"Onigumo is in trouble?"
At Marine Headquarters, Akainu's expression was grim upon hearing the news.
"Yes, Vice Admiral Onigumo was attacked by a Sea King on the way. He sent his subordinate, Major General Komir, to meet him on Savan's island, but Komir didn't wait for him. He went out to search and found a few survivors. According to them, a Sea King attacked the warship."
A green-haired man in a Marine uniform stood there and reported.
Akainu frowned and asked, "A Sea King? Even a Sea King from the Calm Belt shouldn't be able to harm Onigumo, right?"
The green-haired man shook his head. "It's said that Onigumo struck the Sea King many times, even severing its dorsal fin, but it still attacked, and it had tentacles. According to their description, there is a creature that matches the description."
Akainu asked, "What description?"
The green-haired man replied, "The Giant Beast that appeared with Nico Robin, which was once seen in Alabasta."
"Robin? The Devil Child?"
Akainu snorted and asked, "Are you sure?"
"The large first dorsal fin, ramming horn, tentacles, and crocodile mouth – these features match."
The green-haired man handed over a photo. "Although the features are few, besides that Giant Beast, there are no other similar creatures, especially the tentacles."
"Then investigate and rule out any coincidence."
Akainu glanced at the photo and then said, "Vice Admiral Onigumo died during transport. He died in the line of duty. Make arrangements for his family and prepare his funeral properly. I will attend."
"Yes."
The green-haired man received the order and immediately withdrew.
...
"It's been five days, and he's still not back? Vice Admiral Onigumo died that night."
On a deserted island, Zala hid in the woods, her expression anxious.
Mr. 0 had left five days ago but still hadn't returned.
On the fourth day, Zala called Vivi and learned that Vice Admiral Onigumo had died three nights ago. The Marines had already issued an obituary for his death in the line of duty.
Why hadn't he returned yet?
If Vice Admiral Onigumo were still alive, it would be one thing, but with him dead and Mr. 0 not returning, Zala was starting to worry.
Had something gone wrong?
Zala felt uneasy, hoping he would return safely. Now, they were in a situation where they rose and fell together.
"The fuel can only last for one more day and the return trip. If he doesn't come by tomorrow, the Submarine will have to return alone to refuel," Zala thought helplessly.
Zala picked up the receiver, about to make a call.
Boom, boom.
Just then, a loud noise came from a distance. She hurried out and immediately saw a colossal beast approaching.
"Mr. 0."
Seeing him, Zala immediately went to meet him. Seeing that he was unharmed, she let out a sigh of relief and said, "You're back."
"Mm." Xia Qiu nodded calmly.
Zala asked curiously, "I didn't see you return yesterday, so I called Vivi. She said Vice Admiral Onigumo was already dead. So, these past few days, you..."
Xia Qiu glanced at her. "I went somewhere else and did some things."
The reason he took so long to return was to heal his injuries. He had broken two legs, his back was severely injured, his dorsal fin was severed, his muscles were torn, and his bone plates and scales were badly damaged.
So, he had to feed on Sea Beasts to recover.
The scales, muscles, and bone plates healed quickly, with the first day already showing recovery.
However, the regeneration of his dorsal fin, tentacles, and legs was very slow. Eight tentacles were broken, leaving about a third remaining. Four-fifths of his dorsal fin was gone. His two middle legs were broken from the knee down and required significant regeneration.
The regenerated limbs were actually parts of his strengthened body, requiring a lot of energy. Therefore, Xia Qiu spent a full four days to recover completely.
Zala looked at Xia Qiu and asked, "When do we leave then?"
"Now,"
Xia Qiu said directly. His objective had been achieved, and it was time to go back. There were many things to do.
"Okay."
Zala immediately had people return to the Submarine. The Submarine submerged, and Xia Qiu left with them.
...
"You actually killed a Vice Admiral."
A few days later, on the deserted island, Vivi looked at Xia Qiu with surprise. "The moment I received the news, I was astonished. I didn't expect you to actually succeed."
"Did you not believe I would win from the start?" Xia Qiu looked at Vivi.
"He's a Vice Admiral, after all."
Vivi said, "The strongest force below an Admiral, and his warship fleet is immense. Although Devil Fruit users become weak once in the water, sinking a warship is already incredibly difficult in my opinion."
"You're right."
Xia Qiu nodded. The process of him attacking the warship had actually been the most dangerous part.
"There's also one more thing."
Vivi smiled, took out a piece of paper from her pocket, opened it, and placed it in front of Xia Qiu. She said, "Your bounty has increased. It's 90 million. Nico Robin's bounty has increased to 140 million."
"They actually recognized me."
