The next day, two groups arrived at the port city of Nanohana almost at the same time.
One group was from Alabasta.
Led by Rowan, along with Crocodile, Vivi who insisted on coming, and Bell, the vice-captain of the kingdom's guard, as an escort.
The other group was from Skypiea.
The balloon octopus airship trade convoy returned for the first time together. They had taken a large amount of goods that Skypiea didn't have from Alabasta eight days ago and were now carrying a large amount of Skypiea's unique products, returning smoothly.
Rowan looked up and could see the balloon octopus airship slowly landing in the sky from a long distance away.
After careful adjustments by the shipwrights of Alabasta, the original simple cabin now had a volume almost equal to three warships, reaching the level of a commercial fleet.
The cargo it carried was naturally quite large.
"Bell..."
Crocodile murmured, quite interested in this small device with great military potential.
As for Rowan, he was curious about the Marine sent by the Marine Headquarters.
Crocodile's description of him could be taken as a reference, but not trusted completely. After all, even though he was a Warlord of the Sea, he was still a pirate, so it was natural for him to dislike the Marines.
When they entered Nanohana, they also met the old mayor of Yuba town, with the fish-man Hocka from the neighboring Fish-Man village by his side.
They had heard about the return of the balloon octopus airship and came to welcome it.
Yuba was just a small port town with a limited capacity for handling cargo that would take time to develop. Therefore, Nanohana was chosen as the main port for trade with Skypiea.
"Oh, oh, you're talking about him, Ancestor. I know."
The old mayor nodded repeatedly, "I heard people talking about him yesterday. That big guy seems to be living by the pier right now."
...
When the group arrived at the pier, they caught the balloon octopus airship landing.
Dock workers were helping to load and unload cargo. Among them were local workers from Alabasta, Skypieans, Shandians, and even a few fish-men.
But the most eye-catching one was a human.
...No
Was that really a "human"?
His body was tall and sturdy, but if you had to guess his height, it would only be a little over three meters.
Perhaps that was tall for ordinary people, but it wasn't uncommon on this ocean.
What really caught people's attention was his "width".
His body was covered in muscles that bulged like rocks supporting his body, covered with countless scars of all sizes, proving that this man had experienced real warfare.
At this moment, he was shirtless, helping to carry a huge box.
The box, which originally required more than a dozen people to load and unload together, was lifted up by him alone and then gently placed on the ground.
"Hah!"
The man breathed out. Like the workers around him, he was covered in sweat.
But from his relaxed performance just now, he must have been helping for a long time.
A local girl from Nanohana came to bring water to the dock workers and gave a cup to this unfamiliar giant as well.
Although she didn't recognize him, and he looked a little scary... since he was helping, he definitely wasn't a bad person!
The man scratched his head and used his large fingers to pinch the corner of the water cup, then drank the water.
"Haaah!"
The sweet water made the man sigh in appreciation, and then he smiled at the girl, "Thank you, can I have another cup?"
"Of course, you're welcome, mister!"
The girl was about to hand over the cup, but she accidentally tripped and spilled the water on the big man's pants.
The giant immediately bent down and helped the little girl up, looking flustered.
"Are you, are you alright?"
"Did you twist your ankle? Let me rub it for you..."
"Don't cry, don't cry, look at my funny face! Ooooh!"
...
In the distance, Crocodile's eyes twitched slightly as he saw this scene.
How to put it, there was a feeling—
Weird.
Too weird!
Although Crocodile disliked the Marines, he also knew that there were indeed a few among them who were willing to put aside their pride and mess around with ordinary residents.
But a person always has something called "aura".
Crocodile had been mingling at sea for many years and was very confident in his ability to judge people.
At first glance, Crocodile felt that the big man was surrounded by a strong bloody smell!
Had he killed someone?
More than that.
Had he killed many people?
...More than that!
Crocodile had seen too many guys who liked to slaughter the weak. They only had a foul stench like mud on them.
But this big man was different.
It was a nearly substantial killing intent!
Different from Whitebeard's arrogant composure and confidence, and also different from Rowan's abyss-like way of thinking.
That big man must have stepped on a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood—and that mountain of corpses and sea of blood was made by him personally.
Crocodile had no doubt that the giant's hand could twist an ordinary person's head off their neck!
But the strangest thing was here.
The aura that this guy exuded had a strange "split feeling" from his own words and actions.
Now that big man was almost crying because he had made a little girl cry!
That couldn't be faked.
...
"The base commander of the Marine special branch... is this the guy?"
Crocodile didn't understand, but he was greatly shocked.
He was about to step forward, but Rowan stopped him.
"Don't rush, let's watch and see."
After saying this, he led the group to sit down next to a stall and even ordered Vivi a glass of juice.
Crocodile folded his arms and asked, puzzled, "Honestly, why did you agree to the Marine's proposal?"
Logically speaking, with the current strength of the Four Seas Alliance, it was fully capable of maintaining the safety of the sea lanes on its own, without needing the Marine to intervene.
Rowan's goal was to free the Four Seas Alliance from the restrictions of the World Government, so why would he actively invite a wolf into the house?
But Rowan asked Crocodile in return, "What's wrong with the Marine?"
Crocodile sneered a few times, "The Marine? Aren't they 'the face of the World Government'?"
"No, I'm talking about the words 'Marine' themselves."
Rowan slowly said, "What's wrong with an army that maintains maritime order?"
"You want to use the name 'Marine' to train your own Marine?!"
Crocodile was stunned. He understood Rowan's idea.
Currently, only the World Government possessed true "maritime power" in the world. Other countries, even the current Four Seas Alliance, did not have a formal maritime army.
Firstly, the World Government didn't allow it, and secondly, there was a lack of experience, making it time-consuming and laborious to set up.
If they could really take advantage of the opportunity for the Marine to establish a Marine branch in Alabasta to train a group of trustworthy "own Marine", that would definitely be a worthwhile deal.
But even so, Crocodile couldn't help but frown.
"Marine's Tsuru is not a nice person. Be careful not to be played when you try to play tricks with her!"
"Actually, many things aren't that complicated. Let's wait and see."
Rowan smiled and pointed to the sea.
In the distance, a pirate ship was slowly approaching.
The people moving on it and the noisy sounds proved that they were definitely not a group of friendly guests.
...
This kind of thing was actually very common.
Looking at the pirate ship, the lookout on Nanohana Pier was about to sound the alarm and call for the Royal Army to gather.
But Baro's loud voice suddenly resounded through the pier.
"Everyone, don't be afraid, I have something to say!"
Baro stood up and reassured loudly, "I'm a Marine, I'll go talk them down!"
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