Vice Captain of One Piece

Chapter 46 Marching into the desert, a wonderful desert trip 1
"Oh! To celebrate Ace becoming our partner, cheers!!!" Luffy took the lead in raising a glass of drink, and Usopp and Chopper also cheered.Sanji is preparing meals in the kitchen, Zoro is drinking wine and is not crazy with Luffy, Nami, Weiwei and Karu are studying the next destination.

"Hey, Luffy, when did I say I want to be your partner?" Ace also said helplessly holding a drink, but what he said was directly ignored by Luffy.

"He didn't mean it," Anke said slowly, holding a pudding, "probably just looking for a reason to toast."

"Speaking of which, Ace," Luffy said looking at his brother, "what are you doing here?"

"I'm hunting down a man," Ace said with a sip of his drink, "His name is Blackbeard, he was originally a member of the second team of the Whitebeard Pirates, and he was originally my subordinate, but He committed the most serious crime on the pirate ship, he killed his partner and then abandoned the ship and fled, as the captain, I came out to deal with him."

"So you've been hunting him down?" Usopp asked curiously.

"I'm in this country mainly because someone said he was around Yuba," Ace continued, taking a sip of his drink as he looked at the forward discovery.

"Isn't that the same as our destination?" Nami looked at Weiwei and said.

Weiwei took out a map, pointed to the next route and said, "We will land in Elmaru, and then proceed to Yuba from here because the headquarters of the rebel army is in Yuba."

"Anyway, we will be together all the way~~" Luffy said happily, "Let's sail happily together~~ Ace~~"

"Okay~" Ace laughed. .

"Hey! Luffy, Usopp, come in and help me if you have time, I have to prepare lunch!" Sanji, who was too busy, shouted in the kitchen, but after Luffy and Usopp entered, the kitchen Sanji's roar was heard.

"This ship is really lively," Ace said with emotion, and Anke poked the pudding with a fork and said lightly, "Of course, it's not like you don't know Lu Fei's character, and it will definitely be very lively with him."

"Indeed~~"

"By the way~~Ace, let me show you something interesting~~" Encore led the way into the kitchen with a spacious table.

"What came from??"

"Some photos of sailing, there are some creatures you have never seen~~~"

"I'm going too!!!" Chopper, who joined later, also followed in with interest, Zoro was still drinking on the deck, Nami and Weiwei were talking, and Kalu was also around.

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In the kitchen, Sanji was busy preparing bento, Luffy and Usopp were driven away to wash the dishes, while Encore and the others were looking at the photos.

"Yeah??? What is this strange creature??" Chopper looked curiously at the green creature in the photo, and Ace was also slightly surprised.

"This is a thousand-year-old dragon~~" Encore was very satisfied with their reaction, "A dragon that only appears once in 1000 years~~ And this is the huge whale Rab of Gemini Gorge, it is now Luffy's friend; There are prehistoric creatures in a small garden, and giants; this one is Sauron who was made into human wax~~"

"Luffy's sailing life is also very exciting," Ace smiled and looked at the pile of photos, happy to learn about Luffy's life.

"The previous adventures were really interesting~~" Chopper looked at these photos and said enviously, "I want to participate too~~"

"Don't worry~~~ There will definitely be a chance in the future," Anke suddenly took out the camera stuffed in the corner and pointed it at Ace, "I haven't seen you for three years, let's make a souvenir, Ace~~~"

With a "crack", the young man left in the photo still smiled softly, with crooked eyebrows and eyes.But who can predict the inescapable catastrophe in the fate of this young man?
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The boat suddenly docked and stopped, and everyone in the kitchen went out curiously.

"What's the matter?" Luffy shook off the foam in his hands, and looked at Weiwei who climbed off the boat and Kalu who was fully equipped, "Has the destination arrived?"

"No, Weiwei said that Karu will send a letter back to her father." Nami also climbed off the boat, explaining to Luffy.

"That's it~ I'll go down too~~" Luffy said and jumped off the boat, Usopp and Sanji also ran down.Only Encore, Ace, Zoro and Chopper were left on the boat.

"Karoo, you must deliver this letter to the royal father, which contains the conspiracy of Crockdale and Baroquehua Works, and tell him that I have landed in Alabasta with a group of very reliable partners. "Wei Wei carefully tied the letter to Karoo and said, "This letter is related to the fate of the country, you must be careful. You must also pay attention to the amount of water, because you will cross the desert next."

"Quack!!!" Kalu saluted, and quickly ran into the desert.

