Evolution and Reinforcement

Twelve pirates rowed two small boats toward the pirate ship, with some loot piled aboard both boats.

"Boss Muir, this haul is a little small—far less than we expected," the First Mate said with a frown.

"Enough. There were too many able-bodied men in that village, and they had weapons prepared. Besides, the Marines were protecting them."

The pirate captain, Muir, shook his head and added, "More importantly, none of us were hurt. There was no need to fight them to the death."

Muir was tall and powerfully built, his muscles bulging, but he was no mindless brute. On the contrary, to become the captain of a pirate crew and gather so many men under him, he possessed enough reason.

The two small boats rowed toward the pirate ship, gradually drawing closer.

But when they were still over ten meters away from the ship, someone suddenly shouted from aboard, "Fish! A huge fish!"

"A fish?"

Muir froze slightly and looked into the distance. A massive black shadow was speeding toward them.

"Not good."

Seeing this, Muir grabbed his spiked club and shouted, "Everyone, be careful! Pick up your weapons! And get the cannons ready on the ship—aim at this position!"

At Muir's command, the people on both the small boats and the pirate ship sprang into action.

But it was already too late.

Boom.

Xia Qiu had locked onto them long ago. He charged in from afar like a blur and slammed into Muir's small boat in an instant.

Crack.

His enormous ram-like head, coupled with his tremendous force, smashed the small boat apart, scattering fragments through the air.

The six pirates fell straight into the sea, struggling to steady themselves in the water.

"Damn it."

Muir hurriedly steadied himself, reached out to brace against a plank, raised his spiked club, and warily awaited the black shadow's attack.

But the next moment, Xia Qiu did not continue attacking them. Instead, he changed direction.

Boom.

The other small boat was smashed apart as well, and its pirates fell into the water.

Crunch, crunch.

Xia Qiu opened his blood-filled maw and bit down on a pirate. The young man looked exceptionally sturdy.

Yet before Xia Qiu's massive jaws, he had no chance to react. From his lower body up to his chest, he was swallowed into Xia Qiu's mouth.

Crunch.

His massive jaws closed. The sound of shattering bones rang out as blood spread through the water, and flesh was swallowed into Xia Qiu's stomach.

With just one bite, all that remained of the pirate was his collarbones, neck, and head.

Splash.

Xia Qiu took another bite and swallowed the pirate's head as well.

"What a huge fish." Seeing Xia Qiu's enormous size, Captain Muir's expression darkened.

This sea fish was at least fifteen meters long, longer than a small boat. Its huge head and sharp teeth were enough to make anyone shudder.

Seeing Xia Qiu's form, the other pirates did not dare attack. They scattered in all directions and fled toward the pirate ship.

Crunch.

Xia Qiu bit another pirate and swallowed him whole.

"Don't run! Kill it together!"

Seeing this, Captain Muir raised his spiked club and smashed it viciously at Xia Qiu. At the same time, he shouted, "Fire the cannons from the pirate ship! We can kill it!"

Bang.

The spiked club struck Xia Qiu with a dull thud, denting his scales.

Hmm?

Feeling the attack from behind, Xia Qiu paused and turned around, immediately locking onto Muir.

Giving orders—this was the pirate crew's captain.

He was very strong, no weaker than the Marine Xia Qiu had killed before.

It seemed he was the captain of this pirate crew.

He had to die.

Xia Qiu's gaze made Muir shudder. The look in this fish's eyes actually made him sense its intent.

Killing. Devouring.

Its killing intent toward him had been conveyed to him.

Don't panic. There's still a chance to win.

Muir gritted his teeth, raised his spiked club again, and attacked Xia Qiu.

Not only that, persuaded by Muir, several pirates picked up swords, sabers, and firearms and aimed them at Xia Qiu.

Bang, bang.

Bullets, sabers, and swords struck Xia Qiu.

It hurt a little.

The places hit by bullets stung slightly, but the affected area was small.

The places struck by the other blades did not hurt much. They had not even broken his scales, with only one exception.

At the left side of his tail, a man with a headscarf used the longsword in his hand to cut through Xia Qiu's scales, injuring him.

