Ting-a-ling...
Ting-a-ling...
Dust swirled around.
Watching Ah Hua and his two companions disappear into the distance, Kong Tai pouted.
"What's the point of you guys going to the river if you can't swim? Honestly."
As he spoke, as if by magic, a popsicle appeared in his hand.
He turned to Gu Yina, who was on a camel to his right, and asked with a smile, "Hey! Gu Yina, want one?"
"Mmm!"
Gu Yina looked at the popsicle in Kong Tai's hand, nodded, opened her mouth, and stuck out her bright red tongue, licking her lips. Her throat pulsed as she swallowed.
In this furnace-like desert, a popsicle was simply the most delicious food in the world.
"Here, take it!"
Kong Tai handed the popsicle in his hand to Gu Yina.
Gulp!
Gulp, gulp!!
Just then, behind Kong Tai, the sound of swallowing echoed simultaneously.
Seeing Gu Yina take the popsicle, Kong Tai quickly turned his head and met four eager gazes, smiling, "Hey! Do you guys want one too?"
"Mmm, mmm, mmm, mmm!!"
Firebird and his two lackeys nodded frantically, looking at Kong Tai with expectant eyes.
"Karr karr!! Captain, I'm a person too, aren't I! Of course, I want a popsicle!"
Indigo chuckled, staring at Kong Tai's hand, a hint of curiosity in his eyes.
"A Space-Space Fruit can also create ice??"
On this journey, Kong Tai had made him feel omnipotent. He suspected Kong Tai's fruit was far more than just a space-type.
In reality, if he had just asked, he would have known that Kong Tai's ability wasn't an Devil Fruit at all.
Everyone on the ship knew, except him. Looking at the book.
Normally, everyone was used to Kong Tai's abilities, so no one discussed it, which led to no one telling him.
He didn't ask, and no one told him, hence this situation.
However, after spending more time together, he would eventually find out. No rush.
Kong Tai turned his head, and his spatial domain instantly expanded, then rapidly contracted.
Everyone felt as if the surrounding air had been instantly sucked out by Kong Tai, and a suction force pulled their bodies uncontrollably towards him.
However, this suction force was as fast as it came, and it went just as quickly. Before everyone could catch their breath, the surrounding air instantly refilled the void that Kong Tai had emptied.
"Inhale~ Exhale~"
Everyone straightened up, sitting on the camels' backs, taking deep breaths.
For that brief moment, they had felt a severe sense of suffocation.
Although it was only for an instant, it still caused everyone to look at Kong Tai with a hint of awe.
"Ah, my apologies."
The moment Kong Tai sucked out the air, he knew he had been a bit reckless. He turned to everyone and apologized, then smiled, "To condense into ice, it can't be created from nothing. It requires a large amount of water molecules. I just sucked out the surrounding air. Didn't mean to scare you!"
"Phew~"
Firebird let out a long breath, looking at Kong Tai, and waved his hand, "It's fine, it's fine, Silver-Haired Brother, hehe!!"
"Glad it's okay, ha ha!!"
Kong Tai gave an awkward laugh, turned his head, and went to make popsicles.
In fact, making popsicles was simple. As long as there were water molecules in the air, Kong Tai could use his spatial domain to compress the air and condense it into water.
Then, he would expel the air from the domain. The lower the air pressure within the domain, the lower the temperature, and eventually, the water would naturally freeze into ice.
Everyone watched Kong Tai. He looked as if he was performing a magic trick. Suddenly, a bubble filled with water appeared before him, and without any further action on his part,
Crack!
Crack, crack!!
The water in front of Kong Tai froze rapidly and automatically.
With a thought from Kong Tai, the block of ice in front of him quickly split into pieces, which then automatically flew to everyone.
"Hmph, hmph!!"
"Are you sure you can eat this thing."
Kong Tai held up a popsicle and looked strangely at the lustful camel "Eyelashes" that was sticking its head towards him.
"Hmph, hmph!!"
Eyelashes nodded continuously, looking at the popsicle in Kong Tai's hand with longing.
"Here, take it! Don't blame me if you get heatstroke, okay."
He didn't know if camels could eat ice. Since this guy wanted to eat it, he'd let him.
Eyelashes lowered its head, opened its mouth, and snatched the popsicle from Kong Tai's hand in one gulp.
The creature held the popsicle in its mouth without chewing, shivering all over.
Its face was filled with a happy smile.
Kong Tai withdrew his gaze from Eyelashes and shook his head.
"This guy is truly intelligent."
It seemed like many animals in the One Piece world were intelligent.
Take Alabasta, for example. He knew of five such animals.
Among them, the lustful camel Eyelashes and the fast-running duck Karoo could understand human speech and respond.
Oh, and the Kung Fu Dugong.
It was quite miraculous.
At the San Diego River, by the riverside, Ah Hua and his two companions were soaking in the water, their bodies completely limp.
On the bank, three camels were bending their necks, drinking water.
"Hey, you three, running so fast, yet you don't look any more comfortable!"
Tatatatata!!
Kong Tai slowly rode to the riverside, and the camels automatically stopped.
He sat on a camel, leaning forward, resting his body on the camel's neck. He looked down at Ah Hua and his two companions, and mockingly popped a ball of ice into his mouth.
Crunch!
He grinned, making sure Ah Hua and his two companions could see clearly.
"So refreshing~"
"(⊙o⊙)...!"
"Ice?"
Ah Hua and his two companions were stunned by the ice in Kong Tai's mouth, then excitedly tried to climb out.
Splash, splash!!
But...
No matter how they struggled, they couldn't get up. They had completely forgotten that they were all Devil Fruit users, and they had foolishly submerged their entire bodies in the water.
"Hahahahaha!!"
Kong Tai burst into laughter watching the comical movements of Ah Hua and his two companions.
Just then, Firebird and the others rode their camels over.
He saw Ah Hua and his two companions struggling and quickly jumped off his camel, rushing into the river to pull the three of them out.
"Thank you!!"
Ah Hua and his two companions stood up politely, bowed to Firebird.
Then, they quickly rushed towards Kong Tai, reaching for the ice blocks suspended before him.
"Whoa!"
As their fingertips touched the space before Kong Tai, they immediately stopped and quickly retreated.
"You guys really dare to touch anything!"
Kong Tai stared amusingly at the fingertips of Ah Hua and his two companions. In an instant, their fingertips were frozen red.
The three of them raised their hands, looked at their fingertips emitting cold air, and quickly put them into their mouths.
They looked up at Kong Tai, their eyes wide, glaring at him.
"You guys were so impatient, and now you're blaming me? Honestly."
Kong Tai shook his head, dismounted, and dispersed the extremely compressed domain before him.
Bang—!
Suddenly, a gust of cold wind rushed outwards from Kong Tai, causing everyone to shiver, followed by an extreme sense of comfort, as if they had suddenly gone from a hot summer to spring.
However, this gust of cold wind passed quickly, being assimilated by the surrounding hot air.
Before everyone could enjoy the comfort for long, hot air enveloped them again from all directions.
Gulp!
Ah Hua and his two companions stared at the ice blocks suspended before Kong Tai, swallowing in unison.
"Alright, now you can take them."
His domain could now maintain a layer of space indefinitely.
Within this space, although he couldn't create multiple layers of space to achieve a god-like feeling, it was still very convenient for small tasks.
Like now, as long as something was within his space, and not excessively heavy, he could make it float.
Without limit.