I collect everything in the One Piece world.

"Damn it! A sandstorm?!" Norton exclaimed, even his burly frame was unsteady in the sudden gale.

The line of sight dropped sharply, and every breath was filled with sand. The desert, which had been relatively calm just moments before, had instantly transformed into a dark and chaotic maze filled with flying sand and stones.

"Find cover! Quickly!" Rhein shouted sharply, even he looked extremely grim.

The sandstorm came too suddenly and too untimely, completely disrupting their tracking plans and even putting them in danger!

The four frantically searched for shelter behind sand dunes or in rock crevices, looking utterly disheveled.

With blood streaming from his nose and sand covering his face, Gail looked even more disheveled and miserable.

Meanwhile, on the open ground of the ruins, more than ten kilometers away, the sky remained clear, with only a gentle breeze blowing.

Bakala finished the last sip of her soda, let out a satisfied burp, squinted at the horizon of the distant desert, and a subtle smile unconsciously curved her lips.

"Hmm~ the weather seems pretty good today," she murmured to herself.

Chapter 113, Unique Tourism Development Ideas, and the Goddess of Fortune Whose Words Come True

Over the next two days, Mo Sen and his "publicly funded luxury desert expedition team," led by Vivi, a "local expert," continued to venture deeper into the desert and visited several more historical sites.

Some of these ruins are now just a few broken stone pillars, while others are relatively well-preserved. There is even a large and complex underground palace that intrigued the well-traveled Mosen and his group.

The deep passageways, the enormous stone chambers, and the remaining murals and sculptures all tell a story of ancient history.

Robin was completely immersed in her role as an archaeologist. Holding a lantern, she carefully examined the blurry murals on the walls and the ancient characters remaining in the corners. Sometimes she frowned in thought, and sometimes she smiled. Her dark blue eyes gleamed with excitement in the dim light.

“Look here.” She pointed to a mural on the wall depicting a crowd worshipping a giant sun totem, her voice soft yet full of enthusiasm: “This likely depicts a ritual of the ancient Alabasta people worshipping the sun god.”

"The style of this sun totem is similar to the decoration on pottery fragments I found at another site, but with much more detail..."

As she deciphered the text, she quickly took notes in her notebook, occasionally using her "Flower Fruit" ability to conjure up several hands to touch the reliefs in different areas, feeling their textures and possible connections.

Mo Sen and the others followed behind her, listening to her recount those long-forgotten stories, as if they too had been transported to that ancient era, listening with great interest.

Vivi, in particular, as a princess of Alabasta, was deeply moved upon hearing about her country's long and mysterious history, her little face filled with pride and longing.

However, as Nami listened, she noticed that Morsen and Vivi started whispering to each other, and the conversation gradually shifted from history to other topics.

Curious, she leaned closer to listen, and lo and behold, the two of them were having a lively discussion about their ideas for "tourism development" right in front of the ruins!

“We can set up a ticket booth and souvenir shop at the entrance to this underground palace,” Mosen stroked his chin, pointing to the spacious area at the entrance. “Then we can create some immersive experiences inside, such as having actors recreate the sacrificial scenes from back then…”

"Arrange actors?" Vivi blinked her big eyes, somewhat puzzled.

“It’s an immersive experience. Believe me, some people would even pay to be actors,” Mo Sen explained, continuing to expand on his ideas.

"Interactive areas can also be set up here, such as allowing visitors to dig up replica artifact fragments themselves, or restore murals using special pigments..."

"Wow! This is so interesting!" Weiwei's eyes lit up. She had already pulled out a small notebook and was quickly scribbling and drawing on it, recording all of Mo Sen's wild ideas.

"Anything else? Mr. Morsen, what can that open space outside be used for?"

“Outside, we can build desert campsites, conduct stargazing, set up some desert specialty food stalls, offer camel riding, sandboarding…” Mosen counted on his fingers, getting more and more excited as he spoke, as if a bustling desert theme park had already appeared before his eyes.

Nami, listening nearby, couldn't help but twitch her lips. Tourism development? Role-playing? Campsite? What on earth is all this?! The captain's imagination is just too wild!

Besides, these things sound expensive; will we even be able to recoup our costs? It's much more worthwhile to find some real gold and silver treasures!

Feeling bored, she decided to go and complain to Bakara. But when she turned around, she saw that the captain of the guard, Icarum, had somehow gotten close to Morsen and Vivi.

He was turned to the side, ears perked up, with an expression that said, "I'm just passing by," but he was actually listening very attentively.

Their eyes met unexpectedly.

"..." The air froze for a second.

A distinct hint of embarrassment flashed across Icarus's face. He quickly straightened up, adjusted his collar, and gazed into the distance, pretending to observe the structure of the underground palace, as if he hadn't been the one eavesdropping.

Nami narrowed her eyes, eyeing Icarus suspiciously.

This guy... is he trying to eavesdrop on the captain's "trade secrets"? Or is he planning to steal them and make money through tourism development?

Tsk tsk, who would have thought that this seemingly serious guard captain is actually quite shrewd!

Fine, considering they provided so many fast ducks and guides, I won't try to extort him.

Otherwise… Nami thought to herself, by her standards, this kind of “trade secret eavesdropping” should at least make the other party pay a hefty price for it!

Ikaram was unaware that Nami had almost labeled him a "potential corporate spy" and had estimated the amount of "hush money," but he really wasn't after any business secrets.

As a loyal captain of the royal guard, his main concern was Princess Vivi's safety.

This safety is not only physical, but also psychological and mental.

After all, Mosen and his group had a unique style of doing things and their speech and behavior were quite unconventional. Princess Vivi was still young and easily influenced.

Icaram was genuinely worried that Morsen might say something inappropriate that could mislead the princess and affect her development, which is why he wanted to secretly listen to their conversation in order to "keep an eye" on it.

