After buying and changing into clothes unique to Alabasta.
Kouta's group arrived at the camel rental place.
As soon as he entered, Kouta spotted a camel with its head held high. After a brief chat with the owner, he was eager to mount the camel, but the camel dodged him, pulling away.
"Ugh!"
Kouta's outstretched leg froze mid-air. He looked up at the camel, which tilted its head to look at him. The more he looked, the more familiar it seemed.
He retracted his leg and tried to greet it.
"Hi!"
The camel glanced at Kouta disdainfully, its lips moving.
It was as if it were saying, "Get lost, you smelly man, I only carry female passengers."
It then raised its head, its gaze passing over Kouta to the Kuina behind him, its eyes sparkling with hearts.
"I'm sorry, sir!"
Just then, the owner, who had been accompanying Ahua and the others as they chose their camels, saw the situation and walked over. He bowed to Kouta and apologized, then straightened up and looked at the camel in front of Kouta, saying.
"This camel is a bit special, sir..."
As he spoke, he turned his head and looked at Kouta apologetically, "Perhaps you should choose another one!"
The owner was helpless.
Despite its strong build, this camel was a complete pervert, only carrying female passengers.
Where would there be so many female passengers in the desert?
It was strong and ate a lot.
He was even considering selling this camel.
Selling it to a transport team.
Kouta glanced at the owner, then looked up at the camel, his mouth twitching.
He hadn't expected the world to be so small. He wondered if it was fate that he met the perverted camel "Eyelashes," who had a significant role in the original story, here.
"You're an animal! Why aren't you looking for beauties in the camel world, but appreciating human beauties!"
He didn't understand!
Kouta withdrew his gaze, shook his head.
Then he waved his hand at the owner and said, "Owner, I'll take this one!"
"Sir..."
Before the owner could continue, Kouta said, "No need to say more, owner, I know about this camel."
"You know?"
The owner's eyes showed confusion. He turned to look at the camel, then followed its gaze to Kuina behind Kouta, her eyes bright.
"So there's a woman!"
The owner withdrew his gaze and said to Kouta, "Since the customer insists, then this one it is! I'll go pick out camels for the other guests, you continue."
As he spoke, he shook his head, glanced at Eyelashes, and walked towards Ahua and the others.
He had already decided that after this business trip, he would definitely sell this perverted camel. It was too damaging to his tall, mighty, handsome, and "First Handsome" persona.
Seeing the owner leave, Kouta turned around and beckoned to Kuina, "Kuina."
"Hmm!"
Kuina was also leading a camel she had just chosen.
Seeing Kouta calling her, she quickly let go of the reins in her hand, responded, turned, and walked towards Kouta.
When she looked up, her gaze passed over Kouta and met the perverted camel's eyes. Her steps faltered slightly.
On a person, she had seen this look before.
But...
With a strange expression on her face, she walked to Kouta's side and looked at the perverted camel, saying, "Kouta, what's wrong with this camel? Why do I feel like it's looking at me lustfully."
"Uh!"
Kouta didn't know how to explain.
"Hmph hmph!!"
Just then, the perverted camel behind Kouta opened its mouth and let out a loud cry, its lips curling upwards, staring at Kuina as if greeting her.
"Hi! Hello, beautiful."
Under Kuina's gaze, it quickly walked to her and lowered its body to the ground.
Then it raised its head to look at Kuina, its head tilted back, its lips moving.
It was as if it were saying, "Beauty, hurry up and get on. There's no camel more handsome than me."
Kouta turned to look at the perverted camel, his mouth twitching.
This guy was too sentient! It understood humans so well, but its perverted nature was a bit too much.
He turned to Kuina, who was looking bewildered, and explained, "This guy is actually a perverted camel. It only carries women, so you ride it!"
"Hmph hmph!!"
"Just you? If that's not perverted, what is?"
Kouta turned back, met the perverted camel's displeased gaze, and answered loudly.
The camel's lips moved.
"Hmph hmph!!"
