Arlong Pirates

In the golden October autumn, Bellemere's Orange Orchard had another bountiful harvest. Bellemere led Nami and Nojiko in picking oranges and storing them away.

But then they ran into a problem. The weather had been good that year, resulting in a large orange harvest, low prices, and difficulty selling them.

Bellemere was deeply troubled and could only tighten their belts to make it through the year.

"Finished."

Inside the house, Nami lay over her desk, drawing an Island Map. She looked over it and checked it several times, feeling extremely satisfied.

This was a complete map Nami had created after more than a year of surveying the island.

The map was highly detailed, even more comprehensive than those in the village. Harbor depths, landmarks, water depths, contour lines of small islands, and everything else were included.

Ships nearby could use the island as a reference to easily sail through these waters and come ashore on the island.

"I'll go read at the bookstore."

Nami placed the map beneath the desk, then left the house and ran toward the distant bookstore.

"Have you heard? Arlong's Crew has already raided so many villages," a villager said worriedly by the roadside.

"They're vicious. They've killed quite a few people and destroyed several villages," another middle-aged woman said with a sigh, shaking her head.

"Let's hope they don't come here," an elderly man could not help saying.

Villagers were discussing it by the roadside. Nami ran past them and could not help sighing.

The Arlong Pirates were a powerful band of pirates.

They had arrived in the East China Sea several months ago, attacked seven or eight villages, stolen a great deal of wealth, and killed many people.

I hope they don't come here.

Nami prayed silently as she crossed the road and arrived at the village bookstore.

The bookstore was not large, but it had many books. Six bookshelves lined the two walls, filled to the brim with books, while the table in the middle was piled high with them as well.

"It's Nami."

The owner was a middle-aged man. Seeing Nami, he smiled and said, "Go ahead and read, but don't fold the pages or dirty the books."

The owner knew Nami's family was poor and could not afford books, so he had never stopped her from coming here to read.

"I'll be careful."

After entering, Nami flipped through a few books before arriving at a certain spot. She picked up a book, her eyes full of longing.

"This book is amazing."

Nami looked at the book. Its cover read "NAVIGATION," meaning the art of sailing.

The book covered a wealth of material, such as navigation and positioning, determining a ship's location based on celestial phenomena, climate, and landmarks.

It also covered hydrology, geography, and meteorology, handling extreme weather, judging ocean currents and making use of them.

There was also ship handling, performance and structure, ports and sea routes, and more.

The book was thick and contained plenty of practical knowledge, making Nami desperately want it.

"I want it so badly."

Nami's eyes flickered as she looked at the book, wanting to claim it for herself.

Nami hesitated for a while, then glanced at the shop owner in the distance. He had his head lowered as he read the newspaper and was not paying attention to this side.

Nami immediately grabbed the book, turned her back, held it in front of her, and headed for the door.

"Nami, are you leaving? So early today?" the owner asked in surprise.

"Yeah, there's something at home. I can't stay long," Nami replied as she walked outside.

The owner nodded, but just as Nami stepped out of the store and turned the corner, he noticed a book was missing.

"Nami, leave the book behind!"

The owner shot to his feet and shouted loudly.

Hearing that, Nami took off running.

The owner immediately came out from behind the counter and chased after Nami, shouting, "Nami, bring the book back! You little thief cat!"

He was getting on in years and his legs were not nimble, so he could not catch up no matter what.

"Nami stole something again? I'll go catch her."

At that moment, Genzo happened to see the scene. Fury surged through him, and he immediately chased after Nami and caught her.

In the southern waters of the island, Xia Qiu, who had been resting, suddenly woke with a start.

A tremendous vibration came from the surface of the sea.

Xia Qiu opened his mouth and released Ultrasound. When the sound waves returned and were received by him, he discovered a huge ship.

The ship was enormous. Only a Marine warship could compare to it.

The Marines are here?

Xia Qiu immediately surfaced and looked into the distance. A massive pirate ship was sailing toward him across the sea.

So huge.

It was Xia Qiu's first time seeing such a gigantic pirate ship. It was at least sixty meters long.

Its hull was broad, and it had several masts, with both square sails and fore-and-aft sails. Its cannon ports were too numerous to count.

But the next moment, Xia Qiu's eyes narrowed slightly.

The pirate ship's prow was formed like a serrated sharp horn, and the largest square sail bore an emblem.

This was the Arlong Pirates.

The moment he saw the horn and the emblem, Xia Qiu recognized their identity.

It was actually the Arlong Pirates created by Arlong.

They had come to the East China Sea, to raid this island.

Xia Qiu thought about it. The timing was about right. It was now the year 1512 of the Marineford Calendar.

