The party in the desert continued until midnight. Even though it was a celebration without fine wine, everyone still had a great time. It wasn't until dawn that the festivities finally came to an end.
When morning arrived, Luffy and the others quickly prepared to set out and said their goodbyes to the sand bandits.
Even though they hadn't rested all night, Luffy and the crew were still in good spirits. If they weren't in a hurry to continue their journey, Luffy would have wanted the party to last several more days.
"Perhaps we won't have to live like this much longer."
Rasa watched the departing figures of Luffy and the others. Her eyes were full of hope, not as sharp as before.
"Yes. After drifting in this sea of sand for so long, it's time for us to build a new home."
Barubaru had a feeling that their days of living without a fixed place wouldn't last much longer.
Miss Goldenweek had left before dawn. Throughout the entire party, the little girl had spent most of her time drawing on the carrier crab.
This made Tom somewhat curious. He hadn't expected that a seemingly ten-year-old girl could stay up all night without getting tired. When he asked, he got an answer that left him speechless.
"Because everyone is so noisy at night. I couldn't sleep. They're all bad kids."
Miss Goldenweek said very bluntly with her delicate little face.
Only then did Tom understand why the little girl had been drawing all night.
When Miss Goldenweek left, both Luffy and Tom wanted her to come with them, but she insisted on going to Rainbase.
"Is this for riding? It looks delicious."
As soon as Luffy said this, before anyone could respond, the camel ran away—more accurately, it tried to flee.
"It should be pretty tasty in a hot pot."
Luffy happily walked over to the camel, ready to climb on.
But when Luffy tried to get on, the camel shook him off. Then, with an angry expression, it squawked at him for a long time.
Luffy asked Chopper what the camel was saying. Chopper translated the camel's words: "I am a free camel. Thank you for your hospitality. I can let people ride me, but I never carry men."
"You're way too picky! You ate so much at the party!"
Hearing what the camel said, Luffy immediately charged over and gave it a beating.
"I am a camel with dignity. I will never give in."
Even after being beaten, the camel remained stubborn.
Luffy and the others unceremoniously gave it another beating.
"I'm sorry. These guys are all so rough."
Nami stroked the camel's bruised and swollen head. Its eyes immediately turned into hearts, forgetting all about being beaten and no longer caring.
Next, they needed to give the camel a name. Luffy and the others immediately raised their hands to give their opinions.
"White!"
"Stupid!"
"Pervert!"
"Bastard!"
Luffy, Usopp, Sanji, and Tom each gave the camel a name.
"Then I'll call you Harem. That's settled."
Nami ignored Luffy and the others' suggestions, but the name she gave the camel made everyone speechless.
When Nami and Vivi sat on the camel, it knelt down very willingly to make it easier for them to get on. Luffy and the others all shouted directly, "Pervert camel!"
Nami gently pulled the reins, and the camel happily carried the two beautiful women away, even turning back to say to Luffy and the others, "Hurry up! If you get left behind, you won't make it out of the desert."
Seeing that Nami and Vivi had so unceremoniously ridden off on the camel, Luffy and the others had no choice but to run after them.
The desert during the day was truly unbearably hot. Every breath felt like inhaling fire.
Chopper, covered in fur, was the most heat-sensitive among the group. After walking for a while, he was nearly done in by the scorching sun overhead. Fortunately, they made a simple stretcher to pull him along.
Usopp, walking at the back, used a branch as a parasol. Sticking out his tongue and swaying his body, he trudged forward. When he heard Chopper say he wasn't afraid of the cold but hated heat the most, he unceremoniously told Chopper to just shed his fur, which made Chopper furious.
"You jerk! What are you implying about reindeers?!"
Chopper immediately transformed into his heavy point form and roared at Usopp.
"The monster came out again!"
Usopp saw Chopper looking fierce and screamed in fright.
When Chopper was still in his small, round form, Zoro could pull him easily. But when he became as big as a gorilla, Zoro could barely move him.
So Zoro told Chopper not to transform casually. Unfortunately, Chopper was too busy arguing with Usopp to hear him.
