Shifting Tides

Xia Qiu carried Robin, braving the wind and waves towards their habitat. Instead of heading directly there, he first went to the right front, circled around outside the Raiu zone, and then swam towards the island.

It took Xia Qiu a full four hours to get back to the island. Robin climbed up and then walked down with some difficulty.

Xia Qiu looked at Robin, raised her arm, and curiously wrote on the ground, "Are you alright?"

Robin saw the words but didn't answer; instead, he stared at Xia Qiu.

"What's wrong?"

Xia Qiu wrote another line of words on the ground.

Robin looked at Xia Qiu and asked, "Little Qiu, can you talk now?"

"Say?"

Xia Qiu was slightly taken aback and looked at Robin with confusion.

Robin immediately said, "When you saved me just now, you said something to me."

Xia Qiu tilted her head, looked at Robin, and wrote on the ground, "What did you say?"

"You told me, 'Hurry up, there are five ships coming from behind,'" Robin said softly.

"Um?"

Xia Qiu recalled what happened back then. She went to find Robin and subconsciously yelled a few times. What was wrong with her talking?

"Say?"

Xia Qiu tilted her head, opened her mouth, and slowly said, "I... I think..."

"You can really talk now."

Xia Qiu was stunned for a moment, then immediately said, "I can actually speak now."

"Little Qiu, didn't you know that before?" Robin asked, frowning.

Xia Qiu quickly shook her head, about to write something, and then slowly said, "I don't know. At least until today, I couldn't speak."

Xia Qiu guessed that his ability to speak must be due to another evolution, possibly provided by Bonis with evolutionary energy, or possibly by Colonel T. Penn, as Brigadier General Madsen's energy had not yet appeared at that time.

To speak, three key elements are needed: vocal cords, tongue, and thinking ability.

First, the vocal cords must be able to produce a variety of syllables. Dogs sometimes imitate human vocalizations, but due to the limitations of their vocal cords, they cannot do so.

Xia Qiu consumed many humans and Fish-Man. Their bodies were mostly Reinforcement Energy, and they contained very little Evolution Energy. However, by consuming more food, they accumulated more Evolution Energy.

However, the accumulated Evolution Energy is limited, and those parts that are very different from the body structure and require body modification are difficult to grow.

However, vocal cords and other bodily structures that did not require major changes appeared.

Seven months ago, Xia Qiu could shout, but the syllables were limited to only two.

Of course, Xia Qiu's vocal cords were mainly inherited from the wild beasts that Moo brought to him on the island, while the Evolution Energy provided by humans only made his vocal cords more complex.

Secondly, there's the tongue. The tongue is an essential part of speaking. Parrots can talk because they have thick, round tongues that help them produce sound.

Xia Qiu's tongue is not very big, but it is thick and incredibly flexible, allowing her to move and suppress sounds.

Finally, there is thinking ability.

Thinking ability is related to the ability to master language. For example, in the suborder apes, such as Masira and macaques, initial research suggested that Masira could not speak due to the structure of their vocal cords and mouths. However, it was later discovered that a few species, such as macaques, can produce vowels such as a, e, u, i, and o.

The reason why macaques don't speak is because they don't have enough cognitive abilities.

Many people say that Masira are intelligent, possessing the wisdom of a young child, but they can do more than children of similar age. This is because, from a genetic standpoint, the development of apes is inferior to that of humans. For example, there are innate differences in the cerebral cortex and chromosomes, resulting in significant differences in thinking ability, logical reasoning, and cognitive abilities.

Parrots have a different throat structure than humans, but they can speak, though only by imitating; they cannot understand what they are saying or what its meaning is.

As for Xia Qiu, she is entirely a human soul, possessing sufficient thinking and comprehension abilities.

In addition, he mastered language and then grew the corresponding vocal organs, so speaking was not too difficult.

At that time, he was unable to write, but he wanted Robin to leave with him, so he could only shout, and thus he shouted out a sentence.

Animal language contains thoughts. In this world, some people understand the thoughts of animals by listening to their language, such as Chopper, Jinbe, and most of the Merfolk and a small number of Fish-Man Race.

Of course, in the world of One Piece, speaking is no different from vocal cords and thought processes. There was a Manboshi who thought he was a human and then he could talk.

Xia Qiu realized what was happening and was overjoyed. "I can actually talk!"

Being able to speak means that you can communicate freely in the future without the hassle of writing.

"Um."

Robin felt the deafening sound and slowly took a step back. Looking at Xia Qiu, he was somewhat surprised, but mostly delighted.

She had never seen a talking animal before, but the thought that Xia Qiu possessed wisdom no less than that of humans made her feel at ease.

More importantly, being able to speak means there will be no need to communicate by writing, making communication much more convenient.

Xia Qiu happily moved around for a while, then looked at Robin and asked, "By the way, Robin, you weren't hurt just now, were you?"

"No."

Robin shook his head and said with a smile, "Thanks to Little Qiu, I was able to escape."

Xia Qiu then asked, "How is the injury on your hand?"

Robin's hand was bandaged, but judging from the amount of bleeding on the island, the injury must have been quite serious.

