"Woooargh!" Drake instantly transformed into his Allosaurus Zoan form, letting out a low, guttural roar.
Bellamy, having never heard a dinosaur's roar before, laughed with great interest, anticipating a barrage of attacks from the young Drake.
A full-sized Allosaurus stood around 8 meters tall. Drake's current Devil Fruit mastery wasn't very deep yet. His transformation now was probably closer to a juvenile Allosaurus – about 3 to 4 meters in height.
Even so, a carnivorous dinosaur over 3 meters tall and 5 meters long, including its tail, was incredibly intimidating. At least, the onlookers, Ross and the others, were sweating nervously for Bellamy, staring at the rows of sharp, dagger-like teeth.
Mia, however, having just suffered a minor setback, couldn't help but let out a cold snort. "He'll probably shatter all his teeth." Her finger still throbbed from that forceful poke earlier.
Just as the tension on the field reached a breaking point, a string of bubbles suddenly surfaced on the nearby pond. Something, seemingly disturbed by the roar, was emerging from the water.
This disturbance immediately alerted Bellamy's group.
"Hold on, there's something in the pond."
It was strange. They'd been living here for almost a month, and they'd already explored the pond thoroughly. But judging by the commotion, whatever was coming out was big. Could some monster have been sleeping at the bottom all this time?
While everyone was still in shock and doubt, dozens of pink tentacles suddenly erupted from the pond, sweeping towards them like a tidal wave.
Even though they were somewhat prepared, Bellamy and his crew were still momentarily stunned by the sight. What was this monster? Why did it have so many tentacles?
"Who cares what it is!" Drake, still in a rage, stomped the ground hard, a whirlwind of claws facing the tentacle onslaught head-on. Finger Pistol: Dino Claw!
When it came to Iron Body and Finger Pistol, among the Six Powers, Drake was confident he wouldn't lose to anyone. These two techniques were incredibly compatible with his abilities.
Especially this claw attack. When he used it, it wasn't just vicious; each grasp carried an explosive force. The claws, imbued with a violent, bursting energy, instantly collided with one of the massive tentacles.
The tentacle's surface was covered in a slippery, viscous, unknown liquid. Upon contact, Drake almost slipped.
"Don't even think about escaping my grasp!"
The furious young Allosaurus wouldn't let such an opportunity to vent pass him by. Besides, his Finger Pistol: Dino Claw wasn't such a simple move.
Drake's combat talent was exceptional. Realizing his enemy's characteristic, he immediately changed his tactic. His two dinosaur claws made a grasping motion from either side, and an invisible force suddenly pinned one tentacle in mid-air.
Then...
"Shred!" A clear, crisp tearing sound echoed as a large chunk of the tentacle was ripped off and discarded on the ground.
Severely injured, the remaining part of the tentacle retracted rapidly, retreating back into the pond.
Drake had struggled for a while, finally dealing with one tentacle. But there were still dozens more coming from all directions. He had no choice but to activate Iron Body to withstand a few hits, planning to retreat from the encirclement before counterattacking.
Then, he suddenly thought of something. "What's that Bellamy guy doing?"
Taking a quick glance at the distance, Drake was instantly enraged. Bellamy had already deactivated his Iron Body: Steel Balloon form and was standing nearby, watching the show.
Their duel was clearly off the table. He could test his moves anytime; they needed to deal with this monster first.
Seeing Drake look over, Bellamy yawned without a hint of self-awareness. "Yo, Drake-boy, need some help?"
"Damn it, that bastard!"
Drake was so angry that the veins on his forehead bulged. Though, to be fair, this guy was always infuriating.
Just then, a startled cry came.
"Captain, stop messing around!"
It was Muret and the others, who were struggling to hold their own.
Bellamy clicked his tongue in annoyance. They slacked off on their training, and now they were calling for help the moment they faced an enemy. If one of them wasn't the cook and the other the doctor, he'd give them a good thrashing today.
As for Ross? Under his relentless, brutal training, the guy's Iron Body was actually pretty decent. He wouldn't be in any immediate danger.
This sudden attack was a good opportunity to test the team's combat capabilities.
Although he hadn't intended to intervene so soon, seeing that Muret and Mia were about to be overwhelmed, Bellamy had no choice but to lift his leg.
On a nearby open space, Bellamy stood with his arms crossed, a look of disdain on his face as he looked at the dozens of tentacles in mid-air.
He'd seen Drake's brief clash with the tentacles earlier. Tough skin, slippery mucus, immense brute strength... these tentacles had pushed his subordinates into such a sorry state; they clearly had some merit.
He raised his right leg sideways, bending his knee to face the sky. The inner part of his thigh rapidly formed a double-curved structure, absorbing and storing a massive amount of spring force within his body.
A terrifying pressure gathered at the center of his sole, causing the surrounding air to vibrate violently.
A faint blue light glowed from the center of his foot, and a small blue ball suddenly appeared out of nowhere, spinning rapidly.
Glancing at the boiling pond, Bellamy swiftly kicked the small ball out.
"Tempest Kick: Vacuum Ball!"
The vacuum ball, concealing terrifying pressure, traced a straight line through the air. It easily pierced through a dozen tentacles blocking its path, feeling like an iron chopstick through tofu.
The Vacuum Ball drilled into the pond with almost no resistance.
The next second, the dozens of tentacles extending from the pond seemed to sense a deadly threat and frantically retracted.
But it was too late to run now.
Before the tentacles could retract halfway, an earth-shattering explosion came from beneath the pond. Then, countless streams of water shot up into the sky.
Carrying countless fish, shrimp, rocks, debris, algae, and more, a large portion of the pond was blasted into the sky. The dozens of pink tentacles were instantly blown to pieces, falling to the ground and writhing.
In the blink of an eye, the area below Black Fish Waterfall was a mess.
Bellamy, the perpetrator, frowned at the scene. "It didn't die?"
He waited for a while, but he didn't see the body of the tentacles' owner.
"Interesting."
If he himself were hit by that Vacuum Ball, he'd be blown to smithereens. Its terrifying power far exceeded his current upper limit. It was practically a cheat-level move.
The creature beneath the pond could survive a direct hit from that; it wasn't an ordinary monster.
Seeing that the blasted portion of the pond was about to fall back, Bellamy raised his leg again.
"One kick isn't enough? Then I'll just do it again."
As if sensing the lethal threat, the monster hiding in the depths of the pond finally couldn't hold back and rushed out of the shadows.
Covered in wounds, a giant, pink squid emerged from the bottom of the pond.
Just half of the monster's body emerging from the water cast a huge shadow over everyone. This squid was even bigger than the giant beast they'd encountered last time.
"Is that over fifty meters tall?" Ross looked up at its head, feeling a little dizzy.
"That's a Sea King!" Drake immediately recognized the monster's identity.
This squid was actually a Sea King.
It was unbelievable that a Sea King was at the bottom of the pond.
"This is a freshwater pond, where did a Sea King come from?"
Everyone was speechless. Where did this thing come from?
Bellamy stood in place, deep in thought. "A creature that big couldn't survive in the pond." It would starve to death just from the lack of food.
So, there must be a waterway under the pond that leads directly to the sea. This squid must have swam in through that waterway.
As for why it came here, who the hell knew?
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