"You're the monster! You long-nose freak!"
Chopper couldn't stand being called a monster again and immediately fought back.
"What about my nose? You got a problem with it? Blue nose!"
Usopp saw Chopper looking fierce and, as he spoke, assumed a defensive posture, his body trembling slightly.
Just as Chopper was about to continue arguing with Usopp, Zoro grabbed his head and made him revert to his small human-reindeer hybrid form, stopping their fight.
Although Nami was riding the camel and didn't have to walk on the scorching sand like Tom and the others, she was still suffering from the heat.
But Vivi, riding the same camel, seemed unaffected. Having grown up in this country, she was already accustomed to the climate.
According to Vivi, this desert was very uneven, with many sand dunes. This was an ancient desert region, and some dunes exceeded three hundred meters in height.
Now Usopp understood why walking through the desert felt like climbing steep mountain slopes.
It was almost noon, and the weather was getting hotter. Luffy said he was hungry and wanted to eat his lunch box.
Before that, Luffy took a drink of water. Nami had said they needed to conserve water and told Luffy he could only take one sip.
So Luffy took only one sip. But because he was a rubber man who could stretch his mouth wide without issue, that one sip was equivalent to thirteen normal sips.
Tom and the others, parched and dry-mouthed, saw Luffy drinking without restraint. They couldn't take it anymore and immediately started arguing.
"You drank way too much!"
"Didn't you hear? Only one sip! What you just drank finished the next several days' supply!"
"Wait! You all just drank. Now it's my turn!"
"No! My mouth is burning up. I should go first!"
Zoro, Tom, Sanji, and Usopp argued about the water for a few moments before immediately starting to fight.
"Don't fight! You're just wasting energy."
Vivi saw Luffy and the others brawling and hurriedly tried to stop them.
"It's all your fault! Why are you fighting over water?!"
Luffy, holding the water bucket, shouted at Tom and the others.
"You drank too much!"
"That's right! You're the one in the wrong!"
"How dare you say that to us!"
"Think about what you did!"
After a few exchanges, Tom and the others started fighting again.
Ace stood by without speaking, just watching Luffy brawling with everyone. He remembered that during last night's party, Vivi had come over to ask him if he was ever surprised by Luffy.
Usually, captains were highly respected, but Luffy, when he made mistakes, could easily get beaten by his crewmates. He fooled around often, yet he was still the captain.
Ace had grown up with Luffy. He was used to Luffy's style. Even when Luffy was a kid, he was always like this—often appearing carefree and heartless.
Even though Luffy was like that, he always had friends around him. In Ace's eyes, Luffy had an incredible charm.
At first, Vivi had thought Ace might mind that Luffy didn't seem to get much respect from his crewmates, but she had clearly overthought it.
They were still some distance from Yuba. Vivi was about to tell Luffy to hold on a little longer when Luffy said to her, "You're so naive. Haven't you heard this famous quote?"
"When you're hungry, you eat!"
Luffy said very seriously to Vivi.
"Stop lying. You made that up."
Usopp directly exposed Luffy's so-called "famous quote" as complete fabrication.
Vivi saw that Tom and the others were getting tired from walking and wanted to find a place to rest. She happened to spot a rocky area in the distance and said everyone could rest there.
Luffy immediately got excited and said to Tom and the others, "Let's hurry to the rocks! Whoever wins rock-paper-scissors carries all the luggage."
"That's not a bad idea."
"Normally, isn't it the loser who carries the luggage?"
"Seriously? You really want to play? What if I win?"
"Stop stalling. Let's do it."
Tom, Sanji, Usopp, and Zoro quickly started playing rock-paper-scissors with Luffy.
Since Chopper couldn't stand the hot weather, he didn't even qualify to participate and was eliminated immediately.
In the first round of rock-paper-scissors, Luffy won decisively. His rock smashed the other four's scissors.
Luffy was so excited he shouted, "I won!"
Then Luffy tragically had to pull everyone's luggage. Carrying so much luggage for so many people was really heavy, making him feel even hotter. He wondered why he had to do this even after winning.
