After a long silence, the dark cloud over Koushirou's face finally lifted. He looked at Qiu Xia with a cold, unfriendly gaze. "The only reason Charlotte Linlin could become a Master Swordsman was because of her unique constitution. Other women simply do not possess the natural physical gifts that Charlotte Linlin does."
"Oh? What about Tsuru, the Marines' Great Staff Officer? Do you think she knows swordsmanship? And if so, to what level has she mastered it? Perhaps you might discount her because she is a Devil Fruit user, but Tsuru has a sister named Gion. She isn't an ability user, yet she is currently considered a Master Swordsman as well."
Hearing this, Koushirou replied grumpily, "Who knows if what you're saying is even true. Besides, you seem far too well-informed about Marine intelligence. Are you a Marine yourself?"
"I'm not a Marine, nor am I a pirate. I am merely a free man with a bit of strength who goes wherever he pleases. It's getting late, and I've told you quite enough. If there is nothing else, please do not disturb me. I need to rest."
After dropping those words, Qiu Xia closed his eyes right in front of Koushirou. Koushirou stared at him, momentarily at a loss for words. What is this supposed to mean? Sleeping right in front of me? Are you gambling that I won't launch a sneak attack? Do I look like that kind of person? Fine... your judgment is spot on. I am exactly that kind of person.
Qiu Xia lay back on the rock to sleep, and Koushirou, feeling it beneath his dignity to disturb him further, turned and left.
Qiu Xia slept soundly that night, but the East Blue Marines and Marine Headquarters didn't sleep a wink. In the short span of a single day, over ten thousand people had died in the East Blue.
It was a terrifying number, made even more horrific by the fact that these ten thousand people weren't killed in one place. They were scattered across the entire East Blue. The killer had traversed the whole of the East Blue in a single day, slaughtering ten thousand men.
The Marines didn't know the specific details of the victims' situations yet. All they knew was that ten thousand of their own were dead, killed in the East Bluethe sea known as the weakest of all.
They had no idea if this killer was a rising pirate from the East Blue or a marauder from another sea. So far, the only intelligence they had gathered was that the culprit was shrouded in a layer of starlight, making it impossible to see his face.
Based on this, they determined the killer was undoubtedly a Devil Fruit user. However, no starlight-related fruit was recorded in the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia. Could it be a new, unknown fruit that had recently appeared on the sea?
Whether it was an unknown fruit or not was irrelevant for now. The most pressing matter was to capture and execute the killer immediately. If this news spread, the Marines would lose face on a global scale.
However, Sengoku and the others had underestimated Morgans' nose for a story. While Garp was rushing toward the East Blue with his men and Kizaru was using his ability to arrive first for the investigation, Morgans had already obtained the intelligence. He began the layout immediately, and by early the next morning, the News Coos were flying toward every corner of the world with Morgans' latest headline.
"BIG NEWS! TEN THOUSAND MARINES MASSACRED IN THE EAST BLUE! A NEW GREAT PIRATE IS ABOUT TO EMERGE IN THE SO-CALLED WEAKEST SEA: THE EAST BLUE GOD OF DEATH! AS EVERYONE KNOWS, THE FORMER PIRATE KING ROGER WAS BORN IN THE EAST BLUE. WILL THIS UNKNOWN PIRATE BECOME THE NEXT ROGER?"
Upon reading the contents of the newspaper, some reacted with disdain, others with horror; some were lost in thought, while others simply watched for the amusement of it.
Because the newspaper spread across the entire ocean, the future Four EmperorsCharlotte Linlin, Whitebeard, Kaido, and Red Haired Shanksall received their copies.
Marco glanced at the paper and said to Whitebeard, "Pops, the paper says a mysterious person appeared in the East Blue and killed ten thousand Marines. Is this a joke? Is there even a Marine base in the East Blue with ten thousand soldiers?"
Whitebeard chuckled disdainfully. "Morgans is probably just talking nonsense again!"
