The vast, endless desert stretched beneath a black sky, where a bright moon hung high, spilling silver light over the sands.
A brown hawk spread its massive wings, cutting through the night sky at incredible speed.
Seated cross-legged on its back, Rainer's golden hair whipped wildly in the wind, his blue shirt snapping sharply.
He was heading toward Rainbase—the so-called "Dream City" of Alabasta, the only city spared from drought and war.
Crocodile's Casino, Rain Dinners, was the city's most famous landmark.
"Already at the Sandora River?" Rainer gazed ahead at the endless ribbon of water.
Moonlight shimmered across the surface, reflecting a trembling water-moon.
The Sandora River was Alabasta's great inland waterway. Beginning west of the port city of Nanimohara (Erumei: "Oil Flower"), it cut deep into half of Sandy Island, effectively dividing the kingdom in two.
Many cities were built along its banks, their canals once feeding them with life-giving water.
But years ago, Crocodile had secretly ordered Baroque Works agents to blow up those canals, worsening the drought.
Rainbase and the capital, Alubarna, sat across the river from each other. But few dared to cross the upper reaches of the Sandora—at its widest, it stretched fifty kilometers, teeming with monstrous predators.
When Vivi had explained this, Rainer had been shocked. It'd take several Little Garden–sized islands laid end to end just to bridge this river.
Now, peering into the pitch-dark expanse, Rainer pushed his hawk steed higher, flying straight across.
But as soon as he entered the river's airspace, the water below stirred.
Splash!
The river split open. A wormlike beast over ten meters thick erupted upward, spiraling teeth gleaming inside its gaping maw as it lunged for hawk and rider.
But before it could snap shut, two jagged rifts split open in midair.
From them thrust two ghastly white spears, brimming with killing intent.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Like thunderbolts, they tore through the beast's mouth, punching out its back in a spray of flesh and blood.
The massive force hurled the creature backward, slamming it against the river surface with an earth-shaking splash.
Rainer barely spared it a glance, guiding the hawk higher.
Something's wrong with this river.
A chill ran down his spine. Ever since entering the Sandora, he'd felt a faint aura of death. He'd dismissed it as nerves—until now.
Looking down, he saw the worm's carcass floating.
And beside it… a colossal figure stood upright, half-submerged, staring right at him.
Yellow, oval body. Neatly layered scales. And atop it—grotesquely—a cat's head.
The Sea Cat.
Rainer had never seen one before, but he recognized it instantly.
The creature venerated in Alabasta's myths. The very same immortalized in murals and statues beside the Poneglyph in the royal tombs.
But the eerie part was the smile—the Sea Cat's face twisted into a stiff grin, its eyes locked with his.
Every hair on Rainer's body stood on end.
He noticed something else: a golden earring dangling from its left ear. Domesticated? Impossible.
This ocean was not as simple as he once believed. Devil Fruits were born of will itself—who was to say stranger, more supernatural things didn't lurk in the depths?
As he rose higher, the Sea Cat sank back down, its shadow dissolving into the riverbed.
"…Now that I think about it, fifty kilometers wide really is absurd."
He had thought the Grand Line's weirdness would stop surprising him. But remembering that uncanny smile, he felt lingering dread.
The Sand Kingdom, heir to millennia of history, was far more mysterious than he imagined.
The aura of death… something terrifying still slumbered in the depths. Perhaps one day, he'd return to investigate.
Half a quarter hour later, he had crossed the Sandora entirely. The hawk's speed was astonishing—it spanned the fifty kilometers in less than fifteen minutes.
After another half hour across the desert, lights appeared in the distance.
A radiant city glittered against the barren sands, burning bright into the night. Rainbase—the dream city of Alabasta.
Its streets pulsed with energy, the only oasis of perpetual revelry in a dying land.
Rainer soared over the bustling avenues, straight toward the grand casino: Rain Dinners.
But when he dismissed his hawk and dropped onto an empty lot nearby, confusion hit him.
Why's it deserted?
The casino's entrance was a wreck, littered with shattered furniture and debris.
Though the city still thrummed with nightlife, Rain Dinners—the one place that should have been teeming with gamblers—was abandoned.
Rainer's expression darkened. Crocodile's identity as Baroque Works' boss wasn't widely known. The casino should've kept running even with him gone. No way it collapsed in an afternoon.
He lit a cigarette, its glow flickering in the ruins, and strode inside.
The interior was worse—tables smashed, walls scarred, blood spattered across stone. The stench of iron still hung in the air.
Clearly, a battle had just been fought.
Then—a shadow.
A brown-haired man crept from the back hall, lugging two suitcases. The moment he poked his head out, his eyes met Rainer's.
Rainer's expression hardened instantly.
"…Smoker, you bastard."
Of course. The Marines had raided it first.
He bit down on his cigarette, jaw tight, and advanced toward the man.
"Stay back! Don't come closer!"
Dropping one suitcase, the man fumbled out a pistol, his hands trembling as he aimed.
He was Rain Dinners' manager. Earlier that evening, as the casino filled with patrons, Marines had stormed in—smashing tables, seizing people, wrecking everything like thugs.
Even invoking his boss's title as a Warlord of the Sea hadn't stopped them.
Panicked, he'd fled to the back, grabbed what money he could, and hidden in a darkroom. Only now, when silence returned, had he dared to emerge.
And now—this. Another intruder.
Sweat poured down his face as Rainer's cold gaze bore into him, step by step.
"Stay back, I said!!"
Bang!
The pistol went off. Blood spurted from the man's shoulder, splattering across the floor.
"Aaaah!!" He screamed, clutching his wound and collapsing.
Rainer calmly holstered his own weapon—a flintlock pistol, one of his old favorites.
Though outdated, at short range it was still brutally effective.
Even with his body now strengthened beyond Luffy's by his awakened Zoan fruit, Rainer still preferred Usopp-style tactics.