"Hey, isn't that the camel we saved?" Hearing this, everyone's eyes turned to the strange creature. The more they looked, the stranger it became. There was nothing special about it, but the look in its eyes was very peculiar. It glanced down to the left, then down to the right, a look of both sadness and disdain on its face. Was there really such a camel in the world?
"Chopper," Nami said, "aren't you a reindeer who ate the Human-Human Fruit? Can't you talk to animals?" She had always thought Chopper was just a cute pet.
"Yes," Chopper nodded affirmatively. "I can not only speak human language, but I can also talk to animals."
"Chopper, you're so amazing!" Nami praised.
"You bastard! Even if you say that, I won't be happy! La la la..." Chopper immediately began to float with joy. He just couldn't handle praise.
"What a strange camel," Usopp said, leaning in for a closer look. But when the camel saw him, the look of disdain on its face grew even stronger. "What do you mean by that? Are you underestimating me?" Usopp was immediately angry. A camel dared to look down on him?
"This camel seems to be very human-like," Vivi said, stepping forward. "Although it can't speak, it seems to express all its emotions with its eyes." When the camel saw her, its eyes immediately turned into hearts, and it obediently nuzzled up to her.
Usopp was speechless.
"There's nothing human-like about it! This thing is clearly a pervert!" Sanji fumed.
"No, this guy is fine," Vivi said with a smile.
Seeing this, Nami also stepped forward, and the camel's happy eyes immediately narrowed. "Sure enough, all his expressions are in his eyes," Nami said with a smile. "And his eyelashes are so long. I'll just call you 'Lashes.'" Hearing this name, Lashes happily rubbed against Nami, a look of pure adoration on his face.
"Lashes? That's a good name," Vivi said, stroking his long eyelashes. Lashes was overjoyed. To be complimented by two beautiful women, and to be so close to them... a trickle of blood suddenly flowed from his nostrils. The camel had a nosebleed.
"That bastard!" Sanji gritted his teeth. His rightful place, between Nami and Vivi, had been usurped by a camel. If it weren't for Usopp, he would have...
"Chopper, you said this guy can take us to water. Is that true?" Zoro asked, pointing at Lashes.
"Well, he said he knows where there is water," Chopper nodded.
"Alright, you'd better take us to find water," Zoro said, a cold look in his eyes. "Otherwise, you'll be turned into water." But Lashes, still basking in the happiness of being between Nami and Vivi, completely ignored him.
"This camel is really unpleasant," Zoro grumbled.
"It doesn't matter. I can't walk anymore. Take me to find water, quickly," Luffy said, not caring about any of that. He was so tired he could barely walk.
"I want to ride a camel too," Usopp said, and the two of them were about to climb onto Lashes's back. But the camel immediately began to struggle fiercely, refusing to let them ride.
"He said he only carries beautiful women and refuses to carry men," Chopper translated.
"I knew it! This is a pervy camel!" Sanji roared, a long plume of smoke shooting from his mouth, his eyes burning with a furious rage. "He's daring to take advantage of Miss Nami and Miss Vivi! I'll kill him!"
"How can he treat his lifesaver like this?" Zoro added, a sharp smile on his face as he rubbed the hilt of his sword.
"What a strange camel. He only carries beautiful women, not men," Usopp said, looking at Lashes with a strange expression.
"I don't care. I'm going to ride a camel," Luffy declared, trying to climb on, but Lashes, struggling violently, would rather die than let him.
After a sound beating from the crew, Lashes, his nose swollen and bruised, still refused to budge.
"He's got some spine," Sanji said, lighting a cigarette.
"It seems he hasn't learned his lesson," Zoro laughed.
"A near-death experience should do the trick," Usopp sneered. Lashes broke out in a cold sweat.
"Alright," Nami said, breaking up the argument. "Since he only wants to carry beautiful women, then Vivi and I will ride. You all can just keep up. The most important thing now is to find water, right?" Lashes immediately looked at her with a grateful expression.
"Ah, since Miss Nami has spoken, then I, Sanji, will obey," Sanji immediately changed his tune.
"Hmph, this woman," Zoro grumbled. He still couldn't say no to Nami.
"Alright, alright," Usopp said angrily, seeing that he was the only one left. He knew he couldn't take on Lashes by himself.
"Okay, then it's a happy decision," Nami said with a bright smile. "Vivi, let's go." The two of them climbed onto Lashes's back, and the camel, majestic and proud, marched off into the desert. The others had no choice but to follow behind. Luffy, having found a stick somewhere, was now climbing on it, advancing step by step.
But the vast desert was truly a difficult place. Moonlight couldn't help but frown. If they continued on without water, he was afraid they wouldn't even make it out of the desert, let alone to Yuba. They had to find water.
"No, I can't! I want to ride a camel!" Luffy suddenly shouted, throwing down his stick and running towards Lashes. He couldn't move another step.
"No! Luffy has gone crazy!" Chopper screamed. As a doctor, he could see Luffy's current condition. "Hurry up and stop him, or Lashes will be in danger!"
"Are you crazy, this guy?" Zoro and the others cried, chasing after him. But Lashes, hearing Chopper's words and seeing Luffy charging frantically towards him, immediately took off running. And in the blink of an eye, Luffy and Lashes had disappeared from their sight.
"No! This is a desert! If we get lost, we're done for!" Usopp cried out in alarm.
"Hurry up!" the others all shouted, rushing after them. Moonlight also nodded and activated his Observation Haki. If they got separated in this vast desert, it would be harder to reunite than to reach the sky. And if Nami and Vivi were to run into another desert giant lizard, they would be in serious trouble.