Unexpectedly, Nami caught him red-handed, which was indeed a bit embarrassing. Fortunately, he was thick-skinned enough to pretend nothing had happened.

Soon, the underground palace ruins were fully explored. The group returned to the surface via the same route, mounted their running ducks again, and prepared to head towards their next destination.

The desert sun was still scorching. Although the exploration of the ruins over the past few days was interesting, the long trek in the hot and dry environment was also a bit tiring.

Especially for Nami, who is obsessed with finding the "treasure," this journey of "seeing only scenery but not gold" has begun to make her a little anxious.

She lay listlessly on the back of the running duck, and complained to Morsen in a weak, drawn-out voice, "Captain~ where is the treasure we're looking for?"

"I've been searching for days, and all I see are rocks... If I can't find it soon, I'm going to run out of energy..."

After saying that, without waiting for Morsen's reply, she cast a resentful glance at Bakala, who was also riding lazily on a running duck beside her:

"And you, Bakala! Has your luck run out? Or is this desert just too vast, and your luck simply won't last? It's been days, and we haven't even seen a glimpse of treasure..."

Baccarat looked a little embarrassed after Nami said that.

As a "lucky goddess," it's really a bit unreasonable for her to have achieved nothing for several days in a row.

However, she still forced a confident expression, crossed her arms, and stubbornly said, "Who said it malfunctioned! Maybe something just held us back for a bit..."

"It's okay, I have a feeling we'll find it soon!" Her voice grew louder and louder, as if that would increase her persuasiveness.

However, as soon as she finished speaking,

Rumble! ...

Not far ahead, a seemingly flat and solid sandy area suddenly emitted a muffled, loud thud!

Immediately afterwards, the entire sandy area collapsed downwards, revealing a dark hole!

The collapse covered an area several meters wide, and the dust it kicked up resembled a large cloud.

Chapter 114, Historical Text, Unspoken Understanding (Two-in-One)

The caravan came to an abrupt halt. Everyone was stunned by the sudden turn of events, reining in their horses and looking warily at the enormous hole that had suddenly appeared.

The midday sun blazed down relentlessly, piercing through the swirling dust and illuminating a small area below the cave entrance.

Robin's gaze cut through the sand and dust, keenly capturing the ancient and familiar patterns and symbols on the cave walls.

Those were murals and texts unlike any of the previous ruins, more ancient and weathered, and closer to the style of the historical texts she had always dreamed of!

“This is…” Robin’s breath hitched, and his dark blue eyes shone with an unprecedented light!

At the same time, Nami, standing next to her, also caught a glimpse of a dazzling yet familiar golden reflection that made her heart race as the sunlight swept across a corner deep in the cave!

"That's...!" Nami's fatigue and complaints vanished instantly, replaced by boundless excitement and exhilaration.

"remains!"

"gold!"

The others also reacted, and looking at the huge cave that had suddenly appeared in front of them, as well as the ancient traces and alluring golden light that could be vaguely seen inside, their faces showed varying degrees of surprise and excitement.

Mosen smiled and looked at Bakala, who was also somewhat stunned.

"It seems our 'lucky goddess' is quite reliable after all."

Bakara, recovering from her shock, straightened her back upon hearing Morsen's words, her face regaining its proud "everything is under control" expression: "Of course! I told you, we'd find it soon! Wasn't that right!"

Are you kidding me? Did she get her title of Lady Luck for nothing?

Next, Mosen and his group, along with Vivi, Icarus, and Bell, who served as guards, began to carefully explore downwards along the relatively gentle slope at the edge of the cave.

The other twelve elite guards, under Icarum's orders, remained outside the cave entrance to watch over the running ducks and supplies and to keep watch on the surroundings.

The cave below was much deeper than I had imagined.

The heat and dryness of the outside world were shut out, replaced by a cool, damp chill mixed with the smell of dust and rocks.

Sunlight streamed in obliquely from the huge opening, forming several beams of light that barely illuminated an area near the entrance. The deeper part was shrouded in darkness, requiring the use of lanterns for illumination.

After descending a slope that is tens of meters deep, the view suddenly opens up before you.

This is a huge underground site, with the surrounding rock walls carved out very smoothly, and even some simple carvings still remain.

However, what attracted the most attention was the enormous object standing in the very center.

It was a huge, square stone tablet with an astonishing thickness. Its surface was cold and heavy, and it was densely engraved with a kind of square script that most people could not understand.

Even after being buried for countless years, the stone still appears undamaged, and the inscriptions are still clearly legible, exuding a solemnity and silent weight that transcends time.

“This is…” Robin’s gaze was fixed on the words the moment it met his eyes.

Her body trembled slightly, not from fear, but from an indescribable excitement and shock, just like when she saw another piece of historical text a few nights ago.

She slowly stepped forward, walked to the boulder, raised her hand, and gently stroked the cold, rough stone surface.

“The Poneglyphs…it really is the Poneglyphs…” she murmured, her eyes burning with an intense light.

Mosen had previously mentioned that there was a historical text deep in the desert, but she didn't think she would definitely find it, given how vast the desert is.

Who would have thought that Bakara's abilities were truly so powerful? She actually managed to find it in the vast desert.

As her thoughts raced, she continued to concentrate intently on observing and interpreting the text. Her notebook flipped rapidly, her fingers trembling slightly with excitement, yet her note-taking was exceptionally swift and accurate.

Not far away, Icarus and Bell's expressions changed simultaneously upon seeing the boulder.

As the king's closest confidants, they naturally knew of the existence of the "Poneglyphs" and the astonishing secrets and endless troubles they represented.

This is something the World Government would do anything to hide, yet it has appeared deep in the Alabasta desert.

Alabasta already has too many secrets; it can't have one more.