Lance and Eddie walked to the shore, looked at the sea, and said, "There are wooden boards floating on the water, as well as wooden strips and stakes, all scattered on the sea surface. Let's retrieve them and take a look."
"Okay."
Eddie nodded, and the two found a spot and jumped into the water together.
Fish-men are creatures that possess both lungs and gills. On land, they use their lungs to breathe, while in water, they use their gills.
The location of their gills varies. For individuals like Fisher, Jinbe, Hody, and Kuroobi, their gills are on their shoulders. Arlong's gills are on his neck, while Whitebeard's Eighth Division Captain Namul's gills are on his head, near his temples.
The gills of these two were located on their shoulders, close to their necks. Once underwater, water entered through their mouths and flowed out through their gill openings. Dissolved oxygen was absorbed here and circulated throughout their bodies via the capillaries in their gill filaments.
However, retrieving things from the sea surface didn't require diving deep, so their gills weren't needed yet.
The two surfaced and swam towards the nearby debris.
"This one."
Lance grabbed a piece of wood and looked at it, but couldn't discern anything.
He tossed the wooden board ashore and swam to another area.
Eddie did the same. The two retrieved many wooden boards, piling them on the shore, collecting all the fragments of the plank road floating nearby.
"It looks like it was hit by something."
Lance picked up a wooden stake from a distance. It had snapped clean off, not appearing to be damaged by tools.
Lance swam back to the coast with the wooden stake and a few fragments.
Meanwhile, Eddie found a frame tied with oil rope a bit further away. He picked it up and examined it closely, saying, "Hmm, there are no signs of disassembly. It seems humans didn't do this at all."
Lance chuckled, "Could it really have been shattered by a pirate ship?"
Eddie chimed in, "Very likely."
But at this moment, Eddie frowned, looking at Lance swimming towards the shore beneath him, and shouted, "Lance, be careful!"
"Huh?"
Lance was momentarily stunned, then felt a pressure. He swam towards the rock face, trying to escape quickly.
But the next moment, a giant mouth broke the surface of the water and bit down on him, its teeth closing.
Snap.
Lance was swallowed into the mouth and crushed, his blood slowly spreading and being consumed by Xia Qiu.
Xia Qiu's massive head then appeared above the sea surface.
"What a huge fish."
The moment Eddie saw the sea fish, he understood how the plank road was destroyed and why Regin and Peters had disappeared.
Damn it.
Eddie wanted to flee, but the sea fish was directly between him and the shore. Lance, who had been holding the wooden stake and swimming back, was closer to the shore than he was. After the sea fish devoured Lance, it was now positioned directly in front of Eddie.
Escape was impossible.
Eddie gave a wry smile and turned to swim into the distance, aiming to create some distance first.
Trying to run?
Xia Qiu certainly wouldn't let him escape. While they were busy picking up debris further away, it had chosen to attack the Fish-Man closer to the shore – this was Xia Qiu's decision.
Xia Qiu pursued the Fish-Man, always positioning itself between the latter and the shore, while simultaneously accelerating towards him.
Whoosh.
Eddie dove into the ocean, using his gills to breathe and continued swimming forward, his speed suddenly increasing.
But Xia Qiu was faster and caught up.
However, the instant Xia Qiu caught up, Eddie's body suddenly shifted. He stomped his feet in the water, abruptly stopping and swimming backward.
He had accelerated not to escape, but to make the sea fish pick up speed and attack him. Then, he swam in the opposite direction, creating distance.
Its massive body meant it had significant inertia, making it difficult to stop, and turning around was not easy.
If he could get to the rear half of its body, and then swim towards the shore as it turned, there was a high chance he could escape.
Eddie thought this as he swam backward, but he suddenly noticed the sea fish charging with surprising ferocity, making no attempt to stop or turn to chase him.
Instead, it continued to charge forward, and Eddie found himself directly behind the sea fish's tail.
Huh?
An ominous premonition surged through Eddie. The next moment, a massive tail lashed out and struck him.
Bang.
Eddie was sent flying through the water, his bones breaking. He coughed up a mouthful of blood.
So painful.
