The Santo River is the most important river in Alabasta. Several important cities are located along the river. The entire river is fifty kilometers wide and looks like a sea.
But even with such a wide river, Alabasta is still very short of water and drought, which Zhang Daye seems to be very unimaginable.
You must know that most areas of the Yangtze River and Yellow River are only a few kilometers wide. I have never heard of a desert where there is no grass growing. Perhaps this is the unique environment and climate of Alabasta, and there may be some big problem with the soil.
boom!
The gunfire rang out, and Bell was frightened by the sudden sound, and then realized that it was not for him.
A big bird in the sky had its wings broken and fell, along with a backpack.
Uncle Long said that he was not good at using guns, and now he just hit the wing of a flying big bird with one shot from a distance of nearly a thousand meters. Well, he is indeed not very good at it.
When he saw the backpack that fell with the big bird, Zhang Da also thought it was the vulture from Baroque Works, but upon closer inspection, it didn't look like it.
"Uncle Long, do you see clearly what that bird looks like?" Zhang Da was also worried that he had knocked down the newspaper delivery gull, which would be great fun.
"It's a big white bird, about the same size as an ostrich, and it's carrying a bag." Jackie Chan said to Zhang Daye below on the observation deck, "I robbed it because it looked suspicious. Is it wrong?" ?”
"To a certain extent, it's not a typo." Bell took over and explained, "That one is a deceptive bird. He often falls to the ground and pretends to be injured to deceive travelers in the desert and steal their luggage."
Jackie Chan was surprised: "So smart?"
"There are actually liars among birds!" Perona looked shocked.
"Don't look at me when you say the word liar." Zhang Da also pulled Perona's little head away in disgust, getting an even more disgusted look from her.
"That cheating bird is carrying a backpack, which means someone has had his luggage robbed by him, and he might lose his life because of it in the desert." Bell opened his arms to show his wings, and turned into a falcon: "I'm going to get it Return the backpack to its owner, and just continue along the Santo River, I will catch up soon."
"Okay." Zhang Da was not surprised by Bell's decision. Alabasta's royal style is completely different from that of other countries. The main theme is to be close to the people.
Bell flapped his wings and took off, but before leaving, he hovered at the observation tower and said hesitantly: "Mr. Jackie Chan, please remember what I look like now."
Bell flew away, and Jackie Chan asked in confusion: "What does he mean?"
"Ha." Zhang Daye suddenly felt that Alabasta's strongest warrior was quite funny, "He is afraid that you will think of him as a strange bird and shoot him down."
"How is that possible?" Jackie Chan smiled awkwardly and retreated into the observation room. The sunlight here was really too poisonous.
Zhang Da also felt a little hot. Although it was bearable, it was still somewhat uncomfortable. He reminded Perona: "Why don't you change into a robe?"
"Why do you need to change into a robe on such a hot day? This is fine!" Perona opened her little devil parasol, "Do you want it? I have a spare one."
"It's too strange to hold an umbrella in the desert. I recommend you to dress like me." Ye Yan appeared out of nowhere, wearing a white robe, a turban and a headband on his head, and a fake beard on his lips. He was confident He showed himself off and introduced, "This is my performance art - a rich man in Dubai!"
"No, I'm going to move the big umbrella and the table out." Zhang Daye turned around and walked into the cabin, "Tom, let's get some cold drinks. Don't we have an ice cream machine?"
Tom lay lazily in the shade under the Christmas tree, with his tongue hanging out and looking very lethargic - the Christmas tree that was brought on board the ship and planted in a flower pot almost three months ago is still strong now.
When he heard the word ice cream, Tom became more energetic. He remembered that he had picked a lot of delicious fruits in the small garden, which could be used to make some cold drinks.
Artoria is always very positive when it comes to food, and she happily goes to help Tom.
After a while, everyone was sitting under a large parasol to enjoy the coolness, except for Shark Chili, who was at the helm.
"Shark Pepper, let me do it for you... ah, hot, hot, hot!" Zhang Da also just patted Shark Pepper in a normal way. As a result, the palm of his hand was burned red. He raised his red and swollen right hand and blew on it.