Xia Qiu was a little surprised. Even if there were survivors, they would likely only have seen a part of his image. To determine his identity based on that partial image surprised him.
Furthermore, Robin's bounty had also increased by 20 million. However, he figured this could be a signal to Robin.
"It seems you can't easily show yourself in front of people anymore," Vivi said, shrugging.
Xia Qiu snorted and replied, "It's just being wanted."
"Since there's nothing else,"
Vivi stood up and said, "Then I'll be leaving."
"Wait a moment."
Xia Qiu looked at Vivi and said softly, "I want to fight you once."
"Fight?" Vivi looked at Xia Qiu in surprise.
Xia Qiu said, "That's right, a fight. Right here on this island."
"But you can't hit me."
Vivi shook her head. "I'm a Logia-type ability user. You can't touch me."
"Is that so?"
Hearing this, Xia Qiu suddenly extended a tentacle from his abdomen and shot it towards Vivi.
"There's no water? Then you can't hit me."
Facing the tentacle, Vivi saw that it had no water on it and relaxed. She extended her right hand, which transformed into a sand blade, and slashed forward.
The sand blade struck the tentacle, but the tentacle was unharmed. Not only that, but the sand blade directly reverted to an arm and sprang to the side, causing intense pain.
The tentacle continued its advance and slammed into Vivi's abdomen.
"Pfft."
Vivi tried to turn into sand, but nothing happened. Her abdomen was hit, and her body was sent flying backward, crashing heavily onto the ground. She tried to support herself but let out a mouthful of blood with a gasp.
Her tentacle, strengthened again, possessed immense power, capable of shattering even a stone.
And because it was coated with Armament Haki, Vivi couldn't turn into sand to dodge. While her body was stronger than an ordinary person's, it was only at the level of a Billionaire. Even if Xia Qiu wasn't using his full strength, she couldn't withstand it.
"How is this possible?"
Vivi looked at Xia Qiu in disbelief, blood trickling down the corner of her mouth.
Without water, how could he possibly hit her?
Xia Qiu walked in front of Vivi and looked down at her. "Logia-types aren't invincible. As long as you master a certain special power, you can touch the physical bodies of Logia users."
"This..."
Vivi narrowed her eyes. She was afraid of water; she couldn't turn into her elemental form when encountering it. But other than that, she had always believed she had no weaknesses. In Alabasta, she was almost invincible.
But now, he could touch her and injure her so easily.
Without her Devil Fruit ability, she was extremely weak. She suspected that even the Intermediate Agents and Senior Agents of Baroque Works could kill her.
Especially since she had focused solely on developing her Devil Fruit ability and neglected to further improve her physical combat skills.
If her Devil Fruit ability was nullified, it meant she couldn't restrain him.
In other words, from the very beginning, their cooperation was unequal in terms of strength.
Then why had he let her take the initiative for the past year?
And what was he planning to do now?
Xia Qiu looked at her and said, "Your strength is still too weak. If you want to assist me in completing that plan, you must improve yourself."
"What do you want me to do?"
Vivi narrowed her eyes as she looked at Xia Qiu.
Xia Qiu said, "I will send Cecilia to replace Heckle at the casino. I will have her train you and help you improve your strength."
"Is that all?"
Vivi looked at Xia Qiu, somewhat surprised that he wasn't making any additional demands and was even planning to help her get stronger.
Xia Qiu retorted, "Aren't these the terms of our agreement?"
"You're right."
Vivi was slightly stunned. She recalled their agreement: she would help him complete a plan, and because her strength was weak, he intended to help her improve it. This made sense.
He hadn't said or done anything that overstepped their agreement.
Xia Qiu said, "So, I need you to get stronger."
"I, I will do as you say," Vivi replied earnestly after a moment's hesitation.
This was a good thing for her; she had no reason to refuse.
Secondly, she was in a completely disadvantageous position.
The ability she had always used as a bargaining chip had no deterrent effect on him. If he wanted to, he could kill her at any time.
Vivi felt a sense of fear towards Xia Qiu in her heart, daring not to defy his words.
"Then you may go," Xia Qiu said softly.
"Yes."
Vivi turned and left, clutching her stomach as she walked towards the door, a trace of blood still lingering at the corner of her mouth. She reached the door, pulled it open, and stepped outside.
But at that moment, Xia Qiu spoke, "Remember the agreement between us. I haven't broken it, and I hope you won't either."
"I understand."
Vivi nodded. He had injured her this time, perhaps with the intention of showing her his strength.
However, he had not violated any part of their agreement, nor had he taken advantage of this opportunity to get what he wanted.
He had injured her, perhaps to tell her to uphold their promise.
