After leaving the Kung-Fu Dugongs behind, Amon continued deeper into Alabasta.
"The drought here really is serious."
"And it's hot."
Walking through the desert, he felt sweat pouring down nonstop. The heat was oppressive enough that even Lily had her tongue out, trying to cool herself off. Her little pink tongue looked almost human, and under other circumstances Amon might have teased her a bit, but seeing how miserable she was, he decided to let her off.
Just as the two of them were starting to think about finding a place to rest, the sand suddenly burst open.
A giant yellow crab crawled out from below.
Amon's eyes lit up at once.
"A Moving Crab."
That solved the problem of transportation.
He strode over towards it and gave it a thorough beating. The poor crab looked utterly stunned. It had barely come up from underground before getting punched around for no reason at all.
"Lily, tell it this. If it doesn't want to get beaten again, it can carry us for a while. Once we reach the city, we'll let it go."
After Lily translated, the crab clearly wanted to refuse. Then it remembered Amon's fists and swallowed every complaint in its heart. A moment later, it obediently agreed.
And so, the giant crab that had only come out for a peaceful stroll somehow turned into a mount.
Amon, meanwhile, settled in comfortably. He pulled out a beach chair from his ring, added some chilled juice and fruit, then even set up a parasol. Before long, he was treating the Moving Crab like a mobile touring car.
A few glasses of cold juice later, Lily had recovered too. Her tongue was no longer hanging out, and her usual graceful air had returned.
With a proper ride under them, their pace increased sharply. It did not take long before the outer edge of Alabasta's city came into view.
"All right, thanks for the help. Here, take this as payment."
Amon took out half of a Spirit Beast Pill.
Back when Mohji had opened one, Amon had kept part of it for study. He had tried giving half to Lily, but it did nothing, probably because Pokémon did not count as beasts in the same way. So the remaining half had stayed with him until now.
This seemed like a good time to use it.
After all, he had beaten this crab up first, then forced it to carry them across the desert. Paying it with a treasure like this was more than fair.
Once Lily translated, the crab swallowed the half pill in one gulp.
Its body changed suddenly and the crab was so startled that it froze in place before bursting into delight.
One trip across the desert, one major stroke of fortune.
That was a good deal no matter how it looked.
The crab waved enthusiastically at the two of them before disappearing back into the sands.
…
After parting with the crab, Amon and Lily headed toward the royal city.
"Master, this city really looks like it hasn't seen rain in a long time."
Lily looked at the dried wells and the dead crops with a faint frown.
"Alabasta is a desert kingdom. Drought isn't unusual here. Come on."
Even if he wanted to interfere, there was not much he could do about the larger problems of the country.
Still, just as he was about to continue forward, something in the ruined alleys ahead caught his attention.
Through his Observation Haki, Amon sensed three vicious-looking thugs with large blades searching through the old ruins for a little girl.
The girl had blue hair and wore a cute little dress.
Nefertari Vivi.
According to her childhood memories, there had indeed once been a time when a few thugs tried to kidnap her while she was with the Sand-Sand Clan.
Could these be the same men?
"Lily, come on. This should be interesting."
A large part of why he had come to Alabasta in the first place was Vivi. And now that he had actually found her, he already had a rough idea of how to sell a few Jars here.
With that thought, he headed toward the ruins with Lily.
...
Inside the ruins, young Vivi was terrified.
These three thugs had appeared out of nowhere and tried to seize her. Thanks to the protection of her friends from the Sand-Sand Clan, she had managed to escape for the moment, but her situation was still dangerous.
No matter how mischievous she usually was, she was still only a little girl.
She hid herself as best she could, forcing down the fear inside her.
"Princess Vivi, come out. You can't run."
"Heh, the boss just wants to invite you over for tea."
"If you don't come out, your little friends are going to lose their lives."
The three men began threatening her more openly when they failed to find her.
"Vivi, don't listen to them!" Koza shouted from where he was being held. "Don't come out. When the royal guards arrive, you'll be safe!"
One of the thugs holding him sneered.
"Smart brat."
"But I've heard Princess Vivi cares very much about the people. There's no way she'd save herself and leave others to die. Princess, I'll count to three. If you still don't come out, we'll kill this boy."
The man drew his blade.
"Three... two..."
Before he could say one, Vivi stepped out from hiding.
Her body was shaking, but she forced herself to stay upright.
"Don't kill him. I'll go with you."
The three men grinned immediately.
"What a kind little princess. Go on, grab her."
They started toward her with cruel smiles, and Vivi's legs trembled harder. She was scared half to death, but she still bit back her tears and refused to cry.
Then a voice drifted down from above them.
"Looks lively here."
The three men jerked their heads up.
A young man was sitting casually on the broken wall overhead.