Eddie continued to cough up blood, not dying immediately, but his body was rendered powerless. He slowly sank in the water.
He could only watch as the giant sea fish swam towards him, its mouth agape, revealing rows of terrifying teeth, like a scene from hell.
No, don't.
Eddie wanted to beg for mercy, but all that came out was a rush of water.
The next moment, Eddie was bitten and swallowed by Xia Qiu.
Excellent.
Two more Fish-Men down the hatch.
These two Fish-Men were good, much more robust, clearly battle soldiers. They would surely provide more energy.
Could there be anyone else who would go into the water?
After four consecutive Fish-Men, would anyone else come?
Even if a captain showed up, he might still have a chance to ambush and fight.
Xia Qiu thought this, and submerged itself again, preparing to ambush.
...
"Just as I suspected."
On the highest floor of Arlong Park's tower, Nami lowered her telescope, her expression filled with excitement. "That sea fish is aggressive towards Fish-Men and is lurking right there."
Nami's window faced the harbor. When Arlong and his Pirate Crew left, she put down her pen and paper, picked up her telescope, and watched them depart.
After the Pirate Ship left, Nami retracted her gaze. Just as she was about to put down the telescope, she suddenly saw a plank road shatter in the distance, and a sea fish devour Regin and Peters.
The massive ramming horn, the dark, thick, and enormous fish body, allowed Nami to identify it.
It was the same sea fish that hunted dolphins, blue whales, and pirates.
So, Nami tricked two other Fish-Men into going into the sea, and they were directly eaten by it.
Nami obtained two pieces of information.
The sea fish was in that area and was aggressive towards Fish-Men.
If that was the case...
A sly smile spread across Nami's lips as she ran downstairs.
Thump, thump, thump.
Nami quickly descended the stairs to the first floor, her smile vanishing, replaced by a look of panic.
"Hachi, it's bad, it's really bad."
Nami shouted loudly.
"What's wrong?"
Hachi, who was polishing his long sword, asked curiously upon seeing Nami's panicked state, "Nami, what happened?"
Nami panted heavily, pointing into the distance. "I went back upstairs and used my telescope to look at the harbor. I saw Lance and Eddie being attacked."
"What?"
Hachi stood up, his expression guarded.
Nami nodded. "After they went into the sea, they were attacked by sharks and disappeared underwater."
"Sharks?"
Hachi frowned. "Can sharks kill them?"
"It was a group of sharks, and the longest ones were over ten meters long."
Nami looked at him. "Hachi, you know that no one lived here before you guys came because of the shark groups."
"If it's a shark group, it could indeed be a threat to them."
Hachi, during the construction of Arlong Park, had heard the villagers' comments about this place and believed Nami's words.
"I'll go take a look."
Hachi immediately put down his sword and walked towards the harbor.
When he reached the harbor, the blood had not yet dissipated, and a faint crimson stain remained on the sea's surface.
"Were they really attacked by sharks?"
Hachi's face darkened. He then walked to the shore and looked at the seawater, intending to go down and check.
But just as Hachi was about to jump in, a voice called from behind, "Hachi, don't go down. There are sharks below."
"Nami."
Hachi turned around and saw Nami running over. She came up to him, bent over with her hands on her knees, her young face filled with exhaustion.
"Nami?"
Hachi saw Nami had run all the way here just to warn him, and looked so tired. His heart warmed, and he smiled. "Don't worry, they're just sharks. I can even kill sea beasts."
With those words, Hachi leaped into the sea.
Seeing this, Nami's eyes held a complex emotion. Hachi was the kindest of all the Fish-Men, and he had treated her very well. She didn't like raw food, and he had cooked meals for her.
But he was a member of the Arlong Pirates, one of Arlong's top officers, and had personally injured villagers in Cocos Village. He had also followed Arlong in conquering many other villages.
The crimes he had committed were enough to warrant a death sentence.
Nami let out a breath, her gaze hardening. She clasped her hands together and prayed, "Sea fish, sea fish, please, you must kill him."
Meanwhile, underwater, Xia Qiu's eyes lit up. Someone else has arrived?
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Translation by: randomtranslator.com
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