The sun in the sky was still blazing hot, temperatures exceeding fifty degrees. Even the blowing wind carried a scorching heat. This sweltering weather inevitably made people feel irritable. Tom and the others were currently riding on the carrier crab, speeding across the desert.
"Chopper, is his body really okay?"
Earlier, Nami had asked Chopper to examine Tom. He found that Tom had no injuries at all—not even a scratch. Even his right arm, which had previously had a minor hairline fracture, was completely healed. She found this very strange.
"Yes. I originally thought the injury on his right arm would take another week to fully heal. But I just examined him—his body is very healthy. No illnesses or injuries."
Chopper nodded to Nami.
"Don't worry. My body's doing great."
Tom swung his arms a few times. He wasn't sure if it was his imagination, but after his body had been shrunk by Ain's Revert-Revert Fruit and then returned to normal, he felt even more energetic than before. His movements were also quicker.
"Why is your clothes so torn?"
Vivi noticed that Tom's robe had many more holes than before, and several torn places looked like they had been slashed by a sharp blade. Yet strangely, he had no wounds at all.
"You're not going to tell us that after fighting that female Marine, she only managed to tear your clothes, are you?"
Nami also questioned Tom.
"That's right. Looking at the result, that's exactly what happened."
Tom answered honestly.
"Do you think we're idiots?!"
Nami remembered how murderous Ain had looked when she appeared. There was no way she had come all that way just to tear Tom's clothes and leave. She felt Tom was making things up.
"So you wanted me to call you smart? Since when did you have that kind of hobby?"
Tom stared blankly at Nami. His words nearly made Nami lose her temper.
"That's not it at all!"
Nami took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down. She felt this wasn't the time to press for answers, so she said nothing more.
"I wonder how Luffy and the others are doing."
Chopper looked worried. This was his first time setting foot in a desert, and he felt it was far more dangerous than his homeland, Drum Island.
"Don't let pointless worries cloud your judgment."
Tom looked ahead at the seemingly endless yellow desert and said to Chopper, "No matter how much we worry about them now, it won't help them at all. Instead, we should trust that they'll meet up with us safely."
Hearing Tom's words, Chopper was silent for a moment, then asked, "You and Luffy have been together the longest among our crew, right? Is that why you trust him so much?"
"How should I put it?"
Tom said to Chopper, "Luffy is the one we need to worry about the least. He's always laughing and fooling around, but when it comes down to it, he's a very capable captain."
"Chopper, just remember this: don't always try to accommodate us. That'll make you lose yourself easily. Like when I ask you to help me hunt—if you're really busy or don't want to do it, you should refuse me confidently, not force yourself to help. Got it?"
Tom continued, "Even though we're in the same pirate crew, we each set sail for different reasons. You just need to understand what you can do. That way, you won't hold others back."
"I understand."
Chopper felt enlightened. As Tom said, if he forced himself to help when he couldn't actually assist Tom with hunting, he might not only cause trouble for Tom but also delay his own responsibilities.
"By the way, are we heading toward Yuba right now?"
Tom couldn't tell directions at the moment, so he asked Vivi.
"No. I want to go to Rainbase."
Miss Goldenweek answered before Vivi could speak.
"Wait. First, tell the crab to stop."
Tom immediately said upon hearing Miss Goldenweek's words.
If their destinations were different, continuing like this might cause them to miss Luffy and the others. They had to stop for now.
"Speaking of which, why does this crab listen to you so well? And why are you going to Rainbase?"
Tom watched Miss Goldenweek gently pat the crab's head and stop it with a single word. He was somewhat surprised.
"This is a carrier crab, a magical crab rarely seen in the desert. Don't just call it 'crab'."
Vivi corrected Tom. When she heard Miss Goldenweek say she wanted to go to Rainbase, her expression became unnatural for a moment, but she quickly adjusted.
"Because we're friends now."
Miss Goldenweek, sitting on the carrier crab, took a sip of tea, raised her cute little face, and said to Tom.
It turned out that after she had accidentally encountered this carrier crab, she painted it with a yellow-green pigment. That instantly made the crab her good friend. This was another type of suggestion she could produce through pigments: "Friendship Yellow-Green."
Once a target came into contact with this pigment, Miss Goldenweek could become very close friends with anyone—animals included.
That was how she was able to cross the desert using this carrier crab.
Although Miss Goldenweek's ability was impressive, against a strong opponent, she wouldn't even get close enough to use it before being taken down.
When Tom heard that Miss Goldenweek had used a strong suggestion to befriend the carrier crab, he felt something stir inside him—as if he had touched upon a new realm. But the feeling quickly faded.
According to Miss Goldenweek, the high-ranking Baroque Works officers were beginning to gather at Rainbase. That was why she wanted to go there to see if she could find Mr. 3.
"In that case, wouldn't going to Rainbase alone be very dangerous for you?"
Nami knew that Baroque Works' high-ranking officers weren't ordinary opponents. She asked Miss Goldenweek with concern.
"I'm not afraid."
Miss Goldenweek's childish face showed no sign of fear.
"She's a child who dared to cross the desert alone. Don't treat her like an ordinary person."
Tom glanced at Miss Goldenweek and said to Nami.
