Two days and two nights later, the Four Seas Alliance ships arrived in Alabasta without trouble.
The ships docked at Yuba harbor.
It was being made bigger, but it could already hold about three big sailing ships.
Cobra had already learned about this from a phone bug and led a group to the harbor to greet them, showing respect for the visitors.
No matter the country, "doctors" and "scholars" are always people who are looked up to.
Kureha, as the representative of the Drum Kingdom, met with Cobra in a formal way, with a rare smile on her face.
She was usually wild and weird, but Cobra, as the king of a country, came to meet them himself. This made Kureha think better of the Alabasta royal family.
"He's that blue-haired little princess's father..."
Kureha put on her favorite sunglasses and thought with a grin, "If the royal family is like this, this country might have something to look forward to!"
Nearby, Hiluluk noticed the fish-men who were helping to move goods.
"Hey! There are fish-men living here!"
He happily ran over and grabbed one of the fish-men's hands, laughing, "Friend, my name is Hiluluk, I'm a doctor, want me to give you a check-up?"
The fish-man Hiluluk grabbed was Wall.
He scratched his head, a little embarrassed.
Even though Hiluluk was acting like other humans seeing fish-men for the first time, like seeing something rare, Wall didn't think he meant any harm.
After all, he had called him "friend" and even wanted to give him a check-up!
Wall had been feeling a little sick because of the Alabasta weather, so he was about to nod.
But Kureha pulled Hiluluk away and scolded him, "Don't mess around, we have important things to do!"
Wall could only shrug, looking a little disappointed.
This old woman, who seemed very strict, didn't seem to want her people talking to the fish-men.
But then, Kureha said something that shocked Wall.
"Fish-men or humans, we all have the same blood, what's so strange!"
"Okay, okay, don't pull my hair, I'll go bald!"
Kureha grabbed Hiluluk's hair, and he could only nod, shouting to Wall, "Hey, friend, I'll come find you for a drink sometime!"
Wall put the goods on his shoulder and couldn't help but smile.
What a happy day!
...
Time passed quickly, and a month went by.
Setting up the regular shipping route went smoothly.
It's estimated that in the first week, the strong fighters on the ships fought off more than ten pirate ships, killed hundreds of pirates, and let more than a dozen go on purpose.
By the second week, there were half as many pirates attacking the Four Seas Alliance ships.
By the third week, there were almost none.
The pirates in this area knew very well that attacking the ships with strange blue flags meant death!
Since then, the Four Seas Alliance ships had a much safer journey.
As for the doctors and scholars, some stayed in Alabasta, planning to use the superpower's resources to build a medical research center.
This was something that Wapol had forbidden, but Cobra welcomed it.
The rest returned to Drum Island with Kureha and Hiluluk, and sometimes traveled back and forth on the ships.
...
One month later.
Dalton, having taken care of things in the Drum Kingdom, was invited by Rowan to visit Alabasta for the first time.
But Dalton felt a little nervous.
He wasn't a natural king, and big events made him uncomfortable.
But for the people of Drum Island, Dalton could put up with it.
But right now, Dalton was very happy.
Outside the fish-man village.
People from Yuba, the fish-man village, and Drum Island formed a large circle, with Dalton and the fish-man Hocka in the middle.
Both were shirtless, with excited smiles.
They had met at the Yuba tavern, had a good chat, and decided to do something to help their digestion after dinner.
Alazama - a traditional fish-man activity.
The two growled.
"Come on!"
"Oh! Here I go!"
Then, they stomped their feet and ran towards each other.
The two were very different in height, fish-man and human, so you would think one would win quickly.
But Dalton, being a Zoan devil fruit user, was much stronger than an ordinary human, even without using his half-beast form.
Combined with his strong body from years of training, he was evenly matched with Hocka for a while!
The two grabbed each other, unable to throw the other, and stood still.
Suddenly, they twisted their bodies, using their core strength, and threw each other to the ground.
Bang!
Both bodies hit the ground at the same time. There might have been a slight difference in time, but no one cared.
Dalton and Hocka stood up, brushed off the dust, and shook hands, laughing loudly.
The people watching cheered.
Hocka said, "The guests from Drum Island are good people!"
Dalton nodded, "I didn't know there was a fish-man village in Alabasta, and to be honest, fish-men are really strong!"
"You're not bad either, brother!"
The two laughed and chatted, sitting on the steps nearby, drinking.
They were waiting.
Waiting for who?
Rowan.
A few days ago, Rowan had invited Dalton to Alabasta by phone bug, saying he had important business to discuss and might be gone for a while, asking him to take care of things in the country.
At the same time, Rowan had Hocka greet Dalton, saying he would introduce him to a new friend.
Sure enough, the two got along well because they were like-minded.
Hocka had been waiting here with Dalton for a day.
He nudged Dalton with his elbow and asked, "Brother, what do you think Mr. Rowan called us here for?"
Dalton thought for a moment, looking towards the harbor, "I think it might be something to do at sea?"
At the harbor, there was a well-equipped ship, flying the Four Seas Alliance flag, which looked like it had been there for a while.
Hocka nodded.
Just then, there was a commotion in the distance. They looked up and saw some familiar figures.
It was Rowan, Crocodile, the vice-captain of the Alabasta Royal Guard, Falcon Bell, and dozens of elite Alabasta royal soldiers.
It was a large group.
Dalton and Hocka waited for a while until Rowan led the group to the fish-man village.
"Sorry to keep you waiting."
Rowan nodded to the two and smiled, "Any questions, we can talk on the way?"
The two were surprised, but nodded.
Crocodile was already aware of Rowan's plan, so he was very curious.
He grabbed Rowan's shoulder and asked in a low voice, "Without the best navigators, how are you going to Sky Island with just ordinary sailors?"
Rowan pointed to the ship docked in the distance and replied with a smile:
"By ship."
Crocodile: "..."
That's obvious!
But then, Crocodile noticed something strange.
He looked at the ship, narrowed his eyes, and finally realized what was wrong.
There wasn't a single person on that ship, but it was sitting very low in the water!
What...is on it?
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