Kong Tai stepped forward, ignoring the three goofballs who were yelling and fooling around with ice.
He raised his head, looking at the Santola River.
Gazing at the vast, mirror-like calm blue river before him, a hint of awe appeared in his eyes.
A river with an average width of fifty kilometers.
"It's truly magnificent!"
Looking down at his feet, where the receding water had exposed sand and stones, he couldn't help but crouch down and pick up a smooth, orange-yellow agate stone that resembled a gem.
Standing up, he held the agate stone above his head and looked up. Under the sunlight, he could clearly see the sun forming a halo within the agate.
An agate of this quality would likely have been picked up long ago in reality!
But here, on this riverbank, it was commonplace.
Kong Tai lowered his hand and casually tossed the agate stone towards the distant river.
Thump!
"This water level."
Kong Tai turned his head and asked Huo Niao, "How can we cross at this water level?"
"Of course, we can't cross here! Don't let the severe drop in the Santola River's water level fool you; this is still a large river with an average width of fifty kilometers!"
"Look."
Huo Niao pointed upstream and said, "Not far upstream, you can cross. From there, there's a layer of sand and gravel accumulated on the riverbed, extending all the way to the source of the Santola River. Downstream from there is the deep water zone."
"And where we are standing now is actually in the deep water zone."
"Oh!"
Kong Tai nodded.
In his past life, watching anime, he had always wondered why, with such a wide river, the Straw Hat Pirates didn't just take a boat, but instead parked their ship outside Alubarna and walked through the desert.
So, the ship could only sail up to the outskirts of Alubarna.
Further in was shallow water, which the ship couldn't pass.
Perhaps the Santola River could be navigated by ship before the water level dropped, but certainly not now.
"Let's go! Silver-haired brother, the camel knows the exact route."
"Mmm!"
Kong Tai withdrew his gaze, turned around, and mounted the camel's back.
He let the camel walk on its own.
...
Two hours later, the group, riding camels, set foot on the riverbank on the opposite side of the Santola River.
"Huh!"
Huo Niao, holding the reins, looked to his left and exclaimed in surprise, "I remember there being an artificial canal here!"
"A canal?"
"Mmm!"
Huo Niao withdrew his gaze and turned to Kong Tai, saying, "We just passed through here a few days ago to get to Nanohana. It's only been a few days, and this canal has already been buried by sand?"
"Sand?"
Kong Tai followed Huo Niao's gaze, looking at a gully on the left that stretched from the riverbank towards the depths of the desert, his expression thoughtful.
He remembered that it was because the canal was destroyed that Alubarna, once a beautiful oasis city, had become a wasteland in the desert, forcing its inhabitants to relocate.
Earlier, when Huo Niao introduced the itinerary and Alubarna, he thought it hadn't been destroyed yet. He hadn't expected to encounter it like this.
Thinking this, he reached out and patted the camel's neck.
"Giddy up!"
"Let's go, first to Alubarna."
With that, the camel beneath Kong Tai immediately broke into a gallop, quickly following the canal towards the depths of the desert.
Behind him.
The others looked at Kong Tai's retreating back, quickly shaking their reins and following suit.
On the camel's back, Kong Tai straightened up, staring into the distance at the beautiful city, the only patch of green embedded in the yellow sand. A trace of killing intent appeared in his calm eyes.
Destroying this canal clearly wasn't just the work of a sandstorm.
Only by completely destroying the river embankment and the foundation stones laid at the riverbed could this canal truly disappear.
It would be impossible for people to even try to clear the sand and get the river running again.
Only then could the civilians of Alubarna be plunged into complete despair.
In his understanding, only two people in Baroque Works could achieve this level of destruction.
One was Crocodile himself, and the other was Doroh, who ate the "Mane-Mane no Mi" (Mole-Mole Fruit), also known as "
If it was Crocodile, he might have already returned to Rainbase.
However, if it was Doroh...
Then these two guys were very likely still in Alubarna.
Crocodile might not be interested in the expressions of the victims.
But these two subordinates might be different.
After all, criminals often lingered at the scene of their crimes for a considerable time, savoring the fear their actions had wrought.
Clip-clop...
Clip-clop...
Through the dust, Kong Tai was the first to charge into the streets of Alubarna.
He reined in his camel, stopped it, and looked to the left.
On the left, by the canal, a crowd had gathered. They paid no attention to the arrival of Kong Tai and his group, all staring anxiously down into the canal.
From time to time, a curse could be heard from among the crowd.
Kong Tai dismounted and walked towards the crowd.
"Kong Tai, this city seems to be in trouble!"
Guina quickly caught up to Kong Tai and walked beside him, tilting her head to say, "I feel like everyone in this city is filled with panic."
"Mmm!"
Kong Tai nodded, walking and saying, "Someone has severed the city's arteries, plunging it into drought. Here..."
He paused slightly and continued, "This place will become a dead city before long."
Yes, a dead city.
As long as no one stopped Crocodile, the drought in Alabasta would continue for nearly two more years. Without the canal's water source, no matter how unwilling the people of Alubarna were, they would eventually have to abandon the place and move elsewhere.
Reaching the edge of the crowd, Kong Tai extended his hand, holding Guina. The space around his body acted like a conical shield, automatically parting the people on either side, allowing them to pass through as if no one was there, easily reaching the canal's edge.
At that moment, a roar of despair echoed from the canal.
Several strong young men, covered in dust, were looking at a half-circular pit that had been exposed at the bottom of the canal.
"Damn it, what is this!"
One of the young men dropped his hoe, sat down on the ground, and looked up at the sky, tears streaming down his face, his eyes filled with despair.
"It really is them."
Kong Tai looked at the section of the canal that had been cleared. The river embankment and the riverbed were covered with countless circular pits.
Such a scene, let alone the villagers here, even he was powerless.
They would have to rebuild the canal.
But building a canal required time.
And Alubarna was most in need of time right now.
Because the canal was gone, the city's water supply wouldn't last the people here more than a few days.
Sensing the waves of panic emanating from all around, Kong Tai withdrew his gaze, his eyes flashing red. His Observation Haki swept across the entirety of Alubarna in an instant.
"They really haven't left?"
"They're truly asking for death."