Upon entering the Grand Line, the Nebula was fortunate not to encounter Laboon, the blue whale. However, one could also argue it was misfortune.
Li Xing didn't dwell on it. He had merely set sail a little earlier than Luffy. Judging by Zoro's situation at the time, it was likely he would encounter Luffy soon.
Li Xing's crew had no navigator, nor a Log Pose. They navigated solely by instinct. Their ship, like naval vessels, was powered.
They sailed like this for nearly three months, witnessing all sorts of pirates along the way. This greatly astonished Tsunade and the others. People in this world were generally large, and many were bizarrely shaped, especially the two giants on Little Garden.
On their journey, the group, who were not originally pirates, were mistaken for pirates who had forcefully entered Loguetown. Consequently, they all received bounties, which continued to increase.
As they neared the Kingdom of Alabasta, a seabird flew to the Nebula from the sky. Li Xing paid the bird, and it left behind a newspaper. Upon opening it, several bounty posters fell out.
One of them was for the captain of Luffy's Straw Hat Pirates, Monkey D. Luffy, with a bounty of thirty million Berries. The rest were for the members of Li Xing's Nebula crew.
Star Cloud Pirate Group, Captain, Li Xing, suspected Swordsman, strength unknown, bounty three hundred million Berries.
Crew: Karin, a user of the new type Thunder-Thunder Fruit, bounty one hundred fifty million Berries.
Yugito, a user of the new type Flame-Flame Fruit, bounty one hundred fifty million Berries.
Tsunade, a user of the new type Flame-Flame Fruit, bounty two hundred million Berries.
Mei Terumi, a user of the new type Acid-Acid Fruit, bounty one hundred twenty million Berries.
Konan, a user of the new type Wind-Wind Fruit, bounty one hundred thirty million Berries.
Ino, a user of the new type Super-Super Fruit, suspected Ghost-Ghost Fruit, bounty one hundred million Berries.
Kurenai, a user of the new type Wind-Wind Fruit, bounty one hundred million Berries.
Anko, a user of the new type Animal-Animal Fruit, suspected Snake-Snake Fruit, bounty one hundred million Berries.
Pet: Tonton, bounty one hundred Berries.
Additionally, there was Kaguya, hailed as a beauty comparable to the Empress, a user of the new type Freeze-Freeze Fruit, suspected to also possess space-type abilities, with a bounty of three billion Berries, and a demand for her capture alive.
However, Li Xing believed the Empress was not as beautiful as his wives. The Empress's title of the world's most beautiful woman was partly due to the Love-Love Fruit, a power capable of charming all beings, also known as the Charm-Charm Fruit.
The Nebula Pirates were all Devil Fruit users, and most were Logia-type users. Since these abilities were already possessed by others, they were labeled as users of new, unknown Devil Fruits.
The World Government deemed the Nebula Pirates the most ferocious and cruel pirates of the new era. All crew members had bounties exceeding one hundred million. Kaguya, due to her innate goddess-like aura, caught the eye of a Celestial Dragon, who intended to capture her as a slave.
Upon hearing this news, Kaguya even contemplated using the Infinite Tsukuyomi again. Fortunately, Li Xing dissuaded her. Upon arriving at Sabaody Archipelago, their eternal legend began by making an example of a Celestial Dragon.
"Sigh, my bounty has increased again," Tsunade sighed, looking at her wanted poster. All this time, they had been framed by actual pirates.
Initially, they were wanted for forcefully entering Loguetown. Later, when they entered a town, they were recognized, and a group demanded their expulsion. Li Xing, not wanting to argue with civilians, left.
However, shortly after Li Xing and his crew departed, that town was massacred by other pirates, leaving a sea of corpses. The Nebula crew became scapegoats. Later, when they eliminated pirates at sea, it was reported as a conflict between pirates, making things increasingly murky.
