Chapter 6.
With clear skies, the merchant ship sailed across the sea, and a gentle sea breeze billowed the sails. Suzuki stood on the deck, gazing at the land that was getting closer and the port that was barely visible, feeling a sense of relief in his heart.
He had never been on a ship before; although he had played by the sea in the past, his contact with the ocean in both the original world and the ninja world had never been as profound as this time. The three-day journey was not easy, and Suzuki occasionally felt inexplicable dizziness, accompanied by nausea and a feeling of vomiting, which was quite uncomfortable.
Someone who had lived on land for a long time, experiencing life at sea and on a ship for the first time, lacked that grounded sense of reassurance and found the constant rocking quite unsettling. During this time, the merchant ship encountered a significant storm, but under the skilled control of Captain Ethan and the crew, nothing went wrong.
The port was now clearly visible, and Captain Ethan also came to the deck, looking at Suzuki and laughing heartily, "Ha ha ha, little Suzuki, are you still thinking about that storm?"
Suzuki looked at the approaching port and nodded, "Yes, but we're finally close to land!"
Captain Ethan replied with a smile, "You're still too young; storms like that are commonplace for us!"
Suzuki nodded again and replied earnestly, "It's good that I met you, Captain Ethan, and learned so much from you. We're almost there; thank you very much!"
Captain Ethan just smiled, and the two stood on the deck together, waiting to dock.
After arriving in Alabasta, Captain Ethan gave Suzuki some bellies. After thanking the crew again, Suzuki waved goodbye to Captain Ethan and everyone on the ship.
Suzuki was prepared to stay in Alabasta for a while. After all, Alabasta had not yet welcomed the sand demon crocodile - Crocodile, and there were no major disturbances in the country, making it relatively suitable for Suzuki, who was temporarily thinking about steady development.
At the same time, being located on the Grand Line and having a vast coastline, Alabasta had an abundance of seafood and even sea king meat.
These gigantic creatures of the pirate world were not only delicious but also rich in nutrients, potentially providing certain benefits to physical fitness. As long as Suzuki could earn some money here through ninja methods, he could enhance his physical abilities.
As for ways to make money, Alabasta was situated at the starting point of seven routes on the Grand Line, and many new pirate crews entering the Grand Line from the four seas would cause trouble at the Alabasta port. These new pirate crews were not very strong, usually lacking special abilities, and their thinking was not very sharp. The bounties on these pirates were a good basic resource.
On the streets of the port, Suzuki occasionally caught whiffs of some very pleasant scents, which were the local specialty - perfume!
The port of Nanohana in southern Alabasta was famous worldwide for this. There were also many beautiful women dressed lightly, exuding waves of fragrance, causing many men's gazes to linger on these lovely sights. There were many vendors selling local specialties, including various desert fruits unique to Alabasta, many of which he did not recognize, while some looked somewhat familiar.
At the end of the street, there was a shop with a wooden sign outside that read: "Rent a Fast Duck, 1,000 Berries a Day!" There were vendors selling roasted wheat noodles, drinks, sea king meat, perfumes, and so on. However, Suzuki only used some Berries given to him by Old Captain Ethan to buy a drink before returning to the port and walking along the coastline.
After walking back and forth along the port's coastline for about an hour or two, the sky was getting dark. Suzuki found a spot on the shore a little distance from the port, listening to the sound of waves occasionally crashing against the island's rocky cliffs, and leaned against a stone to rest.
Soon, night fell.
At one moment, he suddenly heard some fragmented conversations.
Suzuki squinted and quietly searched for a while, discovering two vague figures discussing something interesting: "Aron, how's it going? Did you find out?" asked a tall figure.
"I found out! Sixth Brother. I asked, the port's daytime troops finish their shift at nine at night, and the troops after the shift will be reduced by more than half! It would take at least several hours for the nearby naval base to arrive! And by eleven, even the port scouts will be playing cards together," answered a slightly shorter figure.
"Great! I'll report to the boss immediately using the transponder snail! Aron, you've done a great job this time; the boss will definitely reward you when we get back to the ship!" The tall figure excitedly patted the shorter one's shoulder.
"Hehe, thanks Sixth Brother!" the shorter one replied happily.
Just as the tall figure took out the transponder snail, two stones flew swiftly and struck the heads of the two men. The shorter one quickly collapsed to the ground, while the tall one merely sat on the ground, holding his head. As the tall one panickedly looked around, another stone struck hard on the back of his head, and he fell down as well. Suzuki got up from the ground; it was he who had thrown the stones after slowly moving closer while lying down. Seeing both men lying on the ground, Suzuki remained vigilant and struck them again with two more stones.
