The itching sensation intensified, and Xia Qiu couldn't stand it any longer. He slowly floated up, leaning against the ship's cabin, rubbing himself against it.
Zzzzzip.
Xia Qiu felt the itch subside considerably, but as he rubbed, something began to peel off his body.
What is it?
Xia Qiu quickly stopped moving and looked, but it was too dark to see clearly.
So, Xia Qiu swam out of the cabin, found a rock, and continued to rub against it.
As he rubbed, scales fell off piece by piece.
I'm losing scales.
Xia Qiu stopped and looked at the scales on the ground – gray, yellowish, and brownish-yellow.
Even after Xia Qiu stopped moving, the scales continued to fall off slowly.
What's going on?
Losing scales isn't a good thing.
Scales are very important; they act as a protective barrier for the body, prevent water loss, help with camouflage, and isolate against microorganisms and infection.
Scales also reduce friction and drag, and make it harder for predators to grab hold of the body.
Fish scales come in various shapes, divided into scutes, ganoid scales, cycloid scales, and ctenoid scales.
His own scales were cycloid scales, a type of bony scale.
He hadn't expected them to fall off.
Most fish don't shed their scales in their lifetime; scales grow with the fish, and growth rings form on them, allowing one to determine a fish's age by the number of ring pairs.
Fish lose scales sometimes because they are easily shed, but mostly due to parasites and bacteria.
Do I have parasites and bacteria on my body?
The itching persisted, and Xia Qiu felt a bit nervous, but he could only let nature take its course. He returned to the cabin, waiting cautiously.
Scales continued to shed. After about two hours, there was a large pile of scales on the ground, nearly half of his scales had fallen off.
Xia Qiu accidentally touched the mud and sand on the cabin floor and ground, and he could feel his senses were clearer, though there was a slight pain.
This won't do.
Without the protection of scales, his body would become vulnerable.
But just then, Xia Qiu felt a stinging sensation on his skin. The affected area was small, but it felt like being pricked by needles.
Huh?
Xia Qiu's nerves immediately tensed. What was this pain?
The pain intensified and spread. It started near his tail and then moved, eventually covering a little less than half of his body with a stinging sensation.
It felt as if he was being pricked by many needles, causing intense pain.
Is this a consequence of losing my scales?
But the next moment, the pain worsened, as if something was penetrating his skin and slowly growing.
What is this?
Xia Qiu felt his skin slowly being covered, starting from his tail, and a feeling of fullness gradually emerged.
Xia Qiu quickly swam out of the cabin and onto the sandy seabed. He endured the pain of the sand and mud against his body, then wriggled his body, bending it.
As he bent his body to a certain extent, Xia Qiu could see the area near his tail.
New scales.
He had grown new scales.
Although shedding scales is uncommon, many fish on Earth do shed their scales.
And in the world of One Piece, it's even less surprising.
Xia Qiu examined the new scales. Their shape was similar to the fallen cycloid scales, but their edges had serrated protrusions.
These were ctenoid scales.
He originally had cycloid scales, but now they had become ctenoid scales.
Both ctenoid and cycloid scales are bony scales, unique to bony fish. However, ctenoid scales are more common in higher-order fish, such as those in the Perciformes order.
Fish with ctenoid scales tend to be larger, some even growing over two meters long.
The shedding of cycloid scales and the growth of ctenoid scales is famously seen in herrings, which have cycloid scales as juveniles and change to ctenoid scales as adults.
The color of his ctenoid scales had also changed.
They were originally pale gray, yellowish near the belly, and brownish-yellow near the back.
Now they were silvery white, the scales themselves silver, with white edges, shimmering brilliantly and looking quite beautiful.
Sensing his scales regenerating, Xia Qiu felt relieved.
It was just shedding its scales.
It wasn't due to illness, parasites, or any other reason.
Xia Qiu let out a sigh of relief and returned to the cabin to wait quietly. The pain seemed to have lessened considerably.
But then, a pang of hunger struck.
So soon?
He had eaten a lot this time, enough to last at least three hours, but now, less than two hours later, he was already hungry.
Xia Qiu had no choice but to swim out of the cabin to forage.
Crunch.
Xia Qiu swallowed two or three sea shrimp. Now, when he ate sea shrimp, he no longer needed to spit out the head, tail, or rostrum. After biting them into pieces, they all went into his belly.
A school of sand drill fish.
Xia Qiu spotted a school of sand drill fish and immediately charged. The school scattered immediately.
But Xia Qiu's speed was incredible. He directly caught one sand drill fish, bit down, and his three rows of sharp teeth snapped it in two. He swallowed most of its body, leaving only the head.
Swish, swish, swish.
Xia Qiu relentlessly pursued the school, often managing to catch up to and swallow fish that were trying to escape in the opposite direction.
Before long, more than half of the sand drill fish school had been eaten, about seven or eight of them.
Still not enough.
He continued to search, keeping his body close to the seabed, looking for sea shrimp and crabs.
After eating two crabs and a few sea shrimp.
Xia Qiu ate two more lone fish to fill his stomach before leisurely returning to the cabin.
Scales continued to fall off, and new ones slowly grew.
As the new scales grew, Xia Qiu's digestive speed also greatly increased, forcing him to continue hunting.
And so, two days passed.
All of Xia Qiu's round scales fell off and were replaced by ctenoid scales. The scales were finer, tighter, and shone with a silvery light.
During the scale shedding process, Xia Qiu's physique also changed, becoming more rounded.
Snap.
Xia Qiu approached a raised plank of wood and suddenly thrashed his body, his form whipping out.
Crack.
The plank snapped in two and was sent flying, yet his body felt no pain.
His scales were now harder, and his body had become tough and powerful.
He had become stronger.
Xia Qiu felt the changes in his body and was filled with joy.
Becoming stronger made survival easier.
Xia Qiu didn't aspire to be as powerful as a Sea King, but he at least wanted the ability to protect himself.
In the areas near the coast, he currently had no enemies.
Most of the fish here were between twenty and thirty centimeters long, with the largest being no more than fifty centimeters, which was already considered quite big.
Xia Qiu was now over a meter long, with hard scales and a resilient body. Combined with his large pectoral fins, he possessed great speed. His three rows of sharp teeth could even bite through crab shells.
In this sea area, Xia Qiu was an invincible existence.
However, venturing slightly deeper into the ocean, still within the nearshore zone, one could find much larger fish.
Creatures over two meters, even three meters long.
The occasional fleeting shadow would scare Xia Qiu back, extinguishing his desire to explore further.
Limited by water depth, they were accustomed to staying in areas with higher pressure and wouldn't come here.
But Xia Qiu feared that one day they might accidentally wander here and discover him.
So, it wasn't enough. He needed to continue growing bigger and stronger.
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Translation by: randomtranslator.com
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