Part 15: Head to the Dust Ruins - Return to Alabasta
Once you've collected Lil' Mover and returned to Nanohana you'll be shunted back to the Strange Place, and then to the real world. Speak to Adio on the bridge to the Dust Ruins and he'll join the party again. If you follow Adio's advice and camp out you'll see a quick cut scene between the Straw Hats, though it's not compulsary.
Head back to the Dust Ruins. Stand on the lower platform to the north of the entrance and Lim will release Lil' Mover, granting the Straw Hats access to the inner sections of the Dust Ruins.
Dust Ruins
Monsters
- Kaen Kabuto - Weak to Speed, resists Fire
- Ogre Sazae Kancho - Weak to Power
- Sand Del Kong - Weak to Technique, Lightning
- Wrestling Dugong - Weak to Technique
You'll wind up on a small platform on the other side of the rushing sands. Lil' Mover is here with you, and you can use it to ride back to the other side if you wish to leave the Dust Ruins. Your destination is dead ahead, though there are a few things to see near the entrance first:
- To the west you'll find a Yoisa Shop. It sells Igaram's Tie, as well as several Resistance Rings.
- You can grapple up to the archways on the west side of the room by targeting the green rings suspended from the ceiling. Near the west-most grapple point you'll find a Zoro's Cube Fragment, as well as a box for Zoro to slice open. The box contains three Corn Stalks.
- To the east is a broken wall that you can circumvent with Chopper. Look beside the rubble on your left when you emerge from the hole to find a Wandering Clan's Journal.
- You can also grapple up onto the archways from the east side, where you'll find a chest containing a Speed Resistance +15 Ring. Cross the gap to the north of the chest to find a box for Zoro to open, containing three Corn Stalks.
Collapsed Corridor
Drop back down to the floor and head to the door in the north. At the end of the next corridor you'll find a Yoisa Sign, so make sure you activate it. Grapple across the gap in the floor, then take a right. There's a ladder that will take you up to a broken floor. You can grapple to another chunk of flooring to the west to find the Dust Tablet, as well as a steel box for Zoro containing 25,000 Berries.
Return to the main floor and grapple down the stairs. Before you enter another corridor you can find a Luffy's Cube Fragment attached to a pillar on your left. Head down the stairs to the south and through the next door.
Observation Room
The team will find a huge mechanism in the next room, and despite the lighted button it's not working just yet. Behind the machine you'll find a pedestal which can clearly move, but... won't. There are two somethings that fit into the base of the pedestal that likely make it move.
There are, appropriately, two corridors on either side of the room. Both will take you to areas that will help you solve this mystery. We'll start by going up the stairs in the east, even though they ultimately turn out to be a dead end.
Corridor Room
This area is full of twisting pathways, and the team will quickly discover that an amblem the same shape as the indentation in the bedestal is embedded high above their heads. Wonder if you can get up there and pry it off the ceiling?
Follow the main path southwest. On your right you'll see a huge pillar, and attached to it is an Usopp's Cube Fragment. Continue to follow the path to the north and you'll come to a bit of a clearing where a Kaen Beetle is guarding a Chopper's Cube Fragment.
This clearing is the end of the line, though if you check the ceiling you'll probably notice upside-down pathways. Hm. You can't do anything about them from here, so with the Cube Fragments in hand you'd best head back to the Observation Room and try the western corridor.
Mirror Room
This area is one big puzzle. Before we get started on the puzzle, though, let's have a quick look around the unaltered room:
- In the north is a small side room with a steel box Zoro can slice open. It contains 25,000 Berries.
- In the southeast is a side room guarded by an Ogre Sazae Kancho. Inside it is a chest containing Bronze Bat Soup.
- In the southwest is a corridor only Chopper can access. On the other side is a chest containing three Sazae Kancho Livers. Inspect the hole to the north of the chest to find a Robin's Cube Fragment for Luffy to grab.
Now for the puzzle. The Mirror Room consists of a series of light beams redirected into mirrors. You need to position the mirrors such that they're sending the light beams towards the closed doors on the edges of the room. There are three doors to open, though you can only open two of them right now.
- Start with the door in the southwest corner of the Mirror Room. Trigger the mirror to the north of the door twice to open it up. Toggle the device inside to active the machine in the Observation Room.
- Next is the room in the southwest. Trigger the central mirror twice to send a light beam to a mirror to the northeast. Toggle that mirror twice so it's sending a beam southeast. Toggle the third mirror three times to redirect into a fourth mirror, which can be toggled twice to open the door. Inside, beyond a door for Zoro to open and a small jump, you'll find a chest containing a Burst Brew.
- Last is the room in the north. Toggle the mirror in the northeast until it's pointing its beam at the mirror buried in sand. We'll come back to this in a moment.
Return to the Observation Room. The machine in the middle of the room is now active, and toggling it will flip the room on its head. This will grant you access to a save point near the machine. It will also flip the Mirror and Corridor Rooms, allowing you to complete their respective puzzles. We'll head right back to the Mirror Room, since we were just there.
Mirror Room (Flipped)
Yep, flipped. Start by taking the stairs and hopping up onto the platform to your left. There's a chest at the top containing Golden Jelly. If you follow the path east and south, to the southeast corner of the area, you'll find a side room with a chest containing a Technique Resistance +15 Ring. Leave the room and you'll see a Sanji's Cube Fragment in the sand on your left.
Trek west through the sand and go up the first available set of stairs on your right. This will put you below the half-buried mirror that you set up previously. Trigger it from the ground with Luffy and it will open the door. You can't get to the door from here, so we'll come back to this.
