Weevil leaped back onto the boat, then immediately launched himself into the air again, bringing his massive Bisento down one final time to cleanly sever the dying Sea King's head.
He landed nimbly on the colossal carcass floating in the water and began expertly wielding his enormous blade to butcher the Sea King, carving it into manageable sections.
"That little brother of yours… his strength is truly monstrous," Moria remarked with genuine awe, standing beside Bege on the boat. Over the past few days, he had clearly witnessed Weevil's unbelievable power firsthand.
"Hahahaha…" Bege laughed heartily, looking at Weevil with growing satisfaction.
"Brother! Hurry up and help haul this thing aboard!" Weevil yelled excitedly, waving from atop the carcass. Bege leaped over, landing beside him, and began storing the butchered sections of Sea King meat within his castle-body.
Three days later…
Bege was fleeing desperately through the air using Geppo, looking utterly battered and exhausted. Pursuing him relentlessly were eight gigantic, Crocodile-like Sea Kings.
Their luck had taken a turn for the worse the previous day. After successfully killing one Sea King for food, they had inadvertently stumbled upon an entire nest of them. Their small boat had been instantly destroyed.
These Crocodile Sea Kings possessed incredibly thick hides, easily over a meter thick. Even Weevil, using his full strength, could only inflict shallow wounds on them. As a result, they had been relentlessly chased across the vast, empty sea for an entire day and night.
Good grief, Bege thought grimly. If he didn't find an island to rest on soon, he would likely collapse from exhaustion and fall into the sea below.
"Keep firing! Blast the bastards!" The castle gates on Bege's back had been open for hours, cannons, heavy crossbows, and other ranged weapons continuously firing upon the pursuing Sea Kings. However, the relentless barrage barely slowed the massive creatures down, let alone wounded them significantly.
Bege pushed himself higher into the sky. The Sea Kings simply lifted their massive heads, continuing their pursuit without pause. The smallest among them easily measured over a hundred meters in length.
Finally, scanning the horizon from his high vantage point, Bege spotted it – an island in the distance. He immediately changed course, heading straight for it, pushing his speed to the absolute limit, managing to finally gain some distance on the pursuing leviathans.
The Sea Kings let out earth-shattering roars of fury and accelerated, churning through the water like torpedoes, still hot on Bege's trail.
Closer and closer to the island… Bege gritted his teeth, forcing his exhausted legs to pump faster, maintaining Geppo through sheer willpower alone. His stamina was completely depleted. Reaching the island safely meant survival.
But then, something strange happened. As the monstrous Sea Kings approached the island's immediate vicinity, they all abruptly halted their chase. A palpable fear appeared in their massive reptilian eyes. Ignoring Bege completely, they turned as one and dove deep beneath the waves, fleeing frantically away from the island as fast as they could.
It seemed this island harbored something truly terrifying, something capable of striking fear even into the hearts of these giant Sea Kings.
The moment Bege's feet touched solid ground on the island, his legs gave out, and he collapsed face-first into the dirt, planting himself like an upside-down onion. With the very last dregs of his strength, he managed to release Moria, Weevil, and the others from his castle-body before finally succumbing to exhaustion and losing consciousness.
When Bege finally awoke, three days had passed. According to Modi and the others, their time hadn't been easy either. This island – which they learned was called Bipoth Island – was exceptionally dangerous. The native beasts were bizarre in appearance, incredibly savage, and possessed surprising combat strength. While searching for food, several crewmates had been killed and devoured by these creatures, leaving no trace behind.
At the edge of the island near the shore, Bege sat propped up, wrapped head-to-toe in bandages like a mummy. His already severe injuries from the battle on Jijinia Island had been badly aggravated during the relentless Sea King chase, causing wounds to reopen and worsen significantly. Otherwise, he wouldn't have remained unconscious for three whole days.
He sat at a makeshift table, voraciously tearing into chunks of cooked Sea King meat. Around him, dozens of his crewmates were bustling about, setting up camp, cooking over open fires.
Weevil sat at the same table as Bege, his eating habits even more ferocious. He wolfed down pounds of meat in mere seconds, crunching through bones as if they were crackers, occasionally grabbing a bottle of booze and gulping it down noisily. Bege, Moria, and the others nearby watched him with expressions of utter amazement, occasionally clicking their tongues in wonder.