This man was strong too.

Xia Qiu remembered him. After swallowing two pirates in succession, he suddenly dived down toward the seabed, then turned and swam toward the pirate ship.

Boom, boom, boom.

The pirate ship's cannons thundered as cannonballs shot out and struck the water's surface.

Bang.

A cannonball hit Xia Qiu's body, but the water dissipated its force. The power that remained was not even as great as the spiked club that had struck him earlier.

Xia Qiu drew close to the pirate ship. Because of the ship's hull, the cannons could no longer hit him. As he approached, he swallowed two more pirates who had tried to flee.

Then Xia Qiu stayed beside the pirate ship and waited quietly.

You have to return to the pirate ship eventually. As long as you come over, I'll kill you.

"We can't hit it!"

The pirate ship kept sailing farther away, but Xia Qiu remained pressed tightly against its side, where the cannons could not reach him.

As for throwing weapons at him, they could not hurt him at all.

"Damn it."

Captain Muir watched Xia Qiu's movements. The fish had actually hidden in a position where the pirate ship's cannons could not attack it.

And it was guarding that spot. As long as they went over, it would certainly attack them.

"Boss, what do we do?"

The First Mate moved closer to Muir, looked at the black fish in the distance, and asked worriedly.

"This fish is very smart."

Muir snorted and said, "We'll move away from the pirate ship and swim toward the island. The water over there is shallow, so it won't be able to pass through. And if it dares pursue us, the pirate ship can support us with cannon fire."

"Yes."

The First Mate waved his hand, and the remaining pirates swam toward the island with Muir.

"Oh?"

Xia Qiu was somewhat surprised by this, but he did not give chase.

He knew what those men were planning.

He remained still, quietly lurking as he observed them carefully.

Warm currents slowly emerged within his body and began spreading through him.

Very weak.

This time, the warm current was very weak. The warm currents provided by the four men were not even comparable to the one provided by killing that Marine.

The warm currents they provided were not even as much as eating sea fish.

It seemed people differed from one another as well. That Marine had been strong, so he provided more warm current, while these pirates were weak, so they provided less.

It seemed the warm current provided by humans was related to how strong they were.

Ordinary humans were of little help to him.

If he was going to eat people, he had to eat strong humans.

Of course, the energy provided by humans differed from that provided by sea fish.

The energy provided by sea fish could evolve and grow his body. The more sea fish he ate, the larger his body would become, and he could evolve certain special organs.

The energy provided by humans strengthened his body, allowing him to possess even greater power.

The two were different.

Xia Qiu guessed that this was related to the different forms of power between humans and fish.

Most fish and marine creatures were judged as strong or weak by their size and body parts.

The larger their bodies, the greater their strength, and naturally, the stronger they were.

Some fish were also powerful because they had sharp teeth, horns, or great speed.

But all of that was related to bodily structure—to evolution.

For humans, however, strength was not directly proportional to body size. Even within a limited range of height and weight, they could still possess tremendous strength.

Even a thin, weak-looking person could be stronger than someone who appeared more muscular.

Some ordinary people could even possess strength greater than that of giants.

In the world of One Piece, human strength could continuously increase within the same race, even when body size remained fixed.

It was not a matter of body size changing and strength changing along with it.

Even giants, who were naturally large and strong, could have enormous differences in strength despite being the same size.

The two kinds of Evolution Energy were like vertical and horizontal differences.

Thus, Xia Qiu distinguished between the two forms of energy. The energy from sea fish could provide growth and evolution, so Xia Qiu called it Evolution Energy.

The energy provided by humans, Xia Qiu called Reinforcement Energy.

Evolution Energy. Reinforcement Energy.

Perhaps these two forms of energy were what allowed the humans and animals in the world of One Piece to surpass the limits of humans and animals on Earth.

Humans possessed greater power, while beasts possessed larger bodies.

And Xia Qiu needed both kinds of power.

So how could he possibly let enemies he had locked onto escape?

With that thought, Xia Qiu flicked his tail, turning into a black shadow as he charged toward the enemies trying to flee.