Become Stronger

"Boss Arlong, this is bad."

The Fish-Man who had survived underwater climbed out of the pool at Arlong Park and ran before Arlong, saying in panic, "Leo was killed by a sea fish, and Lord Kuroobi was taken away by the sea fish."

"What?"

Arlong had been leaning back in his chair, watching the battle in the distance and leisurely waiting for it to end. Upon hearing this, his back immediately straightened and he leaned forward. Staring at the other man, he asked, "What are you talking about? A sea fish took Kuroobi away?"

"It was a huge Black Sea Fish. It attacked us as soon as we entered the water, killed Leo, and carried off Lord Kuroobi." The Fish-Man looked nervous. Recalling the scene, he still felt lingering fear.

"A black sea fish?"

Arlong recalled Hachi's description from half a year ago. Could it be that sea fish?

"How did it take Kuroobi away?"

Arlong asked in confusion. Even if Kuroobi had been ambushed, he should have merely been injured. How could he have been abducted?

"Tentacles! That sea fish had tentacles all over its belly!"

the Fish-Man shouted.

"A sea fish with tentacles on its belly? Hachi never mentioned that."

Arlong frowned, then rose to his feet and said, "I'll go take a look."

Arlong walked to the pool's edge and leaped into the water.

Whoosh.

Arlong thrust both hands back and kicked off the seawater, shooting forward.

He stayed relatively close to the surface. The curved, blade-like hard bone extending from the back of his head resembled a shark's dorsal fin.

Arlong was extremely fast, even faster than Chuu. After a few bursts forward, he reached the area around the warship.

Both Kuroobi and Leo were indeed gone.

What?

Arlong narrowed his eyes, sniffed the water, and chased off into the distance.

Following the scent of blood, he moved away from the shore and reached a stretch of sea where relatively thick blood still lingered in the water.

Kuroobi had suffered severe injuries here.

But where had he gone?

Arlong could smell blood everywhere around him and could not determine the exact target at all.

"Did it run away?"

Arlong frowned, his face incomparably grim. "That sea fish was once badly injured by Hachi using only his fists. Kuroobi's unarmed combat strength is even greater than Hachi's without his swords. How could Kuroobi possibly have been killed?"

"Wait a little longer."

Above the water, Chuu led two Fish-Men in battle against the Marines. But with Kuroobi gone, the Marine warship had stabilized, and all the sailors had joined the fight.

The two Fish-Men were already wounded, while Chuu could only evade attacks and struggled to find an opportunity to strike.

"What is Kuroobi doing?"

Chuu was not skilled at close combat, yet he could not simply leave the ship, and the water he could hold was limited as well.

Splat.

A sailor slashed Chuu across the shoulder. Chuu reached out, grabbed the man by the neck, and twisted hard.

Crack.

The sailor's cervical spine snapped.

But the next moment, someone stabbed Chuu again.

Chuu gritted his teeth and said, "Let's retreat first."

Splash, splash, splash.

Chuu and the two Fish-Men jumped into the water. Finding that Kuroobi was not there, they left the ship and swam toward Arlong Park.

"Go, hurry! Captain is injured! Return first!"

Another officer who had come with Captain shouted loudly. The sailors turned the ship around, and the warship sailed away from the battlefield.

Underwater, Xia Qiu swam into the distance, but he did not leave directly. Instead, with the island as the center, he circled farther and farther away.

Xia Qiu did this because he worried that the shark Fish-Men and dolphin Fish-Men might be able to locate him through the smell of blood, vibrations, or sound waves.

Especially Arlong. If Arlong caught him, he would have a hard time escaping death.

There was nothing wrong with being cautious.

Xia Qiu swam farther away as the heat flowing through his body gradually faded with time.

After the heat completely disappeared, Xia Qiu passed through an area of seabed rocks. As he swam past a protruding rock, he suddenly swung his tail.

Boom.

His tail struck the rock, shattering it instantly, while his tail remained completely unharmed.

The rock had been huge. Though it was pitted from seawater erosion, he could shatter it now. His strength had increased by a great deal.

His strength had grown tremendously.

Although his weight had not increased much, his muscles had become stronger, and his power had risen.

The force of his tail lashes and pectoral-fin slaps had increased considerably. His bite force had grown, his swimming speed had become faster, and his ramming power had increased as well.

His bones were harder, and his scales were tougher too.

This enhancement had greatly raised his combat power.

Most importantly, his strength had reached a critical threshold. Not only was his ramming power immense now, but the power behind his lashes and slaps could also reach the standard of an officer.

That meant many of his attacks would no longer merely restrain an opponent. They could inflict tremendous damage.

Xia Qiu swam past the rocks and hid behind them. After a while, he resumed feeding.

Xia Qiu continued feeding, and his severed tentacles began to regenerate rapidly.

This was not only because Xia Qiu could repair his injuries by devouring Evolution Energy, but also because he had eaten many Octopuses while growing tentacles.

Many Octopuses possessed powerful regenerative abilities. When facing powerful enemies, they could shed their tentacles to save themselves, and by the next day, the tentacles would grow back.

Xia Qiu continued feeding as his arms slowly regrew. In less than a day, they would likely be restored completely.

Furthermore, with one officer dead, the Arlong Pirates would certainly become wary of him. So he needed to hide for now, steadily increase his strength, arm himself, and become stronger.

One day, he would eat every Fish-Man in the Arlong Pirates.

On one of the merchant ships of the Shining Gold Merchant Association, Marcel stood at the bow with a Broadsword in hand and slashed forward.

Clang.

Before him, one of Hachi's hands held a katana before his body, easily blocking the attack.

Clang, clang, clang.

Marcel swung his Broadsword, relentlessly attacking Hachi, but every strike was blocked by Hachi's blade.

"Too many openings."

Hachi sneered, then aimed for an opening and slashed.

Clang.

Marcel drew back his sword and raised it before himself. Blade and sword collided.

Thud.

Marcel felt a tremendous force travel through his sword and dropped to his knees.

"You're too weak."

Hachi sheathed his katana, shook his head, and was deeply dissatisfied with this sparring session.

"You're far too strong."

Marcel sat on the ground and wiped the sweat from his forehead. When the other man swung his blade, he simply could not block it.

Not only that, Hachi had used only one sword. By focusing solely on defense, he had already forced Marcel to go all out.

If Hachi had drawn all six swords, then even ten of him would only be slaughtered.

"The arm strength of us Fish-Men is naturally greater than that of humans," Hachi said proudly.

Marcel rubbed his wrist and said, "But I'll train hard. I hope that one day, I can become as strong as you."

"Really?"

Hachi burst out laughing. "Impossible. Even if you trained for a hundred years, you'd never reach my level."

I'll definitely do it.

Seeing his expression, Marcel silently vowed to himself.

He walked to the side, picked up his Broadsword, and began training.

He still needed to work hard, become stronger, then become a Bounty Hunter and hunt pirates.