Underwater Battle

In the deep sea, Xia Qiu's massive body began to fight back.

He swished his tail and twisted his body. Enduring the pain, he opened his blood-filled maw, spun around, and bit at the man clinging to him.

But the instant Xia Qiu turned, the man reacted in time. His body suddenly slipped, and he rolled straight down along Xia Qiu's body.

He dodged Xia Qiu's attack, pressed tightly against Xia Qiu's body, and viciously thrust his harpoon.

Not good.

The moment he turned, Xia Qiu sensed the change in water pressure and noticed what he was doing.

Xia Qiu immediately shut his mouth, spun his body, and violently twisted.

Bang.

The harpoon struck Xia Qiu's body, but the force from his rotation traveled through it, and his smooth scales knocked the harpoon aside.

Even so, the harpoon's tip pried up Xia Qiu's scales, leaving a bloody gash.

Pain.

Xia Qiu was injured again, and pain came crashing down on him. But it did not make him retreat. Instead, it made him even fiercer.

Xia Qiu turned and bit at his opponent, but Lieutenant Colonel Berio gripped his harpoon and circled around Xia Qiu's body, dodging the attack.

Damn it.

Xia Qiu's body was simply too long.

His six-meter-long body gave his opponent something to cling to. Using the current stirred up by Xia Qiu's movements, he dodged to the side.

After dodging, Lieutenant Colonel Berio thrust his harpoon again.

Pfft.

This time, Lieutenant Colonel Berio's harpoon pierced Xia Qiu's body and sank straight in.

Aah!

Xia Qiu opened his mouth and cried out in pain, twisting his body. But Berio held tightly onto the harpoon, and as Xia Qiu moved, it plowed a bloody wound across his body.

Damn it.

Xia Qiu was in agony and furious. He wanted to attack him, but Berio moved around Xia Qiu's body, launching attack after attack.

One bloody gash after another appeared on Xia Qiu's body.

The pain made Xia Qiu even angrier, but a hint of panic also surfaced in his heart.

What should I do?

At that moment, Xia Qiu realized something.

The man had dared to jump into the sea to attack him because he was confident he could defeat him, or at the very least, was not afraid of a sea fish of equal size.

And that was indeed the case.

His strength could break through Xia Qiu's scales. He was slower than Xia Qiu, but by taking advantage of Xia Qiu's pauses, he could latch onto him.

His timing was excellent. He relied on Xia Qiu's body to dodge and attacked Xia Qiu's sides.

He had abundant experience. During the battle, he repeatedly suppressed Xia Qiu and wounded him.

In less than half a minute, he had left several bloody gashes on Xia Qiu's body.

So how should Xia Qiu deal with him?

What advantage did he have over sea fish of the same size?

Xia Qiu instantly thought of it. At his core, he was not a fish. He would not be driven by instinctive urges. Just like earlier, he had easily spotted their bait and trap and avoided the attacks that followed.

If he had been another fish, he would probably have been killed by now.

His advantage lay in his human soul, his powers of observation, his ability to think, and his ability to respond.

More importantly, the man believed Xia Qiu was merely a fish.

Those were Xia Qiu's strengths.

Xia Qiu knew he could not get angry. He had to stay calm and carefully think of a countermeasure.

Although he was at a disadvantage, his opponent could not kill him. Even after three or five minutes, wounds like these would only injure him.

But could the man last three minutes?

Underwater, continuously exerting strength would greatly increase oxygen consumption.

Even in the world of One Piece, where the limits of physical strength were incredibly high, he still needed to breathe.

Xia Qiu did not believe the man could wear him down to death.

So after fighting him for a while, he would definitely change tactics.

He would attack Xia Qiu's vital points and try to kill him in a single blow.

By the time Xia Qiu thought of this, several countermeasures had already formed in his mind.

Boom.

Xia Qiu twisted his body, opened his bloody maw again, and bit at Berio.

But Berio immediately dived down, twisting along Xia Qiu's body and causing Xia Qiu to bite at empty water.

Reaching Xia Qiu's side, Berio raised his harpoon, aimed it at Xia Qiu's body, and viciously thrust it out.

But at that instant, Xia Qiu suddenly twisted his body in the opposite direction.

Berio paid it no mind. Xia Qiu's head was still on the other side. No matter how he twisted his body, he could not bite him. It was nothing but futile struggling.

But along with Xia Qiu's movement, his enormous pectoral fin slammed viciously toward Berio.

"Hmm?"

Berio froze slightly and instinctively raised his left arm in front of himself.

Bang.

After a dull impact, Berio felt as though he had been struck by a shield.

What tremendous strength.

Berio's body stalled. He had never expected a fish to use its pectoral fins to slap someone.

At that instant, Xia Qiu swished his body and swam forward. As he surged ahead, his tail whipped fiercely toward Berio.

Berio had wanted to pursue Xia Qiu, but sensing the water pressure rushing toward him, he hurriedly raised both arms in front of himself.

Boom.

The tremendous force struck Berio, knocking him several feet sideways and leaving his arms numb from the impact.

But he was not injured.

That level of force was not enough to hurt him.

However, Xia Qiu had already darted away, opening up the distance.

"Did it run?"

Seeing this, Berio looked somewhat regretful. He tightened his grip on the harpoon and prepared to swim toward the surface.

But at that moment, Xia Qiu circled through the water and rapidly swam toward the surface.

"What is it doing?"

Berio did not understand, but in an instant, Xia Qiu had reached a position near the surface. He blocked Berio's path, lowered his head, and stared fixedly at him.

Berio tried to swim upward, but Xia Qiu blocked him.

He was blocked.

Berio's expression darkened. He had not expected his opponent to be so intelligent, directly cutting him off at the surface.