Jinbe had become a Shichibukai last year, while Arlong had also been released from Impel Down last year. After falling out with Jinbe, he had come to the East China Sea.

The Arlong Pirates were all Fish-Men.

Thinking of their identities, Xia Qiu suddenly felt a powerful urge to devour them.

Sea fish provided Evolution Energy, while humans provided Reinforcement Energy. What about Fish-Men and merfolk? Would they provide both kinds of energy?

Even if they only provided Reinforcement Energy, their strength, naturally ten times greater than that of humans, made them worth devouring.

But he could not beat them.

Ordinary Fish-Men were manageable, but he did not dare fight their officers.

Leaving aside their leader Arlong, there were the three officers.

The first was Hachi, an octopus Fish-Man with six arms who excelled with swords and used Six-Sword Style.

He possessed immense strength. With just two hands, he could lift an entire wall and throw it away. Each sword in his Six-Sword Style weighed three hundred kilograms.

He could spray ink and also knew martial arts.

The second was Kuroobi, a cartilaginous Fish-Man with forty dan in Karate.

Once underwater, he had sent Sanji flying with a single strike, smashing him into a distant cliff and shattering the rock.

The third was Chuu, a kissing gourami Fish-Man who could spit water bubbles as attacks.

The large water bubbles he spat could destroy more than a dozen trees in one hit, while even the smaller bubbles could easily snap trees apart.

Each of these three officers had their own strengths and formidable offensive power.

More importantly, they could breathe and move freely in the sea. Unlike humans, whose punches and kicks lost half their power underwater.

Of course, in terms of sheer strength, Xia Qiu was several times stronger than them.

But they were more agile and much smaller.

They could completely imitate Colonel Lido, evade his attacks, and strike at his weak points.

With their strength, they could injure him underwater and wear him down until he died.

So he could not defeat them.

They were only here to raid. After robbing the place, they would leave and return to their base on the island where Cocoyasi Village was located.

The island where Cocoyasi Village was located could not possibly be this one.

The Arlong Pirates had eventually controlled more than twenty villages. There was no way it could be such a coincidence.

Thinking this, Xia Qiu gave up on attacking them and slowly dived underwater.

But just as Xia Qiu was about to move farther away from the pirate ship, he suddenly sensed a massive vibration coming from the distance.

What was that?

Xia Qiu released Ultrasound. Through echolocation, he detected a colossal creature not far away, slowly swimming toward him.

The figure was over forty meters long and more than ten meters tall. It was enormous, with a pair of bony horns on its head.

A sea beast?

Xia Qiu remembered that Arlong had brought a sea beast from the Grand Line, a Sea Cow named Moo.

Many people feared Moo even more than they feared the Arlong Pirates.

Could it be him?

Whether it was or not, Xia Qiu was not confident he could defeat it with his current size.

He should avoid it first.

Xia Qiu slowly retreated to the side, but at that moment, the other creature suddenly charged toward him.

It found me?

Xia Qiu did not retreat any farther. Instead, he moved along the wall, hoping to slip past it.

But after he surged forward for some distance, the other creature adjusted its direction and charged at him again.

The target was him.

It had locked onto him.

Damn it.

Xia Qiu's expression darkened. He rushed forward for a distance, then suddenly turned again. His body swayed, his fins paddled through the water, and he shot into the distance.

Whoosh.

Xia Qiu accelerated and lunged forward.

The other creature changed direction again and charged after him.

It was fast.

Xia Qiu could sense that its speed was no slower than his. More importantly, he was pressed against the island while it was on the outside. It only needed to intercept him from the outer waters.

Pressed against the island, Xia Qiu could not escape its pursuit at all.

What should he do?

At that thought, Xia Qiu clenched his teeth. Instead of retreating, he suddenly turned and charged toward the other creature.

Since it wanted to kill him, he could not just sit and wait for death.

He had to fight it.

Xia Qiu closed his Nictitating membrane, twisted his body, and swung his huge fins, charging toward the other creature at extreme speed.

The enormous figure also rapidly closed in.

Soon, only about a hundred meters separated them, and Xia Qiu finally saw what it looked like.

Both were moving at least forty kilometers per hour. With only a hundred meters between them and both rushing toward each other, they would collide in less than five seconds.

As they closed in, Xia Qiu saw its appearance clearly.

The sea beast had mottled green and pale cyan skin, a pair of huge horns, and pectoral fins far larger than Xia Qiu's.

Its body was enormous, and layers of scales covered its surface.

Sea Cow Moo.

It was the Arlong Pirates' war beast, one of their main fighting forces, helping them conquer territory.

