Ready

"Captain Smoker, the ship seems to have stopped." Tashigi, who was following behind Smoker, suddenly stopped and looked at the sea behind her.

"Um?"

Smoker turned around, narrowed his eyes, and looked into the distance.

On the sea, Brigadier General Yuchimura's warship slowly came to a stop.

"It seems to be shaking," Tashigi whispered from the side.

"It seems that the sea fish attacked the warship."

Smoker looked at the warship in the distance and saw Yuchimura jump into the water. He waved his hand and said, "It's just a sea fish. Don't worry, Colonel Yuchimura can handle it."

"Um."

Tashigi nodded, and the two walked towards the Security Office.

"Lord Yuchimura has gone down to hunt sea fish."

"Haha, it's just a sea fish. It's easy for you, Commodore General, to catch it."

On the naval warship, some sailors were repairing the ship's hull, while others were controlling the vessel. The Second Lieutenant and Lieutenant Commander on the warship, along with Major Will, stood on the side of the ship, looking down.

In their view, it would be easy for Brigadier General Yuchimura to go down and kill the sea fish.

"Look, Lord Yuchimura is fighting that sea fish."

"That sea fish is no match for it at all."

"Lord Yuchimura came out for air! The sea fish came, but Lord Yuchimura dodged it. Look! Lord Yuchimura plunged his sword into the sea fish's skin! The sea fish slumped over! Yuchimura is fighting the sea fish underwater! The sea fish has surfaced. Lord Yuchimura must have been attacking it from underwater..."

"Shut up..."

boom.

Yuchimura used all his strength to plunge the long sword into Xia Qiu's body, but Xia Qiu's impact caused his bones to break, and he coughed up blood incessantly.

Click.

Xia Qiu opened her mouth, bit down on the other person, and swallowed them whole.

After Yuchimura was injured, Xia Qiu took control of the sea surface, suppressing his body and preventing him from breathing, while waiting for an opportunity to attack.

Under Xia Qiu's strategy of harassment, Yuchimura's physical strength was depleted, and he could no longer breathe. In order to catch his breath, he was injured by Xia Qiu.

After being injured, Yuchimura was even less able to fight back.

Finally, Xia Qiu killed him and swallowed him whole.

Xia Qiu ate Yuchimura, shook her body, and felt a stinging pain.

I was injured, but the injuries weren't too serious. Most of them were sword wounds, and the wounds were relatively small for my body.

After changing his battle strategy, Xia Qiu's fight against Yuchimura was not too difficult.

Even the injuries he sustained were not as severe as those he suffered during his fight with Arlong.

His strength is greatly reduced underwater, especially his mobility. For a swordsman, the collective decrease in strength, speed, and the power of his moves results in a huge change in his strength.

More importantly, Arlong was fighting desperately against himself, while Yuchimura initially fought to stop him from attacking the warship, driving him away, and killing him. After fighting for a while, however, he fought more for survival.

Air is the most essential element for his survival, yet he turned it into a trap, plunging himself into a predicament.

Furthermore, he underestimated himself too much, first thinking he could defeat himself, and then trying to escape, but it was already too late.

The more he fled, the more severe his injuries became, the less he could escape, and the faster he died.

After Xia Qiu ate Yuchimura, he glanced at the warships at sea, shook his head without any interest, and slowly moved away.

Xia Qiu swam closer to the island where Loguetown is located and came to the seabed on the side of the harbor.

As they approached, a figure straightened up in the darkness. Upon seeing that it was Xia Qiu, the figure leaned closer and nuzzled Xia Qiu's fish body with its head tilted.

Not bad, not bad.

Xia Qiu was very satisfied with Moo's performance.

After more than six months together, Moo has become Xia Qiu's pet.

Xia Qiu patted its head with its pectoral fin, walked to the side, lay down, and waited quietly.

Moo then approached Xia Qiu, lying down beside him and pressing against his body. However, he clearly misjudged the distance, and when he lay down, he pushed Xia Qiu sideways for a distance.

Xia Qiu didn't think anything of it, and instead leaned against Moo, waiting quietly.

They've arrived.

Not long after, a surge of heat erupted from Xia Qiu's body.

Incredibly powerful.