Berio moved left and right, but the black fish followed like a shadow. It kept circling near the surface, always keeping its head aimed at him.

Berio floated upward slightly, and the black fish opened its huge mouth, its grim teeth pointed at him.

"It's trying to force me to run out of oxygen underwater."

Berio's expression was grim. He had already been underwater for a long time and was nearing his limit.

If he did not go up soon, oxygen depletion would rapidly drain his stamina. In the end, he would suffocate underwater without even needing the fish to attack him.

He could not wait any longer.

Berio gritted his teeth, gripped his harpoon, and charged at the black fish.

Seeing Berio rush toward him, Xia Qiu opened his bloody maw and bit at him.

Berio kicked off the current with both feet, turned sideways, and dodged Xia Qiu's jaws.

Got it.

As long as he dodged the first attack, he could get close to its body and wait for an opportunity to strike. He could even surface afterward.

But in the next instant, Xia Qiu continued charging forward. His body tilted slightly, and his enormous pectoral fin slapped toward Berio.

Bang.

The pectoral fin struck Berio's left arm, sending his body sliding sideways.

At that instant, Xia Qiu continued swimming forward, swung his tail, and lashed it at Berio.

Bang.

Berio was struck head-on and immediately spat out a string of bubbles, all strength leaving him.

But he held his breath, seized the opportunity, kicked with both legs, and swam toward the surface.

Splash.

The instant Berio broke the surface, Xia Qiu had already turned back and bitten his leg.

Crack.

Sharp teeth closed, and his lower leg vanished instantly as blood gushed out.

"Aah!"

Berio roared, gripped the harpoon, and viciously stabbed downward.

Clang.

The harpoon struck Xia Qiu's forehead, but there was a huge bulge there.

Ever since Xia Qiu had been one meter long, his forehead had begun to protrude. It had slowly grown larger, and now it looked like a round mound.

Berio's harpoon only broke through the skin before being stopped by bone.

Then Xia Qiu bit down again, swallowing Berio's thigh along with his waist and abdomen into his mouth.

"No, no, save me!"

Berio felt his waist being engulfed and shouted loudly.

But in the next instant, sharp teeth closed.

Crack.

Everything below Berio's waist vanished, entering Xia Qiu's stomach.

Pfft.

Blood spread through the seawater, and Berio's body went stiff.

But the hunt was not over. After swallowing Berio's waist, Xia Qiu continued tearing into him. In two bites, he swallowed Berio's upper body as well.

When Berio's head was crushed, and the sound of bones breaking reached him, brain matter flowing over his tongue, Xia Qiu froze slightly.

He had eaten him.

He had actually eaten a person.

Having once been human, Xia Qiu felt somewhat unsettled. A sense of guilt filled his heart.

But in an instant, Xia Qiu's gaze turned fierce.

I'm not human anymore. I'm a fish.

You wanted to kill me. How could I just sit still and wait for death?

You injured me, so I crushed you between my teeth and swallowed you whole.

Xia Qiu snorted coldly, bared his grim teeth in a wide grin, then swished his body and swam into the distance.

At that instant, pfft, pfft, pfft, crossbow bolts and fish guns fired into the water and struck Xia Qiu.

Pfft, pfft, pfft.

The arrows hit Xia Qiu but were deflected by his scales. Even when one occasionally wounded him, it could not penetrate his thick muscles.

I can't kill you all for now.

Thinking this, Xia Qiu slowly dived and swam away along the seafloor.

"It has been a long time. Lieutenant Colonel Berio is still underwater."

At the bow, a sailor stared below. The white figure underwater looked so small against the massive black shadow.

"Don't worry. Lieutenant Colonel Berio has the upper hand."

Although he did not want to admit it, Kurume knew that Berio was extremely strong. He had once hunted Tiger Sharks seven or eight meters long, and his combat power was formidable.

Once Berio latched onto it, that black fish would have no way to escape.

The blood in the water was proof.

But at that moment, the black fish suddenly separated from the white figure.

"It's trying to run!"

A sailor shouted.

But just as it pulled away, the black fish swam back toward the surface instead, blocking Berio.

"This is...?"

Kurume narrowed his eyes and realized what the black fish intended to do. It planned to block Berio.

What an intelligent fish.

Berio had already been underwater for nearly a minute. If it dragged things out, Berio would not be able to hold on.

"Captain, should we help Lieutenant Colonel Berio?" A sailor looked at Kurume and raised the crossbow in his hand.

"There's no need."

Kurume narrowed his eyes, shook his head, and said, "You tried just now as well. Our crossbows and fish guns cannot hurt it at all. Watch and wait. Have faith in Lieutenant Colonel Berio."

"Yes."

The sailor lowered his weapon and waited silently.

Before long, Berio burst from the surface. The sailors showed delighted expressions, only to hear a cry of pain.

"Lieutenant Colonel!"

The sailors shouted, raising their fish guns and aiming them below.

The other sailors also raised their crossbows.

"What are you doing?"

Kurume shoved down the sailor's speargun and shouted, "Lieutenant Colonel Berio is up there! What if you hit him?"

Kurume's words kept them from acting rashly.

But the next moment, Lieutenant Colonel Berio was dragged into the water by the Black Fish and devoured completely.

Watching this, Kurume secretly smiled, but he shouted, "Lieutenant Colonel Berio was killed by the Black Fish! Attack! Avenge him!"

At Kurume's command, the crossbows fired downward, their bolts plunging into the water and striking the Black Fish.

But the Black Fish was completely unharmed and leisurely swam away.

As he watched the Black Fish swim off, Kurume's expression turned sorrowful. "Lieutenant Colonel Berio was killed by the Black Fish."

Yet where no one could see, a faint smile curled at Kurume's lips.