One Piece: Failure’s Road to the Pirate King

Rainbase, located on an oasis in the northwest desert of Alabasta, perhaps was named 'Rainbase' with hopes for the area at the time of its naming. However, after Crocodile built a casino here, it has been raining frequently, solidifying the name Rainbase.

After resting for two days and holding two banquets, the rotating Subordinates had a good time. The Injured Person received treatment and just needed to change the dressing on time. After two days, some Subordinates were able to move around.

Seeing that there was nothing else to do, Sage set off directly, leaving Naruhara and heading towards Rainbase.

This time, in addition to replenishing some supplies, there were also dozens of camels added to the Deck.

Their Vessel was large enough that even with dozens of camels, it wouldn't take up much space.

Renetia looked at the camels from the second-floor balcony and asked curiously, "Why buy so many camels? Are we adopting pets? But camels look so ugly, and they're chewing."

"They're not for pets," Marika replied with a gentle smile. "We need them for transportation."

"We have to cross a stretch of desert to get to our destination," she added.

These camels were, of course, ordered by Sage for the Subordinates to buy. Alabasta is vast, and without a means of transportation, it would take too long to travel on foot.

Originally, he didn't plan to buy these camels; he wanted faster creatures. However, those weren't available in Naruhara, and instead, there were plenty of common camels, so he had to settle for them.

The terrain of Alabasta is too large; even reaching a nearby town could take a day and night on foot, let alone Rainbase, which is far from the coast.

Even camels wouldn't suffice, but in reality, this group of camels was not slow.

In this world, one cannot rely on the common sense from the previous life. Although Sage had lived for twenty-two years and had gotten used to it, sometimes he still felt astonished.

It wasn't just the camels that were fast; even normal Vessels sailed faster than the sailing ships he remembered from his past life. The Sea is vast, and the world is large, but it's quite normal for Vessels to be fast as well.

Still, the same saying applies: the Sea is quite magical.

Lily was looking at a map of Alabasta. As a Port City, they naturally had such things. Although not all locations were marked, several major cities were indicated.

Among them were Port City Naruhara, the dreamland Rainbase, and the royal capital Alubarna.

"We need to head west, sail into the Saint Dora River, stop at the western end, and then ride camels to Rainbase. I've asked around, and it should take about two days to get there."

Whether reaching Rainbase or heading to the capital Alubarna, sailing to the Saint Dora River was the most convenient option, much easier than from Naruhara.

"Eh? Crossing the desert seems quite interesting," Renetia said with anticipation.

"Set sail!"

Seeing that everyone was almost ready, Lily gave the order, pulled out Bai Lei, and pointed to the sky, "Let's set off!"

Under the Starry Skull Flag, the black Sail with a flag pattern unfurled, and with the Subordinates steering, they slowly departed from the shore, heading west.

With such a short distance, sailing along the land didn't require constant attention.

The Climate of the Sea Area belonging to the Island was basically normal.

The three of them entered the Captain's room, where Sage was leaning back in his chair, one hand stroking his chin in thought, "Strange."

"Sage, what's strange?" Lily asked.

"Why is no one coming with me? I'm offering a good amount of money, Lily. Is it that hard to get a dance troupe? It's not like I'm asking them to be Pirates and rob; they're a bunch of weaklings who don't even have the qualifications to rob," Sage looked at Lily.

Lily: "…"

Sage not only bought camels but also wanted that group of dancers to come aboard. For this, he even offered salaries, as long as they played music and danced for him regularly.

But no one agreed.

"Not everyone wants to go to sea; life here is quite good," Lily said.

Although they were in turmoil and viewed Crocodile, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, as a hero, many seemed to have a good impression of the King, believing Cobra was a good King.

The lack of rain was a matter of fate, not man-made disaster.

"Forget it, I'll find someone eventually, a dance troupe that can come aboard to play music and dance for me."

Sage straightened up, poured a glass of wine, and asked everyone, "How long until we reach the Saint Dora River?"

"About half a day; we should arrive around noon," Lily thought for a moment and replied.

"Too slow. Tell them to speed up. Reti, go to the Engine Room and have the Subordinates work harder. I want to dock in the morning and have a rock-roasted lunch in the desert at noon," Sage instructed.

"Understood."

Renetia went straight up the stairs from the Captain's room to give the orders.

"Sage, there's something to mention. We didn't buy a Log Pose; this Port City doesn't have one," Lily said.

"Rainbase has one!" Sage waved his hand.

"There's also not enough water. Although it's a Port City, it lacks water. If we succeed in robbing, I don't know if we can store enough water for the journey to the next island."

