Three days later, the weather was clear, and the Freewill continued to sail across the calm sea.
Inside the captain's cabin, a cool sea breeze fluttered the curtains, and golden sunlight spilled over the papers on the desk.
"After trading for the Devil Fruits, we have 1.62 billion Berries left..."
"Then there's the public fund. Subtracting the costs for food, fresh water, disability subsidies, daily necessities, and the pre-allocated funds for ammunition replenishment, we are left with..."
At the desk, Nami took off her glasses and set them aside. She took a deep breath to calm herself down, then double-checked the calculation results.
"...negative fifty million Berries."
*Crush!*
With a dark expression, Nami crushed the paper in her hand, her teeth chattering as she spoke.
"We had over a hundred million Berries when we arrived at Loguetown. How did it turn into a negative number in just a dozen days?"
"And what is this one hundred million Berry pre-allocation for ammunition replenishment, Allen?"
Her gaze crossed the desk to the sofa in the living room, and she glared angrily.
"What does that have to do with me? It's normal to consume ammunition in fights. We've fought three times already, so needing only a hundred million Berries to restock is actually very frugal."
Lying on the sofa, Allen turned his head and shrugged helplessly.
"Besides, we've earned quite a bit, haven't we? The treasure we got from Wapol is way more than what we spent. We earned all of that through fighting."
"Not everyone is as rich as Wapol. You're just twisting logic," Nami argued indignantly, hands on her hips.
Allen rolled his eyes at her. "Then we'll just target rich people from now on. Anyway, just tell me if we made a profit or not."
Nami angrily clenched her fists. She wanted to retort but couldn't think of a reason. After all, looting Wapol's pirate crew had indeed earned them a small fortune.
Two hundred million Berries in cash and an estimated three hundred million Berries worth of treasure—this was far higher than all their expenses during this period.
Once everything was converted into cash, the money would be distributed and added to the daily public funds.
But thinking about the rapidly jumping numbers of the ship's daily expenses, Nami couldn't help but feel anxious.
"If there ever comes a day when we can't make money, with our current spending rate, it won't be long before we become completely broke. Sigh."
Nami sighed, unable to stop worrying about the future.
Allen didn't care about this at all.
*Nami is just suffering from a fear of insufficient funds. Earning more money will naturally cure her.*
Before long, a shout came from the crow's nest outside.
"Captain! We've arrived at Alabasta."
"Finally."
Hearing the voice, Allen immediately stood up from the sofa and smiled.
"After drifting at sea for so long, we need to rest for a few days this time."
"Even if we wanted to be quick, we couldn't. We have to stay in Alabasta for about a week," Nami said in exasperation, raising the Log Pose on her wrist to show him.
This was also the reason why she hadn't recommended Allen come to Alabasta after looking at the sea chart earlier.
In a country where a fierce civil war was breaking out, it was unimaginable to expect a group of pirates to stay quietly for a week, especially with Allen being the biggest unpredictable factor.
The previous battle that broke out with the Drake Pirates had completely startled her.
Thinking of this, Nami glanced at him and asked, "Hey, what you said before about challenging Crocodile... that was a joke, right?"
"Uh..."
Allen looked into Nami's eyes, then flashed a wide, toothy grin and laughed.
"Of course."
*It wasn't.*
...
"Boys! Prepare to disembark."
The Freewill slowly docked, and the pirates, who had been waiting for a long time, grew excited.
Looking at the bustling port city built in the desert, everyone's eyes were filled with anticipation.
On the ship's deckhouse, Allen made the arrangements. "This time it's Sanji's turn to guard the ship. Gin, go meet up with the arms dealer we contacted earlier. Everyone else is free to move out."
"Yeah! Land ho!"
"Desert dancers, here I come!"
The group of pirates excitedly jumped onto the port and rushed into the city.
Sanji bit his lip with a heartbroken expression, shedding two streams of jealous tears.
"My desert dancers..."
"Tch, you can just go tomorrow when someone else takes over the shift. So pathetic."
Allen looked at him with disdain.
Sanji clutched his chest and said in agony, "There are so many dancer ladies in the city waiting for a knight to save them from their depravity. You don't understand my torment at all."
Allen narrowed his eyes, glancing over curiously, and asked, "How exactly do you plan to ride... I mean, save them?"
*Thump! Thump!*
"You never take anything seriously."
Two fists as big as sandbags came crashing down, and Nami stepped over the two men lying flat on the ground.
...
Alabasta was one of the few large countries in the Grand Line, whether in terms of its vast territory or its population of over ten million.
The entire country was almost entirely desert, with cities built around oases. Although resources were scarce, it had always been relatively stable.
Until recent years, due to the scarcity of fresh water resources, domestic conflicts broke out one after another and gradually expanded, eventually forming a revolutionary civil war that swept across the country.
Walking on the bustling streets, Nami recalled the contents of the newspaper and felt that the scene before her seemed different from what she knew.
"It feels like the situation isn't as serious as the newspapers say. The people here seem to be living quite well."
"Maybe it's because this is a port city. It's normal for it to be a bit more prosperous," Allen said casually. Looking around at the various vendors on both sides of the street, he added absentmindedly, "Or maybe it's the illusion of calm before the storm. A massive war could break out in the next few days for all we know."
"Shut your jinxing mouth," Nami rolled her eyes at him and said in annoyance.
Allen shrugged.
*Jinx or not, this recent period is already the eve of the war's outbreak anyway.*
Behind the two of them.
"This one, this one, and that one too."
"Buchi, hurry up and taste this."
"Coming, Sham! I want a portion of this too."
The Nyaban Brothers hopped back and forth across the street, busily tasting every local delicacy they passed.
Allen picked his ear with a look of disgust, finding it a bit noisy.
"They really have no tact at all. Don't they know not to disturb their captain's date?"
"Stop spouting nonsense. If you're really that bored, think about what we're going to eat later," Nami said without looking back, her eyes continuing to browse the specialty clothing stores on both sides.
Occasionally, when she found a store she liked, she would stop to carefully select items, try them on, and then not buy them.
Allen looked up at the sun nearing its zenith. He was getting hungry too. He scanned the area and finally settled on a restaurant with a bustling entrance.
*Choosing the place with the most people shouldn't be wrong.*
"Let's go. Time to eat."
...
Meanwhile, at the port.
"That's the Baroque Works logo, right? Gathering so many ships... are they planning something big?"
Looking at the ships appearing one after another on the distant sea, Sanji muttered in confusion. He put down his binoculars and ordered his subordinates, "Sail the ship out of the port and dock at a more hidden coastline. Karl, take your squad into town and notify the others."
"Yes, sir!"
*It doesn't look like they're coming for us, but it's better to be on guard.*
Sanji thought to himself as he continued to observe through the binoculars.
...
Back in the town.
Entering the restaurant, Allen and the others found a random table and sat down.
The restaurant was large, and there were sexy exotic dancers performing on stage.
A waiter greeted them enthusiastically. Seeing their foreign attire, he thoughtfully introduced various local delicacies.
After ordering, Allen enjoyed the performance on stage while waiting.
That was until a few voices conversing at the front desk near the entrance caught his attention.
"A man wearing a straw hat?"
"That's right. His name is Luffy, and he's my younger brother. If you see him, please pass on a message for me."
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