In the evening, within the Sixteenth Branch base, a Major in a Marine uniform stood there, a smile on his rat-like face.
"The Captain and Vice Captain took the sailors to hunt down the Arlong Pirates. They don't know how terrifying the Arlong Pirates are. A friend I have at Headquarters revealed that Arlong is a member of the Sun Pirates and has even been to Impel Down. The Captain alone won't be a match for a Fish-Man."
"They haven't returned yet. They must have been wiped out completely, right?"
"Hehehe, I gave the information about the Arlong Pirates to the Captain, and used a physical illness as an excuse to stay at the Marine base. As long as they die, I'll spend some money and use my connections at Headquarters to directly become a Captain. It's not a problem. And the people who stayed behind are all my confidantes."
"Once I become a Captain, I'll contact the Arlong Pirates. I don't need to defeat them; I can just collect some money from them."
"As for the villagers' pleas for help, there's no need to pay any attention."
The Major thought this, his expression filled with joy.
But at that moment, a sailor shouted, "Report! The expeditionary force has returned. The Captain and several sailors are seriously injured and have been sent for treatment."
"Huh?"
The Major heard this and thought blankly, "They weren't wiped out completely?"
"Damn it, the plan failed."
The Major's face turned extremely grim.
...
The next morning, a merchant ship arrived at a harbor, docking slowly.
"Goodbye, Nami, Hachi."
The merchant ship reached the shore, and Marcel stood on the deck, waving to Nami and Hachi.
"Goodbye."
Nami waved, while Hachi grunted and said, "Kid, you have to train hard."
"Yes."
Marcel nodded heavily. Seeing them leave, he began to inspect the mooring ropes, sails, rudder, and so on.
Every time they docked at the shore, the ship needed to be inspected to prevent any problems.
But just then, a stevedore's voice rang out, "Where's my money?"
"Damn it, my wallet's gone too," another crewman said.
Marcel felt his waist and found that the money pouch in his pocket had also vanished without a trace.
"A thief? But no strangers came ashore."
Marcel didn't know how his wallet had disappeared, but he didn't suspect Nami or Hachi. In his opinion, how could a navigator and a skilled swordsman do such a thing?
Below the ship, Nami and Hachi walked some distance away, took out the wallets, took the money, and threw the wallets by the roadside.
"First earnings."
Nami looked at the money, feeling a pang of guilt, but her expression soon became calm as she put the money into her pocket.
...
The next afternoon.
"Boss, we didn't find them," several Fish-Men said, climbing out of the water, dripping wet.
"It's been a day. Kuroobi is probably already..." Chuu said from the side.
"Damn it."
Arlong stood there, his hands clenched, his expression gloomy.
Kuroobi was a formidable subordinate of his, with considerable combat power. He would rather lose ten Fish-Man soldiers than have anything happen to Kuroobi.
And so far, besides Kuroobi, five other Fish-Men had been killed.
This was equivalent to a quarter of the Arlong Pirates' strength.
"Hachi is still not back."
Arlong thought that with Hachi not here, it was dangerous for Chuu to search for sea fish alone. He needed at least two cadres, and he was stretched thin. He could only resign himself to losing subordinates and ordered Fish-Man soldiers into the sea to search.
But they found nothing. There were no sea fish around the island.
"I'll think of something when Hachi gets back," Arlong said, his face grim.
...
A month later, in the dark ocean depths, two behemoths were fighting.
One was a giant black fish, about thirty-five meters long, with a robust body and huge fins. It also had ten tentacles on its abdomen.
The other was a massive squid, whose tentacles and body measured thirty meters in length.
At this moment, the black fish had firmly bitten the squid's head, while the squid's tentacles were tightly bound around the black fish. However, the black fish's tentacles also spread out, wrapping around the squid's tentacles.
"These claws are too troublesome."
Xia Qiu felt his tentacle hook onto the opponent's, and the claws on it dug into his own.
A Colossal Squid.
This was the largest invertebrate on Earth, even bigger than a Giant Squid.
However, on Earth, the largest Colossal Squid carcass ever found was only eleven meters long. Based on discovered body parts like suckers and tentacles, it was estimated that Colossal Squids could reach lengths of over twenty meters.
But such a Colossal Squid would be found in the deepest parts of the ocean.
The Colossal Squid in front of Xia Qiu, however, was thirty meters long, with tentacles alone measuring fourteen meters, not including its arms.
Its tentacles had no suckers, but instead possessed claws that could rotate 360 degrees. Each claw was over ten centimeters long, digging into Xia Qiu's tentacle and getting stuck in the flesh.
Xia Qiu didn't retract his tentacle but instead tightly wrapped it around the opponent's.
Xia Qiu's tentacles possessed immense strength. The enhancements gained after consuming Kuroobi had made his tentacle muscles robust and his strength enormous.
Although Xia Qiu's tentacles were shorter, their strength was not much inferior to the opponent's. It was just that the opponent's claws put Xia Qiu's tentacles at a disadvantage in the fight.
However, Xia Qiu's target was the opponent's tentacles, while the opponent's target was his own body.
His tentacles wrapped around the opponent's tentacles, slowly pulling them away from his body.
At this moment, Xia Qiu opened his mouth and bit towards the other side.
Crunch.
Xia Qiu bit off another chunk of the Colossal Squid's body, then took another bite. The Colossal Squid's body now had a massive pit in it.
This Colossal Squid was directly bitten to death.
Its tentacles slowly lost their strength, and Xia Qiu began to devour it.
He swallowed the entire Colossal Squid whole, filling his stomach. Xia Qiu then waited for evolution to begin, and slowly ascended.
He reached the surface of the sea, and the island was no longer in sight.
To capture the Colossal Squid, Xia Qiu had to constantly dive deeper into the ocean, searching everywhere. In nearly a month, he had only found this one.
Now, he was at least ten nautical miles away from the island.
Xia Qiu wouldn't be unable to return to the island just because of the distance.
He had eaten many sharks and possessed their sense of smell, which was extremely sensitive to odors. He could track scents back to the island, and factors like water salinity and currents could also serve as indicators.
Furthermore, whether in Naruto Village or near Cocos Village, Xia Qiu had eaten tuna. The small magnetic particles in their skulls allowed him to vaguely sense magnetic field fluctuations, which he could use to lock onto a location.
Xia Qiu didn't plan to return to the island's vicinity for now. He wanted to stay in this area and continue hunting squids and other fish that could aid his evolution.
Xia Qiu slowly submerged again, but at this moment, he detected a reflected sound wave – a colossal creature was swimming towards him.
It was at least thirty-five meters long, over twenty meters high, and more than ten meters wide.
It was a Sea Beast.
It had a streamlined body like a seal, a pair of bull horns, and a large nose. It was a Sea Cow.
More importantly, there was a metal object on its nose emitting sound waves.
Was that a nose ring?
There was only one Sea Cow known to wear a nose ring.
The Arlong Pirates' combatant who had attacked him nine months ago and was driven away.
Sea Cow Moo Moo!
He was back?
Xia Qiu's eyes lit up. This time, it was his turn to hunt you.
-----------
Translation by: randomtranslator.com
Read 2500+ original & fanfic translations and Translate for Free at: randomtranslator.com