It wasn't just Whitebeard who was skeptical; Kaido and Charlotte Linlin were equally dismissive when they got the news. If they wanted to, they could kill even more people in a single day. But what was the point of slaughtering ants? If they were going to kill, they would kill someone powerful and famous.
If Morgans' newspaper had claimed that a mysterious person had killed Garp, then they might have paid attention. Every great pirate knew the strength of that old mad dog, Garp. The only reason the Rocks Pirates had been destroyed was because Garp and Roger had teamed up to defeat Rocks. Furthermore, Garp had the tenacity to chase Roger for decades.
While the other three great pirates didn't care, Shanks' expression changed completely when he saw the paper. "A mysterious figure of starlight? If I remember correctly, Qiu Xia's ability is starlight, isn't it? This was Qiu Xia's doing."
"How is that possible? It's probably just a similar ability. Qiu Xia isn't the type of butcher who kills without batting an eye!"
"But it looks too similar. We should contact Qiu Xia and ask!"
"That makes sense!"
Having made up his mind, Shanks pulled a Den Den Mushi from his robe and dialed the number. On a rock in the back hills of Shimotsuki Village, a youth was lying asleep. Suddenly, a sound drifted from the pocket at his waist. "Bulu bulu bulu..."
The sound jolted the youth awake. Qiu Xia blearily picked up the Den Den Mushi and answered, "Hello?"
"Brother Qiu Xia, did you kill those ten thousand Marines in the news?"
Hearing this, Qiu Xia's consciousness cleared a bit. "Ten thousand? You've got to be kidding. I didn't kill that many. It was only about ten thousand or so, okay?"
Hearing the first half of Qiu Xia's sentence, Shanks had just started to breathe a sigh of relief. But the second half made his heart leap back into his throat, and his face turned incredibly grim. "Brother Qiu Xia, why did you kill so many Marines? Doing that will affect the stability of the East Blue."
Qiu Xia replied coolly, "The ones I killed were the cancer of the East Blue Marines. Their existence didn't stabilize the East Blue; they persecuted it. They drove many people to the point where they had to go to sea and become pirates just to survive.
So, I killed them. Originally, I only intended to clean out one or two branches, but every branch had them. Before I knew it, the body count had piled up. By the time I realized it, I had already scrubbed the cancer from the East Blue Marines."
Shanks: "..."
By the time you realized it, the East Blue Marines had been purged? Is your reaction time too slow, or is your strength simply too terrifying?
From their previous clash and time spent together, Shanks knew Qiu Xia possessed hidden strength, but he never expected it to be this horrifying. Putting aside the fact that he traversed the entire East Blue in a single day, the sheer heartlessness and speed required to slaughter ten thousand Marines were staggering.
Shanks felt that if the two of them were to truly fight seriously, even if he brought Gryphon with him, he wouldn't be Qiu Xia's match. Although Gryphon was exceptionally strong now, Shanks hadn't forgotten that this enhanced version of Gryphonreforged with rubies and the original bladehad been created by Qiu Xia himself. And the time it took him to make it was incredibly short.
"Anyway, I'm hanging up. Don't call me this early in the morning, I haven't had enough sleep!" Seeing that Shanks had gone silent, Qiu Xia hung up the phone and lay back down on the rock, intending to go back to sleep. However, not long after closing his eyes, something clicked in his mind, and his eyes snapped wide open.
"Wait a minute... this isn't right. Last night was supposed to be the time for me to go back. Why am I still here? Did the Dual-Passage Door malfunction, or did it change after exploring a new world?" Thinking of this, Qiu Xia took a quick look at his data.
After checking the recorded time, Qiu Xia's brow furrowed. "Three hundred and sixty-five days... one full year. Is the time in this world frozen like it was when I went to the Zombie World? If it's frozen, that's fine. But if it's not, and the world moves forward while I'm here, will the Uchiha clan be wiped out again before I can return?"
Unable to return and unable to confirm the timeline of his home world, Qiu Xia felt a surge of frustration. But no matter how annoyed he was, there was nothing he could do. He couldn't force the door open early. Helplessly, he realized he was stuck in this world for the time being.
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