Giyu's voice rang in the ears of the group.
Almost simultaneously with the sound, the soldier captain only felt his vision blur as an iron clamp-like force seized his wrist, forcibly pressing his half-drawn saber back into its scabbard.
Giyu had already slid down from the sand dune, positioning himself between the King's Army and the elderly man and his grandson, firmly gripping the captain's sword-drawing hand.
His gaze remained calm as he looked at the soldier captain and repeated:
"Stop."
The captain was both surprised and furious. He tried to break free from this man's grasp but found the other's strength astonishing—the hand didn't budge an inch.
"You... who do you think you are?! How dare you interfere with my business?! We're the King's Army!"
Giyu didn't answer his question, his eyes sweeping over the other two soldiers who had instinctively raised their weapons.
Why would this country's army draw weapons against these harmless civilians?
A flicker of doubt arose in his heart.
"Attack!" the captain roared at the other two King's Army soldiers when Giyu remained silent.
The two soldiers exchanged glances, drew the curved blades at their waists, and charged at Giyu from left and right!
The blades reflected glaring light under the scorching sun.
Giyu released the captain's hand, and as the man staggered back from the momentum, Giyu stepped forward. With his single arm, he wielded the sheathed Nichirin Blade, thrusting it forward!
Clang! Clang!
The two soldiers felt a violent shock in their wrists, and their curved blades were sent flying from their hands, tracing two arcs through the air before embedding themselves in the sand far away.
The captain had just stabilized his posture and drew his sword, intending to launch a sneak attack from behind.
Without even turning around, Giyu delivered a swift chop with the back of his hand, striking the captain directly on the neck. The man grunted, the ferocity in his eyes instantly fading as his body went limp and collapsed onto the sand, unconscious.
The entire sequence happened in the blink of an eye. By the time the two soldiers regained their senses, they saw their captain already fallen, while the black-haired warrior simply watched them calmly.
"Why draw your blades against... unarmed civilians?" Giyu asked, his tone even.
The two soldiers stared at Giyu, their faces filled with astonishment and a hint of fear. They didn't answer his question at all, instead whispering to each other in trembling voices:
"Wh-what do we do? This guy is too strong, we can't beat him!"
"Nothing we can do, let's retreat!"
"But... what about him?" One pointed at their unconscious comrade on the ground.
"Who cares about him! He brought this on himself! If he dies, he dies! With him dead, we might get promoted." The other soldier glanced at the fallen captain, an inexplicable smile appearing on his face as he turned and fled without hesitation.
The two then stumbled backward in retreat, only stopping when they felt they'd put enough distance between them. Suddenly, one turned back with a provocative expression, pointing at Giyu and shouting:
"You... you bastard! If you've got the guts, come to Carteraya! See how we deal with you then!"
No sooner had the words left his mouth than the two began running for their lives without looking back, quickly disappearing behind the undulating sand dunes. All that remained was the knocked-out captain and the terrified grandfather and grandson.
"Th-thank you! Our savior! Thank you so much!" The old man pulled his grandson close, overcome with emotion that his goods had finally been protected. He began to kneel before Giyu.
Giyu reached out to support him, preventing the old man from kneeling.
The little boy also ran to Giyu's side, tilting his small face upward with large eyes full of admiration: "Big brother, you're so awesome! You knocked them all down in one go!"
Giyu looked down at the boy but didn't respond to the child's admiration. Instead, his gaze fell upon the unconscious captain and the direction where the two soldiers had fled.
They actually abandoned their captain... Whether it was drawing their swords or the earlier retreat, their behavior was too strange...
The old man wiped the corner of his eye and looked at Giyu, introducing himself: "Thank you so much. I'm Mattel, and this is my grandson, Batu. Sir, are you also heading to Alabasta?"
Giyu nodded: "Mm."
Mattel's face immediately showed a hint of joy. Since their direction matched this black-haired young man's, their safety would be guaranteed. He quickly said: "Young man! Wonderful, we're going there too. Let's travel together so we can watch out for each other."
But then he looked at the fallen King's Army soldier with a troubled expression, "What should we do about this? Those two didn't even take their captain with them, just left him here..."
Little Batu stomped over angrily upon hearing this and kicked the unconscious captain, though without much force: "Hmph! The King's Army - everyone says they're bad people! Let's just leave him here to be buried in the sand!"
Giyu didn't agree with the child's words.
His eyes scanned the camel's back where, besides the sacks, there was an extra coil of rough rope. He looked at Mattel, "Bring him along."
Mattel was momentarily stunned, then understood Giyu's meaning.
He sighed and nodded: "Ah, though he's a scoundrel, he's still a living being... Leaving him in the desert like this would certainly mean his death."
As he spoke, he took the coil of rope from the camel's back.
Batu was completely puzzled, pouting with clear reluctance written all over his face, "Why do we have to bring this bad person along?"
Mattel rubbed Batu's small head while picking up a handful of sand, speaking gently:
"Little Batu, if we abandon him here like this, then we become people who watch others die without helping, even if he is a bad person. Anyway, it's not far now. Why don't you walk for a bit, okay?"
Though still not very willing, Batu was obedient to his grandfather. He just pouted even more prominently but still helped dutifully.
Together with his grandfather, he used the rope to securely tie up the unconscious captain, then laboriously laid him across the camel's back.
Mattel patted the camel, comforting it: "Sorry for the trouble, old friend."
Then he turned to Giyu with a simple smile: "Young man, let's set off. We should reach Alabasta not far ahead."
Thus, the unusual party of four people and one camel formed once again and continued their journey across the endless desert.
Giyu walked silently beside Mattel, while Batu followed alongside the camel, occasionally stealing curious glances at Giyu.
This was Giyu's first time truly traversing the desert. Unlike his brief landing in the rapeseed fields before, the sensation of being immersed in an endless sea of sand, completely enveloped by the dry, hot air, was unprecedented.