Seeing that it was about to spit at Kouta.
At that moment, Kuina took a step forward and reached out to stroke the camel's head, "Good boy!"
The perverted camel immediately quieted down.
"Perverted camel!"
Kouta muttered as he looked at Eyelashes's behavior.
Eyelashes ignored Kouta, rubbed its head in Kuina's hand, squinted its eyes, and looked content.
Kuina turned to look at Kouta, her lips curling upwards, her eyes narrowed into crescent moons, and she smiled, "Kouta, I think this camel is quite well-behaved!"
"Of course, it's well-behaved with you."
Kouta pulled down his wine gourd, took a sip, and smacked his lips.
Indeed, the taste of wine was different everywhere.
The wine here was unlike Bass wine or Drum Island wine.
The wine here, brewed with groundwater, had a unique sweetness from the groundwater.
It was just a bit low in alcohol content, not to his taste.
He raised the wine gourd above his head to shield from the sun and looked up at the sky.
The entire world seemed like a steamer, the air distorted, and the heat oppressive.
This was a port city, and it was already this hot.
What would the inland be like?
He glanced at the sky, withdrew his gaze, and shook his head.
He had been in Nanohana for several hours and hadn't seen a single cloud, which was strange.
He knew Crocodile used Dance Powder to make it rain in Alabasta's capital, Alabasta, but he hadn't expected its power to be so great.
It had robbed the entire island, including the surrounding sea, of its rainfall, all for the sake of one city.
He didn't understand the principle behind it.
He figured it was just as Monkey D. Luffy had said.
It was some kind of incredible powder.
After all, miracles were everywhere in this world, and anything inexplicable could be attributed to miracles or the incredible.
"Hmph hmph!!"
As Kuina mounted its back and settled in, Eyelashes immediately stood up and let out a few joyful cries.
Stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp!!
It pranced in place, looking very happy.
Kouta lowered his hand, glanced at Eyelashes, his lips curling upwards, a smile on his face.
This guy was so lively now, he would probably be sold to the transport team by the owner soon.
He knew this guy would end up in the transport team in the future.
There, they would be pulling supplies, not carrying people so easily.
Thinking of this, his smile deepened.
"Sir, the camels have all been chosen. When you reach Rainy Ground, there will be designated personnel to collect the camels."
"Oh!"
Kouta withdrew his gaze, lowered his head, and looked at the owner standing in front of him, rubbing his hands. He smiled, "How much, owner."
"One camel is ten thousand Berries. There are nine of you in total, so..." "Ninety thousand Berries, right!"
"No?"
The owner shook his head and said to Kouta, "Sir, there's also a hundred thousand deposit, making it a total of one hundred and ninety thousand Berries. When you return the camels at Rainy Ground, the people there will refund the deposit."
"Hmm!"
Kouta nodded, glanced at everyone behind the owner, who were all sitting on camels. He reached into his pocket, pulled out a handful of Berries, and to the owner's delighted eyes, counted out nineteen and handed them to him.
"Owner, your money is really easy to make!"
The owner snatched the Berries, holding them in both hands. While counting, he said to Kouta, "Where is money easy to make? It's just earning a bit for hard work. Don't look at the travel fee being expensive, but there's a reason for the expense. These camels are all carefully selected by me. As long as there isn't a major sandstorm in the desert, they can safely take you anywhere you want to go."
"Alright, sir, one hundred and ninety thousand."
After counting the money, the owner held it in one hand, waved it towards Kouta, and then put it in his pocket.
Kouta shook his head, turned around, and mounted the camel Kuina had chosen.
The journey from Nanohana to Rainy Ground would take at most a little over two days.
Two days, ten thousand Berries per person. It wasn't exactly cheap, but it wasn't excessively expensive either.
Considering it was an exclusive service, the price was acceptable and not outrageous.
The camel stood up, and they gradually walked out of the gate, heading towards the distant desert.
Behind them.
Came the owner's loud shouts.
"Sir, I wish you a pleasant journey, and we welcome you next time."
...