Chapter 377: It's a Running Duck, Not a Roast Duck
The Santo River is the most important river in Alabasta. Several important cities are located along the river. The entire river is fifty kilometers wide and looks like a sea.
But even with such a broad river, Alabasta is still very water-scarce and dry, which seems very unimaginable to Zhang Da.
You know, most of the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers are only a few kilometers wide, and I've never heard of a place where it's turned into a desert with no grass growing. Maybe this is the unique environment and climate of Alabasta, or maybe there's something wrong with the soil.
Bang!
Gunshots rang out and Bell was startled by the sudden sound, then he realized it was not directed at him.
A big bird in the sky had its wings broken and fell down, taking a backpack with it.
Uncle Long said that he was not good at using guns. Now he just shot a large bird in flight in the wing at a distance of nearly a thousand meters. Well, he was indeed not very good at it.
When Zhang Da saw the backpack that fell with the big bird, he also thought it was the vulture from Baroque Workshop, but upon closer inspection, it didn't look like the same bird.
"Uncle Long, did you see clearly what the bird looked like?" Zhang Da was also worried that he had shot down the newspaper gull, which would be very funny.
"It was a big white bird, about the same size as an ostrich, with a bag on its back." Jackie Chan said to Zhang Daye from the observation deck, "I shot it because it looked suspicious. Was it a mistake?"
"To some extent, it's not wrong." Bell took over the conversation and explained, "That is a cheating bird. It often falls to the ground and pretends to be injured to deceive travelers in the desert and steal their luggage."
Jackie Chan was surprised and asked, "So smart?"
"There are liars among birds!" Perona was shocked.
"Don't look at me when you say the word liar." Zhang Da also pulled Perona's little head away with disgust, in return she looked at him with even more disgust.
"The fact that the cheating bird is carrying a backpack means that someone's luggage has been stolen by it. They might even lose their lives in the desert." Bell spread his arms to reveal his wings, and turned into a falcon. "I'm going to return the backpack to its owner. You just keep going along the Santo River. I'll catch up with you soon."
"Okay." Zhang Da was not surprised by Bell's decision. The royal style of Alabasta is completely different from that of other countries. The main focus is on being close to the people.
Bell flapped his wings and took off, but before leaving, he hovered and said hesitantly, "Mr. Jackie Chan, please remember what I look like now."
Bell flew away, and Jackie Chan asked confusedly, "What does he mean by this?"
"Ha." Zhang Da also suddenly found the strongest warrior in Alabasta quite funny. "He's afraid that you will mistake him for a monster bird and shoot him down."
"How is that possible?" Jackie Chan smiled awkwardly and retreated into the observation room. The sunlight here was too strong.
Zhang Daye also felt a little hot. Although he could still bear it, he felt a little uncomfortable. He reminded Perona: "Aren't you going to change into a robe?"
"Why do you need to change into a robe when it's so hot? This will do!" Perona snapped open her little devil parasol, "Do you want one? I have a spare one."
"It's too weird to hold an umbrella in the desert. I recommend you dress like me." Ye Yan appeared, wearing a white robe, a turban and a headband on his head, and a fake beard on his lips. He confidently showed himself and introduced himself, "This is my performance art - Dubai tycoon!"
"No, I'll go get the big umbrella and the table. " Zhang Da also turned and walked into the cabin, "Tom, make some cold drinks, don't we have an ice cream machine?"
Tom lay lazily in the shade under the Christmas tree, with his tongue hanging out, looking very listless - the Christmas tree that he had brought on board almost three months ago and planted in a pot was still standing strong.
Tom perked up a little when he heard the word "ice cream". He remembered that he had picked a lot of delicious fruits in the small garden, which could be used to make some cold drinks.
When it comes to eating, Altria is always very active and is eager to help Tom.
After a while, everyone was sitting under the large parasols with an ice cream or a glass of juice in their hands to enjoy the cool air, except for Shark Chili who was at the helm.
"Shark Chili, let me do it for you...ah, it's hot, it's hot!" Zhang Da just slapped Shark Chili normally, but his palm got burned red. He raised his swollen right hand and blew on it.
