[Early Morning of the Sixth Day, Longevity Island Core Jungle]
Liu Ma's muscles bulged, and the radiance of his Star Core, the Golden Ox Demon, spread along his blood vessels, turning his upper body completely 'golden.' From afar, he looked as if he were wearing heavy golden armor.
Bang!
A dull impact echoed through the forest, shaking the surrounding fallen leaves.
Without any flashy techniques, Liu Ma's fist slammed squarely into the chest of the mutated gorilla.
The punch was delivered with immense force, causing the mutated gorilla to immediately let out a painful roar. Its fan-sized feet plowed two deep trenches into the ground, and the thick, tough vines wrapped around its chest snapped instantly like hemp ropes.
The next second, a large amount of dark green fluid mixed with some rotten flesh fragments sprayed from the fractured wound, splattering onto Liu Ma's face.
Liu Ma wiped the sticky liquid from his face, smelling the odor filling his nostrils, and felt a surge of nausea in his stomach.
This smell... was even worse than the sewage water in the sewers of the Martial Dome Metropolis!
Despite his complaints, Liu Ma dared not relax for a moment.
Because the mutated gorilla's chest, which his punch had dented, was now swelling up at a visible rate.
Fine new shoots sprouted from the broken ends of the vines, growing frantically like bamboo shoots after a spring rain.
In just three seconds, those vines had rewoven themselves into a dense 'armor' on its chest, and even the previously shattered bone joints were reset.
If one ignored the blood remaining on the ground, anyone who saw it would think Liu Ma's punch was merely an illusion, and nothing had actually happened.
"Damn it, this move again."
Liu Ma spat out the liquid near his mouth, his tone full of frustration.
The creatures on this island were like characters with 'HP cheats' enabled.
Not only was every single one of them extraordinarily tenacious, but their physical prowess far exceeded that of Star Beasts of the same rank.
It was as if they had all been altered by some special force that converted all the Star Energy within them into 'Life Force,' making them extreme and pure.
Although this situation deprived them of various magical Star Core abilities, the trade-off was the ridiculously and unreasonably terrifying Life Force they now possessed.
*'Such a hassle...' *
Liu Ma looked at the gorilla, which had completely recovered and was staring at him ferociously from not far away, groaning inwardly.
However, he couldn't afford to be too distracted right now.
Because they hadn't completely escaped danger yet.
"Isabelle, how are things on your side?"
Liu Ma asked anxiously, keeping an eye on the gorilla's next move while glancing at Isabelle, who was surrounded by small monkeys not far away.
In the scene, Isabelle's light blue hair was stained with blades of grass. The chilling air of her Star Source, Absolute Zero, condensed into ice blades at her fingertips. Each swing froze a cluster of vine monkeys.
Yet, these seemingly weak little monsters, only about a meter tall, sprang out endlessly from the branches of the ancient trees like unstoppable cockroaches.
Their small red eyes were full of frenzy, and the faint green poison on their claws glowed with an eerie light under the moon.
"I'm fine, but their vines can absorb my cold energy, which makes them a bit tricky to deal with."
Isabelle took a moment to reply to Liu Ma, then an ice blade accurately pierced the body of a small monkey in front of her.
But before she could pull the blade out, the mutated monkey grabbed the ice blade with its remaining claws, and vines quickly grew along the blade, attempting to 'swallow' the ice blade.
Seeing this, Isabelle decisively abandoned the condensed ice blade and made it burst instantly.
The shattered ice blade turned into sharp, tiny shards, cutting the mutated monkey into pieces on the spot, utterly killing it.
Before Isabelle could catch her breath, more small monkeys darted down from the trees, initiating a human-wave attack against her.
Not only that, their claws and teeth were laced with faint green poison, and the vines on their bodies could rapidly grow new shoots even after being frozen, demonstrating incredibly tenacious vitality.
"These things... are truly unkillable cockroaches!"
Isabelle's expression was grim as she looked at the swarm of mutated small monkeys that clung to her like stubborn plasters.
Without hesitation, she condensed another ice blade and swung it repeatedly.
In an instant, three mutated small monkeys were cleaved in half on the spot.
However, their severed corpses didn't die immediately. Instead, after wriggling for a while, they began to show signs of trying to reassemble themselves.
Helplessly, Isabelle had to divert some energy to thoroughly freeze these corpses, preventing them from 'resurrecting' and adding to her combat pressure.
While this method could completely kill the monsters, it placed a significant burden on Isabelle.
The reason being that the Star Energy rank of these mutated small monkeys was only a mere Low-Tier Rank 2.
Yet, their regenerative ability was more outrageous than that of ordinary Rank 2, or even Rank 3, Star Beasts.