"Most of them were superficial injuries. A few more serious ones required suturing. The wound on my palm was probably quite serious, but it was fine after treatment."

Robin smiled and said, then looked at Xia Qiu, his expression turning serious, and asked, "Little Qiu, you're injured. Are you alright? Do you need some medicine?"

Xia Qiu's head injury has partially healed, but the scales are torn, and it still looks like there are some injuries.

Xia Qiu shook his head and said, "It's okay, it's okay, I'll be fine after eating something. Hmm, I'm hungry now, I'll go hunt for food."

boom.

Xia Qiu rushed into the sea and disappeared in. He caught a sea fish, ate it, and used the Evolution Energy to repair his wounds.

After three or four treatments, you will recover on your own.

After finishing his meal, Xia Qiu returned to the shore and asked Robin, "Robin, are you alright here by yourself?"

"Um?"

Robin looked at Xia Qiu and asked, "Little Qiu, where are you going?"

Xia Qiu said, "I plan to explore the surrounding waters to see if they will come here. If possible, I will lure them away."

This island is nearly 100 kilometers away from Alabasta, and there are many smaller islands in between.

Moreover, it deviated from the main route and was located between two routes.

The magnetic force is too weak to be detected by the Log Pose, so generally no one would come here.

But better safe than sorry, Xia Qiu still planned to go back and check, trying to lure them away.

More importantly, Xia Qiu plans to find an opportunity to attack the Navy, using Robin as bait to keep them in pursuit, confining them to one area for a siege.

In this way, there will be a continuous source of energy.

"Little Qiu, you need to be careful," Robin said, looking at Xia Qiu.

"Don't worry, if I can't beat them, I'll go underwater. They can't hurt me there."

Xia Qiu said, then turned around and entered the ocean, swimming back the way she came.

"Yes, yes, I understand. I accept this result, hmm."

In the clinic of the Canal City of Alabasta, Hina lay face down on the bed, her buttocks covered by a quilt, but her legs were exposed, with the upper part of her knees wrapped in gauze.

She was holding a Den Den Mushi) and listening to the voice coming from it. Finally, she said, "I will do my best to cooperate."

After saying this, Hina hung the receiver on the Den Den Mushi, looking somewhat troubled.

Beside her, Captain Gulf looked at Hina and cautiously asked, "Hina, what did headquarters say?"

Hina sighed and said, "Since Hina is injured and defeated by Robin, she will have others take charge of chasing Robin and ask me to hand over the branch base's fleet to them for cooperation."

"Hina needs to rest and recuperate."

Captain Gulf looked at Hina and said, "I wonder which important figure from headquarters has come to pursue us?"

"Rear Admiral Sicily is in charge, along with Brigadier General Disli," Hina replied.

"The Rear Admiral Sicily? He's strong, but underwater..."

Captain Gulf frowned. The beast was incredibly powerful; Brigadier General Madsen couldn't defeat it, and even a major general might not be able to beat it underwater.

Hina waved her hand and said, "The main task is not to fight the Giant Beast, but to capture Robin. If it wants to run away, not many people can stop it, but if it wants to protect Robin, then it has a weakness. As long as there are enough warships equipped with special weapons, plus the Rear Admiral Sicily, killing it will not be difficult."

At this point, Hina paused and said, "More importantly, the pursuing forces are not limited to the Navy."

"Who else is there?"

Captain Gulf asked curiously.

Hina replied, "There are also three pirate groups that want to become Shichibukai. The Marine Headquarters made a deal with them: as long as they bring Robin's head back, they can become Shichibukai."

"Really? Then Robin is in grave danger," Captain Gulf said, shaking his head.

Hina sighed and said, "It's just that Hina can't hold her hand."

Baltigo, the White Land.

"Chief, news has arrived from the front. Robin attacked the Canal City of Alabasta and destroyed three warships. At least one Marine Brigadier General and one colonel have been killed." In the office, a soldier hurriedly reported as he looked at the tall figure entering.

"Robin attacks the Canal City?"

The tall figure spoke slowly, asking with some doubt, "Killing Crocodile is not a problem; that man has committed numerous evils and deserves to die. Why did Robin attack the city? According to our previous information, she lives in the underworld, but Young Master."

People always change.

A girl wearing a round hat said, "From the age of eight, I lived on the run for eighteen years. Living in such an environment, not many people can remain unchanged."

The tall figure nodded, looking at the figure in the distance leaning back in a chair with her legs propped up on the table, and said, "Sabo, you take your squad to Alabasta and investigate this matter. If she really attacked civilians, bring her back. If not, you and Koala help her evade the Navy's pursuit. Her identity is special, and she killed Marine Brigadier General and a colonel. The Navy will definitely mobilize a lot of forces to hunt her down. Even with a powerful Giant Beast, it will be difficult for her to escape the Navy's pursuit. We couldn't locate her before, but now it's much easier. Rescue her, and then ask her if she's willing to join the Revolutionary Army. She's the only survivor of Ohara, and she's the beacon of our revolution. We can't let her die like this."

"Leave it to me."

Sabo slowly stood up, stretched, and said, "Koala, Hack, get ready, we're heading to Alabasta."