Shark Pepper turned around: "Ah, sorry, my body surface seems to heat up more easily."
Zhang Da also looked at his right hand. The five fingers were swollen like five red light bulbs. He asked with tears in his eyes: "Don't you have a temperature regulation system in your body?"
"Well..." Shark Chili said apologetically, "Actually, my temperature regulation system is more designed to cope with the low temperature in the deep sea. Now this situation is a little less effective, but the temperature in the body is actually not very high."
"Okay, consider me unlucky." Zhang Da also turned his head, "Wendy..."
"Okay~" Wendy handed the ice cream she just took a lick to Perona and came over to help Zhang Daye heal his burns.
Thank God, it wasn't a special injury that couldn't be cured by magic.
Wow! A catfish larger than the boat suddenly emerged from the water, and its sharp teeth aimed at the Amber and bit it down.
"Wow~ What a big catfish!" Jackie Chan was about to put down his cold drink and fire a Dragon Blast, but his right hand was pressed down.
Artoria disappeared from her seat in an instant, and the next moment the big catfish had been split into two. Artoria was standing on the water, happily choosing which part had the best quality of meat.
When Bell came back, he took a cold drink handed to him by Rui Mengmeng, and then watched blankly as Tom put the sliced fish on the head of the shark pepper and roasted it.
He had seen people grilling meat on hot stone slabs and iron plates, but this was the first time he had seen people grilling meat on the heads of his companions. The key was that the shark peppers that were used as kitchen utensils were not angry at all.
"This, is this a Santa Catfish?" Bell recognized this fish through the skin on several pieces of meat that had not been sliced into thin slices.
"There won't be any taboos about eating this kind of fish, right?" Zhang Da also felt that it was necessary to respect other people's customs.
Bell said: "That's not true. Although the Santa Claus catfish is rare, it is not an animal that needs protection. On the contrary, they are very ferocious and often attack people."
"That's good." After asking this, Zhang Da also suddenly remembered that there are many interesting animals in Alabasta, such as the cheating bird and the particularly large moving crab.
In addition, Lao Sha seems to be a professional crocodile farmer, so it seems necessary to visit Lao Sha’s base camp.
Bell tasted the grilled meat slices from the shark's chili head with a delicate mood, and unexpectedly found that it tasted pretty good. He took another sip of juice and felt that it was a fruit he had never tasted before.
He looked at the Amber tour group who kept having fun eating and drinking, and once again confirmed that these people must be good people, and he would have to entertain them well in the future.
It was already afternoon. Bell identified the location and reminded: "We will be there soon. There is a hidden dock in front. The Navy warships are parked there. Let's dock there."
Zhang Daye and the others had no objections. They followed Bell's guidance and turned into a small river bend. A medium-sized warship was parked on the shore. Several naval soldiers stood guard on the ship, and a group of Alabasta soldiers guarded the shore. .
When the soldiers saw the unfamiliar ship approaching, they immediately raised their vigilance and prepared to go forward for questioning. However, they quickly felt relieved when Bell showed up. The naval soldiers obviously knew Bell and lowered their guard.
"Lord Bell!" The soldier's captain stepped forward to say hello.
"Thank you for your hard work." Bell said very kindly, "These are the guests His Majesty the King wants to meet. I will take them to Albana, and I will ask you to take care of the ship."
"Yes!" The team leader responded respectfully.
Zhang Da also didn't have high trust in these soldiers, so he still asked Ye Yan to leave a few flag demons to guard the ship, and everyone went to Albana with Bell.
Except for Perona, everyone else put on a robe to block the harsh sunlight. Although Rui Mengmeng was not afraid of the sun, she felt that it was more gregarious.
Tom and Xia Lulu hung on Zhang Daye and Wendy respectively. The sand on the ground was too hot and they couldn't get off their feet, and they didn't really want to wear shoes.
"It's so hot~" As soon as she got off the boat, Perona found that her little parasol could only block the sun, but could not block the heat coming from her face. She stood on tiptoe and looked around for a while, then asked, "That Albana you are talking about?" Where is it and why can’t I see it at all?”