A severed limb could regenerate in ten seconds, and even if cut in half at the waist, as long as the core vine wasn't destroyed, they could quickly regrow. Even more,
More troubling still, their attacks... carried a paralyzing toxin.
The anime's camera briefly focused on Isabelle's right arm.
Her originally fair arm now had two distinct scratches, and the wounds of these scratches showed obvious black discoloration.
Waves of numbness surged from the wounds toward Isabelle's heart.
Undoubtedly, if she couldn't end the battle quickly.
Once the paralyzing toxins accumulated to a certain level, she would be completely overwhelmed by these mutated small monkeys.
No, I can't drag this out any longer.
Sensing her deteriorating condition, Isabelle decisively changed her strategy.
She placed both hands on the ground, releasing the Star Energy within her without reservation.
Crack!
A light blue layer of ice spread rapidly across the ground.
In an instant, Isabelle's ice layer froze a dozen mutated small monkeys on the spot.
This briefly created a vacuum zone within ten meters of her.
But before she could rejoice, a sickening stench suddenly came from behind her, catching her completely off guard.
Isabelle quickly turned her head, her pupils suddenly widening.
The mutated gorilla, which should have been tied up with Liu Ma, had somehow circled behind her. Its massive claw, dripping with dark green sap, fiercely swiped towards her.
"Watch out!"
Liu Ma shouted, then abruptly rushed towards Isabelle.
But just as he charged out, three vine monkeys suddenly leaped up from both sides, wrapping around his ankles with their bodies, their sharp teeth biting into his goldenized thigh.
Although these attacks caused no substantial harm to him, this fearless, suicidal behavior somewhat slowed Liu Ma's pace.
As a result, even though he saw Isabelle in danger, he couldn't provide immediate assistance and could only watch helplessly.
In a moment of crisis, Isabelle relied on combat instinct, immediately condensing an ice shield, half a meter thick, in front of her.
She attempted to use this to neutralize the mutated gorilla's sneak attack.
However, she overestimated the defensive power of her ice shield and underestimated the strength of the mutated gorilla.
Kachak!
The collision between the fist and the ice shield shattered the shield instantly like glass. Countless ice shards, laced with cold air, scattered onto the surrounding plants, coating them with a special layer of ice crystal.
Fortunately, while the ice shield failed to completely block the mutated gorilla's attack, it did manage to counteract the majority of the damage for Isabelle.
Yet, the astonishing force contained within the punch still sent Isabelle flying backward, slamming heavily into a tall ancient tree.
Puff!
Isabelle was pinned against the ancient tree, a splash of blinding blood escaping her mouth.
The blood landed on her chest, immediately staining her black tactical suit crimson.
Under the heavy injury, Isabelle felt her vision go black and her body become incredibly heavy; even a simple movement like raising her hand became extremely difficult.
Isabelle struggled to look up. In her blurred vision, she saw only the mutated gorilla's gaping, bloody maw lunging toward her, and the 'tongue' inside that was covered with vine tentacles.
The situation was so critical that Isabelle could even smell the rotten stench from the gorilla's mouth and feel the sticky touch of the vine tentacles.
It's over...
Looking at the mutated gorilla that was right in front of her, Isabelle felt genuine despair.
Because at this moment, she truly had no recourse left.
Bang!
In the nick of time, a green light shield suddenly appeared out of nowhere, blocking Isabelle's path.
The gorilla's head crashed into the light shield, emitting a dull thud.
Although the pixel blocks on the light shield only held up for a moment before being shattered by the mutated gorilla, the appearance of this shield still helped Isabelle withstand the fatal blow, allowing her to grit her teeth, break free, and gain distance from the mutated gorilla, temporarily saving her life.
After the joy of surviving the ordeal, Isabelle immediately looked in a certain direction.
Over in the dense jungle, three familiar figures were rushing toward her and Liu Ma's location at an astonishing speed.
Chen Kong, walking at the front, held a Star Energy pistol, his tactical boots crunching the thick fallen leaves with a 'shaa-shaa' sound.
Mi Yao, in the middle, was looking down and pressing his game console; clearly, the sudden appearance of the light shield was his doing.
Vivian ran last, her synthezoid eyes constantly flashing with quantum data light, obviously calculating something.
A look of joy flashed in Isabelle's eyes upon seeing the three of them.
After holding on for so long, they had finally encountered other people.
Perhaps due to the change in her state of mind, or maybe she had adapted somewhat to the paralyzing toxins in her body.
As a result, she surprisingly felt that her previously heavy body had become much lighter.
Under Isabelle's delighted gaze, Chen Kong reached her side, taking her place in dealing with the surrounding mutated small monkeys.
