"Goodbye, Mr. Sea Fish."
On the ship, Marcel stood there, waving goodbye as he watched the black fish gradually disappear into the distance.
Beside him, Captain Joezer, Kafur, and others stood watching the black fish vanish in the distance, their expressions tinged with sadness.
But then, Joezer patted Marcel's shoulder and said, "The ship has reached the port, and we need to unload the cargo."
"Yes."
Marcel nodded heavily and walked to the loading and unloading area to begin.
With his father's revenge avenged, he felt a surge of strength, yet a tinge of regret lingered in his heart, wondering when he would see this black fish again.
But he believed they would meet again someday.
...
Far out in the deep waters off the distant island, Xia Qiu watched the merchant ship with a snort, circled around, and headed towards the back of the island.
After a day and a night of sailing, the merchant ship arrived at the island on the second morning, unloading its cargo at the harbor.
Xia Qiu intended to use this island as his next resting place, so he moved away from the merchant ship and circled around, avoiding it.
Xia Qiu first circumnavigated the island, mainly to explore the water depth around it and its perimeter.
This island was large, much larger than Naruto Village.
This small island was about six kilometers long and two kilometers wide, with a rough area of twelve square kilometers, approximately three times the size of Naruto Village.
The village had two residential areas on the east and west, separated by mountains and forests in the middle. The height of the mountains was not comparable to the island where Naruto Village was located.
The water depth was considerable. Both the eastern and western residential areas had deep-water ports with depths exceeding ten meters, sufficient to accommodate large ships over a hundred meters long from this era.
As for the south, mountains could be clearly seen. However, at the edge of the mountains near the coast, the terrain was relatively flat, but it was uninhabited.
The water depth here was even greater, around fifty meters, like a cliff extending all the way to the seabed.
Furthermore, the water depth reached a hundred meters about five hundred meters away.
As soon as Xia Qiu entered this area, he was surrounded by a group of great white sharks, the longest being nine meters and the shortest around five meters.
Such lengths exceeded the average and maximum lengths of great white sharks on Earth.
No wonder no one lived here; with such a fierce group of sharks, few people would approach this area.
These sharks were not intimidated by Xia Qiu's massive size. They had hunted blue whales over thirty meters long, and their first instinct upon encountering Xia Qiu was to attack.
With sharp teeth and powerful jaws, these sharks had few enemies in these waters.
However, they posed no threat to Xia Qiu.
The bite force of these sharks ranged from a maximum of 1,600 pounds to a minimum of eight to nine hundred pounds.
Such force could not break through Xia Qiu's defenses, only leaving shallow indentations.
More importantly, the size of their mouths was limited, making it impossible to engulf Xia Qiu's body and bite vertically, thus preventing them from exerting their full bite force.
Moreover, Xia Qiu's scales were smooth; when they bit diagonally, their teeth would slip, dispersing the force.
Under these circumstances, even exerting forty percent of their bite force was considerable.
Therefore, their attacks could only leave white marks on Xia Qiu.
The real concern was their attacks on Xia Qiu's fins.
The fins had hard spines and were large and sturdy, but they were convenient for the sharks to gnaw on, leaving deep tooth marks. A few bites could tear the fins apart.
So, they still posed a threat.
While the sharks attacked, Xia Qiu counterattacked.
Bang.
Xia Qiu swung his body, his tail sweeping horizontally, sending one shark flying.
Then, he opened his massive maw, clamping down on a shark's mouth. With his teeth closed, he bit the shark's midsection directly into his abdomen.
As for the head and tail, Xia Qiu had no intention of eating them.
Crunch, crunch.
Xia Qiu bit them one by one, killing the sharks.
There were about a dozen sharks in the group. After Xia Qiu ate six of them, the remaining sharks scattered and fled.
Xia Qiu chased and killed one more, but the rest had already disappeared.
They had run too fast.
Xia Qiu stopped the pursuit and slowly retracted his body. A strong scent of blood permeated the surroundings.
After feeding on the sharks, Xia Qiu developed a wide olfactory membrane, giving him a sense of smell as powerful as a shark's, allowing him to detect the scent of blood from a great distance.
However, like sharks, Xia Qiu did not become frenzied by the smell of blood.
A powerful sense of smell was merely a means of sensing prey.
Even if the olfactory membrane detected blood and amino acids, he would still distinguish prey based on the type of scent.
Sharks don't go crazy when they encounter blood; the blood simply provides information, telling them it's food and prompting them to hunt.
However, human blood isn't the preferred food for sharks. They crave the blood of marine animals more, for their vitality and amino acids.
This is why sharks generally don't actively hunt humans. Their nature isn't as aggressive as people believe; apart from hunting for food, they rarely attack unprovoked.
Attacks typically occur when animals or even objects intrude upon their habitat.
Xia Qiu saw in a documentary about sharks that the average number of people killed by sharks each year is five, though it can sometimes reach ten in a single year.
But it's certain that the number of people who die by shark attack annually is far less than those who die from taking selfies. Moreover, most victims had previously attacked sharks.
Sharks are quite timid. When they encounter unfamiliar creatures or objects, they become frightened and defensive.
At this point, any action you take that they perceive as an attack will be seen as a threat.
Therefore, the best course of action upon encountering a shark is to remain still, ignore it, have no aggressive intentions, and don't block its path.
If it doesn't sense you as a threat, it won't perceive you as one and will simply swim past.
Sharks other than Great Whites, especially smaller species, rarely attack humans unless provoked, or if their eyesight is poor and they mistake you for a seal or sea turtle, or if you persistently block their path.
Many diving enthusiasts hope to encounter sharks. They not only avoid them but even try to take photos with them.
In fact, many diving spots feature sharks as a selling point, and "shark diving" has become a pursuit for many underwater enthusiasts.
Xia Qiu once tried shark diving but arrived too late. The presence of humans in their waters and the noise they generated caused the sharks to actively avoid the area, which was a shame.
So, to encounter sharks, one must go early.
Xia Qiu leisurely returned to the coast. The water here was deep enough for him to enter and exit freely.
Thus, Xia Qiu decided to make this his habitat, periodically clearing out large sea fish from the surrounding area to maintain peace in a certain stretch of ocean.
Even when hunting, besides venturing into the deep sea, he would also explore other ocean regions.
This way, he could establish a territory, manage this part of the sea, and minimize the chances of being discovered by other humans.
Next, he could spend a considerable period in his growth phase.
His four enhancements were already sufficient to put him ahead of marine creatures of the same size.
As long as he remained cautious and avoided provoking stronger beings, he wouldn't face significant danger.
The rest was simply to grow step by step.
Xia Qiu intended to stay here for as long as possible.
To live a normal, peaceful life free from threats.
...
The gates of Impel Down slowly opened, and a prisoner was escorted out by a Marine warship.
Outside the prison, a massive pirate ship was docked, filled with people.
The prisoner looked at the ship that had come to pick him up and the figures standing on its deck, his expression turning incredibly grim.
How could I have fallen this far.
I absolutely cannot become like you.
He thought, bending his knees slightly, and propelled himself forward like a cannonball, landing on the pirate ship. He looked at the figure at the helm, bared his teeth, and revealed a ferocious grin.
Xia Qiu would never have imagined that in the near future, this prisoner, newly released from Impel Down, would shatter his peaceful life and turn his world upside down.
And for a very long time, he would be Xia Qiu's strongest enemy.
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Translation by: randomtranslator.com
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