This was not the time to dwell on that point; they still didn't know whether this mutant orca was friend or foe.
Before the resurgence of spiritual energy, orcas had been almost friendly toward humans. Whenever humans ran into danger at sea, the nearby orcas would appear like "lifeguards." You could say there was no hostility between the two at all.
But now, after the resurgence and mutation, no one had yet verified where mutant orcas stood with regard to humans.
Given that most mutant beasts they'd encountered so far had taken a hostile stance toward people, none of them dared relax.
"Roar!"
As soon as the mutant giant octopus saw the orca, it reacted as if confronting an arch-enemy. Its massive tentacles swept forward, carrying terrifying force as they slammed down.
"Ka-da, ka-da!"
The mutant orca didn't hesitate either. It twisted in the sea with a nimble leap and whipped its tail straight into the blow.
"Crack!"
"Crack!"
"Crack!"
The air rang like shattering glass. A white halo wrapped the orca's tail; the very air where they met fractured apart, spiderweb fissures etching themselves into space.
"Rumble—!"
With a deafening thunder, horrifying energy erupted from their clash. The seawater around them blew downward, gouging out a vast hollow.
"The Tremor-Tremor Fruit?!"
Firewing stared at the mutant orca in disbelief. If she couldn't be sure whether the giant octopus's black mist had anything to do with the Dark-Dark Fruit, then what the orca had just used was unmistakably the Tremor-Tremor Fruit!
That white halo coating its tail, those spider-web cracks in the air—she had seen them as clearly as day.
Even if an orca had awakened some vibration ability, it shouldn't be able to produce that kind of signature.
No—this was absolutely the Tremor-Tremor Fruit!
But how could that be?
If a mutant orca ate a Devil Fruit, how was it still swimming?
That ran completely counter to Devil Fruit rules!
Shouldn't it have lost the ability to swim? Even if its species allowed it to breathe in water, it shouldn't look like this in the sea!
Or was Earth's ocean completely different from the sea in One Piece—without the property that restrains Devil Fruit users?
That didn't add up either!
Brandon White hadn't put it that way.
Firewing rubbed her temples, suddenly feeling that her own Burn-Burn Fruit's immunity to seawater didn't seem quite so precious anymore.
And the key point—why had such a valuable Devil Fruit been eaten by a mutant sea beast?
She couldn't help spitting complaints in her heart.
An ordinary Devil Fruit would have been one thing—but this was the Tremor-Tremor Fruit!
The fruit said to have the power to destroy the world.
Sure, you needed a powerful physique to draw out its full effect—and it came with aftereffects on the body—but none of that negated its terrifying destructive force.
A mutant orca: its potential might even surpass the Sea Kings of the One Piece world, not to mention its physical qualities.
If it developed the Tremor-Tremor Fruit to a certain degree, it might really be able to unleash that power on a scale that could blanket the land.
As for the mutant giant octopus—before, she'd only suspected it. The more she watched, the more certain she became that it had eaten the Dark-Dark Fruit.
Better if it hadn't!
Otherwise that Devil Fruit really had been wasted.
Something that could have given humanity a powerful fighter had become a powerful enemy instead.
"ROAR!!!"
The mutant giant octopus bellowed in rage at the heart of the battle. The tentacle it had just swung had been pulverized by the orca's Tremor-Tremor power.
The stabbing pain tore a roar from it despite itself, and the hatred in its gaze toward the orca only deepened.
"Ka-da, ka-da!"
The mutant orca bellowed back. The sound was a little odd, but there was no lack of momentum in it.
In its mind, scenes of its enmity with this mutant giant octopus flashed by.
During the second tide of spiritual energy, countless ocean creatures were favored by that energy and mutated.
Among its pod, it had possessed the highest talent and, after mutating, the greatest strength.
Relying on the innate qualities of the orca race, it had no so-called natural enemies in the sea even then. The ocean was turbulent under the influence of spiritual energy, and countless species clashed, but life for its kind was still easy.
Then, on a hunt, the mutant giant octopus slaughtered its pod—eight orcas, all strangled by its tentacles and devoured.
At the memory, fury swelled hotter in the mutant orca's chest.
At the time, it too had been on the brink of death in that creature's grasp, about to be swallowed—when a strange fruit appeared before it.
Tiny in size—insignificant beneath their massive bodies—yet the sudden appearance had still caught their eyes.
The giant octopus had reacted as if it had spotted some delightful prize. Ecstatic, it redirected the tentacle that had been about to finish the orca and lunged for the odd fruit. But the orca was no fool; it could tell that fruit was extraordinary.
Without hesitation, it used its ability and swallowed the fruit first.
Immediately, it discovered a new power within itself—the power of vibration.
Its raw strength hadn't changed at all, but with this new force it could unleash destructive might a hundred times greater with ease.
From then on, the mutant giant octopus flew into a violent rage whenever it saw the orca. It attacked with more than hatred—there was also a manic impulse to devour it.
But empowered by the tremors, the octopus had lost the suppression it once held over the orca.
Clash after clash, neither could defeat the other.
In time, as if weary of the stalemate, the octopus stirred the sea and withdrew.
Naturally, the orca had pursued without hesitation.
Sensing this, the octopus had deployed that special darkness power. Black mist swallowed the entire stretch of ocean, cutting off the orca's senses. By the time the haze dispersed, the octopus had vanished.
This time, it had found the octopus again only because it sensed that familiar power.
"Ka-da, ka-da."
The mutant orca lifted its head toward Skyler Quinn in the sky, called twice, then pointed its tail at the mutant giant octopus.
He couldn't understand orca-speak, but if he wasn't mistaken, that gesture meant—
"You want me to take it down with you?"
Skyler hesitated as he asked.
What he didn't expect was the orca's nod.
"After mutating, you can even understand human speech?"
Skyler hadn't thought a mutant orca would comprehend his words. Orcas were smart enough to grasp human intentions, yes, but understanding human language—that was a level of intelligence that bordered on frightening.
(End of this chapter)