Return to the sand and proceed to the walkways in the southwest of the Mirror Room. Follow them north and you'll find an Usopp's Cube Fragment sitting on the ground on a bit of a side path. Check the room in the northwest to find an Herb-Grilled Bo Bo Bird in a chest.
That's that for the flipped version of the Mirror Room. If you return to the Observation Room and flip things around again you can enter the third door you opened, in the northeast. Inside you'll find the first emblem... and some trouble.
Volcano Dragon
Weakness: Speed (Volcano Dragon) / Technique (Wrestling Dugongs)
This thing is more of a miniboss than an outright boss. The Volcano Dragon can hit an entire area with fire damage that may Burn your characters and lower their DEF, but for the most part it sticks to normal attacks. The Wrestling Dugongs seem to have more health than the average, but are otherwise just poor clones of Luffy. Let Zoro and Robin handle the Dugongs while Nami and Usopp take down the Volcano Dragon.
You'll receive the Eastern Wind Crest for defeating the Volcano Dragon. That's one down.
Corridor Room (Flipped)
Another flipped area. Head south from the entrance and down into the sand. Trek east, north, and west to find a way up onto the stonework again, then follow the path until you find the Kaen Kabuto Luffy noticed earlier, blocking a path. To the south of it and down a side path on your right is a Nami's Cube Fragment.
Take out the Kaen Kabuto blocking the remainder of the path. It will take you up to a chest containing Golden Jelly. North of the jelly the team will discover that the second emblem is now buried in sand. Adio will pull the Western Wind Crest out for you.
Look above you once you have the crest. You can use the grapple point you spot to land on an upper walkway. To your right is a ladder that will pit you against another Kaen Kabuto. It's guarding a Robin's Cube Fragment. Return to the previous walkway and go west, up a jump, to find a path back to the entrance.
That's everything! Flip the Dust Ruins back to normal. Check the pedestal and the team will insert them into the base, revealing a staircase. Head on down.
Accessway / Plaza
Almost done, though not quite. Check on your left as you run down the entry hallway to find a box Zoro can open. It contains Sazae Kancho Pescatore. At the end of the corridor you'll find a wide room guarded by some Sand Del Kongs. Technique moves work nicely on them, especially Robin's Dos Fleur Grab. They're also vulnerable to Lightning if you want to try and Paralyze them.
Check the southwest of this room for a Sanji's Cube Fragment, the rubble in the west for a Luffy's Cube Fragmenrt, and on the left side of the central stairs for a Wandering Clan's Journal, once the Sand Del Kongs are out of the way. Up the stairs in the south you'll find a room with a switch that will activate a nearby elevator. Use it from the left side and it will send you back to the beginning of the Dust Ruins. Handy, but not yet. Check to the west of the elevator for a room only Chopper can enter, within which you'll find an Usopp's Cube Fragment and a steel box for Zoro containing three Desert Tomatoes.
Return to the main chamber and climb the stairs. As Luffy helpfully notes there are more mirrors, and you need to manipulate them to open the final door of the ruins. This will only take a moment:
- Toggle the lowest mirror, down on the stairs, twice
- Toggle the mirror to the left of the save point by the door twice
- Toggle the mirror to the right of the save point three times
- Toggle the mirror west of the door twice
This will open the door. Slice up the metal box near the final mirror to find a Potent Energy Apple, then save up and head inside. The colossus is standing on the central platform... though you should have a quick look around before taking it on.
- Luffy can grab a Zoro's Cube Fragment from the bottom of a lamp on the east side of the colossus' platform. Below it is a box Zoro can open to reveal three Desert Tomatoes.
- On the north side of the platform is another box for Zoro to open, containing Bronze Bat Soup.
- Climb onto the lower level of the platform on the east side and follow it around the colossus to the west side. You'll find a chest containing a Burst Brew.
There's more in this room, but if you try to get at it you'll trigger the cut scene with the colossus. So... fight time!
Wind Colossus
Weakness: Power
Bladed Truth, a single-hitting wind attack, and Storm Helix Blade, which hits everyone in the same area and potentially decreases each characters' ATK. Both attacks will usually inflict Bleed status. Do enough damage and the colossus will use Chaos King, which hits everyone on the field for around 800 points of damage.
This is a pretty simple battle. Bring out Luffy, Sanji, and Chopper, and have them smack away at the Colossus. Try to use Skills that hit other areas without moving to them so Storm Helix Blade is only hitting one or two targets at a time. Chopper can attack, but he'll also want to use either version of Heal to keep the party's health up, particularly when the colossus uses Chaos King. Adio helps out by healing your characters and using his new attack, Grande, which buffs everyone's DEF. Your final character should be either Usopp or Nami, both of whom can safely ping the colossus from a distance. Take the colossus out using Luffy for extra experience.
You'll receive the Wind Colossus's Record Cube and the Wind Colossus Power for defeating the Wind Colossus. The group will also receive the Wind Colossus Core. With the colossus out of the way you can claim the Dust Tablet that was behind it, as well as grapple up to the walkways surrounding the room. In the southwest of the walkways you'll find a chest containing a Power Resistance +15 Ring, and in the northeast is a Zoro's Cube Fragment.
All done! Head back to the elevator room that you activated earlier and it will shuttle you back to the entrance of the Dust Ruins. Back to Adio's hut. Lim is waiting, and she'll take you to the Strange Place, where the Straw Hats will regain a number of their old Skills - and be able to upgrade their existing Skills, to boot. Everyone also gets an upgrade to their Accessory Slots.
All done? Then it's time for the next adventure. Off to Water 7!