One piece : A Lotus

The falcon flies over the arid land. It's said to be a desert country. In reality, it's only relatively dry. There are deserts everywhere, but not all are barren. An inland sea runs right through half of the country from the Great Harbor. In this region, oases are scattered in all directions, and the main themes here are heavy rainfall and strong evaporation.

Only part of the uninhabited area between the cities is truly uninhabited, and in the far northern part of the country, there's a world-famous super desert; apart from that, Alabasta is not desolate.

Pell carried Ezekiel over the lands of Alabasta, and from a distance, he saw black dots in the desert.

"Is that... your target?" Pell's falcon eyes are sharp, and he vaguely saw a tall and slender figure in a cloak, but he could not discern its identity.

As if sensing someone observing him, Aokiji slowly released his Observation Haki to a distance of five kilometers...

Aokiji was not interested in these people, especially after recognizing Pell—an official of this country. As for the child Pell was carrying, it didn't concern him.

Aokiji was interested only in Crocodile and what he might do. He had some suspicions, but currently, there was no evidence. And at present, he had no opportunity to take any action.

An hour passed... Two hours passed...

Aokiji finally became a bit wary. According to common sense, Pell should be several times faster than him, and he can easily overtake him, yet he still lingers behind without any urgency, not even trying to catch up.

So who is this guy with him?

Only after about four hours did the tired falcon hear a slightly surprised voice of a young man behind him.

"Alright, Pell, let's head back."

A faint smile appeared at the corner of Vila's mouth; the freezing fruit had reached an awakened state!

He had obtained it!

100 GB of memory were completely filled, and there was no hope for additional space. Thus, he barely managed to download Aokiji's fruit ability, without having to delete Pell's physical skills.

......

Aokiji stopped in confusion and turned his head.

"They're gone?

Pell and some guy were mysteriously following him and inexplicably left. What did these two want?"

Aokiji looked around and saw no one nearby. Cold ice appeared, freezing the sand beneath his feet, and he effortlessly glided forward on the ice.

In fact, such almost invincible fruits are highly valued in desert countries. After all, ice melts and turns into water!

......

The capital of the Kingdom of Alabasta.

In the palace, King Cobra was pacing back and forth anxiously, looking at Igaram with some anger.

"How could the prince disappear! Didn't I tell you to keep an eye on him?!

He was truly worn out. He looked very haggard, and his hair was slightly disheveled. Vivi had never seen her father like this before, and she was too scared to speak.

"Sorry... Your Majesty, it's my fault. I shouldn't have let Pell, who is so close to His Royal Highness, be the one to watch over him..." Igaram half-knelt before him.

"Hey..." The anger on Cobra's face disappeared, and he sighed gloomily, then personally helped Igaram to his feet. "I'm sorry, Igaram. I lost my temper. It's just that this is a critical period, and if the boy makes a mistake, I would have a hard time explaining it to the people..."

"Your Majesty, Pell is not a foolish person. Since he and His Royal Highness vanished together, I believe it must be something important," Igaram said thoughtfully.

"That bastard brother!" Vivi kept repeating those words, with tears streaming down her face.

At that moment, the palace gates swung open.

Cobra raised his head and looked ahead. He saw a tall man in a cloak with slicked-back hair, holding a cigar in one hand and a sharp golden hook instead of the other, slowly entering the palace, followed by several men and women.

Cobra recognized this man; it was Shichibukai Crocodile, a difficult individual to deal with. He is now a hero in Alabasta.

Over the years he spent in Alabasta, he founded an organization called Baroque Works. Even Cobra knew little about this organization. They made every effort to capture all the pirates in the Alabasta region, which the World Government allowed, and both the World Government and the Marines encouraged this behavior. It could be said that the Warlord dealt with a large number of pirates.

At the same time, the people of Alabasta also greatly trust Crocodile, and even now, his direct entry into the palace does not incite public anger. Some people are even more satisfied with him than with Cobra as their king.

"Hey, Cobra, long time no see."

Crocodile took a deep drag on his cigar and then slowly exhaled the smoke in an intricate shape into the air.

"Long time no see," said Cobra, glancing at him and shielding Vivi behind his back. He instructed Igaram to take her to a room.

Igaram hesitated for a moment but finally nodded in agreement and reluctantly left. After all, he was calm and not worried that Crocodile would do anything extraordinary right now, not only because of the World Government but also because Vice Admiral Momonga of the Marines was still in Alabasta. Crocodile would never choose this time even if he needed to do something.

As Cobra and Igaram expected, this time Crocodile did not do anything out of the ordinary. He came personally to introduce Cobra to a new capable subordinate.