Injuries

Hachi jumped into the water. Nami lay by the shore, leaning her head out over the coast and staring intently at his figure.

As she watched him dive deeper and his form grow blurrier beneath the water, Nami became more and more nervous.

She did not know whether the sea creature was still there.

Nami prayed that it would appear and attack Hachi.

But after a while, it still did not appear. There was only Hachi's blurry figure.

Just as Nami was disappointedly thinking that the sea creature had left, a shadow suddenly streaked through the distance and lunged at Hachi.

It's here.

Nami's eyes lit up, and a faint smile appeared on her lips. What followed was churning seawater and the two of them fighting fiercely.

Defeat him. Defeat him.

Nami kept praying, her heart in her throat as tension filled her chest.

Second by second, time passed. Before long, a figure surfaced, and a head appeared before Nami.

"Hachi."

At the sight of him, Nami's heart filled with disappointment, though she still wore a smile.

Hachi ignored Nami. Hooking an arm over the shore, he climbed out of the water and stood there as blood dripped from his arm.

"Hachi, you're bleeding."

Nami hurried over and asked worriedly, "Did a shark attack you?"

"That wasn't a shark at all."

Hachi looked at Nami, glaring at her with a dark expression. "It was a huge sea creature, not the dozen-meter-long shark you described."

"But I saw a dorsal fin. A shark's dorsal fin," Nami said cautiously, shrinking back slightly.

"A dorsal fin?"

Hachi sighed. "Its first dorsal fin really did look a lot like a shark's."

That sea creature's first dorsal fin was sickle-shaped and looked extremely similar to a shark's dorsal fin.

"I'm sorry, Hachi."

Lowering her head, Nami said, "I was wrong. Otherwise, you wouldn't have been hurt. There used to be sharks here, and when I saw that dorsal fin, I thought it was a shark attacking them."

"You..."

Hachi could not bring himself to blame her after hearing that. He waved a hand and said, "There's nothing to be done if you mistook it."

There really had been sharks here before; he had heard as much from the villagers. Combined with the appearance of the dorsal fin, it was understandable that she had made a mistake.

Besides, it was not as if Nami could control sea creatures.

Nami raised her head, tears glimmering in the corners of her eyes. Looking at Hachi, she said, "But you're hurt, Hachi. I-I told you that you shouldn't have gone down there."

"I didn't expect that fish to be so troublesome."

Hachi scratched his head. He remembered that before he entered the water, Nami had run over and told him not to go in. He had insisted on going anyway, only to encounter that sea creature.

He had even told her that he could handle it even if it was a sea beast.

Yet he had been injured by a mere fish.

"Don't worry."

Hachi placed his uninjured hand on Nami's head, then raised his wounded hand and waved it. "It's only my arm. It'll heal easily. And I hit that sea creature with plenty of punches. Its injuries are worse than mine."

"It's injured?"

Nami asked nervously, then hurriedly changed her words. "You didn't kill it? Doesn't that mean it could attack other people later?"

"Don't worry."

Hachi smiled. "I'll tell the other Fish-Men not to enter the water for now. When Boss Arlong returns, Kuroobi and the others can go down with him and kill it. It might be able to escape from me alone, but if there's one more of us, it won't even think of running."

"That's for the best. It's too dangerous for you to go alone."

Nami nodded, agreeing with Hachi.

"Let's go."

Hachi waved a hand and headed into the distance. "The doctor left with Boss Arlong, so we'll go to the village and find one."

"Okay, I'll go with you."

Nami jogged after him. Looking at Hachi's back, she prayed that the sea creature would leave and not remain here.

Hachi alone had already seriously injured it. If Kuroobi came too, killing it would be far too easy.

Leave quickly.

"Damn it."

Xia Qiu swam into the distance, searing pain shooting through the wound on his back. Blood spread out through the ocean, drifting farther and farther away.

He had been able to endure it while pressing his attack in one burst, but as blood continued to flow, Xia Qiu felt his body grow heavy.

The injury was not minor. It was as though a hole had been dug into his body, and blood was steadily pouring from it.

I need to eat.

Xia Qiu swam rapidly into the distance, searching for food.

This time, he did not swim too far away. He deliberately chose sea creatures of a certain size.

Seven meters.

Xia Qiu locked onto a sea bass, lunged forward, bit down on it, and swallowed it whole.

Again.

Xia Qiu continuously attacked fish after fish, swallowing them into his stomach and converting them into currents of heat.

The wound itched as it began to heal, and fresh flesh started growing.

If he had not been able to devour things to repair his wounds and regrow his body, then even if he recovered, he would probably have been left with a massive scar.

Xia Qiu kept eating. The bleeding stopped, and the wound slowly healed.

Whew.

After feeding twice, Xia Qiu slowly sank lower, waiting for the heat currents to repair him while thinking over the battle just now.

Hachi was very strong. His greatest strength did not surpass Xia Qiu's, but his movement speed was extremely fast.

That was thanks to his six arms and two legs. He moved like an Octopus: all eight limbs would thrust in one direction, propelling his body forward by a stretch.

Moreover, because both his arms and legs were immensely powerful, his instantaneous speed was incredibly high.

Then there was his strength. He was powerful enough that his blows could damage Xia Qiu's scales and thick muscles.

Even Colonel Lido, using the Shark Spear to stab him now, would deserve praise just for breaking through his scales.

Xia Qiu had launched a sneak attack, yet his enemy had still beaten him into a serious injury. The gap between them was not small.

And Hachi had only used four moves.

Teeth, body, tail, collision.

Those four moves alone had suppressed Xia Qiu, after which he had been struck repeatedly by his opponent.

Of those four moves, the latter three had caught Hachi somewhat off guard, yet they had still failed to hurt him.

If Hachi had not been caught off guard by Xia Qiu's means of attack, merely dodging the attacks after the bite would have been enough for him to kill Xia Qiu.

Every time Xia Qiu attacked, Hachi dodged while also trying to strike back.

He was formidable.

And that was Hachi without his swords. Hachi was a swordsman who could wield six blades.

If he had fought with swords, Xia Qiu would probably already be dead.

Xia Qiu now had a benchmark for the strength of the officers. For the time being, he was no match for them.

So he needed to avoid them for now and continue increasing his strength.

Of course, increasing his strength no longer meant mindlessly feeding and making himself larger and heavier.

Through this battle, Xia Qiu understood that his size and fish body were hindrances.

He only had methods such as biting with his teeth, ramming, and whipping with his tail. As long as an opponent could dodge them, it would be difficult for him to fight.

His body needed more ways to respond, as well as more means of combat.

For example, he could make his dorsal fin larger and sturdier.

The spikes he had inherited from tuna were currently too small and too short. They needed to grow longer and bigger.

Ideally, the spikes would not be limited to a single row, nor only grow along his back and belly.

Secondly, he needed other abilities as well.

The electricity of Electric Eels, Electric Rays, and Electric Catfish; the venomous spikes, hard spines, and sharp teeth of Stinging Poison Fish and Glandular Poison Fish; the poisonous filaments of Jellyfish; and the color-changing abilities of squid and fish.

These opportunities could only be found by chance. He would need to search for them slowly.

Most importantly, he needed tentacles like Hachi's. As long as he could grow tentacles, his combat power would more than double.

Arm himself. Evolve. Become stronger.

Then return and kill them.

Xia Qiu bared his teeth in a chilling grin.