"Rainbase has water!" Sage waved his hand again.

"We…"

"Rainbase has it!" Sage didn't give Lily a chance to continue speaking. "Anyway, what we don't have, Rainbase will have! If Rainbase doesn't have it, Crocodile will have it!"

As one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, no matter how long he stayed in the desert, he wouldn't forget the essentials of sailing; they would have everything necessary.

Seeing Sage's confident and resolute demeanor, Lily felt a sudden wave of exhaustion in her heart…

After the Subordinates in the Engine Room increased their speed, they reached the destination of the Saint Dora River, which was originally expected to take half a day, in just over three hours.

Sage appeared on the Deck, looking at the gathered Subordinates, "Akin, Paru, Miote, you're coming with me. Akin, choose another fifty people to be the main force for this operation."

There were only so many camels, and it was impossible to bring all the Subordinates along, especially with so much distance to cover; he could only select the best.

"Yes! Sage Captain!"

Akin responded and began to select from the Subordinates.

As the head of the combat team, he also had to understand the combat abilities of the Subordinates; it was his responsibility.

Sage Captain didn't pay much attention to the combat situations of the Subordinates. Although he would teach them to train, so far, only a few had managed to learn the Six Styles.

The willpower of the Subordinates was indeed strong, but some things couldn't be achieved just by having strong willpower; only those who stood out could catch his attention.

For example, Miote, although mute, gained fame in the battle at Log Town due to his strong physique and received a bounty, which brought him into Sage Captain's sight.

Now he was also a combat captain on the ship.

Boom!

Just as he was selecting, a massive splash erupted from the supposedly fifty-kilometer-wide river, and a giant catfish, half the size of their Black Ship, surfaced, opening its mouth full of sharp teeth and roaring at the people in the Vessel, releasing a wave of fishy smell.

The giant catfish made the Subordinates on the ship show expressions of fear.

"It stinks!"

Renetia's forehead burst with veins, and the Mechanical Hammer quickly extended in her hand. What should have been a ram's horn hammer head expanded from the center, revealing a cannon barrel.

Zizz!

"Power Cannon Fire!!"

Electric Flowers on her small hand surged onto the Mechanical Hammer, launching a Shell that rapidly shot out, exploding against the catfish's head with a bang, creating a cloud of black mist. The catfish let out a painful cry, fell onto the river surface, and sank back down.

"Renetia-sama is amazing!" the Subordinates exclaimed excitedly.

The three major officers on the ship had solidified their positions in everyone's hearts over time.

Renetia was an Ability User, and not only was her Power ability irreplaceable on the ship, but her own strength also surpassed that of these people.

Marika, while still gentle and acting as the caring big sister on the ship, making people feel like spring breeze, had gradually begun to command respect due to her high position as the head chef and her immense strength.

Lily, during her time in the East Sea, seemed to be on par with Akin, but perhaps due to her inherent potential, her strength improved rapidly. Back in Log Town, she had already surpassed Akin, and upon reaching the Grand Line and mastering the Iron-Cutting technique, she shone even brighter.

In contrast, Akin, although working hard to train, still paled in comparison to these three.

It wasn't that he was weak; he was certainly much stronger than he was in the East Sea. He had already mastered 'Paper Drawing' and Soru in the Six Styles, but compared to the brilliance of the three major officers, his light was somewhat dim.

However, he was very clear about his own positioning as a combat team leader. As long as he worked hard to keep up with Captain's pace and faithfully executed Captain's orders, that was enough.

After quickly selecting fifty people, everyone descended the lowered gangway, leading the camels into the arid desert, where the heat caused the air to shimmer.

"Tsk, it's really hot. Why isn't there a Storm at this time?"

Sage looked up at the scorching sun in the sky, clicked his tongue, and was about to mount a camel.

Boom! Just then, a sudden rise occurred in the desert, rapidly advancing towards them. The distance was already close, and with a sudden thrust, it directly reached the group of camels they had just led down.

The sand suddenly caved in, and the entire group of camels sank into it, while a massive purple creature leaped out from the depression, opening its huge mouth and swallowing the entire group of camels.

Bang! The enormous body landed in the desert, first revealing a pair of vertically slit pupils the size of a human's, narrowing at the crowd and exuding a dangerous aura.

It was a gigantic purple-skinned lizard!

No!

Suddenly, the desert on the opposite side rose again, and another lizard of the same size sprang out, surrounding Sage and the others.

Two "trash fish!"

Sage's expression darkened, and he gritted his teeth, "Do you want me to walk on foot? Huh?!"

Just when he said it hadn't rained, something like this came along!