Shirakawa could already sense that the creature had moved directly beneath their feet, seemingly preparing to attack.
He slapped the camel on the rump to pick up speed and get them out of the creature's strike range. The other crew members scattered in all directions, leaving the main position wide open for Jora.
"You guys really are the worst friends."
No sooner had Jora finished speaking than a massive crab claw burst out of the sand, stopping at a distance exactly level with his body.
"Is that a crab?" Mole's voice was full of astonishment at the sight of the enormous claw.
"That's probably one of Alabasta's unique sand crabs," Salar explained to Jora.
"Scared the hell out of me." Unlike the others, who were clearly in spectator mode, Jora had just been genuinely startled.
He drew his blade. A single flash of the sword, and the claw that had thrust out was instantly cleaved in two.
"Looks like this sand crab isn't much of a threat after all."
Watching the results of Jora's attack, Uristin muttered to himself. Just as he'd thought—this thing was only good enough to be their next meal.
"It's trying to run."
Having lost one limb, the sand crab immediately decided to flee. It hadn't even shown its head yet and was already missing a claw. If it stuck its head out, wouldn't that get lopped off too?
Jora sheathed his blade directly, grabbed the remaining half of the claw, and with a burst of strength, yanked upward. A gigantic sand crab was dragged straight out of the sand.
In an instant, an enormous crab, one claw severed, appeared before them.
"Roasted, this thing would be an absolute delicacy."
Gazing at the giant crab, Salar was already mentally planning the menu.
Though everyone knew steaming was the best way to cook crab, there wasn't a pot in the world big enough to fit this one.
Jora looked at the crab with murderous intent. He swung his blade once, and the crab was split cleanly in half right down the middle.
"As expected of Jora—your knife work is seriously sharp."
While it was meant as a compliment, Jora couldn't help feeling a little weird about it. Wasn't that the kind of thing you said about a chef?
"Salar, I'll leave the rest to you."
"Aye, Captain."
After a simple lunch, the group set out on their journey once more.
The weather that afternoon was a little kinder. A faint breeze drifted by, carrying away some of the heat and bringing a fleeting sensation of cool relief.
By nightfall, they had gathered together, a campfire crackling in the center, each leaning against their camel for the evening's rest.
"They've all fallen asleep."
At midnight, not far from the spot where Shirakawa and the others were resting, a band of men was silently observing them.
"Good. Get ready to move."
Several figures emerged from the darkness, gleaming machetes in hand, clearly intent on attacking.
"Never thought we'd find such a tender little lady. Looks like we brothers are in luck tonight."
One of them spotted Adara in her slumber and a lewd grin spread across his face. It seemed they hadn't had a taste of pleasure in quite a while—or hadn't seen such a fair-skinned woman for just as long.
In a desert kingdom like this, women with fine skin were a rare sight. The dry climate left skin parched and rough.
"If I'm not mistaken, you lot are sand pirates."
Just then, a voice sounded from behind them. Uristin sat up and lit a cigarette.
"Oh? Someone's still awake?"
One of the sand pirates turned to face Uristin, his eyes gleaming with brutality.
"We were planning to let you all die in your sleep, spare you some pain. But it looks like you're not interested in a painless death."
"If you get on your knees and beg right now, maybe I can make your suffering a little less severe." Uristin exhaled a faint cloud of smoke with the air of a man who knew exactly how cool he looked.
"What did you say, boy?"
Hearing Uristin's words, the sand pirates were completely enraged. Couldn't he grasp the situation? They were the ones with all the power here.
"Believe me, I'll have your head rolling on the ground right now."
"Go ahead. If you can do it, feel free to try."
"You little punk, you dare look down on me?!"
With that, one sand pirate raised his blade and charged straight at Shirakawa.
Then came a sharp bang. A bullet passed clean through the man's head, carrying a spray of blood with it.
"When did he—?"
None of the other sand pirates had even seen Uristin draw his gun. By the time they registered what had happened, their comrade was already on the ground.
And in Uristin's hand was a short-barreled gun with smoke still curling from the muzzle.
"Well? Still want to give it a shot? Which do you think is faster—the knives in your hands, or the gun in mine?"
"Damn you! Brothers, get him! Cut him to pieces!"
A man who looked to be the squad leader barked the order. There were plenty of them. Why should they be afraid of just one guy?
But the result was utterly beyond their expectations. Uristin not only reloaded with blinding speed, he didn't waste a single bullet. Every shot claimed one of their companions.
"Damn it." The squad leader finally panicked. He glanced around desperately, then his eyes landed on Adara, who was still sound asleep.
"With this much racket, you can still sleep? You're practically asking to be taken hostage."
He crept up to her, then wrapped an arm around her neck, forcing her upright.
"Stop right there! Make another move and I'll kill her!"
He pressed the blade against Adara's throat and yelled at Uristin.
Uristin, seeing this, chose to stop immediately. The sand pirate leader, witnessing this, broke into a smile of malice.
"Now, hand over all the money you and your buddies have, and let us go. Otherwise, she dies."
The leader snarled viciously.
At the same time, he couldn't shake the confusion. With all the noise they'd made, how were these people still asleep? Were they all swine?
"Handing over the money is fine—as long as you're still alive in the next second."
"What?"
The moment he uttered those words, he felt the hostage slip free of his control. A dark shadow flashed. Then his neck exploded with pain, his vision went black, and he toppled backwards, consciousness gone.
"Boss!" Seeing their leader dead, the few remaining sand pirates completely lost it.
Their boss had been taken out in an instant by the hostage herself.
"You vermin actually dared to lay your filthy eyes on my body. Even Salar hasn't seen it yet. Now go join your boss in hell."
Adara's figure flickered like a night assassin, relentlessly reaping lives.
"Riddel, clean this up."
Shirakawa spoke up. All of them had been awake the whole time. Something this trivial didn't need them to get personally involved—just listening to the show was enough.
"Aye, Captain," Riddel answered, his tone a little resigned. He always got stuck with this kind of job because he was the best at it.
Still, after a mess like that, no one felt like sleeping anymore.
So they simply gathered around and played games to pass the time.
At some point, Uristin had developed a taste for gambling, and he pulled several decks of playing cards out of his pocket.
/-\
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