Sea Spray

On the western side of the island lay a small, remote village. Near the forest stood a house.

The house had white walls and yellow double wooden doors. Wind chimes hung beneath the eaves, along with a table and several chairs.

Behind the house was a sprawling Orange Orchard. The orange trees were covered in white blossoms, which looked exceptionally beautiful against their long, narrow leaves.

The window of the room facing the Orange Orchard stood open. Behind it was a square table, and in one corner of the table sat several thick books. Their covers bore the titles: "Great Encyclopedia of the Ocean," "Waves and Ocean Currents," "Compendium of Marine Life," "Atlas of East Blue Tropical Cyclones," "Drawing," and "Meteorological Observation."

These books covered the ocean, living creatures, currents, climate, drawing, and weather. Some were popular science books, while others were professional texts.

Most of the books were already somewhat worn.

Yet their owner was only an eight- or nine-year-old girl.

At that moment, she sat at her desk, using a pen and ruler to draw something on a large sheet of paper.

"It's finished."

The little girl set down her pen and looked at the nautical chart on the paper. It depicted two islands and a vast expanse of ocean. In addition to marked longitude and latitude, the islands had contour lines, the sea had depth contours, and there were shipping routes and seabed composition markers. Harbor depths around the islands were all included.

"Nami, are you drawing nautical charts again?"

Behind Nami stood a blue-haired girl, staring at the chart on the table.

"Nojiko?"

The sudden voice startled Nami. Looking at her, she smiled. "Yeah, I just finished drawing a nautical chart."

"That's amazing."

Nojiko looked at the chart. "I wouldn't understand a nautical chart even if you handed it to me, much less draw one."

"I'm just copying a chart from the drawing book."

Looking at the chart, Nami smiled and said, "After all, drawing a nautical chart for a region requires a great deal of data. Aside from direction, longitude, and latitude, you also need changes in currents and tides to plot shipping routes and anchorages. You need ocean depths to identify seabed terrain, as well as markers for seafloor sediments. You also need coastal characteristics, harbor depths and features, navigational markers—for example, distinctive features on an island that can be used to identify it—and navigational aids, such as lighthouse locations. All of that requires on-site measurements. So I've only mastered the basics of chart-making."

"What a hassle." Nojiko rubbed her hair and looked at Nami. "On-site measurements? So that means you'll need to go out to sea?"

Nami nodded with a smile. "That's right. Drawing a new nautical chart requires on-site measurements, otherwise the errors and deviations from reality would be too great. Take the chart of the island we live on, for example. The inaccuracies are huge. I've found at least three."

"Huh?"

Resting her chin on her hand, Nojiko looked at Nami and asked, "So you plan to leave Cocoyasi Village someday?"

"My dream is to travel the whole world and draw maps of every place in it," Nami said seriously.

"Travel the whole world?" Nojiko's eyes widened. "You'll have to go to dangerous places?"

"Of course."

Nami nodded firmly, then added, "But I still don't know enough. Next, I plan to study water-level observation and navigation. Once I learn water-level observation, I'll be able to start drawing nautical charts of the waters around our island."

"Oh."

Nojiko was not particularly interested in that. She then asked, "Nami, want to go out and play?"

"No, I still need to read."

Nami picked up a book, spread it open before her, and began reading closely.

"How boring."

Nojiko stretched lazily and climbed onto the small bed beside her.

In the bay south of the island, Xia Qiu searched the sea for prey.

He had been in these waters for nearly two and a half months, and it was now May.

After more than two months of growth, Xia Qiu had grown from eighteen meters to twenty-one meters long, with a weight nearing seventy tons.

He had gained three meters in length and twenty tons in weight over those two months. Compared with his previous growth rate, it had slowed considerably.

Xia Qiu had two theories about this slowdown.

The first was that he had entered the next stage of growth, causing his growth rate to slow.

For example, a Blue whale could grow from seven meters at birth to fifteen meters in just eight months. But growing from fifteen meters to over twenty meters took two years, at minimum until it was two and a half to three years old.

To reach adulthood, with a body length of over twenty-five meters, it would take roughly eight to ten years.

Perhaps he had passed the juvenile stage and entered the subadult stage, which was why his growth had slowed.

But his growth was different from that of creatures in the One Piece world, so he probably would not be restricted by a growth cycle.

The second theory was a change in his own physical strength.

After leaving Naruto Village, he had eaten a Marine Colonel and fourteen pirates. Both their numbers and strength were several times greater than before.

This had resulted in an enormous degree of enhancement.

Before leaving Naruto Village, even before he had digested Colonel Lido, his eighteen-meter body had been able to withstand the strength of a thirty-meter giant sea fish.

After consuming Colonel Lido and the pirates, his strength had increased again. He had become even tougher, far surpassing fish of the same size.

The stronger his body became, the more energy it consumed.

For example, a pound of muscle burned six calories at rest, while fatty tissue burned only two.

After becoming stronger, he was consuming vast amounts of energy every moment.

Originally, the energy he took in far exceeded his own expenditure. After covering that expenditure, a large amount of energy remained to fuel his growth and evolution.

But now, with his energy consumption being too high, more of the Evolution Energy he gained from the bodies of sea fish was being used to cover that consumption.

The remaining Evolution Energy greatly slowed his growth rate.

Of the two theories, Xia Qiu favored the second.

That was more beneficial to him.

What he wanted was not simply to grow larger. That would only make him a target.

Even the Island-Devouring Monster, capable of swallowing islands, had been defeated by Dorry and Brogy's combined Hagoku.

And the giant Sea Kings of the Calm Belt were merely appetizers for vice admirals.

What he wanted was overwhelming strength.

As Xia Qiu thought, he swam farther away while releasing Ultrasound and using echolocation to locate other marine life.

Sonar System.

After eating dolphins, he had successfully evolved a Sonar System, including a sound emitter, receiver, and analyzer.

However, it had been relatively weak at the time. Both its range and sensitivity had been inferior to his own senses.

Later, Xia Qiu encountered two more dolphin pods. After eating them, his Sonar System had become usable.

Within three hundred meters, he could distinguish the distance, size, and shape of fish.

At the same time, Xia Qiu could actively receive high-frequency waves to detect different creatures in the water.

Though it still could not compare to a dolphin's, it was already an extremely valuable ability.

Not only that, Xia Qiu felt that he had gained the dolphins' way of resting, with his left and right brains resting in turns. The ability was still rather weak, but if it continued evolving, he presumably would no longer need to rest deliberately.

As Xia Qiu thought this, he decided to continue hunting dolphins.

Over there.

Northwest, two hundred to two hundred and thirty meters away, with a body length of about seven meters.

Xia Qiu suddenly caught a signal and swiftly swam toward it.