The market in Alubarna had a much richer variety of goods on its stalls than the Oilseed Rape Port.
Batu, like a little monkey fresh out of the mountains, skipped and hopped ahead, constantly pointing out various trinkets on either side for Tomioka to see, as if he had temporarily forgotten his aversion to this city where the king resided.
Batu's steps slowed in front of a fruit stall.
His gaze lingered on the shiny red apples, and his throat unconsciously bobbed. Although he didn't speak, his eyes seemed to be staring right through the apples.
"Such sweet, sweet apples! What do you say, want some?"
Tomioka watched silently. He didn't say much, merely took out the Berries Nami had given him from his pocket, handed them to the stall owner, and pointed at the apples.
"Are they for me?" Batu turned around in surprise, looking at Tomioka. He wouldn't be like his grandfather; this big brother in front of him had helped a lot, so he must be a very good person. He was also craving those big apples.
"Mm."
Batu carefully took the large, red apple, rubbed it vigorously with his sleeve, and smiled: "Thank you, Big Brother Tomioka!"
He didn't eat it himself immediately. Instead, he forcefully broke the apple in half and offered the other half to Tomioka.
"Big Brother Tomioka, you eat too!"
Tomioka looked at the half-apple offered to him, paused slightly, then reached out to take it, saying: "…Thank you."
The two continued walking down the street, eating the sweet apples. Batu's mood was clearly much better, and he talked more.
"Alubarna is still so lively," he said vaguely, taking a bite of his apple, "unlike where we live."
"Where you live?" Tomioka asked, following his lead.
"My grandpa and I usually live in Cattleya," Batu swallowed the apple flesh and said, "Grandpa usually brings goods here to sell, that's how we get by."
"But where we are now, the rebel army is all there! There are so many people!"
Cattleya?
Tomioka's chewing motion paused slightly.
He clearly remembered Vivi telling everyone in Oilseed Rape Port that the rebel army's main base was in Yuba.
Batu didn't notice Tomioka's subtle reaction. Instead, he excitedly waved his fists and feet, mimicking imagined combat moves: "Big Brother Tomioka! Look at me, do you think I can join them?!"
Tomioka's gaze swept over the child's small build and his uncoordinated movements, "You still need to practice."
Batu's shoulders slumped instantly, but he quickly perked up again, vigorously waving his small fists: "I'll definitely practice hard! I want to be as strong as Big Brother Tomioka in the future!"
To confirm.
Tomioka pressed on: "I heard that Yuba was the rebel army's main base, wasn't it?"
"Big Brother Tomioka! Are you also going to find the rebel army?" Batu immediately became interested. He liked the rebel army much more than the Royal Army, and then put on a know-it-all expression.
"Yuba, it used to be! But now it's completely a desert, you can't even find a drop of water, so the rebel army has long since moved their gathering place to Cattleya!"
Desert?
Vivi and the others went in the wrong direction… Now, things had become even more troublesome.
Tomioka fell silent, just continuing to observe his surroundings, listening to Batu excitedly describe the various movements of the rebel army, but most of his attention was on trying to figure out what to do now.
Just then, a violent scream suddenly came from ahead, interrupting his thoughts.
"It's you! It must be you guys who live in Alubarna! You secretly burned that damned Dance Powder!" A furious voice roared.
A burly man was seen frantically smashing a stall.
His face bore an unnatural rage, and he wielded a scimitar. However, the design of that sword was exactly the same as the scimitars carried by the Royal Army soldiers who had previously attacked Matar and Batu in the desert.
"It's all because of you!!! That's why other cities can't get a single drop of rain! You've stolen all the rainwater!"
"It must be you!!!"
As he roared, he hacked and slashed wildly. The fabric on the stalls was cut and scattered in the air, and the stall owners could only dodge backward, screaming.
"Are you crazy? What does this have to do with us!"
"This is Alubarna's blessing! It's God's will!" Some people around also tried to refute the man with the scimitar, but such words had no effect at all.
Just as the man with the sword was about to rush towards more stalls, a calm and magnetic voice overpowered all the noise:
"The farce should end."
The crowd automatically parted, creating a path. A tall man wearing a black fur coat walked over.
He had a neatly combed slicked-back hairstyle, a horizontal scar across his face, and a cigar dangling from the corner of his mouth, its white smoke particularly striking.
Most noticeable was his left hand, which was a gleaming golden hook.
This was the hero in the hearts of the people of Alabasta, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea — Crocodile.
He didn't even spare a glance at the troublemaker, merely casually raised his right hand.
The next moment, dry sand began to seep out from the cracks in the flagstones beneath the troublemaker's feet, instantly coiling around his legs and then spreading throughout his body, firmly immobilizing him on the spot. No matter how the troublemaker struggled, he couldn't move an inch.
"It's alright, everyone."
Crocodile's gaze swept over the still-shaken crowd. His tone immediately put everyone at ease, and it was particularly magnetic: "I will ensure everyone's safety."
His gaze scanned the crowd, inadvertently finally landing on Tomioka, who was wearing a black robe and hadn't been startled by the recent situation, and Batu, who was particularly conspicuous beside him, still waving his fists and feet.
That gaze lingered on Tomioka for a subtle moment, then merely curved into a seemingly friendly smile.
Then, he no longer lingered. Like a true hero, amidst the grateful gazes and wild praises of the surrounding citizens, he turned and left, taking the troublemaker trapped by the sand shackles with him.
"Look, it's Mr. Crocodile!!"
Batu loudly said to Tomioka, his voice filled with childlike adoration, "Everyone says he's the hero of the country, always protecting us…"
Batu's innocent words and Vivi's earlier description created a disconnect in Tomioka's mind.
Igaram was currently missing, Luffy and Vivi had gone in the wrong direction, and the mastermind behind the country's current state was a hero in everyone's eyes.
He couldn't wait passively any longer… This country didn't have that much time to wait… Tomioka lowered his head, looked at Batu beside him, and said in as calm a tone as possible:
"Where is the Royal Palace of Alubarna? I want to go see it."