One Piece: Transmigrated as Crocodile

"When the instant storm just hit, you must have seen that everything not belonging to the Demonic Land turned to dust, right? It was like being instantly transformed into tiny charcoal particles." Rosen touched the ground; it is generally difficult for ordinary people to notice the sand and dust on the ground. However, Rosen is different. As a user of the Sand-Sand Fruit, he is exceptionally sensitive to sand and dust. But in this area just ravaged by the dazzling instant storm, there wasn't a trace of grit, which was quite unusual. No matter how much the wind blows things away, something transforming into dust here should leave some remnants behind. But there were none at all.

"Did you find something, uncle?" Natalie, ready with her weapon and a new small round shield, asked as she watched Rosen examine the ground.

"Nothing. Let's get on with what we need to do." Rosen responded casually. 

The group began to delve deeper into the Demonic Land, quickly encountering various large animals amid dense flowers—tigers, wolves, cattle, and sheep—but most were solitary. Rosen even suspected that there weren't any herds in this area; the animals seemed not overly aggressive, appearing rather leisurely. However, if they chose to fight back, their strength was intimidating; a single giant wolf weighing about 500 pounds typically required the cooperation of over ten warriors to bring down. Once they captured their food, they swiftly took it outside. At that moment, Lisa was with some others, overseeing the collected food outside.

However, gathering enough food for several thousand people is no small feat, especially since the city needed more than just a day's rations. It is virtually impossible to spend every day hunting for supplies, so they aimed to gather as much food as possible. Rosen embraced the work wholeheartedly; with his abilities in the area, the dangers were minimal as long as he didn't encounter an instant storm. His hunt yielded giant animals, with the meat amounting to one-third of the total. 

Alice stated that once Rosen gathered over 50,000 pounds of meat, their cooperation would be considered fulfilled. This wasn't a harsh condition, given that a single shipment would contain more than that. A weight of 50,000 pounds, distributed among the three to four thousand residents of Ming City, would give each person around ten pounds of meat; if they were economical with their consumption, this could sustain them for a while, and there were supplies from Alice and the others too. 

Yet, without someone of Rosen's caliber, it wasn't easy for any individual to gather such food in the Demonic Land. From the dim tone in Alice's voice, Rosen understood that well. 

The recent instant storm hadn't only appeared here; it had occurred elsewhere too. Some warriors had already died in the process of collecting food, while others encountered strong animals and were killed. Such occurrences were normal; survival of the fittest made finding meat quite difficult, especially on Lantis Island.

"Crack!" Rosen knocked out a rabbit the size of a calf, then concentrated his sand blade, slicing open its body for inspection. 

Its internal structure resembled any normal rabbit, but he could not determine why they were immune to the instant storm unless these storms could be manipulated? But could that even be possible?

"Colorful clouds are starting to gather, everyone must quickly withdraw from the Demonic Land," Alice's voice called out from afar after about half an hour. A thick mass of colorful clouds had formed in the distance, signaling an imminent flash.

Before hunting, they had already separated to improve efficiency. Even Rosen had tasks to attend to, leaving Natalie with him and treating Pitas together. Alice arranged Natalie's presence as a means to ensure Rosen's safety. Once they had endured the short-term scarcity of food, they would direct their gaze at the outside world.

"You all go first, I'll go take a look." Watching the gathering colorful clouds, Rosen darted away like the wind. Natalie glanced over and obeyed Rosen, taking off with Pitas. Leaving temporarily without the food was fine; they could come back later. After all, nothing would happen to the things inside the Demonic Land.

"What are you doing here? Are you blind, running in the wrong direction? Where's Natalie?" Alice came running up, quickly cleaving aside all plants in her path with her dagger, striving for a clear route.

"Where was the instant storm just now?" Rosen asked impatiently.

"What do you want to do? Once the instant storm starts, it's unpredictable; don't assume it won't hit the same place," Alice frowned, thinking he was worried about her, but that likely wasn't the case.

"Don't let your imagination run wild," Rosen pointed out, noticing that Alice had momentarily lost focus in her thoughts. It could be quite dangerous to zone out in the Demonic Land.

"It's just a normal observation," Alice's expression softened slightly; how did he seem to see right through her? 

In reality, it was her overt expression during the thinking process that disclosed too much.

"I want to find out where the dust went after the instant storm passed." Rosen remained keenly interested in this matter; he sensed that something significant was about to be unearthed.

"What's there to see? Never mind, I'll go with you…" Alice halted her escape. Staying in the Demonic Land was exceedingly dangerous, but since Rosen insisted on looking, she couldn't prevent him. One more person could offer additional support.

"Suit yourself, get me to where the instant storm just hit," Rosen instructed immediately.

"This way." Alice guided Rosen as they quickly navigated past several gigantic flowers, arriving almost instantly at the location affected by the recent flash because it was near where Alice warned about it.

"Those are my warriors; they didn't escape in time," Alice pointed to a few warriors disintegrating into dust, her voice displaying little sorrow; she had witnessed tragedies like these too often. 

As the dust looked ready to vanish, Rosen zipped to the area from which people were being winded to dust. Alice, puzzled, hurried to catch up.

What they saw next sent shivers down their spines. As the wind blew the dust away, it didn't drift far before settling to the ground and then being devoured by it. 

It was as if a rock dropped into the sea, merging into it, and the dust permeated the ground like moisture. This explained why there was none left after a person was disintegrated; it was "eaten" by the ground.

"What's happening here?" Alice, having come so many times into the Demonic Land, had never so closely seen the process by which someone struck by flash disappeared. When people die, who usually cares about where the ensuing dust goes? Only those sensitive to dust, like Sand-Sand Fruit users, even bother with it.

"I don't know the specifics, but have you ever thought we're essentially a school of fish?" 

"Fish?!" Alice was baffled.

"Yes, we are the fish, and this Demonic Land is the lure, a bountiful bait waiting for us to bite… This land is preying on us." 

(End of Chapter)