"Alright, this isn't something we can control. Let's just be pirates. I'll draw a pirate flag." Li Xing patted Tsunade's shoulder to comfort her. He then took out a black flag and drew a skull on it. The skull had a flame mark on its face, similar to his own markings. Thus, the Nebula Pirates were officially formed.
It was the World Government that forced them to become pirates; they couldn't blame Li Xing and his crew. They had originally only intended to sail for a year.
...
On the other side, the Straw Hat Pirates also saw Luffy's bounty poster. While they were celebrating, they spotted the Nebula Pirates. Zoro, Sanji, and Nami had all met Li Xing before.
Zoro had met some of them, while Sanji was even more enraged, shouting that heaven was unfair, questioning why all the most beautiful goddesses were Li Xing's wives, and why the entire crew was composed of them.
"Li Xing, is this guy also a pirate? I fought him once. He gave me a sword, this green one. It was originally white and had 'Nichirin' written on it."
"What? You moss-head actually know that guy? Why didn't you cripple him?"
Within two sentences, Zoro and Sanji were arguing again. Luffy, however, was completely bewildered, having no idea who Li Xing was.
Nami also harbored doubts. Why had Li Xing known Arlong was untrustworthy? And the facts proved it; if she hadn't met the Straw Hats, she...
...
Alabasta.
Li Xing's wives had gone shopping again. There was no help for it; this world had such a diverse array of clothing. What woman could resist?
The kingdom was currently in a state of civil war and riots, making it unsuitable for a prolonged stay, as it could attract unwanted attention.
Unfortunately, Li Xing's luck was terrible. As soon as they arrived, they encountered Crocodile and Robin. Crocodile had been eyeing the Nebula Pirates for a long time. Such a promising pirate crew was ideal for recruitment.
"My wives are all out shopping. Interested in a duel?" Li Xing lit a cigarette, looking at Crocodile with exaggerated swagger.
"Hahahaha... You are the captain of the Nebula Pirates, aren't you? Miss All Sunday." Crocodile glanced at Robin. Robin immediately crossed her arms, and four hands sprouted on Li Xing's body.
A few birds flew by in the sky. Li Xing immediately created Seastone, which Robin's hands grabbed. Robin instantly collapsed on the ground, powerless and at his mercy.
"Desert Spada!"
Li Xing made no move, but a sandstorm erupted behind him, directly facing Crocodile. Crocodile felt something was wrong and immediately turned into sand and flew away. Robin was caught by Li Xing's sand.
"You! You're a Devil Fruit user too? Why can you touch Seastone?" Crocodile was incredulous. How could anyone's ability be like his? But he had just touched Seastone, which was too strange. No wonder the Nebula Pirates were given such high bounties and evaluations by the World Government.
"Sage Art! Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet!"
Suddenly, a massive water dragon appeared in the arid desert, swallowing Crocodile in one bite. Devil Fruit users instantly lost all strength when encountering water.
If it were another ability, he might still have some strength to use it, but Crocodile's ability was sand. Sand encountering water was akin to directly touching Seastone, rendering his Devil Fruit ability useless.
"Boring. The Shichibukai are just so-so. One Water Style from a Devil Fruit user and they're all finished." Li Xing then released the two. He was only passing through to buy some things.
Not long after, the group returned from shopping. Seeing the mess on the ground, they thought little of it and immediately set sail.
A few days after leaving Alabasta, Li Xing saw news about the Nebula Pirates again.
"Shocking! The Most Terrifying New Era Pirate Crew in History, Captain Instantly Defeats a Shichibukai! Suspected Dual Devil Fruit User."
This was the headline of the newspaper, which made Li Xing feel quite awkward. It had the flavor of a sensationalist tabloid.
The content was also sensational. Captain Li Xing was suspected of being a dual Devil Fruit user, capable of controlling sand and conjuring large amounts of water out of thin air. The ultimate counter to Devil Fruit users had appeared! The phrasing was no different from a sensationalist article, with all sorts of praise for Li Xing to attract attention.
Li Xing's bounty immediately soared to six hundred million, an unprecedented increase in the Grand Line.