Shark Chili turned around: "Ah, sorry, my body surface seems to heat up more easily."
Zhang Da also looked at his right hand. His five fingers were swollen like five red light bulbs. He asked with tears in his eyes, "Don't you have a temperature regulation system in your body?"
"Well..." Shark Chili said apologetically, "Actually, my temperature regulation system is more designed for the low temperatures in the deep sea. It's a little less effective in this situation, but the temperature inside my body is actually not very high."
"Okay, it's my bad luck." Zhang Da also turned his head, "Wendy..."
"Okay~" Wendy handed the ice cream she had just licked to Perona, and came over to help Zhang Daye heal his burns.
Thankfully, it wasn't some special injury that couldn't be cured by magic.
Splash! A catfish that was larger than the boat suddenly emerged from the water and bit down at the Amber with its sharp teeth.
"Wow! What a big catfish!" Jackie Chan was about to put down his cold drink and do a dragon blast, but his right hand was pressed down.
Altria disappeared from her seat in an instant, and the next moment the big catfish had been split into two. Altria stood on the water, enthusiastically picking out which part had better meat.
When Bell came back, he took the cold drink handed to him by Rui Mengmeng, and then stared blankly at Tom as he put the slices of fish on the shark chili head and grilled them.
He had seen people grilling on hot stone slabs and iron plates, but this was the first time he had seen people grilling on their companions' heads. The key point was that the Shark Chili, which was used as a cooking utensil, showed no sign of life.
"This, is this a Santo Domingo catfish?" Bell recognized the fish by the fish skin on several pieces of meat that had not yet been sliced.
"Is there any taboo about eating this kind of fish?" Zhang Da also felt it necessary to respect other people's customs.
Bell said: "That's not the case. Although the Santo Toro catfish is rare, it is not an animal that needs to be protected. On the contrary, it is very ferocious and often attacks people."
"That's good." After asking this, Zhang Da suddenly remembered that there are many interesting animals in Alabasta, such as the cheatbird and the particularly large moving crab.
In addition, Lao Sha seems to be a professional crocodile breeder, so it seems necessary to go to Lao Sha’s base camp.
Bell tasted the grilled meat slices on the shark pepper head with a subtle mood, and unexpectedly found that it tasted good. He then tasted the juice and felt that it was a fruit he had never eaten before.
He looked at the Amber Tour Group who were having fun, eating and drinking, and confirmed once again that this group of people must be good people, and he would treat them well in the future.
It was already afternoon. Bell identified the location and reminded, "We are almost there. There is a hidden dock ahead. The navy's warships are parked there. Let's dock there."
Zhang Daye and the others had no objection and followed Bell's instructions to turn into a small river bay. A medium-sized warship was parked on the shore. Several naval soldiers were standing guard on the ship, and a team of Alabasta soldiers were guarding on the shore.
When the soldiers saw the strange ship approaching, they immediately became alert and prepared to go forward to question, but they quickly felt relieved when they saw Bell show up. The navy soldiers obviously knew Bell, so they also let down their guard.
"Lord Bell!" The captain of the soldiers stepped forward and greeted.
"Thank you for your hard work." Bell said kindly, "These are the guests that His Majesty the King wants to see. I will take them to Albana. I'll leave the ship in your care."
"Yes!" the team leader responded respectfully.
Zhang Da also did not have much trust in these soldiers, so he asked Ye Yan to leave a few flag monsters to guard the ship, and everyone went to Albana with Bell.
Except for Perona, everyone else put on a robe to block the scorching sun. Although Rui Mengmeng was not afraid of the sun, she felt that this was more sociable.
Tom and Xia Lulu hung on Zhang Daye and Wendy respectively. The sand on the ground was too hot for them to put their feet down, but they didn't really want to wear shoes.
"It's so hot~" As soon as she got off the boat, Perona found that her small parasol could only block the sun, but not the heat. She stood on tiptoe and looked around for a while, then asked, "Where is the Albana you mentioned? Why can't I see it at all?"