"I know Shichibukai Crockdale is in this country, but I didn't expect that pirate to want to seize power," Ace chuckled after hearing their conversation, "This joke is too bad, he can't just covet the king The throne? There must be other attempts behind occupying the country.”

"Another attempt?" Sauron said cautiously.

"What he wants must not be simple," Ace said lightly with his hands in his trouser legs.Encore looked at the vast desert, still smiling sweetly, "Of course it's not easy, because his partner is very interesting to me..." 'That woman is most likely Nico Robin, so it seems that Crocker Dyer's goal is really an ancient weapon.What kind of secrets does the desert country of Alabasta hide? '

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The ship docked at El Baru, and the crew members were packing for the desert.

"Desert..." An Ke, who had already changed into her usual kimono, looked at the big desert with rolling yellow sand in front of her, feeling a little desperate.

"What's the matter, Encore?" Ace on the side also simply put on a coat, looking at Encore who suddenly became depressed.

"I remembered what happened when I ran into the desert a few years ago... that feeling is really terrible." Looking at the desert encore, I remembered the past.

"Hahahaha!! Encore, you really know how to joke," Usopp laughed from the next door, "How old were you a few years ago!!"

"Do you want to go to the sea to calm down? Wu, Suo, Pu, Jun." Anke said lightly, and Usopp shut up in the next second.Zoro, who was thrown into the sea countless times, looked at the obedient Usopp, wanted to laugh but held back.

"Wow!!! Vivi-san, Nami-san!!" Why did you change into other clothes! !And that dancer costume! ! ! "Sanji yelled in great disappointment when he saw the two beauties who were tightly wrapped.

"No way, Sanji-kun." Vivi handed a set of clothes to Luffy, and then a small cloak to Encore and said, "The temperature in the desert is as high as 50 degrees during the day, and it's easy to wear that suit. Sunburn." Hearing these words, Sanji was instantly discouraged and rolled around on the ground.

"50 degrees!!!" The furry Chopper almost fainted from the shock. He is used to the temperature of -50 degrees below zero, not 50 degrees above zero! !
"Okay!! Landed!!!" Luffy shouted, suddenly many green animals like turtles appeared from the sea.

"What, a turtle?" Luffy blinked and looked at the group of creatures whose upper body was like a turtle and the lower body was a huge tail.

"That's Kung Fu Manatee!!" Weiwei's expression changed.

"'If you want to go ashore, beat me. If you don't dare, go to the other side, you coward!' That's what he said..." Chopper explained the manatee's movements, and even imitated his tone.

"What!! I can't stand being told that by the turtle!!" Usopp stepped on the side of the boat and jumped down gracefully, but was beaten to the ground by the manatee within a few seconds.

"Kung fu manatee is very powerful!" Weiwei said worriedly looking at Usopp who fell on the ground, but Nami pointed to Luffy who beat the manatee to the ground and said, "But there is already a victor over there." !"

"It doesn't matter if you win! Kung fu manatees will recognize the person who wins them as a master!"

"But Luffy already has a group of apprentices now..." Encore looked at the manatees staring at Luffy with star-eyed admiration, and then watched the majestic Luffy leading his apprentices to punch, and was speechless for a moment.

"Okay! Let's go!!" Luffy shouted.

"Hey, wait!!" Zoro looked at the neatly lined manatees behind him, and couldn't help shouting with his fangs, "Are you going to take them all there??.

"Yeah, what's the problem?" Luffy looked at Zoro and blinked.

"No way, Luffy!!" Nami seriously refused, and Weiwei also persuaded: "It's not allowed to take a manatee across the desert..." But when they found the manatee hugging their master's thigh with a grievance, they rubbed He refused to leave, was instantly cute, and then his guilt rose exponentially.

"Hey, Chopper," Sanji said to Chopper, who was the only one who could understand the language of animals, "You should think of a way, otherwise, that guy Luffy will definitely bring this bunch of apprentices there."

"Yeah! I got it!!" Chopper sniffed around in each backpack after taking the order, while Ace looked at the calculating Enke staring straight at the pile of manatees, bent down and asked, "What's wrong, Encore?"

"I also want to bring a cow in, because I don't want to walk..." An Ke, holding Chiyue in his right hand, said pressing his left eye, looking at the desert in front of him and thinking: "Suddenly I really want to call a leopard out with the animal way." , last time it seems that I passed the desert like this...'

Ace knew that it was really difficult for Enke, who was a child now, to walk through this desert by himself. Looking at her pressing her eyes, she knew that she wanted to use a certain ability of the reincarnation eye.I had no choice but to pull down her hand, put the cloak hat on her, and then hugged her, and said helplessly: "I will hold you before I go to Yuba, and I will figure out a way then." Although I am very happy I found a ride, but when I got to Yuba and ran away with the ride, Encore had a headache.

