Chapter 55: Rainy Feast in the Rain

His tone was so righteous that Cheng Xi had a little doubt whether he had taken the wrong road.

However, this doubt did not last long. Before Nami, the parent of the Straw Hat Pirates, came out to explain, a certain rubber captain took the lead. While eating barbecue, he tapped Nami's head and pointed at Cheng Xi and laughed: "Hahaha, Nami, look, someone would actually ask Zoro, who is a road idiot, for directions. It's really funny."

As Luffy said, this is a very funny thing, but judging from the current situation, laughing at others is a very impolite behavior, so the Straw Hat Pirates, with only a few politeness, forced themselves to hold back their laughter, and it looked very uncomfortable.

Sanji moved in front of Cheng Xi like a whirlwind and shook his body into a wave shape. With a big heart in his eyes, he said excitedly: "Oh, my beautiful Cheng Xi, that three-sword style green algae head is a fool who is hopelessly lost in direction. If possible, I am willing to be your knight and lead the way for you."

"Huh!?" Zoro's head was completely blown up, and he argued with him: "Are you a knight from the Idiot Country or the Idiot Country?"

A large flame suddenly appeared on Sanji's body: "Who are you talking about, you idiot swordsman!"

Zoro was not to be outdone and retorted with him: "I'm talking about you, you circle-browed bastard..."

...

Watching the two of them quarreling, Cheng Xi was speechless for a while. He always felt that this scene was somewhat familiar. After thinking for a long time, Finally, I realized that this was how Shanks and Buggy were when they were on Roger's ship. Basically, every time I went there, they were arguing, and it would end with Rayleigh or Jabba hitting them on the head...

When Nami, who could no longer bear it, punched them both on the head, Cheng Xi finally realized that this world is a huge cycle.

After a while of noise, the scene became a little quieter. Cheng Xi took out a folded white paper from his pocket and handed it to Ace: "Just now, an old man selling fish on the shore asked me to give this to you."

"A boy with a scar on the corner of his eye and a blue hat came to this city three days ago. I asked him to help give this paper to Fire Fist Ace and gave him a bounty for you." " 

But you two ran too fast. He said he was old and had weak arms and legs and couldn't move easily, so he didn't catch up." Cheng Xi looked at Luffy and Ace, spread his hands, and said helplessly: "So I can only ask you to give it to you." 

Ace murmured to himself: "Blue hat? Is it Sabo?" 

"Sa... Sabo." Luffy changed his giggling expression when he heard the name, put down the barbecue, stood still, and his face couldn't stop shaking. 

The Straw Hat Pirates rarely saw Luffy so excited. 

This brother who died a long time ago has always been the tacit pain of the two brothers. Luffy couldn't believe it: "Sabo is not..." 

"Sabo is not dead." Ace told Luffy what happened, "He survived the bombardment, but he lost his memory, so he didn't come to see us, but he has recovered his memory a few days ago." " 

Hey, Luffy, look." Ace handed Sabo's note to Luffy, "This is the message he left for us." 

It said: Luffy, Ace, I will wait for you in Arubana. Ace, if Cheng Xi is with you, please ask her to come here as well. 

Cheng Xi: "Hey, why do you want me to go there? And where is this Arubana?" 

Weiwei explained on the side: "Arubana is the capital of Alabasta, and almost all the royal families live here." 

What capital, what royal family, Luffy didn't hear, his attention still didn't react from the great news that Sabo was still alive. 

"Why did Sabo ask us to go there?" Ace was about to start his few thoughts when Cheng Xi punched him on the head. "Ouch, it hurts so much." 

Ace saw the girl in front of him with anger in her eyes, almost spitting fire. Regardless of maintaining the so-called ladylike image in front of the Straw Hat Pirates, she shouted loudly: "It's because your Den Den Mushi always can't be dialed inexplicably. Just now, because I couldn't dial your Den Den Mushi, I looked for Chlorella..." 

"I asked Zoro for directions!" 

Although the content of Sanji and Zoro's quarrel just now was childish, it was too deeply rooted in people's hearts. Cheng Xi's mind was now full of Chlorella head, circle eyebrows, Chlorella head, circle eyebrows... He almost blurted it out. 

"Can't get through? I was wondering why the Den Den Mushi didn't ring." Ace raised the brim of his hat and searched in his backpack. Finally, he found the Den Den Mushi that had fallen into hibernation again because it had not been watered for a long time. 

