In the forest, three massive figures sprinted into the distance. Leading the pack was a colossal wild boar, closely followed by a green lion with bull-like horns and a giant tiger with yellow and black stripes.
Compared to the lion and the giant tiger, the wild boar was much smaller and fleeing in panic.
Their enormous bodies stirred up tremendous gusts of wind, sending all the nearby creatures scattering in terror.
Suddenly.
The lion and the tiger abruptly split apart. The tiger veered off diagonally, disappearing into the distance, while the lion continued the pursuit.
The lion chased for a while, maintaining a consistent distance from the wild boar, never getting too close.
Boom.
As they neared the edge of the forest, a tiger appeared, knocking the wild boar to the ground and beginning to bite into it.
The lion ambled over leisurely, settling down not far away, quietly waiting.
After a while, the tiger, having consumed a quarter of the wild boar, slowly retreated, creating some distance.
The lion then walked over, grabbed the wild boar in its jaws, and ran off into the distance, with the tiger following at a relaxed pace.
They reached the coast. The lion placed the wild boar on the shore and let out a loud roar, "Roar, roar."
This lion was none other than Moo Moo. In response to his calls, Xia Qiu immediately surfaced from the water and opened his mouth.
Moo Moo then pushed the wild boar into the sea. Once Xia Qiu had it in his jaws, he submerged beneath the ocean.
Moo Moo nodded with satisfaction and moved towards the nearby sea fish, transforming into a sea cow. He began to eat the sea fish, glancing at the distant tiger and shifting his body to make space.
Seeing this, the tiger slowly approached and began eating sea fish next to Moo Moo.
She had only eaten a little of the wild boar earlier, saving room for fish.
Eating too much meat made her want to change her palate with some fish.
That fish is truly a qualified pet, she thought. It even brings food to its owner. Not bad, not bad.
After finishing the sea fish, Moo Moo lay there lazily. The tiger glanced at Moo Moo, retreated a distance, and settled down to rest at the other end.
...
"Not enough."
After devouring more than half of the wild boar, Xia Qiu felt a surge of heat flow through him. When the heat subsided, he felt a sense of disappointment.
It had been a month, and his body still showed no significant changes.
However, he could feel the heat flow gathering at the back of his head, at the junction where his gills and pectoral fins met. This area was undergoing a transformation.
The change was likely related to the difference between mammals and himself at the back of the head.
If nothing unexpected happened, he would develop a neck.
He was a chordate with a long spine, but his spine was divided into trunk vertebrae and tail vertebrae. After his head came the trunk, with no neck. This meant he couldn't directly turn his head left or right, or nod his head up and down; he could only slightly move his body by shifting his trunk.
If his evolution continued, he might develop additional cervical vertebrae.
In other words, he would grow a neck.
This area was located between his pectoral fins and gills. His pectoral fins, pelvic fins, and anal fins all had bones extending from his spine.
The pectoral fins were situated between the gills. The point where the pectoral fins connected to the spine was called the shoulder girdle, but compared to mammals, the shoulder girdle's connection was not as tight.
Most fish lacked cervical vertebrae between the shoulder girdle and the skull; they were directly connected.
Whales, however, had a small segment at the connection point between the shoulder girdle and the skull.
Xia Qiu, by consuming whales, had also developed a small portion, but it consisted of only a few bony segments, insufficient to support head rotation.
If this area evolved, he would be able to turn his head and move it freely.
However, for fish, a neck presented more disadvantages than advantages.
For instance, it could disrupt their streamlined body shape. The movement of a neck could slow down their swimming speed. The pressure on the cervical vertebrae could be too great, with the heavier upper body causing problems for the vertebrae.
But he differed from most fish. Firstly, his body shape wasn't laterally compressed; it was somewhat like a catfish, rounded and wide, not with a height four to five times its width.
This meant the force wasn't concentrated above and below the cervical vertebrae but distributed around them.
Secondly, his muscles were well-developed, allowing him to control his head precisely, preventing it from becoming uncontrollable during movement.
Finally, his bones were reinforced, making them tough and capable of supporting his body without issue.
Xia Qiu eagerly anticipated growing a neck. This would allow him to turn his head directly, rather than having to twist his entire body by moving his trunk.
At that point, he would resemble a Tiktaalik.
A fish that lived in the Devonian period, possessed a neck, and was the closest relative to amphibians.
Furthermore, they had spiracles on top of their heads, suggesting they might have had lungs that functioned as well as their gills.
Xia Qiu looked forward to his transformation, but time was passing slowly.
In a month, he had only felt the heat flow gathering in his neck area; the neck itself hadn't grown much.
Xia Qiu understood the likely reason.
The growth of a neck was part of an overall body development. If he grew one meter, his weight would be approximately six to ten tons.
As his body grew stronger, his current growth rate slowed, and the Evolution Energy consumed by his body increased.
So he still needed some time.
However, the creatures in the Grand Line were larger and contained more Evolution Energy, which would significantly increase his evolution speed.
Besides that, Xia Qiu was also trying to use Haki.
But he couldn't use it at all. Xia Qiu hadn't even figured out what form Haki took.
Xia Qiu tried many methods, but none of them could awaken Haki.
He was just like Ace; after unconsciously using Conqueror's Haki at the age of ten, he hadn't used it again for seven years.
Furthermore, Rayleigh had described Conqueror's Haki when teaching Luffy, stating that it was the user's spirit, could only be controlled, and couldn't be increased through training, but could be improved through personal growth.
Therefore, the first thing he needed to do was to gain control, and then increase his spirit.
Xia Qiu put this matter aside, but was drawn to something else.
Moo Moo had made a friend.
Xia Qiu stared at Moo Moo and the tiger on the shore. Over the past month, the tiger and Moo Moo had become good friends.
At first, the tiger had simply hidden in the forest, observing secretly. Xia Qiu had thought it was waiting for an opportunity to attack.
But after getting familiar, Moo Moo gave the tiger the sea fish it had prepared for it. Then they went hunting together and returned together.
Now they ate together and even rested together.
Had it made a friend?
Not just a friend, that tiger seemed to be female. He had seen her...
In other words, this was likely not a friend, but a girlfriend.
Thinking of this, a huge wave of jealousy surged through Xia Qiu.
I don't even have a girlfriend, and you've found one.
Such a lowly subordinate, acting so arrogantly.
However, Xia Qiu soon felt relieved. Although Moo Moo could no longer go into the water and had to stay on land, it had food and a friend. Its life was quite good.
He definitely wouldn't stay here for too long. The magnetic force here was too weak to capture a Pirate Ship, and he couldn't obtain Reinforcement Energy.
After awakening Conqueror's Haki, Xia Qiu's state of mind changed.
Originally, he wanted to become stronger and hunt humans, but he didn't have a clear goal. Or rather, reality and reason suppressed his ambition, making him afraid to even imagine a goal.
His previous principle was to play it safe and quietly amass wealth. But after getting rich, perhaps it was time to show off his strength. Otherwise, if he pretended to be weak for too long, he might actually become a pig.
Xia Qiu no longer wanted to experience life in the East Blue again. Boredom and loneliness could kill a person.
Now, he possessed Conqueror's Haki, the qualification of a king.
This proved he was not ordinary.
As his strength continued to increase, perhaps he shouldn't let his life remain mundane. He shouldn't just be a passerby, but become a part of history.
Xia Qiu developed ambition.
No!
It should be said that the ambition that had always existed had shed its restraints and began to take root and sprout in his heart.
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Translation by: randomtranslator.com
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