They all quickly left, leaving Ace standing alone, dumbfounded. "Where did everyone go?" he wondered, looking around at the empty desert. The others were always laughing and arguing, and he couldn't help but feel a sense of relief. This was a really good group of companions. But a moment later, he was suddenly all alone. "Luffy...!" he yelled, but the only answer he got was the sound of the wind and sand.
At that time, Luffy had already chased Lashes far away and disappeared from everyone's sight. The others were in hot pursuit.
BOOM!
A dull sound suddenly came from the sand dunes in the distance, and the sand began to flow quickly. Then, to their surprise, a pirate ship with an umbrella on its bow appeared before them.
"A pirate ship?" they all said in disbelief. A pirate ship in the desert?
"No, Vivi and Nami have been kidnapped!" Usopp shouted, looking through his spyglass. He could see Vivi and Nami on the ship, and Lashes was tied up, seemingly about to be killed and eaten. Luffy was hanging from the ship's mast, which had been broken, seemingly by him.
"Kidnapped?"
"Vivi and the others?"
"Where's Luffy?" Hearing this, the others were all taken aback and hurried towards the ship. But one of them was faster than the others. Moonlight activated his Raptor's Phantom, and his whole body flew across the desert.
"So fast!" the others exclaimed.
"We are the Barbar Sand Pirates," a tall, sparsely haired, and extremely strong man said to Luffy. "And our motto is: in this desert, besides humans, all other living creatures are fair game to be eaten." As he finished speaking, a small umbrella on his head opened, covering his bald spot.
"Really? I think so too," Luffy said, his own head feverish and his stomach rumbling. "Is there any water? Give me some water."
"You guy, you're really interesting," the big man laughed. In this vast desert, it was rare to meet someone who thought like them. It was truly fate. The other sand pirates also laughed, and as they did, they all opened their own umbrellas. They gave Luffy some water, and after drinking, he gradually returned to normal. He then saw Vivi and Nami tied to the mast.
"Huh? Why are you here? And this pervy camel!"
"You bastard! You just noticed now?" the two of them cried, bursting into tears. They were tied up right behind him, and he hadn't even seen them. Lashes also shed a tear of regret. Why did he have to meet such a person?
"Aren't you here to save us?" Nami asked, a glimmer of hope in her eyes.
"No, I just came to find some water," Luffy said with a serious look. "Do you want to eat him? Then eat him." His eyes were fixed on the tied-up Lashes.
Vivi, Nami, and Lashes were speechless. The sand pirates all burst into laughter.
"Are you all here?" a cold voice suddenly said, and they all looked up to see Moonlight, standing on the ship's mast, his ice-like eyes scanning everyone on board. The sand pirates' laughter stopped abruptly, and a dead silence fell over them. They felt as if they were being stared at by a wild beast of the desert, and a terrible pressure descended upon them.
The leader of the sand pirates, barely able to turn his body, looked up and saw Moonlight's cold, sun-scorched face. Though the heat on his head was unbearable, he felt a chill run down his spine. And when he saw his sharp, sword-like eyes, his body shook, and he couldn't help but sit on the ground.
"Captain!" the other sand pirates cried out, but they were all frozen in place, as if they had been petrified, and could only exclaim.
"Moonlight, are you here to save us?" Nami cried, overjoyed.
"Yes. They weren't rude to you, were they?" Moonlight asked, not forgetting to look at the tied-up Lashes. "And you, Lashes?"
"We're fine! Thank you, Moonlight!" Nami said with a sudden smile. Vivi also nodded. Lashes couldn't help but show a look of gratitude towards Moonlight, nodding heavily. Finally, someone remembered me.
"Uncle, what's wrong with you?" Luffy asked, looking at the sand pirate curiously. But Moonlight's aura was locked on them, and with his level 3 Conqueror's Haki, even if he didn't use it deliberately, every move he made caused a strong mental pressure. Luffy and the others were used to it, but how could these sand pirates stand it? The big man just smiled bitterly, unable to speak.
"Moonlight, these uncles are not bad guys," Luffy said, vaguely understanding something.
"Alright," Moonlight said, and with a leap, he cut the ropes on Nami, Vivi, and Lashes, his momentum converging with his sword. All the sand pirates, as if a huge boulder had been lifted from their backs, suddenly breathed a sigh of relief. They all sat on the ground, and they found that they were already sweating profusely. They looked up at Moonlight again, and their faces couldn't help but show a look of fear. This man was so scary.
At that moment, Zoro, Sanji, and the others arrived. At first, they were on guard, as if on the verge of a great battle, but after Luffy's explanation, they all relaxed.
"I've heard of sand pirates in the desert," Sanji said, dumbfounded, after hearing the big man's explanation. "But I never expected to meet any. Isn't that the same as us?" This was truly a big world, with no shortage of surprises. But there was no ocean current in the desert; how did their ship move?
"There are currents in the sea, and quicksand in the sand," the big man explained. "We are sand pirates who sail along the quicksand. You see, this desert is so big, and we are so small. How free we are when we sail all the way by boat." The other sand pirates all looked on with a look of yearning. "In this desert, the freest person is our sand pirate!" the big man laughed.
"In this desert, the freest one?" Hearing this, Luffy and the others couldn't help but be moved. These sand pirates were worthy of respect. Moonlight nodded slightly. Hadn't they all set sail to be free on the sea? The sea belonged to no one.
"But now," the man said, pointing to the mast that had been broken by Luffy, "the main mast is broken, and our ship can no longer sail. I'm afraid we will die in the desert now."
"Oooooh, we're all going to die in the desert," the other sand pirates wailed.
"Luffy!" Nami and the others all glared at him. This guy really knew how to cause trouble.
"Haha, can I help you find a piece of wood of the same root?" Luffy said with a smile, as if nothing had happened.