Chapter 237: The Transfer of the Sand-Sand Fruit

Alabasta's capital, Alubarna.

Uchiha Feiyu walked into the city with a huge package on his back. As the capital of a country, it looked quite prosperous; although it couldn't compare to Rainbase, it was much better than the other cities he had seen along the way.

However, the people here came and went in a hurry, each with a look of trepidation on their faces—although Crocodile had been defeated, Alabasta's problems had not been solved.

The water issue caused by the so-called Dance Powder, as well as the oasis cities submerged by the sandstorms whipped up by Krokfar, were indeed major problems Alabasta was currently facing, but they were not the fundamental problems of Alabasta.

The solidification of classes over 800 years of nation-building, bureaucratic corruption, and the proliferation of ills were the most fundamental reasons why Alabasta had fallen into its current situation, and these could not be completely solved just by killing a Crocodile.

To say nothing of anything else, there was still a huge pile of rebel armies in Alabasta! Cobra couldn't just drag Crocodile out and tell those rebels that these were actually Crocodile's conspiracies, that there would be no more Dance Powder incidents in the future, and that everyone should just go home and find their mothers!

Even if he said that, those rebels wouldn't believe him! As for the weather becoming normal again and regular rainfall starting?

Even without Dance Powder, many people in Alabasta were barely surviving; the Dance Powder incident was just the final straw that broke the camel's back!

What's more, everyone had already rebelled; telling them to go home now, wasn't that a joke? What if this king was settling scores later? By then, these people would truly have no power to resist.

In the original story, it was because Crocodile himself stepped out and became the target for both the rebel army and the royal army, drawing away all the hatred, that the war didn't break out completely in the end. Now, that condition didn't exist.

Therefore, the current capital of Alabasta was still under the threat of the rebel army; it would be strange if the civilians here could be at ease.

"Stop, who are you? What is that you're carrying on your back?"

At the entrance of the royal palace, two guards looked at the approaching Uchiha Feiyu with guarded expressions, their eyes occasionally darting toward the large package on Uchiha Feiyu's back.

Although the royal family of Alabasta was relatively approachable, they certainly wouldn't let their guard down at this juncture. These soldiers were currently highly tense, looking Uchiha Feiyu up and down, almost treating him like a terrorist.

"Wait a moment, I called Mr. Feiyu over, let him in!"

Just then, a crisp voice rang out. Princess Vivi, having received the news, hurried over.

"Yo, you've changed your outfit; it really looks good, Vivi."

Uchiha Feiyu looked at Vivi, who finally had the air of a princess, and a smile appeared on his face:

"I've brought you a nice gift. By the way, how are those guys from Baroque Works doing now? Are they obedient, or do you need me to knock them into shape?"

"Don't worry, Sister Robin handled those members of Baroque Works very easily. I think even without my help, she could subdue Baroque Works all by herself."

Uchiha Feiyu nodded, not feeling surprised by this news.

In fact, the real work of Baroque Works was basically all done by Robin. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say she was the true boss of Baroque Works. Plus, since both Crocodile and Mr. 1 had been killed by Uchiha Feiyu, with no obstacles, it was the normal development for Robin to have subdued Baroque Works.

"Since that's the case, that's good. Although Baroque Works doesn't have any powerhouses, those people's Devil Fruit Abilities can still be useful if used well."

Excluding Crocodile, the only one in Baroque Works who could be called a powerhouse was Mr. 1, who had been cut down by Uchiha Feiyu. Among the rest, only the imitation fruit effect of that okama, Mr. 2, was quite good and could play a big role in certain situations.

As for the remaining Agents, their strength was just so-so. It couldn't be said they were useless, but they were not very useful either. On the front lines, even against those mobs like the rebel armies, they wouldn't have much of an effect.

"Very good... Let's go inside first. In public, it's not convenient for me to take out the gift."

Uchiha Feiyu gestured to the package on his back. Looking at that huge package, Princess Vivi clearly thought of something; her expression changed slightly, revealing joy.

