The curvature of this sword was quite small, without a fuller, meaning it was crafted without adjusting the balance. The patterns on the blade resembled fiery clouds.

"This sword..."

Tashigi hesitated for a moment, quickly took out a small notebook, and flipped through it. Soon, she exclaimed, "Kashu, it's a Kashu, one of the 50 Skillful Grade swords!."

"Kashu..."

Kuro looked at the man on the ground, recalling that this sword seemed to be the one Tashigi obtained from a Baroque Works officer after entering the Grand Line. 

It belonged to one of the Meito, higher in rank than Tashigi's Shigure, as Shigure was just a Grade Blade.

"I'll take this sword."

"This sword was originally yours, and a swordsman as excellent as you deserve a named sword!"

Tashigi always thought it was a pity that Kuro didn't have a Meito. She had planned to give him one if she ever came across it, and unexpectedly, Kuro now had one himself. It belonged to him by right.

Meito, this was like getting one for free!

Compared to trained Haki day and night, Kuro preferred ready-made solutions.

With a Meito in hand, he took another step towards his desired safe life.

"Oh? This terrifying guy got a good sword; his strength has gone up another level."

Smoker, with a cigarette in his mouth, walked over and looked at the man on the ground. "Tashigi, who is this guy?"

"I don't know. I've only heard that he calls himself Mr. 11 and deliberately avoids the Marines. I've been observing him for some time, and normal people wouldn't behave like that."

Tashigi shook her head.

"Suspicious person. Take him away and interrogate him on the ship."

Smoker told the Marines, leading the way towards the warship.

Continuing the journey over the vast sea, as for that so-called Mr. 11, after being arrested, he remained silent.

The more he stayed silent, the more suspicious he became.

But staying silent was useless. Soon, the Marines intercepted a piece of information using a Den Den Mushi listening device.

"Mr. 0, the Straw Hat crew, Vivi..."

Listening to the intelligence, Smoker contemplated, "Vivi, I remember that's the name of the princess of Alabasta. Why would she be associated with the Straw Hat crew... Anyway, I know their destination now: Alabasta."

"Alabasta? I heard that country is undergoing a revolution," Tashigi remarked.

"Regardless, our goal is only to capture pirates."

Smoker told a Marine, "Contact headquarters, request a permanent Log Pose for Alabasta; we're heading there."

Lida hesitated, "Alabasta..."

"What's wrong? Have you been there?" Kuro asked curiously.

"I stayed there for a while before; the cactuses were hard to eat." Lida made a disgusted expression.

You, who eat cactuses, are the ones to be disgusted!

Kuro was speechless, glancing disdainfully at Lida.

"Alabasta..."

He wasn't particularly opposed to going to Alabasta. If memory served him right, Alabasta didn't need the Marines' intervention; after all, it was a kingdom with independent internal affairs, and the government had no authority to meddle.

"Consider it a free ticket to watch a great show and travel."

Alabasta was a country with complete internal independence and a land-based nation with few port cities. It didn't require much involvement from the Navy. 

Moreover, considering that Crocodile, one of the 'Seven Warlords of the Sea' directly affiliated with the World Government, was stationed there, it was relatively safe.

However, no one would have expected that the greatest 'pirate' was in Alabasta.

In terms of the hierarchy of pirates, Crocodile and ordinary pirates were truly worlds apart.

Alabasta, Nanohana port city nearest to the Great Sea.

Kuro and the others had arrived early.

"I'm going to find a place to eat. You can explore on your own."

Kuro waved to Smoker and walked away, his sword hanging at his side.

"Take me with you!"

Lida cheered and followed.

Even though she had joined the Navy, being alone with them still felt awkward. He found it more comfortable sticking close to Kuro.

"Lazy-guy."

Smoker sighed in resignation, "Oh well, I wasn't expecting much from you anyway. Tashigi, gather intelligence; see if there's any trace of the Straw Hat crew."

"Yes, Captain Smoker."

.....

The Marines began collecting intelligence, while Kuro took Clow and Lida around, with Lida being the primary explorer.

"Golden apples, golden apples, eat one and you'll live forever!"

At a stall, a vendor was enthusiastically advertising his apples.

However, the trio was skeptical, especially Lida. Despite her youthful appearance, she had been fending for herself since the age of eight and had a fair share of life experiences.

Nevertheless, she was interested in regular fruits from the stall.

"Kuro, give me money. I want to buy some food."

Lida extended her small hand, looking at Kuro.

"Give you money?"

Kuro was taken aback, then widened his eyes. "Where's your money, Lida?"

"Spent it."

"Huh?" Kuro stared at Lida.

"Yeah." Lida nodded.

After a while, amid the crowd, Kuro's voice rose significantly.

"Nearly ten million berries, and you spent it?!"

Kuro couldn't believe it. "Do you understand the concept of ten million?!"

Seeing Lida put on a pitiful look without answering, Kuro had no choice but to turn to Clow, asking, "What's going on?"

"Well, Miss Lida seems to pick whatever she fancies, leaves the money, and walks away, regardless of the actual cost. So..."

Clow hesitated.

Lida was already known for her hearty appetite and lavish spending, and Clow had initially thought highly enough of her. However, he had underestimated her.

