In golden October, Bellemere's Orange Orchard was ripe for harvest once again. Bellemere led Nami and Nojiko to pick oranges and store them.
However, they encountered a problem. The weather had been good this year, resulting in a large harvest of oranges, which made them cheap but difficult to sell.
Bellemere was deeply troubled and had to make do with saving money to get through the year.
"Done."
Inside the house, Nami was lying on her desk, drawing an Island Map. She looked over the map, verifying it several times, and was very satisfied.
This was a complete map Nami had drawn after over a year of exploring the islands.
The map was very detailed, more comprehensive than the maps in the village. It included everything from port depths, landmarks, contour lines for the island, and more.
Nearby ships could easily navigate this sea area by using the island as a reference and dock there.
"I'm going to the bookstore for a while."
Nami placed the map under the table and then left the house, running towards the distant bookstore.
"Did you hear? Many villages have already been plundered by Arlong's Crew," a villager said worriedly by the roadside.
"They are very brutal, killed many people, and destroyed some villages," another middle-aged woman sighed, shaking her head.
"Let's hope they don't come here," an elder couldn't help but say.
Villagers were chatting by the roadside. Nami ran past them and couldn't help but sigh.
The Arlong Pirates, a powerful group of pirates.
They had been in the East Blue for several months, attacking seven or eight villages, stealing much wealth, and killing many people.
Hopefully, they wouldn't come here.
Nami prayed in her heart, walked across the road, and arrived at the village bookstore.
The bookstore wasn't large, but it had many books. Six bookshelves lined two walls, filled with books, and the central counter was also piled high with books.
"It's Nami."
The owner, an uncle, smiled when he saw Nami. "Read your books, but don't fold the corners or get them dirty."
The owner knew Nami's family was poor and couldn't afford books, so he didn't stop her from coming here to read.
"I'll be careful."
Nami walked in, flipped through a few books, and then went to a spot. She picked up a book, her eyes filled with longing.
"This book is amazing."
Nami looked at the book. The cover read "NAVIGATION," meaning Navigation.
The book contained a wealth of information, such as navigation and positioning, determining a ship's location based on constellations, climate, and landmarks.
It also covered hydrography and meteorology, dealing with extreme weather, judging and using ocean currents.
And ship handling, performance, structure, ports, and channels, among other things.
The book was thick and contained a lot of practical content, making Nami's heart ache with desire.
"I wish I had this."
Nami's eyes sparkled as she looked at the book, desperately wanting to own it.
Nami hesitated for a moment, then glanced at the owner in the distance. He was looking down at a newspaper, not paying attention to her.
Nami immediately grabbed the book, turned her back, held the book in front of her, and walked towards the door.
"Nami, are you leaving already? So soon today?" the owner asked, somewhat surprised.
"Yes, I have something to do at home and can't stay too long," Nami replied as she walked out of the store.
The owner nodded, but the moment Nami walked out and turned the corner, he saw a book.
"Nami, leave the book behind!"
The owner shot up from behind the counter and shouted loudly.
Hearing this, Nami took off running.
The owner immediately came out from behind the counter and chased after Nami, shouting, "Nami, give the book back, you little thief cat!"
He was older and his legs weren't as agile, so he couldn't catch up.
"Nami stole something again? I'll catch her."
Just then, Genzo happened to see this scene. Enraged, he immediately chased after Nami and caught her.
...
In the southern part of the island, Xia Qiu, who was resting, suddenly woke up.
A huge vibration came from the sea.
Xia Qiu opened his mouth and released a sonar wave. When the sound waves returned and were received by Xia Qiu, he discovered it was a massive Sea Ship.
The Sea Ship was very large, comparable only to a Marine warship.
Were the Marines here?
Xia Qiu immediately surfaced and looked into the distance. He saw a massive pirate ship sailing towards them on the distant sea.
So big.
It was the first time Xia Qiu had seen such a huge pirate ship, at least sixty meters in length.
The hull was wide, with several masts, both square and fore-and-aft sails, and countless cannons.
But in the next moment, Xia Qiu's gaze narrowed slightly.
The pirate ship's bow was a jagged, sharp horn, and a symbol was emblazoned on the largest square sail.
This was the Arlong Pirates.
The instant he saw the horn and the symbol, Xia Qiu recognized their identity.
It was Arlong's Arlong Pirates.
They had actually come to the East Blue, to this island to plunder.
Xia Qiu pondered. The timing was about right. It was Marineford Calendar 1512.
Jinbe had become a Shichibukai last year, and Arlong had been released from Impel Down last year as well. He had a falling out with Jinbe and came to the East Blue.