Afterwards, she led Uchiha Feiyu into the royal palace. The two gatekeepers looked at each other and honestly went back to guarding the gate.

The royal palace of Alabasta had been renovated over 800 years and covered a large area. Princess Vivi led Uchiha Feiyu around for a while before arriving in front of a palace, pushing the door open and walking in.

In the room were several members of the Going Merry: Usopp, who was studying some messy items; Nami, who was watching a nautical chart being drawn; and Robin, who was reading a book.

Hearing the sound of the door opening, these people looked up and saw Uchiha Feiyu walking in. Both Robin and Nami had smiles on their faces, and Robin was the first to speak:

"Captain, it seems you've completed your mission? How is Krokfar's situation now?"

Uchiha Feiyu placed the package on his back directly on the ground and opened it. A bloody figure suddenly appeared in front of Robin.

"This is..."

"It's Krokfar!! Feiyu, you actually captured him alive!"

Princess Vivi couldn't help but exclaim, her face showing a mixture of surprise and joy. Robin sighed softly, looking at her former boss, her eyes somewhat complex.

Robin had lived relatively happily under Krokfar. Although their values were different and they were bound to part ways in the future, Krokfar hadn't treated Robin badly at all while at Baroque Works, which made Robin feel a little guilty.

Of course, this guilt was only a little bit. Robin herself knew clearly that the relationship between Krokfar and her was just mutual utilization; once the guilt was over, that was the end of it.

Princess Vivi looked at the unconscious, disheveled Krokfar on the ground, gritted her teeth, picked up her Peacock String, and lashed at Crocodile's shoulder. With a bang, a large cloud of sand mist exploded from Krokfar's shoulder, and it returned to its original state after a moment.

"It really is that guy Crocodile... Feiyu, how did you beat him into this state? Isn't he a Logia Devil Fruit user?"

"This brings us to the system of Haki. It is a power that can counter Devil Fruits. If Logia were truly invincible, Crocodile wouldn't have been forced to flee the New World in such a sorry state."

Princess Vivi nodded gently. She didn't actually care much about Haki; she had only asked out of curiosity.

"Alright, the reason I brought this guy back alive instead of just bringing back a head is for this guy's Devil Fruit. Vivi, do you want the power of the Sand-Sand Fruit?"

Hearing this, Princess Vivi was stunned. She said with a look of surprise:

"The power of the Sand-Sand Fruit? For me?"

After hanging out for so long, Princess Vivi naturally knew that Uchiha Feiyu possessed the ability to extract Devil Fruit powers. She had even seen Uchiha Feiyu extract Mr. 3's Candle-Candle Fruit power and give it to Usopp with her own eyes.

But whether it was Nami's Slippery-Slippery Fruit, that lion's Vulture-Vulture Fruit, or Usopp's Candle-Candle Fruit, none of them could be called powerful fruits.

However, the Sand-Sand Fruit was different. Even among Logia, the Sand-Sand Fruit was considered a quite powerful Devil Fruit. Whether it was the ability to whip up sandstorms or the power to drain the moisture from an enemy's body, it was much stronger than ordinary Devil Fruits.

It could be said that this Devil Fruit was second only to the powerful fruits in the first tier, such as the Azure Dragon Fruit, Magma-Magma Fruit, and Tremor-Tremor Fruit, across the entire sea, and it could rank at the top of the second tier.

This Devil Fruit could be sold for at least two or three billion Belly at any auction house, and it could even be described as priceless.

Logia Devil Fruits might not be as good as Mythical Zoan and Paramecia of the same level in terms of their upper limit, but their lower limit was much stronger than those two types of Devil Fruits. Just the elementalization and wide-range attacks were enough to ignore ordinary armies of cannon fodder.

For the vast majority of losers with no potential, rather than betting on obtaining a powerful Mythical Zoan or Paramecia and reaching the pinnacle of the world, it would be better to eat a Logia Devil Fruit; at least there was a safety net.

For such a precious item, Princess Vivi hadn't even thought about it at the beginning. In her view, even if Uchiha Feiyu didn't use the Sand-Sand Fruit himself, he could find a way to create a powerful subordinate with this Devil Fruit, rather than giving it to a vase princess like her with limited potential.