Seeing his innocent look, Cheng Xi complained in a low voice: "It's really a big pain for Den Den Mushi to be in your hands." 

Although Sabo was waiting for Luffy and the others in Arubana, they had already agreed to rush to Yuba to stop the rebel uprising. Anyway, Arubana is not far from Yuba and can be reached in less than two days, so the group decided to go to Yuba first and then to Arubana. 

The wind and sand in the desert are very strong, often blowing so hard that people can't even open their eyes. The endless desolate yellow and the endless yellow sand add wrinkles to the ground. Occasionally, there will be whirlwinds that will blow the wind and sand high up, and the quicksand will leak. If you are not careful, you will get lost here. 

The sun rose high, the sun was hot, the air was stuffy, and the gravel under your feet was a little hot. Even Luffy, who usually has unlimited energy, became listless, sticking out his tongue and stopped talking. 

Not to mention Chopper, who grew up in the land of ice and snow and has furry fur. He is so hot that he can only lie on the cloth and let Zoro pull him to move. 

In order to avoid sunburn, Cheng Xi wore an ankle-length robe and was a little hot, so she used an ice condensation charm to create a lot of ice cubes and shared them with everyone to cool down. 

Everyone was amazed by her ability. Luffy's eyes were full of stars: "Awesome!" 

Especially Chopper, the ice cubes were attached to his face, and the coldness penetrated his fur. This icy and comfortable feeling made him feel that he was alive again. 

"Ah, Cheng Xi is such a good person." He lay on the cloth, threw a small piece of ice into his mouth, and sighed leisurely. 

Chopper, such a cute and furry person who can talk, simply fascinated Cheng Xi, so he took out a box of washed grapes from his backpack, chilled them and gave them to Chopper. 

Turning around, he saw Ace's clear eyes with some expectation. 

"Cheng Xi, I..." 

Before he could even finish the words "I want to eat too", Cheng Xi had already predicted what he would say and put a round crimson fruit into his mouth: "Is it delicious?" 

"Very delicious." 

Seeing this scene, Nami and Usopp seemed to understand something. The bestie group smiled at each other and remained silent. 

Usopp thought, anyway, according to the friendship between me and Nami, she would never feed me grapes. 

Except for money, of course. 

Along the way, Princess Vivi told Cheng Xi and Ace about the Seven Warlords of the Sea Crocodile's attempt to steal the country, and the topic turned to the Seven Warlords of the Sea. 

"Hmm..." Cheng Xi tapped his solar plexus and expressed his views on everyone.

"I don't know Crocodile and Moria, and I don't know much about them. Although Kuma is a little big, he is actually a very gentle and kind person. Doflamingo is a fool who likes to wear pink fur all year round. He is the ability user of the String-String Fruit..."

"Empress Boa Hancock is my friend. We mailed each other specialties a few days ago..."

"As for Sea Knight Jinbe, Ace has a good relationship with him..."

Thinking that the new members of the Straw Hat Pirates have just entered the Grand Line, Cheng Xi simply told them some news. With this information, it may be convenient for their future trip.

Nami carefully recorded this information in detail in her notebook.

When Cheng Xi mentioned the Seven Warlords of the Sea just now, Zoro didn't react much on the surface. In fact, he was listening to her talk calmly. However, six of the seven warlords of the sea were mentioned, but the man he cared about the most and wanted to know the most was not mentioned.

He couldn't help asking, "What about Hawkeye?"

Cheng Xi remained silent.

Zoro thought she didn't hear him because they were too far away, so he asked again: "Hawkeye, Jorako Mihawk, what kind of person is he?"

Cheng Xi looked back at him and said perfunctorily: "Children should not ask about topics between adults."

Zoro, who was treated as a child: ...

The climate in the desert is unpredictable. It is hot and hot in the daytime, and it is stuffy to death. At night, the temperature drops sharply, and everyone is shivering and freezing. At this time, Ace's ability of the Flame-Flame Fruit is revealed.

Everyone sat around the campfire. Although there was no alcohol or enough food, they were still laughing and making noises, and the atmosphere was very cheerful.

Ace held his chin and said nothing, just watching Luffy and his friends playing and fighting with gentle indulgence. Luffy had good companions around him, and as a brother, he would of course be happy for him.

He turned to look at Cheng Xi next to him. This girl who was full of energy during the day became completely quiet at night. She looked up at the starry sky, her eyes filled with unstoppable confusion and sadness, a deep darkness, as if there was an insurmountable gap between her and the light.

