Growth

Sunlight streamed down, illuminating the tranquil seabed and making everything before him crystal clear.

Small fish darted through the coral reefs, shrimp hid beneath the sand, jellyfish swam past in groups, and schools of fish slowly drifted into the distance.

The scenery here was beautiful, dazzling, and vibrant with color.

Within a patch of sand, a crab moved its jointed legs and slowly scuttled sideways into the distance.

Whoosh.

The crab sensed something and suddenly sped up, crawling toward a distant rock.

Far from the crab, a dark shadow swam in this direction. As it drew closer, it became clear that it was an enormous fish.

The fish was about a meter long, with a robust body, a massive head, and huge pelvic fins. It was swimming this way at tremendous speed.

Sensing the fish's approach, the crab no longer had time to slip into the gap beneath the rock. It suddenly drew in its limbs, curled into a ball, and pressed itself flat against the sandy seabed.

It did not dare move, trying to make the other creature overlook it this way.

But the next moment—

Crunch.

The enormous sea fish charged over, opened its jaws, and clamped down on it before swimming upward and closing its teeth.

Several rows of sharp teeth bit down at once, crushing the crab's shell before swallowing it whole.

After eating the crab, the sea fish did not stop. Instead, it swam into the distance, locking onto a large yellow croaker.

The fish was fleeing into the distance.

But against the sea fish's speed, it had nowhere to escape.

Closer.

The sea fish closed in on the yellow croaker's body, accelerated again, and instantly reached its side.

Crunch.

The sea fish opened its bloody maw and bit into the yellow croaker's middle, crushing its body and swallowing it, leaving behind only its head and tail.

"Now I'm full."

The large fish spat out a bubble and slowly swam toward the harbor.

That fish was Xia Qiu.

After half a month of devouring and evolving, Xia Qiu was now over a meter long and weighed more than fifty jin. His body had also changed greatly.

Xia Qiu had originally possessed only one dorsal fin, but now another had grown near his tail, connecting with the caudal fin.

Besides that, Xia Qiu's teeth had been replaced twice. Each new set was longer, thicker, and sharper than before, and two additional rows of teeth had grown inside his mouth.

With three rows of sharp teeth and immense bite force, he could crush even a crab's shell.

It could be said that Xia Qiu was already the undisputed ruler of the waters near the island.

Furthermore, Xia Qiu's appetite had increased tremendously. He now ate at least one jin of food per meal, while his maximum intake had even reached three jin.

After eating one jin of food, Xia Qiu needed to feed again in roughly an hour.

If he ate three jin at once, however, Xia Qiu needed at least three hours, or even longer, to digest it.

Xia Qiu tried to eat more at a time so that he could gain more time to move around.

He used that time to investigate information about this world.

His only ways of investigating this world were through sight and hearing.

There was only so much he could see in the sea. Most of the time, he listened to the conversations of the island's residents.

The conversations of fishermen setting out to sea and children playing by the shore.

Most of it was meaningless.

But a small portion of the information confirmed for Xia Qiu that this truly was the world of One Piece and that he was located in the East China Sea.

Xia Qiu had already explored the entire island. To the south lay the waters where he had appeared, to the east was the harbor, to the north were jagged rocks and the vast sea, while to the west was a stretch of shallows.

The island was roughly four kilometers long from east to west and one kilometer wide from north to south, with an area of four square kilometers. It was not very large.

There was a village on the island called Naruto Village, and its population was not large.

The village chief was named Kaldo, a chubby middle-aged man who had visited the harbor once and was greatly respected by the fishermen.

The village made its living from salt production. There were many salt fields in the village, and only a small number of fishermen went out to catch fish.

Whether it was salt or seafood, cargo ships came every day to purchase goods and deliver supplies.

Other than the occasional names mentioned by fishermen, it was difficult to obtain any further information.

Xia Qiu had also confirmed that it was indeed Marineford Calendar 1510, and the end of the year was approaching.

This year, Luffy and Usopp were seven years old, Sabo and Ace were ten, Sanji and Zoro were nine, and Nami was eight.

This was the year Luffy accidentally ate the Gomu Gomu no Mi, and also the year Shanks lost an arm to a Sea King while saving Luffy.

This was the year Luffy swore to become a pirate, received the straw hat from Shanks, was discovered by Garp, taken from Foosha Village to Mt. Colubo, handed over to the mountain bandit leader Dadan, and met Ace and Sabo, becoming friends with them.

Half a year later, still within this year—or before March of the following year—Sabo set sail, encountered the Celestial Dragons visiting the Goa Kingdom, was shelled, rescued by Dragon, and joined the Revolutionary Army.

This was also the year Red-Legged Zeff led the Cook Pirates to the Grand Line, though they would return to the East China Sea a year later.

And this was likewise the year Xia Qiu transmigrated into the world of One Piece and began his life as a fish.

Xia Qiu knew this was a very important year. Luffy's vow to become a pirate had indirectly affected the earthshaking changes that would come later.

But it had nothing to do with him.

What Xia Qiu cared about now was only filling his stomach and surviving better.

Xia Qiu reached the direction of the harbor, but he stayed close to the seabed and swam away from it.

The water grew deeper and deeper. Xia Qiu could feel the pressure increasing, but given his massive size, he did not feel much strain.

Xia Qiu swam forward, and before long, a sunken ship appeared ahead of him.

It was a large two-masted fishing boat, roughly twelve meters long, with a huge cabin.

At that moment, the fishing boat's mast had snapped and its keel had broken, though it had not completely split into two. The cabin was cracked open, revealing a large hole.

Xia Qiu entered the cabin directly through the hole. His enormous body brought immense pressure, immediately startling the small fish inside, which fled in all directions through the cracks in the cabin.

Xia Qiu ignored them. He slowly lowered himself, pressed against the sand, and stayed there.

This was the shelter Xia Qiu had found. Although, with his size, he no longer had any enemies in the waters near the island.

Xia Qiu still wanted to find a place to stay, somewhere he could rest when he was not hunting for food.

And if a powerful enemy ever appeared, this place could serve as both a hiding spot and a shelter.

Xia Qiu hid in the shadows beneath the inner wall of the cabin and slowly waited for the food in his body to be consumed.

Heat flowed through his body. Compared with Snow Trust's current size, the heat flow's evolution of his body no longer caused him the pain of growth.

But before long, Xia Qiu felt a faint itch on the surface of his body.

What was going on?

Xia Qiu was somewhat confused, but the tingling itch grew more and more intense, becoming unbearable.

What exactly was happening?

(Note: Luffy was seven when he obtained the fruit. He then met Ace and Sabo, and he was still seven when Sabo left.

In the earlier scene, Luffy ate the fruit, Shanks lost his arm, and the attack occurred, after which it directly stated that Luffy would set sail ten years later.

In the later flashback arc, Ace set sail seven years after Sabo left, and Luffy set sail three years after that, making ten years in total.

Both events happened when Luffy was seven, basically within the same year. Luffy's birthday was in May, but because Sabo's birthday was in March, Sabo's departure could at most be pushed into March of 1511.

Some readers commented and posted chapter remarks believing that Luffy and Sabo spent a long time together, but it was actually less than a year—between six and ten months.)