"Wow, it's so ugly!"
Silence.
A brief, awkward silence ensued.
Kuina's face twitched. She looked up and asked, "With ship that looks like this... can it really make it to the New World?"
"....."
Sakura guiltily averted her eyes. "You can still tell it's a ship, right? If it works, it's fine. Don't ask for the moon."
Before them, a wooden ship with a huge ramming prow carried the two giants, bobbing up and down with the ocean waves.
Since Elbaf was deep in the New World, even the Giant Race couldn't swim back unaided.
Furthermore, Little Garden had just been shattered by their battle, and most of the dense forest on it was now unusable.
Therefore, while using Wood Release to repair the island's ecosystem, Sakura also planted a giant Sun Tree, hundreds of meters tall, at its center.
Together with Dorry and Brogy, they felled it, and then, under Leviathan's guidance based on her own structure, they built a large ship.
Although the craftsmanship wasn't great, the materials used were the best. Barring accidents, it should be enough for the two giants to manage until they reached Elbaf.
As the ship was about to leave Little Garden and they were going their separate ways, Sakura voiced the confusion in her heart: "By the way, during the earlier clash of the Hakoku, why was my Haki torn apart?"
Even though Sakura appeared to have won the Hakoku clash, the subsequent loss of control that shattered Little Garden's island shelf was essentially caused by the leakage of power when the Haki she had wrapped around her attack was shattered.
While the result was Sakura's victory, she acknowledged the aspects where her skill was inferior.
Brogy opened his mouth, hesitated, stopped, then seemed to want to speak again: "If you ask me why... actually, I wanted to ask how you managed to do it."
"Spear of Elbaf: Hakoku is a combined technique. It requires the conflict of wills between two people to cause the Haki to entangle before it can be unleashed," Dorry said, scratching his head as he walked towards the gunwale. "But yours..."
A move that originally required two people to use was now performed by one person using an ability. Even worse, its power was greater than what the two of them could produce together.
Wasn't that like stepping on your own left foot to fly into the sky, and flying faster than someone else stepping on air?
That's just too absurd!
"So the key is the will of two people..."
After hearing their words, Sakura fell into thought, stroking her chin.
According to Dorry and Brogy, for her Hakoku to be filled with the same kind of Haki capable of destroying everything, she needed two people working together.
"But where am I supposed to find someone who can coordinate with me to perform Hakoku?"
"That we don't know. Good luck!"
The two giants looked at each other, grinned, shrugged gleefully, and urged their large ship into the vast, blue sea.
'Tch, two old rascals. Next time we meet, I'll definitely press you both into the floor and beat you up!'
"Let's go, set sail!"
Sakura sat on the prow of the Leviathan, her special seat, and waved a hand to the crew members behind her.
Soon, a bubble-like coating covered the ship, enveloping the hull as it submerged into the seafloor.
…
"Speaking of which, we didn't store any magnetic force back at Little Garden."
Fisher Tiger, who was steering at the ship's bow, raised his hand, looking at the pointer on his wristband spinning wildly. "So, where are we going now?"
"To Alabasta, of course."
Sakura signaled to Kuina to bring out the pile of Eternal Poses they had taken from the bounty hunters at Whisky Peak.
From the various poses labeled with their destinations, she picked out the one marked 'Alabasta' and tossed it to Tiger.
The main reason for heading to this desert kingdom was primarily because it was the largest population center on the Grand Line.
Its sufficiently prosperous commercial environment could support them in exchanging their plundered treasures for Berry.
"Along the way, I want to see the Poneglyph kept there!"
Sakura clapped her hands cheerfully, making the decision.
Tiger, having received the captain's order, turned the helm according to the pose and sailed away with the wind.
After dozens of days sailing on the sea, the outline of a huge island gradually appeared before everyone.
Sandy Island.
Mentioning just the island's name, in a sea with as many islands as there are stars in the sky, probably no one would know it.
But if you referred to the country on it, Alabasta, that was a major power famous throughout the Grand Line.
An ancient kingdom that had existed for four thousand years, with a population in the tens of millions, a land army numbering in the hundreds of thousands, and simultaneously possessing uniquely vast territory.
Although most of its land was desert, such prosperous national power, coupled with the unclear, ambiguous relationship between the Alabasta's royal family, the Nefertari, and the World Government, made the vast majority of countries and pirates in the world fear it greatly.
Outside Nanohana, the largest port city of Alabasta, Leviathan, who had transformed back into the Night Sparrow, landed in the offshore waters.
When her feet touched the reef, she opened her mouth and spat without hesitation, sending the three people inside tumbling out.
"Are we there?"
Sakura propped herself up on the damp reef with her hands, lifting her head to look around.
"Just look at those guests~, and you'll know~."
Leviathan lifted her wing and pointed at the small green creatures in front of them.
They carried something like a turtle shell on their backs, had tails like a seal's, and their two small fists were currently swinging with impressive vigor.
Their beady eyes combined with their dopey, cute expressions made them look extremely adorable.
"Interesting. Creatures native to this island?"
Kuina walked forward, raising her hand intending to pick one up and pet it.
"Wait..."
Sakura's call wasn't as fast as her action. Kuina grabbed one of the small green creatures and lifted it, only to be punched in the stomach.
"Ugh..."
The young girl's mouth opened, spitting out a mouthful of saliva.
Then, anger rising, Kuina immediately used her hand to form a blade, unleashing a sword slash using her No-Sword Style, blowing a large group of the shelled little things away.
"Damn things, daring to sneak attack me!"
Sakura walked over and pulled back Kuina, who was preparing to draw her sword in a master's stance, casually healing her.
"These are Kung Fu Dugongs living on Sandy Island. They challenge humans they encounter. If they lose..."
"What happens if they lose?"
Kuina looked up in confusion, only to find herself surrounded by Kung Fu Dugongs. They bowed to Kuina in unison, making sounds she couldn't understand.
Leviathan, who loved watching the world burn and didn't mind making things worse, translated mockingly, "They're calling you 'Master', hoping you can teach them something."
"I... I can't! I haven't even received the full mastery license from my own family yet!"
The Kung Fu Dugongs' pleas struck right at the young girl's heart. Her face flushed red, Kuina waved her hands repeatedly.
Struggling to retreat, she was instead pounced on by even more Kung Fu Dugongs who arrived later, each staring at her with their adorable beady eyes.
"Sakura-nee!!!"
"If you really can't help it, just teach them your swordsmanship."
Sakura stroked her chin, a playful expression on her face, wondering what these Kung Fu Dugongs would become in the future.
When someone else was challenged by them and found these little things picking up swords and unleashing flying slashes, that scene would surely be quite spectacular.
Then, the now fully motivated young girl walked towards the Kung Fu Dugongs.
"Right, we should also teach them Haki. Tiger, you come too, teach them a bit of Fish-Man Karate!"
"Huh?"