After dealing with the trouble that was Ain, Tom followed the footprints left by Nami and the others. To catch up as quickly as possible, he tore off the lower part of his robe below the knees.
Wearing the robe would have greatly slowed him down.
Even though this left his legs exposed to the scorching sun, risking sunburn, it was better than falling behind.
Sandstorms in the desert often wiped out the footprints left by those ahead, which was why Tom wanted to catch up to Nami and the others in the shortest time possible.
Despite moving as fast as he could, after some time, Tom could no longer see any footprints. They had likely been covered by the sand. Now, there was no trace to follow.
"Well, I figured it would end up like this."
Tom stood alone in the endless yellow desert, lost. Just as he was about to toss a stone to decide which direction to go, he faintly caught a familiar scent.
Meanwhile, riding on the camel, Nami would spray her perfume bottle into the air every so often. Vivi, sitting behind her, found this strange.
"Nami, why are you doing that?"
Vivi asked.
"Don't you know? That idiot, like Chopper, can't stand strong perfumes. I'm just leaving him something to track us by."
Nami turned to explain to Vivi. The perfume she held had been bought by Sanji in Nanohana, said to be a local specialty.
Hearing this, Vivi remembered back at Whisky Peak when Tom had smelled her strong perfume and asked if she used it because she smelled bad. She felt embarrassed.
Because Chopper was an animal, his nose was far more sensitive than a human's. Strong perfumes were very uncomfortable for him. He was currently running ahead of Nami and Vivi.
As for Luffy, after being separated from Ace, he walked through the desert for a while, growing hungry and thirsty. Then he spotted what looked like a cactus on a dune not far away.
Excited, he ran toward it.
Zoro and Sanji, meanwhile, had been arguing and fighting non-stop. But soon, Sanji realized something serious.
"Oh no! All the food is in the backpack I'm carrying! If I, the knight of love, am not by Nami-san and Vivi-san's side, what will they do if they get hungry?!"
"Yeah, you'd better find them quickly, you idiot knight."
"Go to hell, you Moss-head! More than worrying about anyone else, those two ladies are my top priority!"
After exchanging just a few words, Sanji and Zoro started fighting again.
As for Usopp, he couldn't be more miserable.
After realizing he had been separated from everyone, his legs were trembling with fear. He finally mustered the courage to move forward, but after just a few steps, he noticed a ship speeding across the desert behind him. Though shocked that a ship could sail on sand, thinking he had found a savior, he happily waved for help.
But then Usopp realized he hadn't found a savior—he had found Sand Bandits.
Thus, Usopp was enthusiastically welcomed aboard their ship. Without a chance to resist, he became their captive. Now tied tightly to the ship's mast, he frantically tried to bluff and scare the Sand Bandits.
"I am the great Captain Usopp, commander of eight thousand elite troops! My name shakes the four seas! If you do anything bad to me, my men will never forgive you!"
But no matter how much Usopp boasted, no one on the ship paid him any attention.
Ace, after being separated from the others, was the calmest of all. Though he encountered some ferocious giant beasts that wanted to eat him, he ended up roasting them and eating them instead.
Following the scent of perfume, Tom finally found Nami and the others. Though he had sneezed quite a bit from the strong smell during his chase, seeing the three of them safe put his mind at ease.
Nami and the others showed happy expressions upon seeing Tom too. But before they could celebrate, they spotted a massive swarm of creatures charging toward them in the distance. They immediately turned and ran.
"How strange. Why did they run as soon as they saw me?"
Tom didn't understand why Nami and the others had fled at the sight of him—until he felt a slight tremor in the ground. Then he quickly understood.
Behind him came a thumping, drum-like sound. Tom turned around and saw a massive swarm of creatures about half a meter tall hopping toward him. Dust and sand rose, the ground shook, and the声势 (commotion) was enormous. His eyes nearly popped out. "What are these?!"
That's right—these creatures moved by hopping. Using their two long, straight legs, they leaped forward in perfect unison. With each hop, they let out a squeaking sound, like a second-rate marching band.
But that wasn't the point. The sheer number of them was overwhelming. They seemed to fill the entire desert, swarming toward Tom. If he got caught in that tide, he would be trampled to death even if he wasn't eaten.
Tom didn't hesitate. He immediately ran. "Are these desert creatures too?"
Tom noticed that these creatures' heads closely resembled rabbits—long ears, large eyes, long hind legs, and hairy pads on their feet, which probably helped them hop quickly across the sand. Their front legs were tiny, not used for running, but their claws were sharp, likely for digging and feeding. They also had very long tails, as long as their bodies.
At the tip of each tail was a flat tuft of long hair. Tom guessed their tails acted like a ship's rudder, helping them steer and balance while jumping.
"Vivi, are those things behind us desert jerboas?"
Tom caught up to Vivi on the camel and asked.
"Yes. They like to dig burrows on sand dunes. When they hunt, they come out in full force. That's why people here call them 'Death Sand Jumpers.'"
