Alabasta was, Shigeuchi quickly decided, far too hot for his liking; the sun too harsh, the wind too dry and the desert too endless. That might sound strange coming from a man who served as first mate to a living sun, but where Nikko simply burned the sun above Alabasta seemed to press down on you instead; an oppressive heat that drained your energy as much as anything else.

[color=gray]“A drink, sure. Nothing like dulling your senses with alcohol before trying to take over a country.”[/color] Despite the sarcasm, as Nikko suggested a drink Shigeuchi’s eye drifted over to front entrance of a building that seemed to be a bar judging by the sign over the door and the stream of noise that he could hear even from the ship. He began to walk in that direction, counting on his captain to follow him as he made his way through the crowded docks, weaving past sailors and locals alike until he reached the swinging, saloon style doors and pushed his way through.

The interior was exactly what you would expect from an establishment that mostly catered to mariners, pirates and alcoholics. In other words it was dimly lit, unhygienic and filled with a mixed scent of smoke, stale sweat and saltwater; the clientele looked as hostile as they were drunk and the man behind the bar looked like he could have had a bounty on his head at least as large as his or Nikko’s, which was almost a requirement when it came to keeping a place like this running and in one piece. Shigeuchi approached the bar and got the bartenders attention by placing some belli on the counter. [color=gray]“I’ll take the best bottle of whiskey this’ll buy me.”[/color]

As Nikko arrived Shigeuchi turned to him, giving him a considering look for a moment before pouring out a shot of whiskey and drinking it. [color=gray]“This plan… is more ambitious than anything we’ve done before. This is the first step towards becoming a legend instead of just writing about them; are you sure you’re ready for that?”[/color] The plan, although just a quick and dirty approximation of the plan Crocodile enacted more than a decade ago, was the kind of thing that made the whole world stop and pay attention to you. Threatening the capital city of a kingdom, kidnapping the royal family and holding them to ransom, especially when that royal family was one with a history like the Nefertari’s, was a big deal to say the least. [color=gray]“How far are you going to take this? Not just here, but the whole journey. Luffy did some amazing things, if you’re planning on recreating all of his actions every step of the way, you may not get  chance to publish this book you write.”[/color]

[@Reflection]