With Jewel gone, Alex, Benezia, and Tereza stand behind a tree watching the colossal Brontosaurus chew on some fresh leaves, its large front teeth sharp enough to bite off entire branches with ease.
Alex, with growing tension, finally spots Jewel climbing up the towering legs of the Brontosaurus, which continues munching lazily on its green food.
She begins scaling its long neck with steady movements, creeping higher and higher. When she finally reaches the top, just before climbing on the Brontosaurus's head, she instead walks around to its throat. She unloads a heavy amount of webbing onto it, anchoring herself to its flesh and making sure she's locked in tight and can't get thrown off.
What is she doing?! Don't tell me...
Without hesitation, Jewel sinks her ruby fangs into the creature's throat, biting down mercylessly.
Jewel has dealt 81 x 3 = 243 damage to Brontosaurus
Jewel has caused bleeding (neck)
The Brontosaurus immediately halts its eating and bellows out in pain.
Completely confused, it flails its head wildly, but thanks to the thick webbing, Jewel remains securely attached to it and follows up with another vicious bite.
Jewel has dealt 73 damage to Brontosaurus
She continues her assault, bite after bite—but aside from the initial strike, none of the hits land critically.
Jewel has dealt 68 damage to Brontosaurus
Jewel has dealt 66 damage to Brontosaurus
"They've got trained necks! Even the throat is so large and thick, it's not a weak point—this won't work. She'll fall off," Alex says, worry in his voice as the creature begins thrashing harder.
It's going completely berserk! No wonder... if a damn spider bit my throat, I'd do the same.
"The little one said she had a plan. Looks like it failed," Benezia remarks calmly. "I'll get ready to catch her. Tereza, try to assist and catch her, should I fail. Alex, you need to use your bow or spells—anything to draw its attention off her."
His heart racing, Alex begins to rush forward—only to freeze as he spots Jewel calmly pulling the grenades off her back, still stuck to the beast's throat.
She calmly lights the fuse with a spark of purple flame, then shoves the grenades directly into the wound on its throat, she created with her teeth.
Without waiting, she leaps off and lands cleanly on top of a nearby tree.
The Brontosaurus doesn't notice her escape—still caught in its rage, flailing its tail and swinging its head back and forth.
Alex hears her voice in his mind, filled with extreme joy.
3...
2...
1...
❤️
With Jewel's countdown as the signal, both grenades detonate inside the Brontosauru's throat, blowing it open from within. The shockwaves tear through its throat with its violent explosions, the shrapnel, piercing its neck from within, causing massive damage, causing the giant dinosaur to crash onto the ground with a loud thud.
Damn... she's brutal... that thing collapsed like a rag.
Alex rushes forward, drawing his [Executioner's Blade R2] and infusing all his Aura into it, using Ko, then slashes at the already-ruptured neck to finish it off.
You have dealt 133 damage to Brontosaurus
You have dealt 141 damage to Brontosaurus
You have dealt 121 damage to Brontosaurus
You have killed Brontosaurus
Princess Jewel's tactics reign supreme! Praise the divine grenades.
Before Alex can even breathe, Benezia runs up beside him, staring him in his eyes.
"The Brontosaurus created a lot of noise. We need to hurry and harvest the best cuts before more of its kind arrive! It will be problematic if we are caught by them."
"I see, I'll do my best!" Alex responds, preparing to butcher the mighty beast as fast as he can.
Alex takes out both his [Executioner's Blade R2] and [Butchering Knife], infusing whichever he currently uses with all his Aura, relying on Ko, slicing cleanly through the massive corpse as he begins the butchering process.
Ko is a godsend... without it I couldn't hope to butcher it... also thanks to the blood my [Executioner's Blade R2] stays razor sharp. This thing is not meant for assassinating people, it's an oversized meat-cleaver!
Tereza watches him with wide eyes and mutters under her breath, "You created a monster..."
"Jewel is just talented..." Alex says, "don't be mean."
❤️
Alex does his best to butcher the dinosaur as fast as possible, cutting out the best parts under Benezia's precise supervision.
When he finishes with most of the worthwhile cuts—which are mostly Light Green Quality, with a few Green and even fewer Deep Green pieces—he hears loud footsteps in the distance.
Giants?! Did they chase us?
Alex looks in the distance, but thankfully doesn't spot any angry giants, yet he sees the heads of more Brontosauri towering over the trees in the distance.
