"Captain Smoker, the ship seems to have stopped," Tashigi said, stopping behind Smoker and looking out at the sea behind them.
"Hmm?"
Smoker turned around, his eyes narrowing as he looked into the distance.
On the sea, Commodore Yuchimura's warship slowly came to a halt.
"It looks like it's shaking," Tashigi whispered from the side.
"It seems a Sea Fish attacked the warship."
Smoker watched the warship in the distance, saw Yuchimura jump into the water, and waved his hand, saying, "It's just a Sea Fish, no need to worry. Colonel Yuchimura can handle it."
"Mm."
Tashigi nodded, and the two walked towards the distance, heading to the security office.
...
"Lord Yuchimura has gone down to hunt the Sea Fish."
"Haha, it's just a Sea Fish, Commodore will surely catch it with ease."
On the Marine warship, some sailors were repairing the ship's hull, while others were controlling the vessel. The Sergeant and Second Lieutenant on the warship stood by the ship's side with Major Will, looking down.
In their eyes, it was simple for Commodore Yuchimura to go down and kill this Sea Fish.
"Look, Lord Yuchimura is fighting that Sea Fish."
"That Sea Fish is no match at all."
"Lord Yuchimura is coming up for air. The Sea Fish is coming. Lord Yuchimura dodged. Look, ah, Lord Yuchimura stabbed his sword into the Sea Fish's skin. The Sea Fish tilted. Yuchimura is fighting the Sea Fish underwater. The Sea Fish surfaced. Lord Yuchimura must be attacking him underwater..."
"Shut up..."
...
Boom.
Yuchimura thrust his long sword into Xia Qiu with all his might, but was hit by Xia Qiu, his bones breaking and blood spurting from his mouth.
Crack.
Xia Qiu opened his mouth and bit down, swallowing the other whole.
After Yuchimura was injured, Xia Qiu occupied the surface, suppressing his movements to prevent him from breathing, while looking for an opportunity to attack.
Under Xia Qiu's harassment-focused strategy, Yuchimura's stamina was rapidly depleted, and he couldn't breathe. When he tried to surface for air, Xia Qiu found an opportunity to injure him.
And the injured Yuchimura had even less ability to fight back.
Finally, Xia Qiu killed him and swallowed him whole.
After eating Yuchimura, Xia Qiu shook his body; it stung a little.
He was injured, but the injuries weren't too severe. Most were sword wounds, which were relatively small for his body.
After changing his combat strategy, Xia Qiu's fight against Yuchimura wasn't difficult.
In fact, the injuries he sustained were not as severe as those he received fighting Arlong.
His strength was significantly reduced underwater, especially his mobility. For a swordsman, the collective decrease in power, speed, and technique efficacy led to a huge change in his strength.
More importantly, Arlong fought him desperately, while Yuchimura initially intended to stop him from attacking the warship, drive him away, and kill him. After fighting for a while, he was more concerned with survival.
And air was the primary element for his survival, yet Xia Qiu had turned it into a trap, putting him in a predicament.
Coupled with his underestimation of Xia Qiu, he initially thought he could defeat him, and then wanted to escape, but was already unable to.
The more he tried to escape, the more he was injured, the less he could escape, and the faster he died.
After eating Yuchimura, Xia Qiu glanced at the warship on the sea, shook his head with no interest, and slowly moved away.
Xia Qiu swam towards the island where Loguetown was located and arrived at the seabed on the side of the harbor.
As he approached, a figure in the darkness straightened up. Seeing that it was Xia Qiu, it moved closer and rubbed its head against Xia Qiu's fish body.
Good, good.
Xia Qiu was very satisfied with Moo Moo's performance.
After more than six months together, Moo Moo had become Xia Qiu's pet.
Xia Qiu patted its head with his pectoral fin, then moved to the side and lay down, waiting quietly.
Moo Moo then moved closer to Xia Qiu and lay down beside him, pressing against his body. However, it clearly misjudged the distance. As it lay down, it pushed Xia Qiu sideways for a stretch.
Xia Qiu didn't mind and leaned against Moo Moo, waiting quietly.
Here it comes.
Not long after, a heat flow erupted from Xia Qiu's body.
It was incredibly powerful.
This heat flow was even greater than the one Arlong provided, intensely hot, spreading around him, about two to three times as much.