Why is this?

Ace didn't understand why she was sad, but he just wanted her to be happy.

At this moment, the boy realized his feelings.

She just sat there, silent, all her emotions, all revealed between her eyes and eyebrows.

But... Ace looked at his hands. Can these hands with sinful blood bring her happiness?

These days, the newspapers have reported one after another of Teach's troubles. At least before he personally captured him back to the Moby Dick, he was not qualified to express his feelings to her.

"Ace, look." Cheng Xi pointed to the sky, "I suddenly discovered something."

"The darker the night, the brighter the stars."

The same is true for his future.

She had already guessed the reason why Sabo was looking for her this time. The result of the divination on Fishman Island a few years ago was still fresh in her mind. Her opponent would be an unimaginably powerful and huge organization that spanned eight hundred years. It

would be nice if she could live like this forever, open a store with good business, have a few good employees, and keep in touch with friends occasionally.

She missed the days in modern society a little.

But it doesn't matter. She is like the star hanging high in the night sky. The darker the road ahead, the brighter it must shine.

Ace said to her, "You will also be the brightest star in other people's lives."

Cheng Xi smiled at her.

After several days of travel, they finally arrived in Juba. The oasis here had long been exhausted. One sandstorm after another submerged the city. Looking around, there were only broken walls and ruins. Only an old man who was trying to dig out a water source was still digging a well day after day.

From the old man's words, it was learned that because this place had just been attacked by sandstorms again, the rebels had moved their positions to the oasis city of Cattleya.

Everyone rested in this city for one night, and set off for Cattleya early the next morning.

Luffy was holding a small bucket of water that the old man had dug out after a long time of hard work. This time, he did not rob Usopp and his friends of their water sources like before. Instead, he cherished it and hung it around his neck carefully. Even if he was really thirsty, he would just take a sip from the straw to moisten his throat.

Not far away, Luffy suddenly sat on the ground with his hands on his head. Just when everyone was puzzled by his actions, Luffy directly confessed to everyone: "I'm not going to leave."

Everyone thought he was tired and making a fuss here, and they all tried to persuade him, but Luffy seemed to have made up his mind and said seriously: "I want to defeat Crocodile."

It sounds ridiculous for a young pirate who has just entered the Grand Line to say that he wants to defeat the Seven Warlords of the Sea, but Cheng Xi can see the seriousness and drive in him.

After a dispute, when he said, "Where in the world is there a bloodless war?", it touched everyone's heart, including Cheng Xi.

He was right. It was naive to want no death in a war. Like Princess Weiwei of this country, Cheng Xi had this naive idea before.

This boy, who had just started to grow up, looked dull in his daily life. He did things based on his intuition and rushed forward, but he was not annoying. He had a unique spirit of a teenager, warm and brilliant, which made people feel at ease. Even if he encountered such a bad thing, his companions would choose to trust and accompany him without hesitation.

The city where Crocodile lived was called Rainland. It was the dream city in the entire Alabasta country during the three-year drought, because it was the only place that was not affected by drought and civil unrest.

The group entered the city and ran around, and finally found Crocodile's base camp, the Rain Dinner Casino, in the most central and luxurious building in the city.

The sign of the casino stood on the marble brick steps, with the words "RAIN DINNERS" written in blue on a green background, and two groups of landscape palm trees were planted at the entrance.

Entering the room, the decoration is even more gorgeous. Many men and women dressed in rich clothes were originally obsessed with the points on the card table. Suddenly, they were startled by the sound of the door opening, so most people turned their attention to Luffy and his friends.

Because there are many bounty hunters and navy in the city, Ace and Sanji chose to stay behind to cover the retreat. Weiwei also separated from them. Only Luffy, Cheng Xi, Nami and Usopp entered the Rain Banquet.

Cheng Xi and Luffy had planned on the way. When entering the Rain Banquet, they pretended to be gamblers who came to play. She was responsible for collecting information and seeing if she could find some evidence of Crocodile stealing the country.

She thought that this plan was not perfect, but there was a nearly 90% chance of success.

Unexpectedly, Luffy pushed the door and rushed in. The first sentence he shouted was: "Crocodile, get out of here, I want to beat you up!"

Cheng Xi was numb.

In fact... Luffy was beaten sometimes, and it was not unfair.