Normally, a ten-year-old girl wouldn't dare to cross the desert alone.
"Right now, I just want to know why the Baroque Works high-ranking officers are gathering at Rainbase."
Tom thought for a moment, then asked Vivi, "Is Crocodile in Rainbase?"
"What we need to do now is go to Yuba to stop the rebel army."
Vivi didn't answer Tom's question directly. Instead, she sidestepped it.
"Do you truly believe that, after returning to this country, the most important thing for you to do is stop that rebellion?"
Tom asked Vivi very seriously.
"Seven hundred thousand people are about to rise up. If they go to war with the royal army, this country is finished. Many people will die. Isn't that important?"
Vivi shot back at Tom, her voice rising slightly.
Nami sensed a hint of tension between Tom and Vivi. She was about to tell them to calm down when a ship sailed past them.
"That's a huge ship. And it can sail on sand too."
Tom's attention was quickly drawn to the ship speeding across the desert.
"Usopp seems to be on that ship! I smell him!"
Chopper sniffed the air. Just as he said this, Usopp's voice rang out:
"Someone save me! Tom!"
"I fought them for days and nights, but they still caught me!"
Usopp's nature hadn't changed. Even as a captive, he kept boasting. His words shocked the naive Chopper. "He fought the enemy for that long? Amazing!"
"Usopp, we've been separated for less than half a day."
Nami bluntly exposed Usopp's lie. She hadn't expected him to fall into the hands of a group of strangers.
"They're Sand Bandits from the desert!"
Vivi had heard before that Sand Bandits appeared in this desert. Like pirates, they robbed passersby, taking all their money and food.
Just as Tom and the others urged the carrier crab to chase the ship, the ship turned around and charged toward them.
It was worth noting that the ship's bow had a large red parasol.
"Boss, look! A carrier crab! That's a good catch!"
"Let's take it!"
"Everyone, perk up! Finally, some action!"
At the ship's bow stood a tall, fat, middle-aged man with a beard. A small pink parasol was propped over his head. Behind him were many others. He shouted in a rough voice toward Tom and the others, "Hand over your cargo, food, and water! We won't hurt you!"
"What a joke. We're pirates! Even in the desert, we haven't sunk so low as to be robbed by the likes of you!"
Tom pulled out his fishing rod from his arm-sleeve device. Just as he was looking for an opportunity to jump onto their ship, the ship suddenly changed direction and sailed behind them.
"Their ship is also sail-powered, right? Using the wind, it's not only fast in the desert but can also change direction flexibly. Sailing a ship like that must feel pretty good."
Nami carefully observed the ship's movements and commented.
"Is now really the time to be studying ships?"
Chopper, eager to rescue Usopp, was shocked by Nami's words.
The carrier crab turned around and continued chasing the ship. The crab and the ship raced across the vast desert. Perhaps because they were moving so fast, thick dust clouds rose behind them. After some time, they had closed the distance somewhat, but catching up would still take a while. Tom didn't want to wait any longer.
"Chopper, lend me your antlers."
As Tom spoke, Chopper had already taken a Rumble Ball. "Horn Point!"
Transforming into a hybrid form combining human and beast, Chopper's antlers grew wildly, becoming enormous and branching like a tree.
Tom leaped up, planting both feet on Chopper's antlers. He pushed off hard just as Chopper thrust his head forward. Then Tom shot toward the speeding ship like a cannonball.
"Oh no! He's flying over!"
"Shoot him down!"
The Sand Bandits were about to attack when they saw the rod in Tom's hand suddenly extend, sweeping toward them.
"You two worked together well."
Nami watched Tom and Chopper cooperate to catch the enemy, smiling at Chopper.
"Idiot! Even if you say that, I won't be happy!"
Chopper immediately began swaying happily, his round little body wiggling as he struck poses.
Just as Chopper was basking in Nami's compliment, something unexpected happened on Tom's end. He had just broken the ship's mast when a figure came flying toward him from a dune.
Tom saw that the person grabbing the broken mast was Luffy. Before he could react, Luffy collided with him mid-air, sending Tom flying straight backward.
Chopper, still immersed in the joy of being praised, hadn't recovered when Tom crashed into him. Both of them fell off the carrier crab, landing on the scorching hot desert sand. They slid across the sand in a long straight line before finally stopping.
Nami and Vivi's jaws dropped at the sudden accident. They hadn't expected things to turn out this way.
Miss Goldenweek had been playing with the camel, but when Tom flew past her, he knocked off her little red hat.
"What happened?"
"It's Luffy!"
"Is he really a capable captain?"
"Sorry. I take back what I said."
Chopper and Tom lay in the desert, speaking from the heart.
"Nami-san! Vivi-san! Are you two alright?"
"You'd better run over there, you boring Curly-brow."
"If I leave, you Moss-head will get lost again."
"Just go straight! Who would get lost in a place like this?!"
Sanji and Zoro walked down the tall dune toward the carrier crab, arguing as usual.
"Oh, Usopp, you're here too! So we're all together again. But it's so hot. I really want some water."
Luffy, who had landed on the ship, had no idea he had accidentally caused trouble for someone. Seeing Usopp tied to the broken mast, he spoke carefreely.
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T/N :
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