This heat was much greater and hotter than the heat provided by Arlong, reaching his body two or three times more intensely.

His underwater strength and attack power are slightly stronger than Arlong's; his slashes already have a different meaning.

However, the strength is limited; at least in terms of breathing, Arlong is more enduring.

If the two were to fight, with Yuchimura staying close to the sea surface and Arlong attacking, he would definitely lose.

But if Arlong doesn't attack first, neither of them can do anything to the other.

Given his underwater prowess, his strength on the surface must be terrifying.

It's not just a reduction in strength, but also in the power of the moves, reaction speed, and body coordination.

For example, his ordinary slash can only penetrate an inch into the body, but on land, the remaining force does not need to break through the scales, and can penetrate at least a foot.

Converting his speed on land to underwater, I simply couldn't track his movements; my own body was too large to react in time.

This resulted in what could have seriously injured Xia Qiu now only causing minor damage.

What could have been an advantage in speed is now being reduced to mere dodging.

In addition, his breathing was restricted, which weakened his strength. It wasn't just a matter of his strength being reduced by half; his overall strength was reduced, resulting in his strength being only about one-third of his true strength.

If he can unleash his full potential underwater, then I am in grave danger.

Click click click.

Xia Qiu's body is undergoing subtle changes once again due to the appearance of Reinforcement Energy.

boom.

After the heat dissipated, Xia Qiu slowly floated up, then suddenly swung her body and rushed out.

The water flow was instantly pushed aside, and then water from other places filled in, forming a small whirlpool.

Xia Qiu was faster; he could feel his body brimming with power, and with a single swing, he propelled himself forward a distance.

The strength of its body and the strength of its fins are both extremely powerful.

Xia Qiu estimated that even if he ate Yuchimura, he would still have a certain chance of winning against Yuchimura in a full power contest.

Even underwater, I am confident of victory, even against Rear Admiral.

That's fine.

Xia Qiu felt that with his strength, he was capable of venturing to the first half of the Grand Line.

His enemies are not the strong at sea; any Devil Fruit User underwater is just a lamb to the slaughter.

Those who lack fruit also experience a significant reduction in strength underwater.

His true enemies were the enormous sea creatures in the Grand Line.

Not to mention island whales and Island-Devouring Monster that are over a kilometer long.

Even ordinary creatures are ridiculously large.

Luffy had just entered the Grand Line when he encountered a dolphin, which was over 100 meters long.

Besides the Sea King of the Grand Line, there are also giant crabs, crocodiles, seabirds, sumo-wrestling frogs, and so on.

The marine life of the Grand Line also poses a threat to Xia Qiu.

Now, apart from giant creatures, Xia Qiu no longer worries about ordinary large creatures.

It's time to head to the Grand Line.

"There is no trace of the Commodore General."

"Not here either."

"The fourteenth group did not find Brigadier General Yuchimura."

On the naval warship, Smoker stood at the bow, watching the sailors and frogmen dive down and come up, but he did not find any trace of Brigadier General Yuchimura.

"It's been two hours since Brigadier General Yuchimura disappeared. It looks like he's in grave danger," Smoker sighed.

"Captain Smoker, please avenge Lord Yuchimura," Lieutenant Commander Will said, his eyes red.

He had followed Yuchimura since he was a lieutenant, and the two of them were promoted together when they arrived in Loguetown. Now they have been promoted again and are leaving Loguetown.

Over the years, Major Will and Brigadier General Yuchimura have developed a deep bond.

"You know I'm Devil Fruit User and can't go into the water, so I can't help chase that sea fish," Smoker said. "But I'll set up bait, bombs, and poison to see if we can kill it."

"Captain Smoker." Lieutenant Commander Will wiped away the tears from the corner of his eyes.

"If it doesn't work."

Smoker added, "I will report this and request support from headquarters, but even if they come, the search area will be limited to the vicinity of Loguetown. The East China Sea is so vast; if the fish leaves the vicinity of Loguetown, no one will be able to find it."

"I understand," Lieutenant Commander Will nodded.

Smoker stood up and said, "I'll make the arrangements. Your warships will remain in Loguetown for repairs, awaiting further instructions from Marine Headquarters."

"Yes."

Lieutenant Commander Will stood straight.