The Arlong Pirates were all Fish-Men.
Thinking of their identity, Xia Qiu suddenly felt a surge of desire to devour them.
Sea Fish provided Evolution Energy, humans provided Reinforcement Energy. What about Fish-Men and Mermaids? Would they provide both types of energy?
Even if it was only Reinforcement Energy, their innate strength, ten times greater than humans, made them worth devouring.
But he couldn't beat them.
Ordinary Fish-Men might be manageable, but he didn't dare to fight the executives.
Let alone the leader, Arlong, there were three executives.
The first was Hachi, an Octopus Fish-Man with six arms, skilled in swordsmanship, a Six-Sword Style user.
He possessed immense strength; two of his hands could lift a wall and throw it. Each of his six swords weighed three hundred kilograms.
He could spew ink and also knew martial arts.
The second was Kuroobi, a cartilaginous Fish-Man, a Karate master with forty dan.
He had once knocked Sanji flying with a single blow underwater, sending him crashing into a distant cliff and shattering the rocks.
The third was Chuu, a Kissing Gourami Fish-Man, who could spit bubbles to attack.
The large bubbles he spat could destroy over a dozen trees with one hit, and smaller bubbles could easily break trees.
These three executives each had their own strengths and possessed powerful offensive capabilities.
More importantly, they could breathe underwater and move freely, unlike humans whose punching and kicking power was halved in water.
Of course, in terms of raw strength, his own was many times greater than theirs.
But they were more agile and smaller in size.
They could easily dodge his attacks like Colonel Lido and strike at his weak points.
With their strength, they could also injure him in the water, slowly wearing him down.
Therefore, he couldn't defeat them.
They were only here to plunder, and they would leave after they were done, returning to their stronghold, the island where Cocos Village was located.
The island where Cocos Village was located couldn't possibly be this one.
The Arlong Pirates eventually controlled over twenty villages. It was unlikely to be such a coincidence.
Xia Qiu thought about it and abandoned the idea of attacking them, slowly submerging underwater.
But just as Xia Qiu was about to move further away from the pirate ship, he suddenly felt a massive vibration coming from the distance.
What's this?
Xia Qiu released his sonar. Through sonar positioning, he detected a colossal creature not far away, slowly swimming towards them.
This creature was over forty meters long and more than ten meters tall. It was enormous, with a pair of bony, horn-like structures on its head.
A Sea Beast?
Xia Qiu remembered that Arlong had brought a Sea Beast from the Grand Line, a Sea Cow named Moo Moo.
Many people feared Moo Moo even more than the Arlong Pirates.
Could it be that one?
Regardless of whether it was, with his current size, he didn't have the confidence to defeat it.
It was best to avoid it for now.
Xia Qiu slowly retreated to the side, but at that moment, the other party suddenly charged in Xia Qiu's direction.
It found me?
Xia Qiu stopped retreating and instead moved along the wall, hoping to slip past.
But after he charged forward for a distance, the opponent also turned around and charged towards him.
The target was him.
It had locked onto him.
Damn it.
Xia Qiu's expression turned grim. After charging forward for a distance, he suddenly turned again, his body twisting, fins propelling him through the water as he shot towards the distance.
Whoosh.
Xia Qiu accelerated, charging forward fiercely.
The opponent, however, changed its course again and charged towards him.
It was fast.
Xia Qiu felt that the opponent's speed was no less than his own. More importantly, he was hugging the island, while the opponent was on the outside. It only needed to intercept him from the outside.
Sticking close to the island, Xia Qiu couldn't escape its pursuit at all.
What should he do?
Thinking this, Xia Qiu gritted his teeth, stopped retreating, and suddenly turned to charge towards the opponent.
Since you want to kill me, I can't just wait to die.
I have to fight at least one battle.
Xia Qiu closed his nictitating membranes, twisted his body, and his enormous fins flapped as he charged towards the opponent at extreme speed.
The giant figure also approached at extreme speed.
The distance between them quickly narrowed to about a hundred meters. Xia Qiu could clearly see the opponent's appearance.
Both of them were traveling at speeds of at least forty kilometers per hour. At a hundred meters apart, with them moving towards each other, they would collide in just five seconds.
As they got closer, Xia Qiu saw what the opponent looked like.
The sea beast's skin was a mix of green and light blue, it had a pair of huge horns, and its pectoral fins were much larger than his own.
Its body was enormous, and its surface was covered in layers of scales.
Sea Cow Moo Moo.
It was the Arlong Pirates' battle beast, one of their main combatants, assisting the Arlong Pirates in conquering territories.
It really was him.
