Leyvi and Anda spent their days like they were on vacation, wandering across the island without any destination in mind. Whenever they stumbled upon something interesting, they stopped to explore or play for a while before dashing off toward the next place that caught their attention.
Two weeks passed in a blur, yet their carefree adventure showed no signs of ending. They continued their journey with laughter and ease, unbothered by time or purpose.
This time, they were at the side of the island closest to the colossal tree.
"Alright, alright. Stay still… okay, nice!" Anda said, detaching the jade slip from the image-capturing device. She sent her spiritual sense into it to admire the latest addition to her ever-growing photo collection.
"Didn't expect to find a rock like this here. You look amazing posing with it. Let's try another pose! Why don't you try hugging her giant boobs this time? Hehe." Anda giggled mischievously.
Leyvi rolled his eyes. Amazing? He gently set down the giant rock the size of a house, a bizarrely shaped stone that looked like the upper body of a woman, complete with long hair and absurdly large breasts.
When Leyvi Express had passed through this area earlier, Anda's sharp eyes had immediately locked onto the voluptuous rock. She became so excited that she begged him to lift it while striking poses for her.
Of all the things to take a picture with… this. Leyvi sighed inwardly.
He couldn't understand her logic. She always said she liked seeing him look cool, but every time she took pictures, she only made him do ridiculous poses. Why? Why not take at least one cool picture for once?
"No, we already agreed on only one photo." Leyvi shook his head. It was already embarrassing enough posing with a giant, big-boobed rock, and now she wanted him to hug it? Absolutely not.
"Aw… just one more, please? Don't you like boobs? Look at that, they're massive." Anda pleaded, blinking her eyes cutely.
"Tch tch… Anda, do you know what consent is? Just because this is a stone doesn't mean we can do it without permission. If she allows it, then I'll do it. Go ask her." Leyvi countered her nonsense with nonsense of his own.
"Stingy!" Anda huffed, turning away and pretending to sulk.
"Lady Stone, please forgive my mischievous panda wife," Leyvi said, bowing slightly to the rock.
Then he laughed and scooped Anda up. "Alright, let's move again! Hahaha!" With that, he leapt away from the area.
"Leyvi, do you think giants exist?" Anda suddenly asked.
"Giants? I don't think there are any records mentioning them," he replied.
"I think they do. Maybe not from our planet, but somewhere out there." Anda pointed up toward the sky.
"Well… if that's the case, then maybe."
"Hehe. If they exist, once Alita's airship is fully functional again, let's go find them. I want to recruit a female giant!" she declared with excitement.
"What?" Leyvi nearly tripped on his landing, startled by her words.
Fortunately, he had become quite proficient with his Spiritual Touch by now, so the invisible hand carrying Anda remained perfectly steady. It had been a while since she last fell from it like during their earlier Leyvi Express.
After stabilizing himself and continuing to hop, Leyvi asked, "Why do you want to recruit a giant female? I can satisfy you ladies, but there's no way I can satisfy a giant. Even if my whole body went inside the tunnel, I don't think that'd be enough."
"Pfft!" Anda almost burst into laughter. She couldn't help but imagine what Leyvi had just said. A scene like that would be hilarious. He might get drowned in there.
"I was thinking about something else, you know. Like, we could bounce on her giant boobs together. But it turns out my husband is naughtier than I thought. Maybe we should find out if you can really satisfy a female giant in the future. Hehe." Anda giggled.
Leyvi was speechless. There was no way to defend himself from that kind of teasing. He let out a small sigh, deciding to drop the subject before she took it even further. The two continued their lighthearted journey across the island, the sound of waves and rustling leaves blending with Anda's occasional laughter.
Then, without warning, Leyvi came to a halt. The playful mood vanished in an instant as his expression darkened.
"Anda, someone I don't recognize is on the island. This is bad," he said. At the edge of his spiritual sense, Leyvi saw a burly man moving stealthily through a rocky hillside. Or at least, trying to.
"What? That's not good! How many people are there? How did they get here? Leyvi, check the sky!" Anda's mood turned serious instantly.
Without taking his focus off the stranger, Leyvi expanded his spiritual sense toward the vast sky, something he rarely did anymore.
"I only see one person, but there could be more somewhere else. Up there... hmm... nothing," he replied. He didn't detect anything traveling through the sky.
"We can't rule out the possibility that they came through the sky yet, so stay alert. Leyvi, take that guy out. I want to extract information from him," Anda instructed. With the island's big secret at stake, she was ready to eliminate any strangers who might have discovered it.
"Understood."
Leyvi also understood the gravity of the situation, so he didn't try to dissuade her.
He scooped Anda up as usual and moved quietly toward the intruder. This time, he refrained from using his burst movement to avoid drawing attention, which made him realize another weakness in his technique — the drastic loss of speed when moving silently.
Meanwhile, Anda summoned the Celestial Cloud and contacted the ladies staying in the mine and the mansion, informing them about a possible intrusion.
Their current position and the mine were on opposite ends of the island, so even if they hurried, it would still take time to reach there. If they were attacked, hopefully they could defend themselves.
---
Thum…
A hulking man moved around the rocky area, lifting massive boulders and setting them back down, as if searching for something. Each time he lowered a rock, the ground trembled slightly under his strength.
"Hmm… Master said the greatest treasure on the island is around here, hidden under a rock, and I should search quietly. But where did everyone else go? Ah, I get it! They're not as strong as me, so they went treasure hunting elsewhere. I'm the only one who can lift all these rocks easily. Dohoho! What a good day. Master finally relies on me! Oops, Master told me to be quiet. I almost forgot," he muttered.
Thum… Thum… Thum…
After a few minutes, the man realized that he had lifted every boulder on this side of the hill. He glanced at the hill itself, his eyes lighting up with sudden inspiration.
"Oh, right, this hill counts as a rock too, doesn't it? Maybe the treasure's under here!" he said, his voice tinged with excitement.
The hulking man stood before the hill, his eyes gleaming with determination. He tensed his bulging leg muscles, veins standing out under his skin, and unleashed a single, devastating kick at the hill's base. The impact echoed with a sharp crack as fissures spiderwebbed through the earth, splitting the hill from its foundation.
With a grunt, he flexed his massive arms, gripping the jagged edges of the uprooted hill. His muscles strained as he hoisted the entire mass upward, dirt and rocks tumbling away to reveal the ground beneath. He scanned the exposed earth, his face falling when no treasure was in sight.
With a shrug, he lowered the hill back into place. The impact sent a booming tremor through the ground, shaking the surrounding area and scattering small stones across the rocky slope.
Several kilometers away, safely outside the hulking man's spiritual sense range, Leyvi watched with quiet surprise. This was the first time he had encountered a body cultivator who focused entirely on strength. To lift an entire hill using only physical power was nothing short of astonishing.
Still, there was no time to waste. He had to take the man out so that Anda could extract the information they needed.
Leyvi brought out his metal bat and began pouring Qi into it, refusing to leave anything to chance. The longer the hulking man remained unconscious, the better.
"Anda, take me up into the sky," he instructed.
Anda nodded. She controlled the Celestial Cloud, lifting them both swiftly upward. Once they reached a sufficient height, she held steady, waiting for Leyvi to finish charging his weapon.
Over ten minutes passed. The manifested metal bat avatar swelled, stretching over twenty meters in length—several times larger than the version he had used to send the Commander-Level Demonic Earthworm to sleep.
For the first time, Leyvi had fully charged the metal bat to its maximum potential, the Ultimate Metal Bat!