Chapter 95

Suddenly, a disturbance arose in the water beside the boat.

Luo En and Conis turned to look.

They saw one after another of these cute-looking sea cows, with something like an elephant's tortoise shell on their backs, emerge from the water, come ashore, and block their path.

"These are...?"

Conis looked at these creatures curiously.

Luo En smiled and explained, "They are Kung Fu Dugongs, a specialty of Alabasta."

He looked at the lead Kung Fu Dugong.

The Kung Fu Dugong shook its head and wagged its tail at the two of them.

"En en wu e en."

Luo En, whose mastery of language skills allowed him to understand even animal speech, smiled and said, "It's saying, 'If you want to come ashore, try to defeat me. If you can't, it proves you're a coward; crawl back the way you came...'."

As Luo En translated this far, he looked at that Kung Fu Dugong, narrowed his eyes slightly, and his gaze turned malicious.

"It really dares to say such things."

Conis rubbed her forehead with her hand, finding herself at a loss for words:

"Luo En, normal people from the Blue Seas shouldn't be able to understand animal speech, right..."

The moment her words fell,

accompanied by a bang,

that 'boastful' Kung Fu Dugong fell before Luo En, its eyes spinning in circles and a large red bump swelling on its head.

Luo En withdrew his fist, looked down at the arrogant and presumptuous Kung Fu Dugong lying defeated on the ground, and smiled:

"Do you still dare to be arrogant? Hm?"

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That Kung Fu Dugong gradually regained consciousness; looking at Luo En now, its eyes held not a shred of arrogance or presumption, but immense adoration, its small eyes sparkling as it stared at Luo En, its tail wagging joyfully.

"En en, en en en."

"You want to take me as your master?"

Luo En was momentarily stunned, then remembered.

It seemed Kung Fu Dugongs indeed had a rule: whoever defeated them, they would take as their master.

"En en, en en, en en en en."

This Kung Fu Dugong hugged Luo En's leg, rubbing against it while crying out, its pair of sparkling eyes full of pleading and expectation as it gazed at him.

Luo En pondered for a moment, then said to it, "Do you truly wish to take me as your master?"

It was stunned for an instant, then nodded vigorously with joy, its small tail wagging rapidly.

"Then I will give you a task now: guard this ship. If you are still here when we return, I will accept you as my disciple and take you out to sea with us."

Luo En said to it.

"En e en en!"

It nodded forcefully at Luo En with delight.

Even after Luo En and Conis had walked far away, it was still by the boat's side, holding a handkerchief and waving goodbye to him.

"What a marvelous creature..."

Conis remarked with emotion after glancing back.

She then looked at Luo En beside her: "Luo En, do you really intend to accept it as your disciple and take it out to sea with you?"

"Mm."

Luo En nodded with a smile, "Isn't that quite interesting?"

"Indeed, but won't the sea be somewhat dangerous for it?"

Conis asked with some worry.

"Rest assured, it is currently even stronger than you; if it undergoes further training, it can become even stronger."

Luo En said with a smile.

The Kung Fu Dugong in the original work that could cultivate Armament Haki was sufficient proof of the martial potential of the Kung Fu Dugong species.

If properly nurtured and trained, perhaps it could even awaken Observation Haki...

Luo En felt great anticipation regarding this.

Alabasta truly lived up to its reputation as the Land of Sand.

As far as the eye could see was yellow sand; the scorching sun blazed in the sky, the high temperature unbearable.

He and Conis followed the road through the yellow sand and arrived at the Green City, Erumalu.

"I never expected such a bustling city to exist within a desert."

Conis turned her head to look around, feeling that everything was filled with an exotic atmosphere completely different from Skypiea, finding it very novel.

The Green City was currently extremely prosperous and lively, appearing as though it had not yet suffered the calamity brought by the Baroque Works led by Crocodile.

It was currently six years before the Alabasta incident.

It was not yet known whether Crocodile had already arrived in this kingdom.

The two of them spent a day touring this Green City, during which Luo En also managed to gather some information from certain underground factions.

One of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, the Sand Crocodile Crocodile, had indeed arrived in this kingdom!

Currently, acting as one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, Crocodile constantly hunted pirates within this kingdom, was frequently featured in newspapers as a hero, and enjoyed considerable prestige within Alabasta.

But no one within Alabasta would ever imagine

that Crocodile, whom they praised as a 'hero', was precisely the mastermind behind Baroque Works, the largest sinister criminal organization currently operating in Alabasta's underworld.

Code name: Mr. 0.

Besides learning this information, Luo En also unexpectedly came across a piece of underground intel.

Baroque Works will hold an underground auction in four days, in the Alabasta city of Rainbase.

The grand finale item of the auction is a Devil Fruit!

Right now, the entire underground forces of Alabasta are preparing funds for this auction, all for the sake of that Devil Fruit!

"What a coincidence."

Luo En thought to himself.

"Although it might be a bait deliberately released by Crocodile, it's still worth taking a look."

That same day, he set off with Conis toward Rainbase.

…………

A few days later.

Alabasta, Rainbase.

This place could be considered Baroque Works' headquarters.

It has the largest Rain Banquet Casino in the entire Alabasta Kingdom.

Compared to the Green City, it was far more bustling, with carriages and horses coming and going on the streets, vendors hawking, and a constant flow of people.

Inside a tavern.

Luo En and Conis sat side by side at the counter.

"I'm alive again… so comfortable."

Conis, who had just drunk a large glass of cold water, had a face full of bliss.

"Boss lady, another glass!"

"Coming!"

Luo En drank a glass of iced beer, his face also full of enjoyment.

Compared to the scorching desert, this really is life…

"Sisi."

The Cloud Fox Sisi scooted over beside him, eyeing the beer in his hand with a bit of envy.

"Do you want to try some too?"

Luo En said with a smile to her.

She looked at Luo En with a face full of bright anticipation and nodded vigorously.