Bell said: "This is still dozens of kilometers away from Albana. If we walk there, we can probably get there after dark."
"Tens of kilometers?" Doesn't it mean it's going to be hot like this for a long time? Perona was about to turn gray, so she had an idea and hugged Wendy, "Wendy, can you use your magic to blow me some air?"
"It will get hotter if you are so close!" Wendy gently pushed Perona away, trying to create a breeze to help everyone cool down.
Wendy stopped after a few seconds. Even if there was wind, it was hot air, and the effect was too poor.
Bell said: "Please be patient for a while, I have contacted the palace, and His Majesty the King will send someone to pick us up."
Not long after, a puff of smoke appeared in the distance, and nine big yellow ducks came running at extremely fast speeds. Each one had a sun hat on its head and even carried windproof goggles.
The big yellow ducks stopped in front of Bell, raised one wing in unison and saluted: "Quack!"
"Thank you for your hard work, I'm going to trouble you next." Bell responded to the big yellow ducks, and then introduced, "This is the super fast running duck team, the fastest running animals in Alabasta. Please ride with them next. Head to the royal capital."
"Wow~ So cute!" Wendy and Perona had already walked over, each selected a petite and cute-looking running duck, and gently stroked the feathers on their bodies.
Shark Chili directly chose the biggest one: "My body is very heavy, is that okay?"
"Quack!" The running duck nodded. Big running ducks like him exist only for people who are overweight. It's not like there are no fat people in Alabasta.
"That's good...well, wait a minute." Shark Pepper remembered that he burned Zhang Daye, and jumped into the Santo River to cool down, then put on his robe and rode on the running duck.
Others have chosen the running duck that suits them better and are ready to set off at any time.
Only Zhang Tatsuya... was still trying to appease the two foodies: "Don't get excited, Artoria, this is not food! Strictly speaking, they are soldiers of Alabasta and cannot eat it. The BJ roast duck I told you is for That's not the kind of duck you are! Tom, put away your knives and forks, too, and the napkins too!"
Bell was almost used to the Amber Team's style of painting. In this team, eating well was the most important thing. Along the way, Zhang Da also asked him a lot of things that were not edible in Alabasta. Running duck was one of them, but Miss Artoria and the cat didn't seem to listen at all?
The running ducks were trembling. They are very smart animals, their IQ is almost as good as that of humans. They heard Zhang Daye's words clearly. After joining the Super Fast Duck Force for so long, this is the first time I have encountered someone who wants to eat them without saying a word. It's really scary.
If they could do it all over again, they would refuse to fly.
After some persuasion, the two cats finally gave up their impolite ideas and sat quietly on the running duck.
When Bell gave the order, the running ducks started running. The one carrying Zhang Daye and Tom and the one carrying Artoria worked especially hard. They wanted to prove that their value lies in running fast, not in being good. eat.
The super fast running duck is faster than an ostrich, and it also has excellent endurance and load-carrying capacity. Even if it is carrying one or two people on its back, it is still running so fast that Zhang Da almost thinks he is racing on a motorcycle.
The distance of dozens of kilometers was reached in less than half an hour, and Perona didn't have time to complain about the hot weather along the way.
Albana is built on a highland of more than ten meters high. The entire city is on high ground, rather than the common people on the lower ground and the nobles on the high ground like the Kingdom of Goa. There are gates and stairs in eight directions around it. Judging from the terrain, it is easy to defend but difficult to attack for ordinary people.
Artoria commented: "For a capital city, the terrain here is very good."
Zhang Da also looked at her and said nothing.
"Yes, I heard that Albana also faced a crisis a long time ago, but the king at that time personally went to the front line to defend the city with the soldiers. In the end, relying on the terrain here, he blocked several times the enemy and found an opportunity to counterattack."
Bell talked longingly about some of the history he knew, and then changed the topic and said, "But I think it is a shame for a soldier to let the king personally defend the city. I have been training hard with the belief that I want to protect this country. , I definitely don’t want to experience something like that!”
After a pause, Bell added: "It will be the same even if the opponent is really the Shichibukai."
Zhang Da also looked up at the sky, and in the end he only said: "Come on."
