Chapter 54: Alabasta – Super Speedy Ducks & the West Gate Diversion
When Luffy and the others slowly woke up, Sol was squatting beside Nami, wiping her wet hair: "Chopper is waiting outside. We should get moving."
Sol waved at Smoker, and Luffy mimicked him by raising his arm too. Smoker snorted coldly, slamming his jutte into the ground: "I'll pretend I didn't see anything this time. Next time I won't let you off!"
"Hahaha!" Luffy laughed carelessly. "You're actually a pretty decent guy!"
"Get lost!" Smoker roared in embarrassment and anger, swinging his weapon.
"Yo, old smoker's shy~" Sol dragged Luffy away quickly, not forgetting to tease over his shoulder.
"Vivi! Where's Crocodile?" After running some distance, Luffy suddenly stopped and shouted.
"In Alubarna! Keep heading east!" Vivi pointed the direction.
"Alright!" Luffy slammed his straw hat back on his head, eyes blazing with fighting spirit. "Crew! Target Alubarna—let's go beat Crocodile to a pulp!"
As soon as Sol's group ran out of Rainbase, Chopper arrived riding a massive Moving Crab: "Hey, everyone, get on quick!"
"Chopper!" Luffy's eyes lit up. "What a huge crab!"
"This is a Moving Crab from the desert!" Vivi explained excitedly.
"Can we ride it?" Luffy was already excitedly stretching his arm to touch the shell.
But Nami frowned: "Wait… why does this crab's expression look so perverted?"
The Moving Crab's two eyes were staring lewdly at Nami and Vivi.
Chopper quickly explained: "This is Eyelashes' friend! Though he's a bit of a pervert… ah! Eyelashes is here too!"
Sure enough, the camel Eyelashes was elegantly squatting on the crab's back, giving the two ladies an enthusiastic greeting.
Once everyone climbed onto the crab's back, Chopper grabbed the shell tightly and shouted: "Hold on tight! We're leaving!"
The Moving Crab instantly exploded with incredible speed. Its eight legs left afterimages in the sand. The desert scenery flew past on both sides. In the blink of an eye, they could already see the outline of the St. Dora River.
At that moment, Vivi suddenly remembered something and her face changed: she told everyone that while Moving Crabs have top-tier speed in the desert as crabs, they are extremely afraid of water.
The Moving Crab had already rushed to the riverbank. Seeing the sparkling water surface, the giant crab slammed on the brakes, its eight legs digging deep into the sand, trembling all over and refusing to move another step.
"Eh—?!" Everyone shouted in unison, nearly flung off by inertia. Luffy dangled from the crab's claw, swinging back and forth: "What the heck! We were so close!"
The Moving Crab's two eyes had turned into terrified spiral patterns. No matter how Chopper persuaded it, it wouldn't budge an inch.
Sol looked at the vague outline of Alubarna visible on the opposite bank, rubbing his chin thoughtfully: "Looks like… we'll have to find another way to cross the river."
Just when everyone was preparing to force their way across, the calm river surface suddenly surged violently. A St. Dora Catfish the size of a warship burst out of the water, its ferocious fangs glinting coldly in the sunlight.
"Looks like we don't have to swim." A sharp glint flashed in Sol's eyes. "Wait a moment." He bent his legs slightly and leaped into the air.
"Roar!" The giant catfish opened its massive jaws, about to swallow this arrogant human—only to see Sol's fist wrapped in Armament Haki smash down heavily on its head.
Bang!
Water sprayed ten meters high. The giant catfish was punched so hard its eyes rolled with stars. Sol landed steadily on its head and unleashed a torrent of Conqueror's Haki. The originally ferocious giant catfish immediately trembled in fear and obediently lowered its head.
"Done!" Sol waved toward the shore. "Everyone, come on up!"
The group stared in stunned silence at the scene.
Luffy was the first to cheer and jump onto the fish's back: "So cool! Sol!" The others also jumped on. Eyelashes and the Moving Crab stayed on the shore; Chopper waved goodbye to both of them.
