Arlong! Why Aren't You Here Yet?!

Thud, thud.

Amid the constant tremors shaking the ground, Xia Nuo arrived before a giant tree more than ten meters tall.

He glanced up at the treetop, then suddenly reached out with both hands and dug his fingers into the trunk. The knotted muscles of his back bulged explosively, and a chain of muffled cracks immediately echoed from underground as the roots snapped.

That wasn't pulling the tree out—the entire layer of earth was being overturned with a thunderous roar!

The giant tree, weighing a full three or four tons, rose from the ground amid a waterfall of cascading soil and was firmly gripped in his hands.

Then he turned his head and looked toward the mountaintop opposite him.

It was roughly three or four hundred meters from where he stood.

After taking brief aim, Xia Nuo said nothing. He focused all his strength and suddenly hurled the giant tree from his shoulder.

Whoosh—!

The giant tree shot toward the opposite mountaintop like a javelin. Xia Nuo, meanwhile, raised his heel, gathered his strength for an instant, and stomped down abruptly.

"Shave!"

His figure blurred and flickered. In the next instant, he suddenly appeared atop the giant tree. The trunk sank a considerable distance beneath him, and its speed slowed slightly.

But it still maintained its original momentum as it shot toward the mountaintop.

The northern wind howled against his face, while the trees and streams below flashed past at high speed. Xia Nuo narrowed his eyes slightly as he looked toward the mountaintop he was about to reach.

Like the previous mountain, this one had long since been leased out and turned into his exclusive training ground.

However, compared with the devastation covering the previous mountain, this one was in much better condition. Only the summit had been completely shaved flat, leaving behind a huge open-air platform.

At the edge of the platform, Man-Bane, Skinny Monkey, and the other two were already waiting. When they saw the giant tree flying toward them from the sky, they hurriedly retreated farther back.

Boom!

The giant tree crashed down in the center of the platform. Xia Nuo jumped off and landed steadily on the ground. He hooked the trunk with one foot, spun around, and kicked casually. The trunk immediately rolled toward the mountainside below.

Kerplunk—

Although Man-Bane and the others had long since grown accustomed to the various visual shocks Xia Nuo brought them over the past few months, they still subconsciously swallowed when they witnessed this scene.

"Did you bring the guns?"

Xia Nuo asked casually.

"We brought them all, Boss." Man-Bane immediately pulled a flintlock from behind his back, and the other three made the same motion in turn.

"Just like I said yesterday, all of you aim for my head and fire rapidly."

As soon as Xia Nuo finished speaking, he remembered something and glanced at Skinny Monkey. "You're exempt. Aim for my feet."

"Uh..." Skinny Monkey's face reddened. "Boss, my marksmanship has improved a lot too. I feel like aiming for your knees would be about right."

"...Suit yourself."

Xia Nuo shook his head and stood in the center of the platform with his hands behind his back, facing the wind.

The other four took positions at the southeast, southwest, northeast, and northwest corners. They then closed in, raised their guns, and aimed at Xia Nuo's head.

"Fire!"

Man-Bane waved his large hand and issued the order.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The not-so-dense gunshots shattered the mountain's silence. Four orange-red muzzle flashes spat out in succession. After one volley ended, they quickly reloaded and immediately fired another.

Clang! Clang! Xia Nuo didn't move at all, letting the bullets strike his head.

No matter what angle they came from, the bullets were instantly deflected, producing crisp sounds like metal striking stone.

Even when the bullets struck the thickest flesh on his cheeks, they merely caused faint ripples upon impact, like pebbles falling into a lake, and his skin quickly returned to normal.

This was the effect of mastering Copper Head. Even without deliberately using Iron Bones to accelerate the flow of his blood, it allowed him to completely ignore the impact of bullets.

Whoosh—!

A bullet shot toward him from straight ahead, but by sheer coincidence, it drilled directly into his eye.

"Not good!"

Man-Bane noticed and panicked. He hurriedly raised a hand to stop the others. "Hey, stop firing for now! Boss, how is it? Are you all right?"

The gunfire abruptly ceased. Only then did everyone see that the bullet hadn't been deflected immediately. Instead, it had strangely stopped in front of his eyeball, as if it had sunk into asphalt.

"I'm fine. Don't worry."

Xia Nuo spoke calmly. He suddenly rolled his eyeball upward, wedging the bullet into his upper eyelid.

Everyone heard a teeth-grating crunch. In the next instant, the bullet lodged behind his eyelid had been crushed into countless fine lead particles, which slowly slid down the bridge of Xia Nuo's nose.

"..."

The surroundings fell silent.

"Looks like the effect is pretty good."

Xia Nuo nodded in satisfaction and smiled at the stunned Man-Bane and the others around him. "All right, that's enough. We'll stop here for today. Go take care of your own business."

"Yes, Boss."

It took Man-Bane and the others a long while to recover. They all took their leave, looking back every few steps as they departed the open-air platform, clearly still unable to conceal their shock.

Xia Nuo wasn't surprised in the slightest.

The description of "Copper Head" had been very clear: after mastering it, every part of his body above the neck would be strengthened. Naturally, that included his eyeballs, nasal passages, and other seemingly fragile organs and tissues.