His strength underwater was slightly stronger than Arlong's, and his slashes already carried a different kind of power.
However, his strength was limited. At least in terms of breathing, Arlong was more enduring.
If the two fought, with Yuchimura sticking close to the sea and Arlong attacking, Yuchimura would definitely lose.
But if Arlong didn't attack proactively, neither of them could do anything to the other.
And judging by his performance underwater, his strength on the surface would be terrifying.
It wasn't just a reduction in power, but also in the effectiveness of his techniques, reaction time, and bodily coordination.
For example, his normal slash could only penetrate an inch into a body, but on land, the remaining force wouldn't need to break through scales and could enter at least a foot.
If his speed on land were converted to underwater, he wouldn't be able to track his movements at all. His own massive body wouldn't be able to react in time.
This resulted in attacks that could have injured Xia Qiu now only causing minor damage.
And the advantage that could have been gained through speed was now reduced to barely dodging.
Coupled with the restriction on breathing and the weakening of his abilities, the reduction in strength wasn't simply by half; the overall decrease meant his power was only about one-third of his true strength.
If he could exert his full power underwater, then Xia Qiu would be in grave danger.
Crack, crack, crack.
Xia Qiu's body underwent subtle changes again due to the appearance of Reinforcement Energy.
Boom.
After the heat flow disappeared, Xia Qiu slowly floated up, then suddenly flicked his body and charged forward.
The water was instantly pushed aside, and then the surrounding water rushed in to fill the gap, forming a small vortex.
Xia Qiu's speed was even faster. He could already feel his body filling with power; one flick of his body sent him surging forward a considerable distance.
The strength of his body and the power of his fins were both immense.
Xia Qiu estimated that even if he ate Yuchimura, he would still have a decent chance of winning against Yuchimura's full strength.
Underwater, he even had a chance of victory against a Rear Admiral.
That's enough.
Xia Qiu felt that his current strength was sufficient to travel to the first half of the Grand Line.
His enemies were not the strong individuals at sea; any Devil Fruit user underwater was just a lamb waiting to be slaughtered.
And powerful individuals without Devil Fruits also had greatly reduced strength underwater.
His true enemies were the unimaginably large marine creatures in the Grand Line.
Not to mention Island Whales and Island-Devouring Monsters that were over a thousand meters long.
Even ordinary creatures were impossibly large.
Luffy, just as he entered the Grand Line, encountered a dolphin over a hundred meters long.
Besides the Sea Kings and Sea Beasts of the Grand Line, there were also giant crabs, crocodiles, seabirds, sumo-wrestling frogs, and more.
The marine life of the Grand Line was also a threat to Xia Qiu.
But now, besides the giant creatures, Xia Qiu was no longer worried about ordinary large-sized organisms.
It was time to head to the Grand Line.
...
"No trace of Commodore-sama."
"Nothing here either."
"Group Fourteen found no sign of Commodore Yuchimura."
On the Marine warship, Smoker stood at the bow, watching sailor frogmen dive down and emerge, but none found any sign of Commodore Yuchimura.
"It's been two hours since Commodore Yuchimura disappeared. It seems the situation is dire," Smoker sighed.
"Colonel Smoker, please avenge Lord Yuchimura," Major Will said, his eyes red.
He had followed Yuchimura since he was a Second Lieutenant. They were both promoted one rank in Loguetown, and now they were promoted together again, leaving Loguetown.
After years of working together, Major Will had developed a deep bond with Commodore Yuchimura.
"As you know, I am a Devil Fruit user and cannot go underwater, so I cannot help pursue that Sea Fish," Smoker said. "However, I will arrange bait, bombs, and poison to see if we can kill it."
"Thank you, Colonel Smoker," Major Will said, wiping tears from the corner of his eyes.
"If that doesn't work,"
Smoker continued, "I will report it and request support from Headquarters. But even if someone comes, the search area will be limited to the vicinity of Loguetown. The East Blue is vast; if the Sea Fish leaves the area around Loguetown, no one will find it."
"I understand," Major Will nodded.
Smoker stood up and said, "I will make the arrangements. Your warship will remain in Loguetown for repairs and await further orders from Marine Headquarters."
"Yes."
Major Will stood at attention.
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Translation by: randomtranslator.com
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