Ten million berries – that was almost a tenth of the construction cost of the Adam Wood, a legendary ship material. In just a few days, she had consumed the equivalent of one-tenth of a ship's worth.

"Why did you eat a 'Spirit-Spirit Fruit'? You should have eaten the 'Munch-Munch Fruit.' If you haven't eaten any fruit, I'll go and kill that Wapol right now, find that fruit for you to eat."

Kuro gritted his teeth in frustration.

Lida tugged at Kuro's pants leg, pouting. "Kuro, I'm hungry. Give me money."

Kuro slapped his forehead. "I don't have any money. The small savings I had went to the civilians in LogueTown. I thought what you had would be enough, so I didn't pay attention to keeping money. I'm sorry; I underestimated you."

"So, what do we do? I'm hungry."

Lida rolled her eyes and suggested, "How about we eat at a buffet?"

Clow pushed up his glasses, looking eager to try it.

"You're Marines, Marines! You should have some shame, do you understand?" Kuro was on the verge of yelling.

"Enough, follow me."

Kuro sighed and walked in another direction.

"Where are we going?" Lida asked curiously.

"To find someone generous enough to give us money!"

"Generous person? Where are they? Wait for me!"

Lida followed.

...

In this world, there's something legal, and that's gangs.

Kuro was broke, but gangs had money. They value honor, and they'd surely 'help' them.

Moreover, besides gangs, there's a force in Alabasta. It exists even in this small port town.

"Before that, change your clothes. If we wear Marine uniforms, those people won't dare to move."

Kuro entered a clothing store and donned a distinctive desert outfit, and the others followed suit.

Clow was the one who paid; currently, he was the one with some funds.

After changing, Kuro led the group around, especially into narrow alleys.

His Observation Haki, like Lida's, had a relatively broad range, allowing him to sense almost the whole city. 

The issue was that their auras were all quite similar, making it challenging to pinpoint precisely.

They could only navigate through narrow alleyways, akin to searching for mice. 

These alleys were common places for criminals and mice to frequent, and with Lida around, they were sure to catch something. 

With such an adorable child, surely there would be some generous "Good Samaritans."

"Hey, hey, hold on a moment."

After traversing several alleys, just as Kuro entered a new one, a voice sounded behind him. 

Several burly men emerged from the entrance, surrounding the narrow alley. A tall, muscular man approached with a sinister grin.

"Hand over your money."

"Look, here they come, the Good Samaritans," Kuro pointed at them.

'These are the 'Good Samaritans' you were talking about?'

Lida disdainfully looked at Kuro. "Aren't you just robbing them?"

"Yes, I am robbing!" The brawny man thought Lida was referring to him and laughed even louder. 

"You guys are outsiders, right? Let us teach you the rules here. The strong can dominate everything!"

"I quite like these rules," Kuro nodded. "Clow."

Clow reluctantly pursed his lips. Calling him surely wouldn't lead to anything good. But these small fry...

Clow didn't even need to use a weapon. In a matter of moments, ten or so people lay sprawled on the ground.

Lida sat on the back of one of them, slid a visibly large gold ring over her finger, and then tucked it into her pocket, counting the money.

"Kuro, it's not even a hundred thousand; it's too little," Lida complained.

"Shut up. Isn't it because of you? Otherwise, wouldn't we need 'generous people' to give us money?" Kuro shouted.

"If one place isn't enough, we can change a few more."

Kuro glanced at the people rolling their eyes in unconsciousness and said, "Thanks for the generous donation. We'll find you next time."

Afterward, the group continued to wander in this city.

There were quite a few good samaritans in this city, just like the ones they encountered earlier. 

After exploring a few more alleys, Kuro and the others came across some people. 

The more donations they received, the greater the probability of encountering 'kind-hearted' individuals.

Because Kuro had Lida put the money and jewelry in conspicuous places, those people could easily identify them as individuals in need of 'Donation' eagerly coming forward to offer money.

Of course, there were also those genuinely benevolent people who felt compassion for the child and wanted to provide her with a better life.

For example, the person who came to donate in this alley saw Lida as pitiable and wanted to take her away to start a new life.

These people were personally 'thanked' by Kuro.

"I... our Baroque Works will not... let you off," one of the individuals lying on the ground gasped intermittently.

At this moment, he looked nothing like a person.

"Say one more word, and I'll turn you into a 'fanatic,'" Kuro sneered, letting Clow collect the donation while delivering it to Lida.

"Eh..."

Lida didn't want to accept the donation from such a person, but money was innocent. She reluctantly took it, counted it, and said to Kuro, "We have a million now!"

Boom!

Just then, a column of fire suddenly rose not far away, entwined with billowing white smoke.

"Weird, who sets off fireworks in broad daylight?" Lida looked over curiously.

"Fireworks?" Kuro also glanced over, furrowing his brows. "That white smoke, Smoker? A fire... Oh, it seems like something is going on."

"Should we go check it out?" Clow asked.

"No need; we still have to find Good Samaritans. We can't afford to have no money," Lida muttered, "The Marines should know shame..."

Kuro gave Lida a fierce glare, "Who do you think all this is for!"

Forget it, he initiated this himself, personally promising people that they would eat their fill.

Kuro took a deep breath and walked ahead.

<End Chapter>

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