"Time to go," Benezia says. "We've got enough meat to keep Menchi busy for a long time. With all the fish, the squid, and our other meat cuts, we've got almost endless supplies."
"Agreed!" Alex replies, putting his weapons back into his inventory.
Together, they rush deeper into the jungle, escaping the sound of approaching Brontosauri.
This is fun! Princess Jewel wants to hunt another one! There's that big, horny thing around here, right, Soulmate?
"Yes," Alex answers. "The famous Triceratops."
"We might have enough meat," Benezia says, "but without a clear goal, continuing to hunt is a valid choice."
Tereza shrugs. "Let's keep going the—"
Before she can finish her sentence, Alex hears a strange sound coming from his pocket.
"Pere pere pere pere pere pere..."
He gulps and pulls out the small Den Den Mushi, staring at its glaring little face.
"Fucking snail..." he mutters. The small snail glares back at him, aggrieved by the undeserved insult.
Guess I'd better pick up...
Before he can, Benezia snatches it from his hands and calmly answers.
"Miss Judgement Day speaking."
"This is Miss All Sunday. Thank you for picking up, Miss Judgement Day. I've read the reports from Mr. 8. You, your partner, and the mysterious spider pet you keep around have done an excellent job."
"Thank you," Benezia replies curtly.
"The boss has a new job for you. However, since you handled the issue at Whiskey Peak so well, he's intending to give you a choice. For now, please head toward Sandy Island. Do you know Rainbase? It's a luxurious town with all the water you could ask for—and even more gambling. We have a few people we'd like you to get rid of. I'll send you the details once you arrive. Then there's the main mission we'd like to entrust you with... Do you understand your orders?" Miss All Sunday asks, her tone polite but casual.
"May I ask a question?" Benezia replies.
"Of course. What do you want to know?" Miss All Sunday says, sounding unfazed.
"Isn't Rainbase the base of the famous Warlord of the Sea, Crocodile?" Benezia asks. "I'm confident in my abilities, but even with the help of my partner, our little pet, and the special Billions agent you sent over, our odds of defeating him are negligible. Am I misjudging the situation, or am I overlooking something? Our bounties will draw a lot of attention."
"Just follow your orders, Agent," Miss All Sunday replies in a firm yet still friendly tone. "We would never risk the safety of capable agents, so there's no need to overthink things. Just make your way toward Rainbase and visit the casino. I'll contact you once you've arrived. Can you find your way to Sandy Island on your own? I've been told you've taken maps with you, so I assume you have some way of navigating?"
"Yes," Benezia replies, "it could take a while, however."
"Time is ticking, Miss Judgement Day. The sooner you arrive, the more opportunities you will have. We have recently employed more Frontier Agents who are more than willing to take the opportunities our leader presents to them."
"Understood," Benezia says, looking slightly unsatisfied.
Miss All Sunday then ends the call, while the Den Den Mushi, looking tired and closing its eyes.
"Should we leave immediately?" Alex asks. "Sounds like we've got a little time on our hands."
"As much as I'd like to stay, you heard her," Benezia says. "If the boss is letting us choose our mission, we shouldn't make him wait. Besides, as I said—we have more than enough meat."
"Time for the desert then," Tereza mutters, her voice tired and weak. "I don't like sand..."
Alex can't help but grin. "It's coarse, rough, and irritating—and it gets everywhere. Not like here. Here everything is soft... and smooth."
"Huh?" Tereza blinks, confused. "What do you mean?"
Princess Jewel enjoys that one! It's a classic!
Without warning, Benezia smacks Alex on the back of the head.
"Ow—why?" Alex asks, rubbing the spot.
"I just felt like you deserved a punishment. I don't know what came over me. This hasn't happened in—"
"Yeah, yeah, I know. It hasn't happened in decades... no, centuries," Alex mutters.
"I was going to say days," Benezia replies, her voice dry. "This world is increasing my stress levels rather greatly."
Alex stares at her.
Did I see her suppressing a smile just now? Whatever...
"..."
"Let's leave," Alex says, turning to Tereza.
She nods, pulls out her harness once again, and transforms into her full bat form.
They mount up, and soon they're airborne, flying toward Sandy Island.
Benezia takes charge of navigation, pulling out the maps they took from Whiskey Peak and pairing them with Alex's [Destiny Watch (Orbment) R2].
As they soar away from Little Garden, Alex watches as his quest window updates.
[Secret Quest completed...]
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