"I found it!!" Chopper finally found a meaty bone and handed it to the manatees excitedly, saying, "This is for you, you can stay here obediently!" In an instant, a group of manatees left Luffy and rushed towards Joe. bar.

"Wow! That's my meat!!" Luffy also wanted to rush up, but was held back by Sanji and Usopp desperately.Joke, they don't want a bunch of manatees behind them.

After a lot of chaos, the group of manatees finally stopped following Luffy. The manatees watched Luffy leave with tears in their eyes, waving their hands, "Goodbye!!" Luffy, who carried his and Encore's luggage on his back, also greeted them happily. wave.

"Wait a minute, Luffy," Nami looked at Luffy angrily and said, "Are you still not clear about the situation?? With so many manatees, no city will let you in. If it wasn't for Chopper to help persuade They can't come out now."

"But they kept saying they would follow..." Luffy said aggrievedly.Chopper said loudly: "If you don't give them food, they will always follow!"

"Because of this, we have a lot less food." Sanji said with a little helplessness, "It will really cause trouble..."

Ace and Encore looked at each other, thinking tacitly: "It's not Luffy who won't cause trouble..."

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At the edge of the desert, the temperature is not very high, and Chopper can still bear it.Weiwei silently walked to the front to lead the way, her face still full of sadness.Weiwei, who suddenly walked up a sand dune, looked surprised. Nami looked at the deserted town under the sand dune and asked, "Is this Yuba?"

"No, this is El Baru, which was once known as the location of the Green City."

"Green City??" Luffy looked at the broken walls buried in the dust below, wondering why this lifeless town was called "Green City".

"You can see what Crockdale has done to our country when you see this town," Vivi said, leading the way to the town, "but three years ago it was a very lively town. Every drop of water will be cherished. But three years ago, not a single drop of rain fell on the land of this country."

"Three years?" Chopper looked at the dilapidated buildings around and asked in surprise, "It hasn't rained for so long??"

"But even if it doesn't rain, we can still bring water from the river we just came from," Sauron pointed to the direction we just came from.

"Yeah, wouldn't it be a problem to bring the river here?" Usopp thought so too.

But Weiwei still had a sad face, "I know the reason earlier. Although the rest of the country hasn't had much rain in the past three years, it has rained heavily in Albana, the capital. One day something happened. It was discovered that a lot of dancing powder was transported to the palace, and the person who transported it said that it was ordered by the king..."

"Dancing fan? What's that?" Sanji looked at Nami who was a navigator, thinking she might know.

"Ah, the powder used to artificially rain can make it rain in places where it doesn't rain," Nami explained, "but this powder has a disadvantage, that is, it is equivalent to grabbing rain from other places. The country started a war because of this, and finally the government banned the research on dancing fans."

"Ah, I've seen this kind of powder before," Luffy suddenly said loudly, "This kind of powder is super unpalatable~~"

"Ah, is it?" Nami passed him directly, obviously not believing what he said, even Usopp and Sanji didn't say a word.

"I'm serious!!" Seeing that they didn't believe him, Luffy continued to say loudly. "Yes, you got it when you got lost last time, right? Hurry up and catch up." Anke tapped Luffy's head helplessly, and suddenly found that the height was just right, if Ace who was holding her could be ignored.

"Based on this, is it Crockdale who blamed Vivi's father on the dancing fans, arousing people's dissatisfaction and taking the opportunity to start a war?" Sauron guessed.

Weiwei looked at the town with heartache, and said with a choked voice, "I don't even know my father, what people in this country did wrong..."

"Anyway, let's go to Yuba to stop the rebel king, Vivi-san," Sanji said with a cigarette in his mouth, "what are you going to do?"

"I'm going to dissuade them," Weiwei slowly regained her mood, after all, now is not the time to be sentimental, "because all of this is caused by Crockdale."

Suddenly, there was a strong wind with sand and dust, and there was an unusually terrifying sound in the wind. Everyone was a little surprised.

"What is this!!" Usopp looked at the empty town in horror, "Is it the rebel army or the Baroque Works?"

"No, it's just the resonance caused by the wind blowing through the wall," Ace, who has more knowledge, explained lightly, and Anke still smiled calmly while pulling his hat.