Under Sol's control, this colossal creature crossed the fifty-mile-wide St. Dora River at astonishing speed.
The giant catfish slowly reached the opposite bank. Sol patted its head: "Thanks, big guy."
As soon as everyone stepped onto the opposite shore, a loud splash came from behind—the now-freed giant catfish dove back into the deep water without looking back.
Nami's sharp eyes spotted a cloud of dust rising in the distance, as if something was approaching. Sol sensed it and said it was a group of ducks.
"Great! That must be Karoo and the others!" Vivi pointed excitedly at the rising dust in the distance.
Moments later, the Super Speedy Duck Squad led by Karoo made a dashing entrance. The lead duck, Karoo, puffed out its chest and quacked proudly several times.
Chopper immediately translated: "Vivi, we came to pick you up!"
Zoro asked gravely: "Is there still time?"
Vivi quickly asked Karoo about the rebel army's movements. Upon hearing "They haven't reached the capital yet," she let out a relieved breath: "Thank goodness—we still have time!"
"So what's the battle plan?" Usopp asked nervously, rubbing his hands.
Luffy raised his arm high, full of fighting spirit: "First things first! Crocodile is mine to handle!"
"Sure." Sol shrugged casually. "Then I'll go with Vivi to stop the rebel army."
Zoro gripped his sword hilt: "The senior agents are ours."
"Please, everyone…" Vivi bowed deeply, her voice slightly choked.
"Leave it to me, Vivi-chan~" Sanji flashed a dashing thumbs-up. "I'm your personal prince, after all!"
"Yeah, yeah, prince of Idiot Country, sure." Zoro mocked coldly from the side.
"Stinky moss-head, you wanna fight?!" Sanji exploded instantly.
"Come on, Perverted Kappa! Who's scared of who?!" Zoro fired back without backing down.
The two immediately started brawling, the scene descending into chaos for a moment. But this farce actually helped Vivi relax her tense nerves. Nami sighed and went over to give both of them a hard knock on the head: "What time do you think it is to still be messing around!"
Looking at Sanji and Zoro squatting on the ground clutching their heads, Luffy suddenly raised his fist high: "Alright! Then it's decided!" He grinned wide, his smile dazzling under the sunlight: "Let's go save this country together!"
——————
At the west gate of Alubarna, on top of the city wall, Baroque Works senior agents led by Mr. 1 were on high alert. Miss Valentine suddenly raised her binoculars and exclaimed in surprise: "Huh? What's with that group of ducks? They've got people on their backs! Guess which one is Princess Vivi?"
Miss Doublefinger snatched the binoculars and snorted coldly: "Hmph, that's the kingdom's fastest Super Speedy Duck Squad. Looks like they're trying to use a diversion tactic to split our attention."
"What?! They're all wearing the same cloaks!" Mr. 2 Bon Kurei stomped in frustration. "This lady's eyes are going cross-eyed!"
While they argued, the Super Speedy Duck Squad had already sped past the gate like a gust of wind, scattering in different directions. Mr. 1 made a snap decision: "Split up and chase them!" The agents immediately picked their targets and pursued.
Once the dust settled, Vivi and Sol finally emerged from behind the rocks under the city wall. Karoo shook the sand off his feathers and let out a proud "quack quack."
"Let's go, Vivi. Back to the city first," Sol said, brushing sand off himself.
"Huh? Shouldn't we be intercepting the rebel army right here?" Vivi asked, riding on Karoo's back, her eyes showing pure, innocent confusion.
Sol looked at her with the expression of someone staring at an idiot: "Of course I could knock out the rebel army instantly. But have you thought about this—" He pointed at the distant rising dust. "An army charging at this speed suddenly stopping—everyone behind would just trample the ones in front into paste."
"Ah! So that's how it is!" Vivi suddenly understood, sticking out her tongue sheepishly. "She secretly felt glad she hadn't said out loud her original plan to stand in the middle of the road and block the army."
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