Vivi's face was pale, even more so than usual.
"Death Sand Jumpers?"
Chopper, running in his reindeer form, asked with a mix of panic and curiosity.
"They're not treating us as prey, are they?"
Nami glanced back at the dense swarm of jerboas closing in and felt her scalp tingle. But seeing Tom safe and apparently uninjured—just his robe a bit torn—she relaxed slightly.
She had feared that when she saw Tom again, he'd be covered in wounds. Fortunately, that wasn't the case. What she didn't know was that without Ain's Revert-Revert Fruit ability, Tom wouldn't have looked this good. He would have been bleeding and injured.
"Normally, jerboas don't grow this big, do they? Is the environment here so good that they mutated?"
Tom had seen jerboas before. They lived in deserts, but he had never seen any over half a meter tall. The ones he knew were at most 150 millimeters long. The difference was enormous.
"You idiot! This is no time to worry about that! We need to shake them off, fast!"
Nami, riding the camel, said to Tom running beside her. The thumping sounds behind her made her increasingly uneasy.
"What does it matter? We're running as hard as we can. If they catch us, we'll just have to fight them to the death."
Tom replied to Nami.
"But there are only four of us! There must be thousands of them! Can we handle that?"
Chopper asked Tom as he ran.
"It's not about the number of enemies. It's about whether you have the resolve not to be eaten."
Tom watched the jerboas getting closer. His expression grew serious. Within his dark pupils, a red gleam began to appear.
Chopper had actually considered trying to communicate with the jerboas, hoping to avoid disaster. But when he heard them all shouting, "Meat! Eat them all!" with cold glints in their eyes, he abandoned that idea.
"We're in real danger now. These carnivorous jerboas are among the hardest creatures to deal with in the desert. Their numbers are overwhelming, and they hop very fast. If they surround us, we'll be in big trouble. They could devour us completely."
Vivi's words made Chopper's fur stand on end. "You mean... we'll be eaten down to the bones?!"
"At this rate, they'll catch us sooner or later. Instead of wasting energy on pointless running, we should save our strength to fight them."
Tom saw that the jerboas could jump nearly twenty meters in a single bound—impressive leaping ability. And this was the desert, their home turf. Escaping them was nearly impossible.
Worst of all, their group had limited water and food. If they exhausted their energy, they would have no choice but to wait for death.
"He's right. We have no way out."
Nami also saw the gravity of the situation. She pulled the reins, signaling the camel to stop.
"Woo-ya! Ee-ya!"
The camel stopped and looked at the swarm of jerboas closing in, seeming somewhat disdainful.
"Chopper, what's it saying?"
Tom asked as he took out his fishing rod.
"If my friend were here, they'd never catch us."
Chopper translated the camel's words.
"No matter how strong your friend is, they can't come save us right now."
Nami said as she dismounted the camel. She glanced at Tom, then spoke as if to everyone. "From now on, let's not get separated again."
"Don't worry. After we deal with this, we'll have many more things to face together."
Tom was about to connect his two fishing rods when he noticed a large crab scurrying sideways toward them from the side.
"That's a carrier crab. They usually hide in the desert. Why would one come here?"
"There seems to be someone on top."
Vivi and Nami watched the crab approaching from the other side.
"Is that the friend you mentioned?"
Chopper asked the camel excitedly.
"It certainly moves fast."
Tom saw the eight-legged carrier crab darting across the sand—its speed was impressive. But he was somewhat surprised when he saw who was riding on top of it.
"Hurry! Get on!"
Miss Goldenweek waved her small hand, urgently calling to Tom and the others.
Though curious why Miss Goldenweek was on top of the carrier crab, the jerboas were getting closer. This was no time for chatting. Tom and the others quickly jumped onto the carrier crab and successfully escaped the jerboa swarm, continuing their journey through the desert.
"That was close. Glad we're safe."
Nami watched the jerboas grow farther away, feeling relieved.
"Yes. In this desert, we often encounter strange, dangerous things and many dangerous creatures. We must be very careful."
Vivi stood up, tucked a strand of blue hair behind her ear, and gazed at the yellow desert before her. Her eyes seemed distant, lost in thought.
"Wait a minute. If what you say is true—lots of strange creatures and exciting dangers—then to me, this place is..."
Tom had been about to ask Miss Goldenweek something, but upon hearing Vivi's words, he straightened up abruptly, walked forward a few steps, rubbed his chin thoughtfully, then his eyes lit up. Looking at the vast, boundless yellow desert before him, he shouted excitedly, "Heaven? This is heaven!"
Chopper had just taken a sip of Miss Goldenweek's tea when Tom's shout startled him into spitting it out. The little girl beside him also dropped her jaw in shock.
"Id... idiot!!"
Nami and Vivi had been about to say something when they suddenly heard the man's shout. Both of their jaws dropped to the ground.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
T/N :
Support me and Access 30 chapters in Advance on my P@treon: [email protected]/GodFic