Vivian and Mi Yao rushed toward the mutated gorilla, joining Liu Ma in confronting this troublesome monster.
"Chen Kong, cover my flank!"
In the woods, Liu Ma's roar mingled with his punching wind, striking the mutated gorilla.
The goldenized fist collided with the monster's vine armor, sparks flying onto the dew-soaked fallen leaves, instantly evaporating into white mist.
Chen Kong had just helped the weakened Isabelle to her feet when he spotted three mutated small monkeys darting out from behind an ancient tree, the poison on their claws glowing a strange green in the morning light.
He immediately pushed Isabelle behind the tree, switched his Void Weaver to burst mode, and precisely sent Star Energy bullets through the purple flower on the small monkeys' foreheads.
As the pale purple flower buds shattered, the mutated small monkeys instantly froze, their bodies falling limply to the ground, while the vines on their bodies rapidly lost moisture, curling into a clump of dried fibers.
After dealing with these few mutated small monkeys, Chen Kong turned back.
"Isabelle, are you alright?"
Isabelle's pale face was streaked with blood, and the black marks on her right arm had spread to her elbow.
She fumbled a blue injection pen from her tactical pouch and grit her teeth as she jabbed it into her arm.
"It's not a big problem..."
The moment the injection was pushed in, her light blue long hair flickered with a faint light, and the black marks on her arm finally stopped spreading, though her face remained grim.
Isabelle whispered, "That gorilla's strength is too outrageous. Ordinary attacks can't break its regeneration."
"I know."
Chen Kong nodded, his expression equally serious.
On the other side, Mi Yao was parrying the mutated gorilla's attacks while asking Vivian beside him, "Vivian, have you finished the data analysis? What is the regeneration interval of this monster's vines?"
Vivian's synthezoid eyes flashed with faint blue light. The Second Hand Rapier spun between her fingers, precisely deflecting the gorilla's sweeping tail.
"The core energy circulation cycle is 3.7 seconds. Each regeneration consumes the nutrients stored in the chest vines."
"The wound Liu Ma just shattered is currently being prioritized for repair. That's our breakthrough point."
As she finished speaking, Vivian suddenly accelerated, her Second Hand Rapier darting out like a shooting star, quickly stabbing toward the not-fully-healed vines on the gorilla's chest.
"Liu Ma, focus your full attack on its old wound."
"Understood!"
Liu Ma stomped the ground fiercely, his goldenized muscles exploding with incredible speed. He dodged the gorilla's swinging claw, using his momentum to wedge his fist into the vine gap on the monster's chest.
The new shoots there hadn't fully woven into armor yet, and dark green sap surged out wildly through his fingers.
"Awooo!"
The gorilla let out a deafening roar, its massive body twisting violently, trying to shake Liu Ma off.
Mi Yao seized the fleeting opportunity, smashing his war hammer, trailed by pixel flames, toward the monster's brow.
With a 'kachak' crunch, a fissure opened in the purple flower core on the gorilla's forehead, spraying out green sap mixed with a substance resembling brain matter.
Its movements suddenly slowed, and the regeneration speed of its chest vines noticeably decreased.
It's working!
Chen Kong's eyes lit up. He immediately aimed his pistol at the core fissure and fired Star Energy bullets continuously, each shot precisely hitting the same spot.
Isabelle also forced herself to stand up, condensing small ice cones at her fingertips.
Although her power was diminished, the cold air from the ice cones could briefly freeze the vines' vitality, creating an attack window for the others.
But just as the core was about to be completely shattered, the gorilla suddenly burst forth with astonishing brute strength. Its tail swept and knocked Mi Yao flying, then it grabbed Liu Ma's shoulder with its claw, slamming him hard onto the ground.
The collision of the golden body with the rock produced a grating sound of metal warping. Liu Ma grunted, blood spilling from his mouth.
His Star Energy consumption was too great; his goldenized skin had begun to fade.
"Liu Ma!"
Chen Kong wanted to help, but he was surrounded by even more vine monkeys.
These little creatures seemed to sense the gorilla's danger and became even more frantic. Even after being dismembered by Star Energy bullets, they used their residual vines to cling to his ankles.
Vivian's rapier was entangled by the gorilla's vines, and her synthezoid arm emitted a 'clatter' sound of overload.
"This is bad, it's burning its core energy for strength! Regeneration speed is twice as fast as before!"
The fissure on the gorilla's brow was rapidly healing, and the purple flower rebloomed. It lowered its head to look at the paralyzed Liu Ma on the ground, its bloody maw slowly opening, its vine-tentacled tongue drooping with a stinking odor.
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