For example, this time, she wanted to hit him on the head herself, and then she saw the navigator lady and the long-nosed man on the ship punching Luffy left and right.

At this time, Zoro also solved the trouble behind him and entered the store. None of the four members of the Straw Hat Pirates had seen Crocodile, and Cheng Xi didn't have a deep impression of him, so the five of them discussed it and decided to use the most primitive and useful method.

Stretch out your hands, open your mouth, tilt your neck, and shout: "Crocodile, get out quickly, let Luffy beat you!"

Cheng Xi: Sometimes this kind of fighting method that doesn't use your brain and relies only on intuition is quite useful.

At this time, the navy Smoker who had been chasing them also broke in. In the tense atmosphere, Cheng Xi seemed to have forgotten that he could beat Smoker, and rushed in with them in a panic. Unexpectedly, the store owner of this casino was so reasonable that he opened a VIP room for them.

Cheng Xi didn't believe she would be so kind.

Either the weasel is paying New Year's greetings to the chicken, or it is a Hongmen Banquet, anyway, it must be full of bad water.

When they ran to the end, they found a fork in the road. There were two options: the VIP room and the pirate room. Luffy rushed into the pirate room without thinking. The Straw Hat members behind him also followed him into the room with the word "pirate".

Cheng Xi thought about it for a while. She was not a pirate, so the most important thing was to act separately. If one party encountered a trap, the other party could rescue her in time. So she ran towards the VIP room opposite to the Straw Hat members.

Smoker followed them panting.

"Hey, you are not a pirate, why are you going to that room?"

Cheng Xi tried to catch Smoker in the VIP room, but Smoker was like a poison. All he could think about was how to catch Luffy. He ran so fast that Cheng Xi couldn't catch him even if he stretched out his hand.

Entering the VIP room, as expected, the originally neat and flat floor suddenly opened downwards, and Cheng Xi fell straight down. Halfway down, she quickly reacted and used the moon step to fly to the ceiling to try to get out. Unfortunately, the mechanism above was closed. Cheng Xi touched the ceiling with her palm, and a feeling of powerlessness instantly spread throughout her body.

Oh, seastone ceiling.

She fell heavily to the ground. This was a cage surrounded by seastone on all five sides except the floor. She was about to use some tricks on the floor to see if she could escape from the ground, and then she found that two holes on the wall began to drain water into the cage.

The seawater was drained.

The seawater was drained very quickly. In less than a minute, it had already covered her ankles and finally stopped at half the height of her calves.

Cheng Xi: ...

The person who designed this prison must be a genius with a strong desire for control.

She simply gave up and sat in the sea water with a sword in her arms, waiting for the arrival of the person behind the scenes.

After Crocodile dealt with the matters of the Straw Hat Boy and Princess Vivi and made sure that they would die without any mistakes, he came to the VIP room where Cheng Xi was imprisoned.

Hearing the sound of someone coming in, Cheng Xi could not lose his aura even if he was caught in someone else's territory. He said nothing and silently looked at the man in front of him who had stirred up such a big storm.

The man behind the scenes had a slicked back hair and a long horizontal scar on his face. He looked very fierce. On his left hand was a very sharp golden hook. He was wearing a long coat. Judging from his temperament, he did not look like a pirate, but more like a violent gangster who lived underground for many years.

While Cheng Xi was looking at him, Crocodile was also looking at Cheng Xi. She was thin, beautiful, and dressed in a messy and fancy outfit. She had obviously fallen to this point, but there was no fear in her clear eyes. She was calm and calm, which was much more pleasing to the eye than those chattering kids just now.

Crocodile looked at her with the attitude of a superior, revealing a meaningful disdainful look. The surrounding environment was very quiet, trying to oppress her with this tense atmosphere.

Unfortunately, Cheng Xi didn't buy into his tricks. In novels, villain bosses like this are extremely busy every day, and even the task of destroying the world may have to be scheduled at a specific time and minute. However, he has nothing to do and has plenty of time to spend with him.

Time flows quietly like this, and in the end Crocodile is the first to be defeated. Cheng Xi was right. He really had to hurry up and do the big bad thing of destroying the country.

"Former vice admiral of the navy, a person with rare race abilities who has been at the center of the storm for the past two years, Cheng Xi." Crocodile read out her name seriously, "What is your purpose in coming to me?"

Cheng Xi rolled her eyes at him and started to talk nonsense: "I came to join you."

Crocodile: "No."

