The Straw Hat Man slowly rose to his feet. The fishing rod on the lake's surface gave a slight tremble, then fell completely still.
All of a sudden, waves rolled across the lake, as though brightly colored fish were gently poking their heads above the surface.
The fish were breathing.
The Straw Hat Man quietly watched the fish in the lake, his eyes devoid of any emotion.
If one had to say there was any feeling in his eyes at all—
It could only be indifference!
Utter indifference!
Indifference as biting as an icy wind!
"Since it has begun, I'll start with you!"
The Straw Hat Man's voice slowly rang out as his gaze settled on one of the fish.
That fish was blue.
For some reason, an utterly terrifying aura suddenly spread between heaven and earth. Chaotic gray currents slowly swirled.
At once, the fish on the lake's surface stirred as though the pot had exploded, churning ceaselessly in the water.
One after another, they dived to the lakebed.
Yet only that blue fish struggled to escape, as if an invisible force had wrapped itself around it.
It could not move at all.
The Straw Hat Man slowly walked over and extended an arm as withered and thin as a bamboo pole.
He gently slipped his fingers into the lake and gripped the blue fish beneath the water.
An immense terror suddenly flooded the fish's eyes. Then, a blue crystal, like a drifting snowflake, was plucked straight from between its brows.
After losing that snowflake-like crystal, the blue fish abruptly became incomparably weak.
Without even sparing it a glance, the Straw Hat Man tossed the blue fish back into the lake.
He turned, picked up the fishing rod in his hand, and slowly walked into the thatched hut.
Within