Fight to the Death

Hachi leaped into the ocean, his six arms paddling as he swam downward.

Hachi had six arms resembling octopus tentacles. Each octopus arm had no joints, but was covered in suckers.

At the ends of the octopus arms were hands shaped like human hands, except there was webbing between the fingers.

He swayed through the water, warily scanning his surroundings for any sign of the shark, but found nothing.

Hachi continued downward until he reached the seabed, where he looked around.

There was nothing.

There was no shark at all.

Had the shark run away? Or was Nami lying?

Hachi frowned, but at that moment, he sensed a disturbance. The distant vibrations grew closer and closer. He looked into the distance and saw a figure rapidly growing larger before him.

"A shark?"

Seeing the silhouette, Hachi instinctively assumed it was a shark. But as it drew closer, his eyes narrowed slightly.

"So big."

This was no shark only a dozen or so meters long. Not only did this fish not resemble a shark, it was over thirty meters long.

Seeing his opponent, Hachi's expression turned grave.

"So it's him."

Xia Qiu lay quietly in wait on the seafloor. He was some distance from the harbor, concealed behind a protruding rock that hid part of his body. Pressed close to the seabed, he watched the waters beneath the distant harbor.

From this position, he could spot any enemy descending from the harbor first. Meanwhile, the protruding rock would block part of their view, preventing them from immediately seeing what lay behind it.

After catching the signal of the Fish-Man's descent, Xia Qiu waited for a moment before charging toward him.

The instant he rushed over, he saw what the other looked like.

Six octopus arms—there could be no more obvious feature.

It was Hachi, one of the Arlong Pirates' officers.

He was very strong. He could move reefs across the seafloor and stir the currents into whirlpools, causing ships to crash into them.

He could wield six three-hundred-kilogram blades. In terms of strength, he was second only to Arlong among the Arlong Pirates.

Although Xia Qiu's strength far surpassed that level, he still had to use his entire body, and Hachi's power was enough to injure him.

But Xia Qiu did not retreat. He continued charging forward.

With a sneak attack, the other party would be caught off guard and find it difficult to make the best response.

I might be able to kill him.

Boom.

Xia Qiu became a black shadow and charged straight at him, opening his huge mouth to bite.

Whoosh.

Just as Xia Qiu was about to bite him, Hachi suddenly kicked forward with his six arms and two legs, sending himself rapidly backward and narrowly evading Xia Qiu's attack.

The enormous fish body swept past Hachi's side. He snorted coldly, turned to face it, clenched all six hands into fists, and punched directly.

Octopus Fist.

Six fists turned into streaks of afterimages as they struck at Xia Qiu's body.

But the instant Xia Qiu missed his bite, he reacted. He violently swung left and rammed his body toward Hachi.

Bang, bang, bang, bang...

Hachi's fists struck Xia Qiu's body with dull thuds, shattering his scales.

Yet Xia Qiu's momentum barely slowed. After taking Hachi's punches, his enormous body slammed directly into Hachi.

Boom.

Hachi blocked with all six arms, but was still hit and sent flying.

"What incredible strength."

Hachi's expression was grave as he steadied himself. Aside from the shock injuries to his arms, he had not suffered much damage.

His arms had no bones. After bending them before his body as a buffer, they dissipated part of the force.

At the same time, he curled his body into a ball and, borrowing Xia Qiu's force without resisting, was sent flying far away. The force that actually acted on him was not too great.

After failing to land his strike, Xia Qiu continued swimming upward and leftward. As his body swung, his tail fin lashed out.

Again?

Seeing the tail fin sweep toward him, Hachi did not take it head-on. He kicked again with his arms and legs, his body suddenly retreating a distance like an octopus.

Splash.

The tail fin brushed past Hachi by a hair's breadth.

But in the instant it passed, Hachi extended four hands and grabbed Xia Qiu's tail fin. He surged forward and began climbing up Xia Qiu's body.

Xia Qiu felt his tail fin grow heavy and swung it again.

But the tentacles on Hachi's body were tightly wrapped around his tail, while two tentacles stretched straight out and pressed against the scales on it. Though the scales were smooth, the suckers adhered perfectly to them.

He could not shake him off.

Hachi, meanwhile, climbed along Xia Qiu's body. By sticking close to him, he could avoid being bitten or struck by the tail.

But at that moment, Hachi suddenly saw a rocky cliff rapidly enlarging before him.

Xia Qiu charged straight toward the cliff, swinging his tail as he rammed into it.

Damn it.

Watching the wall rush closer, Hachi had no choice but to release Xia Qiu. He planted all six arms against Xia Qiu's body, pushed off fiercely, and shot upward.

Xia Qiu happened to roll downward. Borrowing Xia Qiu's strength along with his own, Hachi avoided Xia Qiu's body.

Bang.

Xia Qiu's body slammed into the cliff. The rock immediately shattered and rained down in chunks.

That hurts.

Xia Qiu felt pain at the point of impact. The scales there had shattered, and his muscles were injured, bringing his body to a halt.

"A good opportunity."

Seeing this, Hachi turned around, clenched all six hands into fists, drew back his arms, and struck.

Octopus Barrage Fist.

Six fists became countless fist shadows as they attacked Xia Qiu's back.

Bang, bang, bang, bang...

In an instant, Xia Qiu took more than a dozen punches. Between the two fins on his back, the hard spines shattered, his skin burst open, and his muscles tore.

Fortunately, this was his back, where the fish bones converged to form massive skeletal support that blocked Hachi's fists.

Pfft, pfft.

Deep, bone-revealing wounds appeared on the fists of two of Hachi's tentacle arms, and blood spread through the water.

"Hm?"

Hachi froze slightly. He only felt that he had struck sharp spikes. He has spines on his body?

These spikes were the spines Xia Qiu had grown from eating tuna. However, because of his enormous size, he had not eaten much tuna, so the spikes were only small and located between his two dorsal fins.

Xia Qiu's back was broad. Hachi threw two rounds with all six hands, landing over a dozen punches. Only two hit the spikes, directly crippling two of his hands.

The remaining hands struck Xia Qiu's back and tore it open, but it was like hitting a wall, leaving Hachi's arms numb from the shock.

At the same time, Xia Qiu's body rapidly descended.

The instant he was struck, Xia Qiu regained control of his body. He relaxed, allowing himself to sink while using the force of the blows to accelerate his descent.

Seeing Xia Qiu fall, Hachi shook his arms and chased after him.

But after descending some distance, Xia Qiu swayed his body and swam directly into the distance.

Seeing this, Hachi sighed. He did not pursue and instead swam upward.

The battle came to an end there.