Elsewhere on Bipoth Island…
On a small hill overlooking the beach encampment, three figures lay prone on a cliff edge, intently observing Bege and his crew below.
It was a peculiar trio. The figure on the left was bizarre: a man with the head of a dog. On the right, stranger still, was a creature with the body of a monkey but the head of a man. Between them lay a perfectly normal-looking little girl, perhaps five or six years old.
The Dog-Man spoke to the girl, "Fia, outsiders have landed on the island, yep!"
"How many times do I have to tell you? Call me Great Hunter Fia!" the little girl, Fia, retorted, promptly smacking the Dog-Man soundly on the head. She puffed her cheeks out angrily.
"Uh, Great Hunter Fia, what should we do now?" the Monkey-Man asked, his tone fawning.
Fia scrambled excitedly to her feet. She was undeniably cute, dressed in a short skirt made of animal pelts, with a large Watermelon Hat perched on her head. The hat was a bit too big and kept slipping down over her eyes, forcing her to constantly adjust it. She raised a short, simple wooden spear high in the air.
"Obviously, we capture these outsiders!" she declared enthusiastically. "We are the warriors of Bipoth Island! We must protect our home! We have to defeat these invading pirates!"
The Dog-Man glanced hesitantly towards the large group gathered on the beach below. "But… there are so many of them," he whined. "And look at that big guy eating! It's terrifying! He ate a piece of meat bigger than me in just two or three bites! I bet he's a man-eater, a really bad guy! Maybe… maybe we shouldn't go…"
Seeing Weevil's monstrous appetite, Fia and the Monkey-Man also showed flickers of fear in their eyes.
"Idiot!" Fia kicked the Dog-Man sharply. "As a hunter of Bipoth Island, how can you be so afraid of dying?! Fia is very disappointed in you!" She puffed her cheeks again, clearly angry.
The Monkey-Man promptly kicked the Dog-Man as well, sending him tumbling into a large nearby rock.
"Limu! I'll kill you!" the Dog-Man, whose name was apparently Gabo, yelled, scrambling up and charging furiously at the Monkey-Man, Limu.
Fia quickly stepped between them. "Gabo! Have you forgotten your duty as a Bipoth Island hunter?!" Gabo skidded to a halt, muttering angrily under his breath. He let out a couple of pitiful whimpers while Limu danced about mockingly behind Fia.
"Hunter Limu! Hunter Gabo! Let's go!" Fia announced, her excitement returning. "The Bipoth Hunter Trio will capture them all!" She led the two strange figures deeper into the forest.
"Yes, Great Hunter Fia!" they chorused dutifully.
In the forest, Bege's crew members were busy setting up camp – cooking food, felling trees to build shelters, completely preoccupied with their tasks. No one noticed the trio lurking nearby.
One crewmate, searching for suitable timber deeper in the woods, suddenly tripped over something hidden on the ground. As he fell, Limu leaped onto his back, knocking him out cleanly with a single punch.
Limu hopped off the unconscious man as Fia and Gabo ran over, grinning. The trio exchanged excited high-fives.
"Tie him up and take him to our base!" Fia commanded. Gabo and Limu hoisted the unconscious crewmate and carried him away through the trees.
This self-proclaimed "Bipoth Hunter Trio" spent the entire morning targeting lone crew members, knocking them out, and dragging them off. By lunchtime, they had successfully captured six or seven of Bege's men.
Lying in ambush again, waiting for their next target, Gabo suddenly twitched his dog nose, sniffing the air.
"Smells good! Such a wonderful smell!" he exclaimed excitedly. "Great Hunter Fia, I smell food! Really, really yummy food!"
Fia promptly slapped him again. "Is food all you ever think about?! Don't you know we're in the middle of a war?!"
"But… but we've been capturing people all morning!" Gabo whined, squatting down dejectedly and drawing circles in the dirt with his finger. "I'm really hungry!"
Just then, a particularly rich and savory aroma drifted towards them on the breeze. All three stomachs let out loud, simultaneous rumbles. They were all starving.
"Hmm," Fia considered, tapping her chin thoughtfully. "Hungry soldiers can't fight!" she declared, nodding decisively as if discovering a profound truth. "We must eat to have the strength to defeat the enemy!" Gabo and Limu immediately agreed, nodding vigorously; this logic made perfect sense to them. The trio abandoned their ambush spot and began stealthily following the delicious aroma towards Bege's main campsite where the crew was cooking.
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