Being able to kill her but choosing to honor their agreement instead made Vivi trust his word.
Therefore, she also had to uphold her end of the bargain and fulfill the agreement between them.
"Then I'll take my leave."
Vivi nodded, pushed the door open, and walked out.
It's about time.
I've shown my strength, making Vivi afraid to resist me or do anything extra.
And I've also expressed that I will continue according to the terms of our agreement.
The casino cooperation, the intelligence network, and future plans – I'm sure she will manage them even better.
The casino is manageable; profit sharing is relatively straightforward.
For intelligence, I'm sure she won't hesitate too much when I need information in the future.
Most importantly, there's that plan. If Vivi can get stronger, she will become a huge asset.
Xia Qiu's goal is simply to complete the plan; he doesn't desire more.
Or rather, once the plan is completed, he will already be strong enough.
As Xia Qiu was thinking, Bola pushed the door open and walked in, asking with confusion, "President, what's wrong with Vivi? Why is she injured? She wouldn't say anything when I asked."
"I just gave her a small lesson," Xia Qiu said softly.
"You injured her?"
Bola was a bit surprised. Vivi had a Logia-type Devil Fruit; she couldn't possibly be defeated by him. How did Mr. 0 manage to injure her?
"That's right," Xia Qiu nodded.
"This..." Bola didn't know how Xia Qiu had done it.
"Don't worry about that," Xia Qiu looked at Bola and said with dissatisfaction, "Bola, your strength is a bit lacking."
"I'm sorry, President," Bola said, feeling a bit panicked. Mr. 0 had killed quite a few people for being weak. Would he do the same to him?
Xia Qiu snorted, "But you've been with me for so long. Even if you haven't contributed much, you've certainly put in the effort. I'll help you improve your strength in a while."
"Improve my strength?"
Hearing this, Bola relaxed, replaced by inner delight. He then asked, "You're going to help me improve my strength?"
"Of course."
Xia Qiu said, "But it will take some time to prepare, and I'll need your cooperation then."
"I will do my best," Bola said quickly.
Xia Qiu nodded and walked away, entering the ocean.
Mastering Haki is the first step in my plan.
Next, I will proceed with the second step: acquiring the Six Powers.
The Six Powers are a special set of physical techniques. Geppo can accelerate movement, Tekkai increases defense, Shigan can increase attack power, Rankyaku can create cutting waves, and Kami-e can improve evasion.
My physical condition is already sufficient to learn techniques like the Six Powers. While I might not be able to master them, if I do, they will be of great use.
Among these, Tekkai is of lesser use. I have Armament Haki, so I don't need Tekkai. Furthermore, the enemies I encounter are not something Tekkai can handle.
Kami-e isn't of much use either. My large frame makes it difficult to use Kami-e to evade enemy attacks, so it's hard to utilize.
Shigan is a technique that concentrates power in the fingers. I don't have fingers, but in CP9, Otohime could fire Shigan using his fists.
So, can I do the same using my head?
And Tempest Kick. With his six legs, if he could use Tempest Kick, it would be extremely useful.
The usefulness of Geppo and Soru was even more self-evident.
If he knew Soru, it would be enough to increase his movement speed. As for Geppo, it would allow him to walk in the air.
These two abilities were what Xia Qiu wanted the most, though he wasn't sure if he could learn them.
However, besides the Six Powers, Xia Qiu wanted another ability.
Life Return.
By infusing consciousness into his body, hair, and internal organs, he could control them freely.
For example, CP9's Mighty Lion could freely control his hair.
For example, Onigumo could use his hair to grip his longsword, and even twist it like an arm.
Xia Qiu's goal was to freely control his tentacles.
His tentacles couldn't perform very fine movements; they could only rely on muscle contractions for actions like extending, whipping, retracting, and wriggling.
After launching an attack, at most, he could contract his muscles and entangle the enemy with his tentacles.
He couldn't control his tentacles for a second full-power attack, nor could he control them at will.
As he strengthened, his tentacles became tougher and more powerful.
But with clumsy control, they could only become a burden, serving no purpose.
Once he had Life Return, he could control his tentacles to perform extremely precise movements. Combined with Armament Haki, his combat power would be immense.
With Geppo and Soru added, Xia Qiu's attack methods would increase, his mobility would improve, and his weaknesses would be compensated.
When his Haki was sufficient, he could contend with Vice Admirals on land.
Not only that, but the Six Powers could also arm his subordinates, helping them improve their strength.
Therefore, Xia Qiu was determined to obtain the Six Powers.
-----------
Translation by: randomtranslator.com
Read 2500+ original & fanfic translations and Translate for Free at: randomtranslator.com