The opening kaleidoscope writing wheel eye: the war on the top

Chapter 433 Albana
Under the command of Hicks, everyone embarked on the journey. He was a lot more cautious this time, and arranged the formation much more compactly. He also asked Hanan and the others to accompany him, and set up outposts in several directions. Scout the surrounding environment.

Hicks was afraid of encountering another accident. After all, the sand thieves in Alabasta were not only the "Balu Balu" group, but also the notorious desert bandits.

They are not "easy to talk" like sand thieves, they often seek both money and death.

Fortunately, there were no more disturbances in the subsequent itinerary. One day later, near the evening, the caravan arrived in Katriya smoothly.

Katriya is a large oasis city with a very important geographical location. It is adjacent to Nahana, the only special economic zone in the kingdom to the west, and about [-] kilometers to the south is the Great Airway.

There are also a large number of small oases and villages in the surrounding area.

In the north, you can go directly to the political center of the Kingdom of Alabasta - the capital 'Albana', and there are several small and medium-sized towns along the way for supplies.

In the past few years, Alabasta has not only suffered from natural disasters, but also man-made disasters. It can be said that Alabasta has suffered a lot of misfortunes, but Catrea has not been greatly affected.

First, the sand layer here is relatively shallow and the groundwater level is relatively high. Not only is it easy to obtain water, but it also has abundant reserves, and there is still relatively abundant rainfall.

On the contrary, there is abundant fresh water that can be transported to the surrounding areas. It is for this reason that the special zone 'Nahana' is able to operate normally and remain prosperous.

Second, being able to avoid the war is a major reason, with the declaration of the "hero" Crocodile.

Katrea has become one of the few neutral places in the Kingdom of Alabasta. In addition, the king issued an edict and the king's army did not set foot here, so Katrea is like a paradise.

But this situation only lasted for a short time. With the relocation of the rebel base, Katrea has become a huge barracks.

Seeing that he finally reached his destination, Hicks felt relieved, pointed to the front and said to Hanan: "Brother Hanan, that's Katriya."

Hanan raised his eyes and saw the outline of the city from a distance. Just like Nahana, there were many desert plants on the periphery, forming a natural boundary. However, there was a difference. Behind the dense vegetation, there was a city wall.

Everyone trekked for several days, and all they could see was the endless desert. Seeing the lush green at this time, they were all in a good mood. Jessica took off her veil and said happily, "I'm going to take a bath first, and I can't find water anymore." , the whole body is going to rot."

All the partners echoed. For outsiders like them, the desert climate is really difficult to adapt to, and it can even be said to be unbearable.

"By the way, Hanan, I still have to go to the market. The equipment stolen by the vicious sand thief also needs to be replenished." Jessica immediately gritted her teeth when she thought of the lost things.

"Miss Jessica, I'm afraid you can't buy them here." Hicks laughed.

"Huh? Why?" Hanan asked curiously.

Hicks called the caravan to speed up, and then explained to the 'prophets' while walking: "Although Katrea is not an inland city, it has nothing to do with navigation."

Jessica asked suspiciously: "Didn't you say that this place is not far from the coast?"

"Yes, tens of kilometers to the south is the sea, and there is also a small port town, but it has been abandoned now, only a few people live there, and because of the war, the villages along the way are all deserted and become a paradise for desert bandits. broken,"

Hicks picked up the water bag, took a sip of water, and continued: "Actually, the most important reason is due to the country's policies. The king strongly supported the port city of Nahana and established a 'special zone' city.

Merchants from all over the world flocked here, all kinds of goods gathered, and the price was incomparable. In addition, the sea transportation was more convenient, so Katrea only became a transit point for land transportation, and few people from the sea came here. "

Harvey didn't believe it: "Don't people here go to sea?"

"That's not true. Occasionally, people come by sea. Most of them are smugglers and stowaways. Most of them are pirates. After all, Catrea is not under the direct jurisdiction of the king."

As he spoke, Hicks took a deep look at Yu Nan and the others and continued: "But this situation has almost disappeared since the rebels moved in and established a base here."

Hanan frowned and said, "You mean the rebels don't want to see pirates?"

Hicks chuckled: "It can be said that the leader of the rebel army is a vigorous young man who has always been jealous of evil. Since he took charge of this place, anyone who encounters pirates will be expelled from the country."

Seeing that the faces of several people were not good-looking, he smiled again: "But don't worry, with me as a guarantee, it is easy for a few of you to enter the city. If you need me to help introduce it, it is a trivial matter."

While several people were talking, they had already arrived outside the city gate.

Although it was almost evening at this time, there were quite a few people entering and leaving the city gate. A dozen or so heavily armed men were standing guard at the city gate, shouting loudly: "What the hell are you queuing up to enter the city, and open the salutes?" , waiting for inspection."

Hicks whispered to Hanan, "These are the rebels who have completely occupied this place."

Hanan nodded expressionlessly, not knowing what was going on in his mind, when he looked up, there were cannons erected on the top of the city, one every ten meters, and there were no fewer than ten cannons on the short section of the city wall in front of him.

On the city walls on both sides of the gate tower, there are also many guards with muskets patrolling back and forth. Although the clothes are messy, there is a trace of evil spirit from top to bottom.

Jessica murmured softly: "Looks like we're in a den of thieves! Hey, what's going on over there?"

Hanan and the others looked over and saw that about twenty meters to the southeast outside the city gate, there was a large group of people gathered, all of them were unkempt and dusty, some with old people and children, obviously a family, even farmers. .

And more of them were young and strong with weapons, all of them were noisy around a few cauldrons.

At this time, a smell of porridge came over, and Hanan suddenly said, "It's probably refugees, those pots should be serving porridge."

Hicks smiled and said: "Brother Hanan is right, these are people who have fled from all over the world, and now only Catrea is willing to accept them on a large scale."

Harvey sighed: "Isn't there a shortage of food here? It seems that the rebels are treating the people pretty well."

Hicks smiled and said nothing, but Krabatelle said: "It seems that this rebel leader is not simple."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Harvey was surprised, and Charlie and Jessica were also puzzled.

Han Nan nodded and said: "The rebel army is recruiting soldiers. Have you noticed that most of the crowd are middle-aged men, and most of them are armed with their own weapons. You can imagine it."

(End of this chapter)