Even his tongue could remain soft or become as tough as steel. When extended, it was practically a dagger that could easily pierce through another person's chest.

Xia Nuo arrived at the southernmost part of the open-air platform.

He gazed into the distance. From here, he could see the only harbor in Cocoyasi Village.

The harbor was deserted, with only a few inconspicuous fishing boats moored there.

"Arlong..."

Xia Nuo murmured softly, "Spring has already arrived. When are you coming, exactly?"

For the past five months, he had slept only four hours a day. He had devoted almost all his remaining time to hellish training.

He had reached minor mastery in Shave four months ago, major mastery two months ago, and then achieved major mastery in Iron Bones, with Copper Head following close behind!

His body, tempered through a thousand trials, had gradually become unmatched in strength, far surpassing its former state. His overall power had surged, soared, and exploded upward!

He was already completely confident and prepared to deal with the Arlong Pirates. Even his muscular body and beating heart craved battle, yearning to tear apart powerful enemies!

Unfortunately, there were twelve months in a year.

It was only the beginning of March. The odds of Arlong arriving at Cocoyasi Village within the first two months were simply too low.

"I hope you won't come too slowly or too late."

Xia Nuo licked the slightly cracked corner of his lips and muttered to himself, "If you can't keep up with my current version, I'm going to be very disappointed..."

A strong gust of wind suddenly blew past, swallowing his voice.

Just like human emotions, whether excitement and anticipation or repeated disappointment, they ultimately couldn't withstand the merciless passage of time.

In the blink of an eye, April arrived.

The trading market rolled out the Secret Manual for the Six Powers again. Xia Nuo bought it, then opened a Geppo and Finger Pistol from the blind box and began practicing them.

May.

The Arlong Pirates were still nowhere to be seen, while the hardest mountain on the island finally collapsed completely.

Xia Nuo spent several more days using his fists and feet to level it entirely. From then on, it became the best place for the villagers to gather and celebrate and hold festival activities.

June.

Geppo and Finger Pistol reached major mastery in succession.

Xia Nuo leased another mountain. While practicing Finger Pistol, he turned everything above the mountainside into a sieve. When the dawn sunlight spilled down, dappled light and shadows scattered across the ground, creating a remarkably beautiful sight.

However, when his back stood at the edge of the mountaintop and he stared fixedly at the harbor every day like an empty-nest old man, he looked rather lonely from far below.

July.

Nami and Nojiko celebrated their birthdays one after another. Xia Nuo prepared a huge cake and called over everyone from Man-Bane's group for a grand celebration.

Unfortunately, he failed to control his strength while pushing the cake cart and twisted the steel frame into a pretzel. The cake lost its balance and toppled onto the ground, making Nami burst into tears.

August.

The trading market finally rolled out the Flesh Furnace Method again. This time, it was the third volume, titled Iron Bones.

The method of training it was unexpectedly almost identical to Iron Bones.

Thus, Man-Bane and the others gained another task. Every day, they had to carry maces over a meter tall and desperately hammer every joint in Xia Nuo's bones.

Previously, two people had taken turns. Now, six people worked simultaneously.

September.

Xia Nuo's height reached one meter ninety-three, and his weight reached one hundred forty kilograms.

The weight added to the black combat uniform he wore had broken through the ceiling again and again, reaching the terrifying figure of 2.1 tons.

One night.

Nami got up groggily to relieve herself. As she passed Xia Nuo's room, she vaguely heard his sleep-talking from inside:

"Come on, Arlong. Come on, Arlong..."

"Why? Why aren't you here yet...?"

Who was Arlong?

And were there girls with names like that?

Nami grew wary and planned to ask someone in the village about it first thing the next morning.

Unfortunately, children had practically no memory when they got up during the night. By the time she woke up and brushed her teeth the next day, she had completely forgotten what had happened the previous night.

October.

By mid-month, Xia Nuo had achieved major mastery of Iron Bones.

The orange groves also entered harvest season. The workshop had long since been completed, and orange preserves and orange jam began entering production one after another. Bellemere was incredibly excited and worked from morning until night every day.

Meanwhile.

In a village somewhere in the nearby waters.

Under the terrified gazes of the people, a group of tall fish-men laughed boisterously and left with bulging money bags on their backs.

"Looks like everyone on this island is a bunch of cowards, Chuu~"

The kissing fish-man twisted his neck, still unsatisfied. "Not a single one of them even resisted. The previous island was more interesting. I even wanted to turn this island into a wasteland too."

"Humans are weak and ignorant, short and cowardly—a naturally inferior and despicable race."

The purple fish-man at the front sneered. "What's the next island called?"

"Hmm, let me see. It seems to be called Cocoyasi Village."

The Six-Sword Style swordsman drunkenly lowered his gourd and glanced at the sea chart. "It's not a very big village. It should be the easiest one to conquer."

"Is that so?"

The purple fish-man turned around. Beneath his shark-saw-like nose, he bared his fangs in a wanton, ferocious grin.

"Shahahahaha! That's no fun at all. I wonder whether the humans there will be rich enough, and how much wealth we'll be able to squeeze out of them..."