It really was him.

Its combat power was impressive. In the original story, it had taken Luffy's Gomu Gomu no Pistol and a kick from Sanji, only being knocked down after Sanji's Mutton Shot.

Among the Arlong Pirates, its strength ranked below the officers, but in the sea, the damage it could inflict on giant sea fish could even reach officer level.

He could not underestimate it.

Xia Qiu charged toward Moo, while the other had already lowered its head, its enormous horns aimed at him.

As the distance between them narrowed and they were about to collide, Xia Qiu's body suddenly rolled to the right.

Boom.

Xia Qiu's body brushed past the other creature's body.

Xia Qiu chose to evade.

He would not fight it head-on, because his sonar had detected huge sharp horns on its head. They were made of bone. If he rammed into those horns, then with the force both sides possessed, he would likely be impaled.

Secondly, the other creature was extremely strong.

It was huge, with a body forty meters long and more than ten meters tall. It weighed at least three hundred tons, and the force of its charge was far greater than Xia Qiu's.

Moo was also tall, but its spine could move up and down, allowing it to lower or raise its body.

It excelled in frontal combat, so Xia Qiu would not foolishly charge straight at it.

That was why Xia Qiu chose to evade. He intended to circle behind it and attack from the rear.

Xia Qiu rolled twice, slipping past the left side of its body. Using the spin, he dissipated his forward momentum. He only shot forward a short distance before stabilizing himself, then twisted his body, turned around, and pounced at it.

Moo had missed its charge and rushed far into the distance. Only after traveling a good distance did it stop and try to turn around, but Xia Qiu had already reached its tail and bit at its tail fin.

If he destroyed its tail fin, its balance would be disrupted, and it would lose a source of propulsion. Even if Xia Qiu could not defeat it and chose to flee, he would no longer have to fear pursuit.

But before Xia Qiu could bite down, its tail suddenly whipped upward and swept toward Xia Qiu's head.

Moo's tail resembled a whale's tail and was enormous, sweeping directly at Xia Qiu's head.

Xia Qiu immediately closed his jaws and sharply swung his head, ramming his horn into the tail fin.

Bang.

A loud crash rang out as the tail fin collided with the horn on Xia Qiu's head. A tremendous force struck him. The other creature's tail fin was knocked aside, while Xia Qiu's body came to a stop and then swayed slightly, unharmed.

Its tail fin was like a whale's, pointing upward. Its whipping force was relatively weak and could not injure him.

The instant its tail fin bounced back, the sea beast turned its body, opened its huge mouth, and lunged at Xia Qiu.

But taking advantage of its turn, Xia Qiu rushed to its left side and pressed tightly against its body.

Crack.

Xia Qiu sank his teeth into the other's pectoral fin, piercing straight through it and biting off the outermost segment of hard bone.

Moo's pectoral fins were enormous, over ten meters long. At their ends, they split into four hard spines like fingers.

Xia Qiu bit off the outermost one.

"Roar!"

The intense pain drove Moo mad. That was enough to inflict serious pain on him. With an angry roar, Moo turned and tried to bite Xia Qiu again.

But Xia Qiu suddenly twisted his body, rolling beneath him along the other's belly and evading the attack.

However, just as Xia Qiu appeared beneath his belly, Moo's body suddenly began to spin.

His right pectoral fin slammed directly into Xia Qiu.

Bang.

The massive pectoral fin struck Xia Qiu, sending him reeling backward as his body shook violently.

At that moment, Moo twisted with the momentum and spun back for another bite.

Xia Qiu had only just regained control of his body when he saw the gaping maw closing in.

This is bad.

Xia Qiu abruptly raised his head and rammed it into Moo's head.

Boom.

Xia Qiu's head crashed into Moo's upper jaw.

Crack.

Moo's upper jawbone shattered, and two of his teeth broke as well.

But the scales on Xia Qiu's horn burst apart, and cracks spread across the tip of the bone beneath them—a comminuted fracture.

Their bodies paused slightly. Xia Qiu's head swam, but he forced himself to flip downward, slipping past Moo's head and charging diagonally forward in an attempt to reach his flank.

But Moo turned his head, twisted his body, and swam toward the other side, instantly widening the distance between them.

He ran?

Xia Qiu had not expected him to be the first to flee. His injuries were worse than Xia Qiu's—his fin was hurt, and so was his head—yet he had still forced Xia Qiu into a frontal confrontation.

In a head-on fight, Xia Qiu was no match for him.

Yet he chose to run.

What a coward.

Thinking of Moo from the manga, Xia Qiu could not help shaking his head.