Its combat power was not weak. In the original story, it took a Gomu Gomu no Pistol from Luffy and a kick from Sanji before being defeated by Sanji's Mouthe.
Within the Arlong Pirates, its strength was below that of the officers, but in the sea, its damage to large sea fish could even reach the level of an officer.
It couldn't be underestimated.
Xia Qiu charged towards Moo Moo. The opponent had already lowered its head, its massive horns pointed towards him.
As they got closer and were about to collide, Xia Qiu's body suddenly flipped to the right.
Boom.
Xia Qiu's body brushed past the opponent.
Xia Qiu chose to dodge.
He wouldn't fight the opponent head-on, because his sonar had detected huge, sharp horns on its head, made of bone. If he were to collide with those horns, given their respective strengths, he feared he would be impaled.
Secondly, the opponent's strength was immense.
Its body was huge, forty meters long and over ten meters tall, weighing at least three hundred tons. The force of its charge alone would be far greater than his own.
Also, Moo Moo was tall, but its spine could move up and down, allowing it to lower or raise its body.
It excelled at frontal combat, so Xia Qiu wouldn't foolishly charge straight at it.
Therefore, Xia Qiu chose to dodge, intending to get behind it and attack from the rear.
Xia Qiu flipped twice, passing by the opponent's left side. Using the rotation, Xia Qiu dissipated his forward momentum. After only charging a short distance, he stabilized himself, then twisted his body and lunged towards the opponent.
At this moment, Moo Moo had missed its charge and shot into the distance. After stopping, it tried to turn around, but Xia Qiu had already reached its tail and lunged to bite its tail fin.
If its tail fin was destroyed, its balance would be ruined, and it would lack propulsion. Even if he couldn't defeat it and chose to flee, he wouldn't have to fear its pursuit.
But before Xia Qiu could bite, the opponent's tail suddenly whipped upwards, sweeping towards Xia Qiu's head.
Moo Moo's tail was similar to a whale's, enormous, and it swung directly at Xia Qiu's head.
Xia Qiu quickly closed his jaws and violently shook his head, using his horns to ram the tail fin.
Bang.
A loud noise echoed. The tail fin and Xia Qiu's head horns collided. A tremendous force was transmitted, the opponent's tail fin was repelled, and Xia Qiu's body stopped. He then gave a slight shake, unharmed.
The opponent's tail fin was similar to a whale's, pointing upwards, so the force of the strike was weaker and couldn't injure him.
The moment the opponent's tail fin recoiled, the sea beast's body turned, opening its huge mouth and lunging at Xia Qiu.
But Xia Qiu took advantage of its turn and charged towards its left, sticking close to its body.
Snap.
Xia Qiu bit down on the other party's pectoral fin, his teeth piercing through it and snapping off the outermost section of hard bone.
Moo Moo's pectoral fins were enormous, over ten meters long, splitting into four hard spines at the end, like fingers.
Xia Qiu had just bitten off the outermost one.
"Roar."
The intense pain drove the other party into a frenzy. But this was enough to cause it pain. Moo Moo roared, turning to bite at Xia Qiu again.
But Xia Qiu suddenly spun his body, sticking close to the other party's belly and flipping underneath it, dodging the attack.
However, just as Xia Qiu appeared at its belly, Moo Moo's body suddenly began to rotate.
Its right pectoral fin slammed directly into Xia Qiu.
Bang.
The massive pectoral fin struck Xia Qiu, sending him flying backward with a violent jolt.
At this moment, Moo Moo took advantage of the momentum, twisting its body and lunging in for a bite.
Just as Xia Qiu regained control of his body, he saw the gaping maw lunging towards him.
Not good.
Xia Qiu abruptly raised his head, charging towards Moo Moo's head.
Boom.
Xia Qiu's head collided with Moo Moo's upper jaw.
Crack.
Moo Moo's upper jaw bone shattered, and two teeth were knocked out.
But Xia Qiu's ramming horn scales burst open, and cracks appeared at the front of the bone, resulting in a comminuted fracture.
Both figures paused slightly. Xia Qiu's head was swimming, but he desperately controlled his body, flipping downward to avoid its head and charging diagonally forward, attempting to get to its flank.
But Moo Moo turned its head, twisted its body, and swam in the other direction, instantly widening the distance.
It ran?
Xia Qiu hadn't expected it to be the one to flee. It was more injured than he was, with a damaged fin and head, yet it had forced him into a head-on confrontation.
In a head-on fight, Xia Qiu was no match for it.
But it chose to escape.
What a coward.
Xia Qiu thought of Moo Moo from the manga and couldn't help but shake his head.
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Translation by: randomtranslator.com
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