When they were almost at the rocky area, Luffy, who had been pulling all the luggage at the back, suddenly sprinted ahead like he was on stimulants. "Great! Finally, we can eat!"
"He's way too fast!"
Usopp felt like he was about to collapse, but Luffy, pulling so much luggage, could still run like the wind. His eyes nearly popped out.
A moment later, Luffy came running back empty-handed, shouting anxiously, "Chopper, come quick! There are lots of badly injured birds over there! They can't move!"
"Okay, I'm coming!"
Chopper had been resting on the stretcher. Hearing Luffy's words, as a doctor, he forced himself to perk up and ran off with Luffy.
"Birds?"
Tom and Vivi, riding the camel, looked at each other, then exclaimed, "Luffy, wait! Those birds you saw are liars!"
"What?"
Luffy stopped and turned around, his face full of confusion.
A few minutes later, at the rocky area.
"Listen to me, it's true! There were lots of birds here that looked like they were about to die!"
Luffy explained to Tom and the others. By the time everyone rushed over, the place was empty. Aside from rocks, sand, and a few white feathers scattered on the ground, there was nothing to see.
"I'm sorry. I should have told you about the Liar Birds earlier."
Vivi said regretfully.
"What a pain. Those birds are professional con artists. I ran into them yesterday but forgot to mention it."
Tom hadn't expected to encounter those Liar Birds again today, and this time they had stolen all their luggage. For people crossing the desert, this was really bad news.
"Come to think of it, I ate a few birds last night that didn't have much meat but tasted pretty good. Weren't those the same bad birds?"
Luffy asked Tom. Seeing Tom nod, he said with a look of frustration, "We got tricked!"
"It doesn't matter if we were tricked or not. Our luggage is all gone. Even the food and water we prepared last night are gone."
Sanji's face was terrifyingly dark. He grabbed Luffy by the collar. "This isn't something you can just brush off by saying you got tricked! We're heading toward the center of the desert, and you let those stupid birds steal our luggage! And worst of all, all the luggage is gone! Without water and food, how are we supposed to cross this desert?!"
"I couldn't help it! I got tricked!"
Luffy said honestly.
"Are you dumber than a bird?"
Sanji tightened his grip on Luffy's collar and spoke bluntly.
"What did you say?!"
Luffy got angry too. The atmosphere became tense.
"Luffy, you really don't realize how serious this is!"
Tom said to Luffy. "Those birds that stole our luggage could be anywhere by now. If we want to eat them, that's going to be hard!"
Everyone had initially thought Tom was going to scold Luffy, but instead he said this. Their jaws dropped in unison. "Do you even understand what the real issue is?!"
"I see! I really messed up!"
Luffy, hearing Tom's words, looked like he suddenly understood. He clutched his head in shock.
"Stinky fisherman, have you been out of the water too long? Has your brain gone bad?!"
One Luffy was already giving Sanji a headache. Adding Tom made him feel like his head was about to explode. He couldn't take it anymore and immediately started brawling with those two.
"Stop it, you three!"
Zoro saw Luffy, Tom, and Sanji fighting more and more fiercely and tried to break it up.
"Trying to stop them won't help. Let them blow off some steam."
Ace patted Zoro's shoulder and said.
Zoro watched the three brawling and then relaxed. Knowing their personalities, they probably all felt responsible for the lost luggage—each blaming themselves—which was why they were fighting so hard, trying to vent their frustration.
Luffy thought that if he hadn't been tricked, the food and water wouldn't have been stolen. Tom felt that if he had mentioned the Liar Birds sooner, this might not have happened. Sanji also blamed himself—as the cook, he shouldn't have let Luffy handle the food and water; he should have kept them himself.
Realizing this, Zoro no longer tried to stop them. He glanced at Luffy, Tom, and Sanji still fighting, then sat down by the rocks and said to the others, "Everyone, rest for a bit. The heat makes people irritable."
More than ten minutes later, seeing that everyone had rested enough, Nami, riding the camel with Vivi, told everyone to set out. At this point, they would have to deal with the food and water situation as they went.
