"Zan Gao, how's it going?"
In the depths of the desert, a strange-looking sailing ship was anchored on the fine sand. Apart from the original sand pirate crew, another group was on board. One was Captain Wagner, and the other was a Navy Sergeant named Zan Gao.
Zan Gao was responsible for the staged "slap in the face" during Hailan's speech in the Kingdom of Victoria. He had three unique skills: hypnosis, boomerang, and dancing. The third skill was more of a personal hobby.
At first, Hailan thought Zan Gao's hypnosis ability came from a Devil Fruit, but Zan Gao was not a Devil Fruit user. His hypnosis ability was a mystery, even to him, as peculiar as his heart-shaped eyes.
"Reporting to Captain Wag..."
"What did you call me?"
"Reporting to Cap... Boss Valon... we got all the information from the sand pirates."
"You brat, from now on call me Boss, not Captain Wagner!"
"Yes, yes... understood."
Wagner walked over to the sand pirates, his face full of arrogance. "You all saw it; my brother here can use hypnosis, so I know all about your little secrets. If you don't want revenge from me, you'd better do as I say. Otherwise, even gods won't save you."
The leader of the sand pirates had already been beaten up by Wagner and was tied up in the captain's quarters.
Hailan had no intention of arresting these sand pirates within Alabasta. It would be like the United Nations peacekeeping forces going to Siberia to catch petty thieves—meddling unnecessarily and potentially interfering with domestic affairs. Therefore, to Hailan, these sand pirates were disposable pawns to be used once and discarded.
"We understand..."
The sand pirates were utterly submissive to Boss Valon. Wagner, who had mastered Soru and Tekkai, was a god for them. As for Buggy, his fear of death and lack of combat skills meant he had only mastered Kami-e and related techniques through his Devil Fruit ability.
...
"How much longer do we have to walk? It's scorching hot out here..." Even strong individuals like Shanks and Beckman couldn't help but sweat profusely in the intense heat.
Some Devil Fruits indeed provided significant natural advantages. Kuro was also struggling with the heat, "I have no idea. Sand pirates move unpredictably, and it's always them finding travelers, not the other way around."
"Boss, I see something... there's a sail over there."
Yasopp had spotted a sail beyond a dune.
"Let's check it out!"
Shanks was excited.
A sailboat rapidly approached through the desert, cutting through the sand towards Shanks and his crew.
"Beckman, Yasopp, do you see that? There really are sailboats that can travel on the desert. This world is amazing!"
Shanks's excitement barely lasted three seconds before the cannon on the sand pirates' ship fired at them.
Boom!
The cannonball exploded in the desert, sending sand flying everywhere.
Yasopp recognized the navy officer who had tackled him before: "Boss, look, it's that navy guy!"
"Beckman was right, it's an ambush by the navy. But seeing such a spectacular sight makes this trip worth it. Guys, let's run!"
Shanks laughed like a carefree child, treating the serious battle like a fun game.
After a few gunshots, Yasopp cut the ropes on the sand pirates' ship, rendering it unable to chase after them.
"Boss, should we pursue them?" Zan Gao asked anxiously.
"No, we can't catch them."
Wagner gathered his few soldiers, "Repair the ship; we still have tasks to complete."
"Yes!"
The soldiers and sand pirates got busy. Wagner muttered, "Lieutenant Hailan was right, the Red-Haired Pirates really are skittish, running at the first sight of trouble."
"What about the waiter?"
"He ran away long ago!"
"He must be a navy agent!"
"Where are we heading next? Should we leave Alabasta? If we stay, the navy might send more forces, and we'll be in real trouble."
Hailan's fake ambush in the desert might not have effectively struck the Red-Haired Pirates, but it served as a warning: the Navy would never stop hunting pirates, and anyone around could be a Navy spy.
The once carefree mood of the Red-Haired Pirates grew tense after two consecutive navy ambushes. They realized their desert adventure in Alabasta wasn't as simple as they had imagined.
"Although it's frustrating, continuing like this could be dangerous."
Shanks was more rational than Luffy. They had experienced the local culture, the desert, and the sand pirates. There was no need to stay in Alabasta, especially now that the navy was targeting them.
"New generation navy cadets, huh... quite troublesome. I can't end up like Captain Roger, being chased around the world by Garp. I'd better leave here early," Beckman said, having gathered intel on Hailan.
Hailan intentionally released this information. He was no longer afraid of not being famous enough; instead, he wanted more recognition to achieve new accomplishments.
A few days later, when the Red-Haired Pirates arrived at their port, they found their ship missing.
"Where's my Red? Who stole my Red?"
Shanks panicked, while Beckman and Yasopp were equally puzzled.
"Old man, have you seen my ship?"
"Old man?" Moqi, dressed in a white fur vest and headgear, holding a whip, twitched at the title. With his large lion, Richie, he looked like a shepherd.
"I don't know which one is yours, but I know all the pirate ships around here were burned by the Flame Pirates."
Beckman's expression darkened, "The Flame Pirates? Led by 'Flame' Harris with a bounty of 240 million Berries?"
"That's the one."
"Why are they burning ships?"
"Brats!" Moqi, deciding to play along with the "old man" act, grumbled, "Why would I dare ask pirates why they burn ships? You brats can go ask them yourselves and stop bothering me while I'm sunbathing."