Scholar of Strawhat Pirates

The Strawhat Pirates arrived at the Yuba Oasis after a whole day of walking in the desert. The group was exhausted, except for Nami and Vivi, as they were carried by Matsuge on his back. They were all suffering from acute dehydration due to not drinking the amount of water they needed, as they only had a limited amount available.

When they arrived at the Yuba Oasis, what they saw was different from what they expected. They all thought there would be water, but instead, they saw an old man diligently digging a hole in the sand, as there were no residents living in the Yuba Oasis anymore.

"What happened here?" Vivi just managed to ask, as it was truly a shocking scene for her. She always thought Yuba was still thriving despite the drought, due to it being an oasis and a source of drinking water. But now, there was nothing here but sand.

"The drought affected the City of Yuba. It was hit by numerous sandstorms every day, and when the water dried up, the residents packed up and left the town," the old man, still digging, said without stopping.

"What happened to the rebels that used to stay here?" Vivi then asked, and this made the old man stop his digging and look at Vivi with anger in his eyes.

"Are you one of the degenerates who wanted to join the rebellion?" the old man suddenly shouted in anger as he kept throwing whatever he could get his hands on. He kept throwing them toward Vivi and the others.

"What's with the old man suddenly flipping out?" Luffy yelled as he protected himself from the projectiles like the others did—except for Douglas, who did not dodge, knowing he would not be hit. After a few minutes, the old man calmed down and sat on the nearby rock.

"Those fools are no longer staying in this town," the old man then said, which surprised Vivi and the others.

"What? It can't be," Vivi said, despair in her tone, as she had wasted a lot of time just to come here to prevent the siege and war against the army forces.

"Like I said, there were multiple sandstorms hitting every day and no rain for about three years now, which left the oasis in this sorry state. This also made the rebels realize they could no longer stay here, as even the merchants and caravans were not passing through," the old man said, explaining why no one was here anymore.

"They all relocated to the town of Katorea. That's their main base now," the old man then said as he began shoveling once again. Douglas decided to help, as he was beginning to pity the old man. Douglas kneeled and concentrated his Observation Haki while touching the ground. He then thought of a perfect way to create a well for the dried-up oasis. He detected how deep it had to be to connect to the groundwater system, which remained untouched despite the dried oasis.

As Douglas was doing this, the old man couldn't help but stare at him, confused. He looked at the other crew members, but they were also a little confused. Still, they knew Douglas wouldn't do something unnecessary, so they let him continue as they discussed the situation.

"Katorea? Where's that, Vivi?" Luffy then asked Vivi, trying to figure out where it was.

"It's a town near Nanohana," Vivi then answered.

"What? Then why did we walk all the way here, Vivi?" Luffy then complained, as he was affected by the heat too.

"What, Vivi? Did you just call her Vivi?" the old man said as he heard Luffy call Vivi's name. He immediately looked over, recognizing the name Vivi.

The Strawhat crew then started panicking, trying to bounce around the conversation until Luffy spoke.

"She's not Princess Vivi, if that's what you're thinking," Luffy said, only to be beaten up by the other crew members for being noisy, with Vivi trying to deny her name.

"Is that really you, Princess Vivi?" the old man suddenly asked. Vivi tried to deny it, but he grabbed her hands.

"I'm so glad to see you're still alive. I guess you don't recognize me anymore. I can't blame you—I've lost quite a lot of weight," the old man said. Vivi looked at him, confused, trying to remember if she had met him before. Then something clicked in her head.

"Is that you, Toto?" Vivi asked, wanting to be sure. When the old man confirmed he was Toto, Vivi was overwhelmed with joy, as he was one of the people she recognized from before. The two reminisced with each other as they talked about the current state of the Arabasta Kingdom.

Zoro, who was watching Douglas, approached him. Douglas was still kneeling on the ground, eyes closed. It had been more than ten minutes since he started, but he still hadn't explained what he was doing.

"Oi, what are you doing, Douglas?" Zoro asked, but Douglas didn't respond. After a few more seconds of silence, Douglas suddenly opened his eyes with a smile.

"Bingo. Everyone, get away from here. Leave the town of Yuba for a little bit. I'll do some remodeling," Douglas then announced, which was met with confusion. Still, Douglas insisted they leave, so they complied. After more than ten minutes, Douglas could feel no one was near him, and he could do what he needed.

"Drill," Douglas said as he created a drill out of compressed sand and started controlling it to spin underground. The size of the drill was ten inches wide, creating a burrowed hole straight into the ground. While the drill created the hole, Douglas also reassembled the sand to be more compact, resembling stone. Douglas worked with great efficiency. In less than five minutes, he reached the groundwater reservoir. Then Douglas began stabilizing the sand, compressing all of it across the oasis without affecting the houses. It took over 30 minutes for Douglas to finish everything and reshape the oasis.

Then Douglas took some scrap metal nearby and reassembled it into a pipe, inserting it into the hole. He created a pump to bring water to the surface. He finished everything after an hour and called the Strawhats back.

"Is that what you just made? You made us leave for that?" Nami said angrily, now incredibly tired from walking back and forth.

"Actually, I made you leave for this," Douglas said as he started pumping water. After a few seconds, water began flowing from the pump, surprising Toto and the Strawhats.

"Hahahaha! I know, I know—I'm really a genius," Douglas said, but he was pushed aside by the Strawhats, who all wanted to drink. Toto then approached him.

"THANK YOU, THANK YOU," Toto just managed to say as he tried to kneel in front of Douglas, who stopped him.

"I'm not a god to be kneeled upon, but I accept your gratitude," Douglas said to Toto, helping him stand up. Zoro, Vivi, and Sanji all smiled at Douglas, knowing he was just incredibly awkward.