If they stayed put, they would only be more likely to run out of food and water and fall into a desperate situation.
When crossing the desert, it was best not to stop for too long.
They hadn't walked far when they saw several Liar Birds lined up neatly ahead, smugly enjoying the food and water they had stolen. Everyone was furious and frustrated.
The Liar Birds then gave Luffy and the others a provocative look, turned around in unison, and slowly strutted away.
Provocation. This was definitely provocation.
Luffy and Tom didn't hesitate. They immediately chased after the Liar Birds. "Stop right there!"
"You two can't chase them!"
Vivi thought that since the Liar Birds could fly, there was no way Luffy and Tom could catch them. She urgently tried to stop them.
"Nami, tell this pervert camel to chase them!"
Tom hung his entire body off the right side of the camel without actually riding it. When the camel squawked at him, he said, "I know you don't carry men, so I'm not riding you. If you keep making noise, I'll slaughter you right now!"
The camel, intimidated by Tom, wisely shut up.
"Harem, listen to him. All our luggage is with those birds. Even if there's only a small chance, we have to try to get it back!"
Nami patted the camel's head. The camel's eyes immediately turned into hearts, and it ran forward with all its might.
Clearly, Nami understood what Tom was thinking.
"Those two idiots!"
Sanji saw Luffy and Tom disappear in an instant. He hadn't expected Tom to borrow the camel to chase the Liar Birds, but that wasn't his main concern. "Stinky fisherman, if anything happens to Nami-san and Vivi-san, I'll kill you!"
In truth, Tom could run just as fast as the camel, but he wanted to save his energy. He was hanging off the camel's right side so that if the Liar Birds carrying their luggage took off, he could use the camel as a springboard to try to knock them down before they flew too far.
As they ran, a giant purple lizard and a massive poisonous scorpion burst out of the sand in front of Luffy.
"You go ahead! I'll handle these!"
Luffy cracked his knuckles. Blocked by the two giant beasts, he shouted to Tom.
"I'll get our luggage back!"
As Tom answered, the camel had already circled around the two beasts blocking Luffy.
Just as Tom, hanging off the camel's right side, was about to catch up to the Liar Birds, they flapped their wings and took off.
This is my chance!
Tom's eyes lit up. Already prepared, he extended the fishing rod with the Soft Current Particle attachment and thrust it into the ground. As the camel continued running, the rod stuck in the sand bent.
When the extended rod reached its maximum bend, Tom suddenly let go of the camel. He shot diagonally upward. While flying up, he used the line launcher on his right wrist to retrieve the rod from the sand.
"Give back our luggage!"
Now flying above the Liar Birds, Tom extended the rod in both hands to its full twenty-meter length and swung it down from above, striking the birds flying in a line formation.
"He did it!"
Nami, riding the camel, saw Tom knock the Liar Birds down and happily said to Vivi behind her.
But just as Vivi's face lit up with joy, the ground began to shake violently. Several giant green plants burst out from underground. They not only swallowed the Liar Birds Tom had knocked down and the falling luggage in one gulp, but also swallowed Tom himself before he even hit the ground.
Nami and Vivi were stunned by the sudden turn of events.
"Those are Heliopsis! They like to prey on passing travelers and animals!"
As Vivi shouted this, the giant Heliopsis that had swallowed Tom opened its massive mouth and lunged toward them.
"You should have mentioned these things earlier!"
Before Nami could finish her sentence, she, Vivi, and the terrified camel were all swallowed by the Heliopsis.
A short while later, in the darkness, Tom smelled two distinct fragrances and asked, "How did you two get in here too?"
"Yeah, we got eaten too."
Nami answered, hearing Tom's voice.
"What do we do? If we don't get out soon..."
Vivi felt like everything around her was sticky. Before she could finish, Tom said, "You're right. This is serious. There's something we need to figure out."
"Even though we got swallowed by some kind of plant... can it turn us into poop?"
In the darkness, Tom's words made Nami and Vivi's jaws nearly drop. "Are you an idiot?! Figure out a way to get us out of here!"
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T/N :
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