The wind became more and more violent, flying sand and gravel in an instant, and the sky was dark.Everyone grabbed their clothes and bent over to minimize the damage from the wind and sand. Ace suddenly pressed Anke's face in his arms to prevent her from being blown by the sand and dust, but he ignored Encore's breathlessness. action.After a while, the sudden sandstorm passed, and everyone coughed and slapped the dust off their bodies, while poor Anke desperately slapped Ace's strong arm to let him let go, otherwise he would really die. bored to death.

"Ah~ The desert is really strange, ahhahaha~~" Luffy laughed and shook his head, the sand on his hat fell on Sanji who was next door, and Sanji lifted him violently Legs knocked him on the head a few times.

"Anyway, let's go to Yuba now," Sauron said lightly, and then took the lead to walk forward. Usopp, who watched Sauron walking back in the direction he came from, immediately grabbed him and said, "It's still time to go to Yuba." Let Vivi lead the way."

Weiwei took one last quiet look at the deserted Albaru, and walked to the front to lead the way.

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The sun was scorching hot in the desert, the ground was scorched hot, and there was no trace of wind.There was only a fiery sun left in the blue sky, and even the shadow of the cloud could not be seen.

"It's so hot!!!!" Luffy complained weakly while leaning on a piece of wood with his tongue sticking out, "It's so hot!!! I can't even sweat..."

"Luffy, stop shouting," Nami said helplessly to Luffy, who was also unbearably hot, but still couldn't stop Luffy from shouting.

Chopper, who had been completely defeated by the high temperature, was dragged by Sauron with a wooden cart, and the others tried not to speak, enduring the high temperature.

"Hey, Encore, are you okay?" Ace held Encore in his right hand, and held an umbrella in his left hand and asked Encore, who was lying motionless on his shoulder, worriedly.Luffy also walked slower and slower, trying to get under Ace's umbrella to enjoy the shade.Ace had no choice but to lift the umbrella over so that Luffy, who was so hot that he was dying, could temporarily hide from the sun.

"Could it be heatstroke? Sure enough, it's a bit reluctant for children to cross the desert?" Nami walked over worriedly, looking at the flushed Anke who looked uncomfortable.

"It's so hot..." Anke murmured in a low voice, raised his head abruptly, removed the ribbon tied with Chiyue, and then thickened the crystal of Chiyue and threw it to Luffy next door. He moved quickly He quickly tied up his long hair with a ribbon, and then continued to play dead on Ace's shoulders under everyone's surprised eyes.

"Ah!! It's so hot, it's so hot!!!" Luffy yelled as soon as he touched Chiyue, and threw Chiyue to Zoro who was next door as if he had picked up a hot potato, thinking it would be fine. Zoro took it with one hand, and threw it back to Luffy with a painful face, just like that, Chi Yue was thrown back and forth between him.

An Ke didn't make any movement but said lightly, "If the red moon falls on the ground, Lu Fei-kun, Sauron-kun, you two...", Luffy and Zoro fell silent instantly, but just happened to catch the red moon. Yue's Luffy grinned with a flushed face, but he didn't dare to make a sound.

"Probably because Chiyue is a demon sword that summons flames, so the temperature is higher." Ace looked helplessly at Luffy's bitter haha.

"I miss Xue Lian so much..." Encore, who closed his eyes, continued to mutter to himself, Ace continued to follow them on their way, and silently glanced at Luffy who was obediently carrying Chiyue but was grinning from the heat , Then think about yourself who has completely become a nanny, and think with a little helplessness: "You are really willful to let the dignified captain of the second team of white beards be a nanny, Enke..." But his eyes touched the one he was holding, which seemed to be a babysitter. When the child was already fainting from heat, his eyes turned gentle, "But forget it, this is not bad..."

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At night, the temperature suddenly dropped to a few degrees below zero, and the drastic temperature difference in the desert was a bit unacceptable to Luffy and the others who were staying in the rock pile.

"It's so cold..." Nami and Weiwei cuddled together to keep warm after eating their bento. Sanji was sorting out the food and water for tomorrow, and Luffy scrambled to the side to steal some food.Zoro and Usopp surrounded the furry Chopper to keep warm.Anke, on the other hand, held Chiyue and Ace in a distant place and looked at the stars in the sky.

"Is it cold? I think it's okay," Chopper looked at the stars in the sky and smiled, and Usopp next door said shivering, "It's because of your fur that you're not afraid of the cold, right?"

"What!!!" Chopper instantly became huge, clenched his fists and looked at Usopp and said, "Do you look down on reindeer?"

"Wow!!!" Usopp yelled in fear, "Monster!!!!" Zoro said lightly, "Chopper, don't get so big, it's not warm anymore..."