Looking at Princess Vivi's expression, Uchiha Feiyu rubbed his chin:

"Wait, come to think of it, when I transfer Devil Fruit powers, it seems to leave behind some aftereffects. Richie the lion's bald neck and the torch on Usopp's head are all manifestations of these aftereffects."

"If this Sand-Sand Fruit also has some aftereffects, that would be bad. It would be better if you found someone trustworthy in Alabasta, and I'll give the Devil Fruit's power to them. Anyway, this Devil Fruit can only exert its greatest power in this country."

In Princess Vivi's eyes, the priceless Devil Fruit was just so-so in Uchiha Feiyu's eyes. After all, compared to searching for Devil Fruits, searching for Devil Fruit users was too easy.

Not to mention that before fixing the Devil Fruit aftereffects, it was impossible for Uchiha Feiyu to eat a Devil Fruit. Even if the aftereffects were fixed, Uchiha Feiyu's goal wouldn't be some Sand-Sand Fruit.

At the very least, it would have to be a Dark-Dark Fruit, Soul-Soul Fruit, or Vampire Fruit to be worthy of Uchiha Feiyu's status!

"Aftereffects..."

When it came to the Aftereffect, Princess Vivi finally reacted; thinking of Richie the lion's bald neck and the flame on Usopp's head, she hurriedly shook her head:

"Forget it, I had better not eat it!"

To put it plainly, Vivi was a beautiful Princess, not some Pirate crazily pursuing power; unless there was an imminent crisis, beauty was more important to her than strength.

She dared not imagine what it would be like if her blue hair turned into sand, or if the skin on her body became as rough as sand.

However, wanting to find someone she trusted to use the Sand-Sand Fruit, Princess Vivi blinked her eyes and immediately thought of a certain minister with curled hair who had gone undercover in the Baroque Works with her, Igaram.

With the idea in mind, Princess Vivi immediately made the request, and Uchiha Feiyu nodded upon hearing this:

"That works... Since that guy Igaram was willing to accompany you undercover in the Baroque Works, at the very least, he is definitely not lacking in loyalty."

Being able to become the captain of the Alabasta Palace Guard, his strength should also be decent; at the very least, he can fight much better than an ordinary person.

The Alabasta royal family didn't have many capable cards to play to begin with; some loyal subordinates weren't strong enough, some were powerful but lacked loyalty, and others who met both conditions of loyalty and strength had already eaten a Devil Fruit.

Choosing back and forth, Igaram was indeed the best choice; although with this guy's strength, it was indeed a waste of such a powerful Devil Fruit as the Sand-Sand Fruit, but picking the best among the mediocre, this was the only choice.

Princess Vivi called for Igaram, and Uchiha Feiyu stabbed the unlucky Crocodile to death with one blade, extracted the Devil Fruit Ability, and transferred it directly into Igaram's body; a moment later, the ability had completely integrated into his body.

"Hmm... it looks like there aren't any Aftereffects."

Uchiha Feiyu rubbed his chin and spoke, and Igaram felt his own body and also nodded happily:

"Yes, I really don't feel any changes in my body..."

However, just as he nodded, a swishing sound came, and countless sand grains emerged from his hair, instantly leaving Igaram stunned.

This minister with curled hair hurriedly took a comb from his bosom and gently combed his curls; amidst a rattling sound, a large amount of sand was combed out from his hair.

A moment later, after a round of testing, the group finally determined the specific situation of this Aftereffect.

The good news—Igaram's hair did not turn into sand, so he would not have a head of sandy hair or be bald.

The bad news—Igaram's hair would constantly secrete impurity quartz particles, which is to say, it would constantly secrete sand, causing no small amount of trouble for his personal life.

But apart from this, there were no other Aftereffects from this Devil Fruit Ability transfer, and Igaram even inherited the development progress of Crocodile's Sand-Sand Fruit, directly gaining sixty to seventy percent of Krokfar's strength.

(End of this chapter)