In the blink of an eye, three months passed, and it was already June of Marineford Calendar 1512.
In a secluded spot on the southern side of the island, Xia Qiu quietly remained underwater.
Xia Qiu had now been on the island for one year and three months. He had grown from a length of nearly eighteen meters to his current thirty meters.
His weight had increased from fifty tons to around one hundred and eighty tons.
With his increased weight came a tenfold increase in strength.
Four months ago, he had attacked a pirate ship and, with a single blow, snapped its keel, creating a large crack and sinking the vessel.
If he hadn't intended to force the pirates into the sea, he could have shattered the ship with that one strike.
Xia Qiu could now switch between his left and right brain hemispheres to sleep. Of course, this didn't mean he was fully awake; one side was in deep sleep, while the other remained groggy. This allowed him to control his breathing, swim slowly, and remain alert to surrounding dangers.
This fragmented sleep pattern, combined with Xia Qiu's abilities, greatly reduced the possibility of him encountering danger.
Simultaneously, Xia Qiu's sonar system had improved. After preying on a dolphin, its sensitivity had increased further, becoming comparable to that of a dolphin.
In addition, Xia Qiu had hunted several whales that had ventured nearby. This expanded the frequency range of his sonic waves, allowing him to emit lower-frequency ultrasound and significantly increasing his detection range.
Within a two-kilometer radius, Xia Qiu could detect objects larger than twenty meters in length.
This allowed Xia Qiu to, to some extent, guard against attacks from larger creatures.
In this regard, Xia Qiu had become safer.
In over a year, Xia Qiu had not encountered any threats. He had spent his time in a peaceful existence, slowly growing.
Life was incredibly boring.
All he could do was eat and rest day after day.
There was no one to communicate with; he lived a solitary life.
This was a huge torment for Xia Qiu.
If not for the constant urge to eat driving him, he would have been unable to bear it long ago.
He was hungry again.
Xia Qiu sighed, left his resting spot, and swam towards the distance.
He emitted ultrasound waves, searching for creatures in the distance.
Xia Qiu's current meal consisted of about three tons of food, requiring fish over ten meters in length.
Therefore, Xia Qiu ignored the fish around seven to eight meters in length and continued swimming further away.
"Six hundred meters away."
Xia Qiu locked onto a direction and found a fish twelve meters long, so he charged directly at it.
Xia Qiu emitted low-frequency ultrasound waves, which had a longer range and could detect up to two kilometers.
Xia Qiu continuously tracked its position and rushed forward until he was only fifty meters away.
The next moment, the fish rapidly moved away from him.
Had he been discovered?
Xia Qiu guessed that the other creature also possessed sensory abilities and had detected the vibrations caused by his approach, evading him preemptively.
However, being detected did not mean it could escape.
Xia Qiu increased his speed again, charging towards it.
Xia Qiu closed the distance at a speed visible to the naked eye. Below a hundred meters of water, it was difficult for Xia Qiu to see the other creature from afar. Only when he was within ten meters did Xia Qiu vaguely make out its silhouette.
It was a whale shark.
Whale sharks are the largest sharks, not whales. They have five pairs of gills and over three hundred rows of teeth on ten filter-feeding plates.
Adult whale sharks range from nine to twelve meters in length, with the longest reaching over twenty meters.
Whale sharks are relatively gentle and rarely attack humans. They will even turn around when encountering divers and allow them to clean their bellies.
Furthermore, whale sharks serve as the best proof for many that not all sharks are aggressive.
Whale sharks primarily feed by filter-feeding. Their diet mainly consists of plankton, algae, krill, and small free-swimming organisms. Sardines, anchovies, tuna, and mackerel are also among their food sources.
This whale shark was twelve meters long and weighed around four tons, which was enough for Xia Qiu to have a full meal.
Xia Qiu pursued it rapidly, getting closer and closer. Just as he was about to bite it, the sonic feedback from Xia Qiu's waves returned, capturing another figure.
This figure was at least three kilometers away from Xia Qiu, over ten meters long, and extremely large.
What is that?
Xia Qiu was startled, and his body paused. The whale shark escaped from his mouth and swam away into the distance.
It was so big.
The body shape from the echo-location was unprecedentedly massive, not just long but also tall.
Its height was at least half of its length.
It wasn't a fish.
The proportion of fish wouldn't be this small.
What in the world is it?
Xia Qiu slowly approached, his senses becoming clearer the closer he got.
It was at least sixty meters long and thirty to forty meters high.
Such a colossal creature made Xia Qiu tremble slightly.
It was too big.
At least four times his own weight.
Xia Qiu didn't know what it was. Relying solely on his echolocation, he could only determine its size, which resembled a sea dog.
Is it a sea beast?
Xia Qiu made a guess but didn't get any closer, fearing he might disturb it.
Although Xia Qiu was powerful, far surpassing creatures of similar size, he was confident he could handle a sea fish around fifty meters long.
But this creature was different. Sixty meters in length, over thirty meters in height, and at least four times his weight.
Such a massive being's sheer strength alone surpassed his own.
Relying on his consciousness alone, he might not be able to win a fight.
But the problem was, there was no need to fight.
He didn't have a hundred percent chance of winning, nor could he kill it without taking any damage.
It wasn't his prey either. Killing it would only fill his stomach, and the rest of the corpse would benefit other sea fish.
It was dangerous, not his prey, and there was no need to provoke it. It was better not to get any closer.
With that thought, Xia Qiu remained still, observing the creature's movements.
It left.
The colossal creature lingered for a moment before heading into the distance, disappearing from his detection range.
Xia Qiu let out a breath, his tense nerves easing slightly.
But at the same time, Xia Qiu felt a sense of lingering fear. The location where the sea beast had been was only five kilometers from his habitat.
That was roughly within his usual activity range.
If he hadn't used echolocation and had encountered it, a fierce battle would have been unavoidable.
The water here was deep, capable of accommodating giant marine life, so it was hard to guarantee that such monsters wouldn't appear again.
He would need to be more careful in the future.
Xia Qiu thought, waiting patiently. After a while, he finally began to hunt.
...
In the East Blue, on a massive pirate ship, several Fish-Men stood on the deck. The Fish-Man leading them, with blue skin and a long, serrated nose, looked out at the sea before him, spread his arms, and laughed heartily, "We've finally arrived in the East Blue."
"Lord Arlong, do we start here?" Beside him, a burly Fish-Man's eyes gleamed with fanaticism.
"That's right, we start here."
Arlong revealed a ferocious expression and said, "Starting from the East Blue, we will rule this sea, enslave humans, and establish a powerful Fish-Man Empire."
"B-but we promised Boss Jinbe that we wouldn't harm humans," an Octopus Fish-Man with six tentacles couldn't help but interject from behind Arlong.
"Jinbe?"
Arlong let out a cold snort, his expression darkening. "How could I possibly listen to someone like Jinbe, who is willing to submit to humans."
As he spoke, Arlong bared his teeth in a sinister grin. "Besides, I'm not harming humans. I'm merely returning the suffering humans inflicted upon Fish-Men back to them."
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