Then he approached little by little, and after being able to see their faces clearly, he struck their noses with a stone once more. At this point, both men's heads were bloodied and mangled. Only then did Suzuki walk over to the tall one and took the transponder snail from his arms. Suzuki felt no panic from his first kill; his eyes were like dark pools, and expressionless, he moved the bodies of both men to the edge of a cliff and kicked them down.
Then, he used a transformation technique to change into the appearance of a tall person, coughed a few times, and surprisingly, his voice was exactly the same as that of the tall person who had died earlier. This was one of the basic skills taught in the Konoha Ninja School along with the transformation technique—voice transformation! He then picked up the transponder bug, aimed it at himself, and dialed the so-called boss. "Beep beep beep beep…" Soon, the phone bug was connected and transformed into the fierce-looking face of a big man.
"Elbert? What's up? Do you have good news for me?" the fierce big man asked Suzuki in a hoarse voice.
"Of course! Boss!" Suzuki replied affirmatively in the tall person's voice.
"Boss, Aron and I have found out that the port's military will finish work at nine o'clock, and the shift change will reduce the number of soldiers by half, plus the scouts will start playing cards at eleven!" Suzuki reported truthfully.
"Hahaha, very good! Elbert, you and Aron wait at the port, we'll attack the port at eleven sharp!" the fierce big man laughed brutally.
"Wait, boss! I have one more piece of news…" Suzuki said with a nervous expression.
"Hmm???" The fierce big man suddenly darkened his face. "What do you mean? Elbert? Is it bad news?" the fierce big man asked coldly.
"No, boss, it's like this. I seem to have found a Devil Fruit…" Suzuki's expression first turned greedy and then a bit panicked.
"!!!"
The fierce big man seemed a bit shocked. "Really??? You didn't eat it right??" the fierce big man questioned with some excitement.
"No! Boss! Actually, Aron and I found it together, I wanted to give it to you, but Aron seemed to want to eat it directly, and I... I accidentally killed him!" Suzuki's expression became even more anxious.
"Hahaha, it's okay, it's okay! Elbert, it's not your fault!" the fierce big man pretended to comfort Suzuki. Then, the fierce big man seemed unable to contain himself and continued, "Elbert, you're still at the port, right? I'll send a ship to bring you back! When you come back, you can be the second mate on the ship! How about that?"
"Ah? Okay, okay, thank you, thank you, boss!" Suzuki replied with a look of surprise. After hanging up the phone, a cold light flashed in Suzuki's eyes, and he turned and went to the street.
He bought a dagger, some chili powder and pepper, and found some corpses of desert spiders unique to Alabasta to coat the dagger with poison. Then, he bought a strangely shaped fruit and carefully painted it with various colors. Finally, after thinking for a moment, he filled a bottle with seawater.
After preparing everything, Suzuki went to the port and waited silently.
Soon, a small boat sailed towards the port, and upon seeing Suzuki transformed as Elbert, a bald man with a face full of flesh waved at him from the boat.
Suzuki was vigilant but excitedly walked closer to the small boat. After getting on the small boat, the bald man looked at him with an excited expression and said enviously, "Elbert, you're really lucky!"
Suzuki smiled and remained silent. Soon, they arrived at a somewhat shabby pirate ship, and Suzuki followed the bald man into a room. Because the Transponder snail had mimicked so accurately earlier, Suzuki immediately recognized that this was the fierce-looking pirate captain!
The fierce pirate captain waved his hand while sitting in a chair, and the bald man wisely left the room. Then he stood up, wearing a uniquely forced friendly smile typical of a villain, and approached Suzuki.
Suzuki immediately understood and took out a "Devil Fruit" from his clothes, handing it to the fierce big man with a flattering smile.
The fierce big man took the fruit, smiled, and examined it while looking down at the devil fruit, saying, "Hahaha, Elbert, very good! You will be the second… Er?? Uh, cough cough, uh, cough, uh…" Suzuki still wore a flattering smile, and at the moment the fierce big man looked down to speak, he splashed the seawater from the bottle onto the fierce big man's head! At the same time, the dagger swiftly and accurately stabbed into the fierce big man's throat, and then he immediately covered the fierce big man's mouth and nose with his hands covered in chili and pepper!
Moments later, the fierce big man was dead. Suzuki coldly looked at the fierce big man's corpse, then glanced around the room, took clothes out of the wardrobe, and stuffed the corpse into the wardrobe. After that, he wiped off the bloodstains with the clothes he took out, and after finishing the cleanup, he released the current transformation.
After resting for a while and recovering some chakra, Suzuki used the transformation technique again, changing into the fierce big man-- The captain!
Tl|N : If you see any mistake 😔, let me know in the comments so I can edit them..