Luffy also rushed over, hugged the shrunken Chopper and said with a smile, "It's so warm~~~~" In an instant, the three of them rolled into a ball, and fell asleep after a while. After Sanji packed the package Also went to rest.Except for Ace and Encore in the rock pile, everyone else fell asleep.

Seeing his partners shivering from the cold, Encore untied the crystal and waved Chiyue lightly. A huge fire cage slowly surrounded the entire rock pile, the air gradually warmed up, and the sleeping partners also No more shivering.

"The temperature difference between day and night in the desert has become really large. When I ran away in the desert, I didn't call out the red moon, and I almost died of cold at that time," Anke said lightly, looking at the bloody demon knife in his hand.

Ace didn't open his mouth to speak, because Anke rarely mentioned his past. He had known Encore for so many years, and he only heard Anke talk about his past twice, one was when he went to sea, and the other was now.

"Hey, Ace, tell me," Anke suddenly tilted his head and looked at Ace with calm eyes, "When will people from the World Government come here?"

"Why do you say that?" Ace frowned slightly as he looked at Enke, whose expression was unusually calm.

Encore looked at Luffy who was sleeping soundly in the distance, and smiled slightly: "I know people from the government are still chasing me, even if Master Garp helped me escape the hunt after the Demon Slaughter Order, and tried his best to wipe me Get rid of all the information about my existence, and even make me 'dead' in the hearts of the world, but in the high-level government, it should be an open secret that 'the reincarnation eye adapter is still alive in this world'."

"In this way, it wasn't a coincidence that the old man brought you here," Ace looked up at the twinkling stars in the sky, remembering the first time Encore came to Mount Golpo.

"Coincidence? Mr. Garp is also one of the five lieutenant generals who executed the demon-slaying order, but fortunately he took his own ship away first, otherwise I would not survive." Anke turned into a flower of the other side and played with it in his hand , "Five lieutenant generals, one left first, two are current generals, one was seriously injured, one was made into a puppet by me, three warships were destroyed, and none of the sailors survived. Even if Mr. Garp knew that I was the culprit , still saved me, I have always been very grateful to him."

"Unexpectedly, the old man also participated in the Demon Slaying Order..." Ace said with a slight frown, "But there are actually two generals today, even if it was five years ago, but you are super powerful if you can escape, Encore."

"Forget it," Anke watched as the flowers in his hand slowly dissipated into the air, "I...maybe I don't have much time..."

"Have people from the World Government found you?" Ace asked nervously, looking at Encore who was still indifferent.

"Not yet, but it should be soon..." Encore glanced at Luffy's blissful sleeping face again, "Now that Luffy's name is getting louder and louder, it's only a matter of time before I'm discovered. Luffy It’s not strong enough yet, and it’s not a match for those people.”

"Does Luffy know? This matter..."

"I didn't tell him, because I didn't want his life to become a burden because of me..." Anke's eyes drooped slightly, and his tone was slightly sad, "I just want to live a very free life, but no one allows it. Luffy helped me realize this wish. Regardless of my past, regardless of other people's fear of me, he took me out to sea and gave me a truly happy life, with partners and freedom. I have always been very grateful to him. So, I want to push him as hard as I can to get closer to that position before that time comes..."

"Then, have you ever thought about what Luffy will do when he finds out? You also know Luffy's character..." Ace frowned slightly, and he couldn't think of any good way, because he couldn't do it in the Encore world. step in.

"Because I know, I won't say anything," Encore looked at Ace with a innocent smile, "Even if that day comes, Luffy won't feel sad, and everyone won't feel sad~~~"

"What do you want to do??" Ace looked at Encore's calm look, and had a bad feeling.

"Who knows," Anke smiled slightly, looked at Ace seriously and said, "Ace, don't tell Luffy about today's conversation, please, can you?"

Ace pursed his lips tightly, struggled to look at Anke's pleading face, finally nodded, and then said firmly: "But, if I know that when you are caught by the government, no matter where you are, I will come to save you!"

"Thanks, Ace. One more favor, and I hope you'll agree to help me too..."

"what??"

"If one day you feel that I am gone, just throw a bouquet of flowers on the sea, and take it as proof that I have been to this world. Then, even if you see Luffy, don't mention me, forever!"

"……it is good."

However, neither of them under the stars knew that in the distant future, when the girl disappeared, the young man would not sprinkle flower petals on the sea and hold a simple funeral for the girl tonight.It's not that there is no chance, but that he has no way to realize this simple wish for the girl who will eventually disappear...

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(End of this chapter)