Bell said: "It's still dozens of kilometers from here to Albana. If we walk there, we probably won't get there until dark."
"Dozens of kilometers?" Wouldn't it be hot like this for a long time? Perona was about to turn gray, so she suddenly had an idea and hugged Wendy, "Wendy, use your magic to blow some air for me?"
"It will be even hotter if we stay so close!" Wendy gently pushed Perona away and tried to create a breeze to help everyone cool down.
After a few seconds Wendy stopped. Even if there was wind, it was hot wind and the effect was very poor.
Bell said, "Please be patient for a while. I have contacted the palace. His Majesty the King will send someone to pick us up."
Not long after, a cloud of dust appeared in the distance, and nine big yellow ducks came running towards them at an extremely fast speed. Each of them wore a sun hat on their heads and even carried goggles.
The big yellow ducks stopped in front of Bell and raised one wing in unison to salute: "Quack!"
"Thank you for your hard work. I'll trouble you next." Bell responded to the big yellow ducks and then introduced, "This is the Super Fast Running Duck Unit. They are the fastest running animals in Alabasta. Please take them to the royal capital next."
"Wow~ so cute!" Wendy and Perona came over and each picked a small and cute-looking running duck and gently stroked their feathers .
Shark Chili directly chose the largest one: "My body is very heavy, is that okay?"
"Quack!" The Runaway Duck nodded. A Runaway Duck of his size existed for people who were overweight. There were fat people in Alabasta.
"That's good... um, wait a moment." Shark Chili remembered that he had scalded Zhang Daye, and jumped into the Santo River to cool himself down. Then he put on his robe and rode on the Running Duck.
Others picked out the running ducks that they liked and were ready to set off at any time.
Only Zhang Daye... was still trying to appease the two foodies: "Don't get excited, Altria, this is not food! Strictly speaking, they are soldiers of Alabasta and cannot be eaten. The BJ roast duck I told you about doesn't use this kind of duck! Tom, put away your knife and fork, and the napkin too!"
Bell has almost gotten used to the style of the Amber Group. In this team, eating well is the most important thing. Along the way, Zhang Da also asked him a lot about what things in Alabasta cannot be eaten. Duck Run is one of them, but Miss Altria and the cat seemed to have not listened at all?
The running ducks were trembling. They were very smart animals, with IQs almost as high as humans. They heard Zhang Daye's words clearly. After joining the Super Running Ducks for so long, this was the first time they encountered someone who wanted to eat them without saying a word. It was really scary.
If they could do it again, they would refuse to give the ride.
After some persuasion, the two cats finally gave up their impolite ideas and sat quietly on the running duck.
As soon as Bell gave the order, the running ducks started running. The one carrying Zhang Daye and Tom and the one carrying Altria worked particularly hard. They wanted to prove that their value lies in running fast, not in being delicious.
The super fast running duck is faster than an ostrich, and has excellent endurance and load-carrying capacity. Even if it is carrying one or two people, it can still run at lightning speed. Zhang Da almost thought he was riding a motorcycle.
The distance of dozens of kilometers was reached in less than half an hour, and Perona did not even have time to complain about the hot weather along the way.
Albana was built on a high ground more than ten meters high. The whole city was on the high ground, not like the Kingdom of Goa where commoners were on the lower ground and nobles were on the higher ground. There were gates and stairs in eight directions around it. Judging from the terrain, it was easy to defend but difficult to attack for ordinary people.
Altria commented: "As a capital city, the terrain here is very good."
Zhang Da also looked at her and said nothing.
"Yes, I heard that Albana also faced a crisis a long time ago, but the king at that time personally went to the front line to defend the city with the soldiers. In the end, they relied on the terrain here to block the enemy that was several times their number and found an opportunity to counterattack."
Bell spoke longingly about some of the history he knew, then changed the subject and said, "But I think it is a shame for a soldier to let the king defend the city himself. I have been training hard with the belief of protecting this country, and I absolutely do not want to experience such a thing!"
After a pause, Bell added: "It's the same even if the opponent is really a Shichibukai."
Zhang Da also looked up at the sky, and finally uttered: "Come on."