Cheng Xi couldn't help but raise his voice: "What did you say!?"

"I won't accept troublesome subordinates like you."

The woman in front of him was related to the four emperors of the navy and several other seven warlords of the sea. The relationship behind them was complicated. Even the national government was secretly investigating her. However, in the past two years, except for a few groundless records in the newspapers, nothing else was investigated. Crocodile glanced at Cheng Xi and regarded her as useless. What

's more, he already had Nico Robin in his hands. The plan he had planned for many years was about to succeed. If he really accepted her, not only would there be no benefit in the short term, but he might also get into trouble. It was not worth it. He was always a person who was very good at arbitrarily analyzing the advantages and disadvantages of power, and quickly analyzed the optimal solution.

Cheng Xi was speechless. She had been positioning herself as a popular person that everyone wanted to win over all these years. She didn't expect that the world had changed and she had become a hot potato.

Crocodile asked her, "Why aren't you afraid?"

"What are you afraid of?" Cheng Xi asked back, very confidently, "My friends in the other room will definitely come to save me."

"They won't come."

"Why?"

Crocodile: "Because there are traps in the other room, both rooms have traps, no matter which one you choose, you can't get out."

Cheng Xi blurted out and exclaimed, "Oh my god, are you really a genius!?"

The words of praising him as a genius came from the heart. To be fair, this guy in front of him not only stole the country but also set up double traps, and he was able to make it leak-proof for several years. I always feel that his IQ is incompatible with this world and is unique. To be honest

, it would be a waste of talent to put him in a hot-blooded comic. Even if he was put in a power-seeking palace fighting novel, maybe he could survive to the end with some effort.

Crocodile didn't think Cheng Xi was praising himself, and even felt that he was mocking himself.

Cheng Xi continued to ask indifferently: "So, are you going to drown me?"

Crocodile thought about how to deal with her and felt a little embarrassed: "Originally, I wanted you to die in the mouth of the banana crocodile I raised without anyone noticing, but your identity... is really special."

"Then you can't just let me go, right?"

To Cheng Xi's surprise, Crocodile actually nodded in agreement: "Well, this is also a good idea."

Cheng Xi asked him in disbelief: "Really?"

"Really."

Anyway, his plan will succeed soon. The chattering little ghosts next door are probably either drowned or buried in the belly of the banana crocodile. There is no point in keeping her, so it is better to... do her a favor.

Cheng Xi: "When will you let me go?"

"I won't let you leave alone." Under Cheng Xi's puzzled gaze, the man with slicked back hair slowly spoke, "I'll call Bug to ask someone to pick you up."

"Huh?" Cheng Xi was even more confused. He didn't understand what he meant. It was as if he was a irritable child who was in the police station for fighting and needed a parent's guardian to bail him out.

"My guardian is old and in poor health. There is no need to ask them. I am an adult and can walk by myself."

If he really asked Zefa and Elsa to come and take her away, or took a step back and asked Garp to come, then his face in the navy would probably be completely lost.

She is an adult, and she still asks her parents for help after losing a fight.

Crocodile glanced at her and didn't say anything. Although the woman in front of him was beautiful, there were many beautiful women on the sea, and her dressing taste was poor. She didn't know how to sit or stand. She was slick, cunning and weird, and her IQ was not high. Although he didn't know her fighting ability, he really couldn't understand why so many people liked her on this sea.

He dialed a number with the Den Den Mushi in his hand. After a few rings, the other side answered.

"Hello, what do you want to talk to me about?"

As soon as the elegant and deep male voice came out, Cheng Xi was furious, both angry and excited, but in order to prevent the Den Den Mushi from hearing, he kept his voice very low: "No, Crocodile, are you sick? Why are you looking for him for the grudge between us!?"

Crocodile ignored her, but said to the man on the other end of the phone: "Cheng Xi is with me."

Cheng Xi hurriedly said to him in a strange and weird voice that was a world away from his own: "Cheng Xi is not with him!!!"

The man on the other end of the phone was obviously stunned for a moment: "Cheng Xi?"

Then he asked in a cold tone: "Sand Crocodile, what is your purpose?"

"I don't have any purpose, Mihawk, take care of your people, and don't let her run around next time. She almost disrupted my plan."

After that, he threw the Den Den Mushi directly into Cheng Xi's hand and left the prison.

Mihawk's voice obviously softened, with a hint of tenderness, and said with concern: "Xixi, are you not hurt?"