Chapter 139 - Chapter 141

Amell and Minerva arrived at Alabasta where Robin was currently located. Amell stood at the front of the ice platform with his hands resting behind his back. He was wearing his extra-long Kung Fu master outfit, with black Kung Fu slippers on his feet. This was the outfit he felt most at home in and such became the one he wore most of the time. And also because he was lazy and this outfit was the easiest to slip in and out of.

They stepped onto the shore of the island and what greeted them was an endless amount of sand, a desert stretching for miles with no end in sight. Their goal was Rainbase, a city that was prospering despite the drought that was currently ongoing in this country. This was the city where Robin was currently located.

Operating on this island was also Crocodile, the Warlord that Robin was working for. And Amell had been thinking for a while about how bending translated into this world. Since he was a peak master in bending and sub-bending, he thought about how that would work against elemental based devil fruits. He theorized that he should be able to render them all obsolete, since for example if crocodile's body was made out of sand then he should be able to control it and essentially control Crocodile himself.

"So now we just have to walk the rest of the way? I hate walking!" Minerva complained while gazing over the endless desert.

"Of course not! That would take days to accomplish." Amell waved his hand and the sand underneath their feet started moving and soon they were riding a wave of sand. They were travelling across the desert on this wave at incredible speed.

Inside the city of rainbase, Amell and Minerva traversed the streets and observed the unique culture they had in Alabasta. They were wearing hooded cloaks that Amell had made Minerva buy before they entered the city. Walking around with Amell exposing his face would spell disaster. And there were plenty of hooded figures walking around this city so they blended in just fine.

"This is a beautiful city, I'm so surprised that Crocodile is managing to keep this city afloat with only criminals." Minerva was street smart, with a look she could identify where every person she saw fit in on the social ladder.

"Crocodile is a clever boy. He knows how to manipulate people and he is a great businessman. And with his devil fruit being sand-based, this country is perfect for him." Amell saw a great and shiny casino in the distance and that was where crocodile lived.

"I suppose so," Minerva quieted down and chose to observe the city instead of talking. So now they were just walking beside each other in silence.

Amell was walking while using observation haki and to say that his haki capabilities were impressive was an understatement. He could without even trying, cover this entire city inside the influence of his observation haki. And he saw Robin inside the casino, standing together with Crocodile.

"Robin and Crocodile are inside the casino, so let's wait until Robin leaves." Amell turned his gaze towards the building on his left. It looked to be a run-down bar and that was the perfect place to lay low for a while.

They went down a small staircase and entered a dimly lit room with only a couple of tables and not enough chairs to cover that small amount of tables. They walked inside with their hoods on and sat down at a small round table that had only two chairs.

"What will it be?" Yelled the man behind the bar in an unfriendly tone. He had barely any hair on his head and a scraggly beard that the man seemed to have forgotten that he had by the state it was in.

"Two glasses of water, please," Amell answered in a hushed tone while holding up two fingers to the man.

"Water? You must be outsiders then. That's not something that comes easily, even in this city." The man said and his eyes narrowed as he tried to figure out the identity of Amell and Minerva.

'So Crocodile is already hard at work, I see.' Amell thought and gave the man a nod in confirmation.

"So what brought you to this dump of a city?" He said while pouring himself a drink. And he downed it in one go and afterwards let out a deep sigh.

"Dump? You're not pleased by living here?" Amell said and smiled under the hood.

"It's all that damn Crocodile's fault! Everyone thinks he's such a hero, but I was born in the slums and I have lived here all my life. So I can recognize a fellow no-good low life scum whenever I see one. He's gonna be the death of us all, but why do I care? I will have drunk myself into the deep sleep ages before that happens." He poured himself another glass and that drink disappeared down his throat in about a second, just like the last one.

"I'm impressed, Crocodile has managed to avoid suspicion from the Marines and the Government for years. But who'd had thought that his exposure would come from a miserable old man inside a run-down old bar." Amell laughed a little and stole a glance at the man's arm, where a jolly roger was tattooed in.

"That's neither here nor there. I'm just a useless old wining fool tasked to serve disgusting drinks to other worthless and useless scum." He poured himself a third drink and downed that as well.

And as he sat down his empty glass on the bar counter, the broken-down old door to this bar flew open by a kick delivered from the person standing outside of it. In, walked five men with arrogant smiles on their faces. They scanned the room, and after look over Amell and Minerva, they walked up to the bar.

"Old man, have you heard or seen anything related to this kid?" The leading man with a bushy beard asked the grumpy old man and pulled out a bounty poster.

"Can't say I have, though feel free to hang it up on the wall over there, though no one ever comes in here, hahaha!" He laughed while pouring himself a drink.

"Drunk old fool," The leading mn said, and then turned to Amell and Minerva. "Oy, have you seen this guy lately? He is rumoured to be here," The bearded man showed the bounty poster to them.

"oh," Amell's eyes lit up in surprise as he saw the smiling, hat-wearing teenager displayed on the poster. Minerva noticed a change in Amell's aura, but she, herself had no idea what significance this boy held towards her captain.

"Nope, no idea," Amell said and leaned back on his chair with a smile. The casual attitude of this act is what angered the men. They noticed Amell smiling under his hood and a vein popped up on the leader's forehead.

"You better not lie to us, we control this town so show some respect, you bastard!" The leader slammed his hand down on the table and glared at Amell. But he didn't have time to say more than that, because Minerva planted her fist on his face in a fit of anger. And he got flung back and crashed into the bar counter.

"Watch what you say and to who you say it." Minerva glared at the rest of the men there. Her hood had flown off when she moved in to punch him so her face was finally revealed. And the old man behind the counter showed a shocked expression that after a few seconds morphed into a smile.

'I see, how interesting,' He said to himself while staring intently at Amell.

"BOSS!" One of the men ran over to check on their leader, "He's dead!" He said with fright and disbelief in his voice.

"Minerva take care of them!" Amell said in a commanding tone.

"Yes, captain," Minerva answered loudly with a smile. She looked at the closest man and he was so scared that he drew his sword with shaking hands. Minerva appeared behind him like a ghost and snapped his neck, "That's two!" She said and disappeared again. And then three neck-snapping sounds came in quick succession.

"I never thought I would meet the Enigmatic emperor," The old man behind the counter said and smiled cruelly. He didn't seem at all bothered by the fact that Minerva just straight-up snapped the neck of five adult men, in fact, he actually looked quite satisfied like he waited for it to happen.

Amell pulled down his hood and smiled calmly, "You are quite well informed for someone living inside this run-down bar. There are not many people who recognises Minerva with just one glance."

"The life of a dying miserable old fool," He said and downed another drink.

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End