Without hesitation, its hands slashed through the empty air, unleashing countless jets of black venom that shot out like powerful water columns.
The venom covering its body seemed endless; each time part of it was fired, a fresh surge appeared, flooding the venue with toxic liquid.
It didn't even bother to aim precisely; it was confident that this overwhelming flood of poison would leave no creature safe.
Puff, puff...
The venom had clearly evolved, causing even greater destruction as it hit the ground.
The once indestructible black shock rocks corroded instantly, giving off thick streams of purple smoke that filled the large corridor.
Meanwhile, the real targets, Gengar and the Toxic Baby beside it, were soaked in venom as well.
But what happened next shocked the poisonous giant.
Gengar suddenly opened its mouth wide and sucked in the venom, creating a powerful gust of wind.
That gust swept through the air, carrying streams of venom straight into Gengar's mouth as if they were swallows returning to their nests.
The venom flowed in smoothly, like jelly slipping down its throat.
Not to be outdone, the Toxic Baby absorbed the venom on its purple body just as quickly, and its experience level began rising rapidly.
To Gengar and the Toxic Baby, this flood of venom was nothing more than a snack.
The poisonous giant's heart pounded wildly as its stone-like body began to tremble.
Just moments ago, it was brimming with confidence, but now its attitude shifted completely.
It clearly saw that its venom hadn't harmed its targets at all; instead, it had only devastated the ground beneath them.
"Geng Si!" Gengar shouted, unleashing a surge of aura that enveloped the entire venue in a dark, eerie glow.
After a moment, a massive purple-black sphere of psychic aura appeared, hovering and pulsating in the air.
Even though the poisonous giant-
It couldn't read, but it could sense the presence of those mind balls. Right then, its mind went blank, and the venom covering its body stopped secreting, as if it had completely given up on fighting to survive.
Gengar's short arms waved wildly, and from every direction, countless mind balls charged forward, each packed with immense aura. The spheres cut through the air, creating sharp whistling sounds.
As the giant braced for the relentless assault, a sudden thought crossed its mind-why hadn't the tribesmen come back yet? Although they lived underground, their tunnels stretched far and branched out in many directions.
They were especially sensitive to any movement in the rocks, soil, or nearby objects.
So when a big fight broke out, not only did all the fighters show up, but at least some members of the clan came to check it out. Yet, so far, only three had appeared.
That's unusual!
The poisonous giant's core suddenly froze, its expression changing sharply. If it weren't made of stone, it would have been sweating buckets right now.
Something's wrong!
Since it was born, it had always dismissed things like "premonitions," believing only in action and relying on oneself. But right now, it believed...
"Boom!"
The ghost skill shadow balls exploded. With that final blast, the poisonous giant's last bit of consciousness vanished.
Its shattered body broke into countless pieces, mixed with thick, black venom.
A huge space portal opened, bathed in warm white light, and the scattered venom drifted into it. Though the venom itself was useless, it could serve as "experience candy" for Poipole, who could snack on it later.
After a moment, the big steel snake opened its mouth and swallowed the poisonous giant's core in one gulp, grinding it mercilessly with its tough, indestructible steel teeth. Its experience level visibly shot up.
After devouring the three silver giants and their cores, the big steel snake's strength skyrocketed like a rocket. Plus, it had two mutant stone giants inside it-a surprising bonus.
Its current ore-based abilities included shock resistance, pyroblast, and poison. If it kept evolving, the big steel snake would keep adding more abilities, becoming a versatile, all-around fighter.
It had the potential to inherit all the ore's powers.
At the same time, its rank officially jumped from S-level to S+.
Ging casually stepped on the ground, hands in his pockets, and said with a mix of awe and concern, "This poison is seriously terrifying. Rocks this tough, when exposed to venom, break down like paper on fire.
If a person got touched..."
He trailed off, shaking his head.
Beyond adjusted his glasses thoughtfully. He wasn't used to wearing glasses, so putting them on all of a sudden felt strange.
"The power of venom is definitely impressive, but there's still a lot more worth investigating right now," Beyond said seriously. "Their behavior shows they're not unintelligent, and…" he paused, "their numbers are still unknown."
His words hung in the air.
Up to this point, no one knew exactly how many stone giants were out there-ten? A hundred?
Or even more?
If they combined that kind of intelligence with their strength, they'd be formidable opponents.
Actually, calling them just opponents might be an understatement, since these creatures were completely vulnerable; only Larry seemed capable of taking action against them.
They had reached the deepest part of the passage, the cave where the stone giants' leader lived.
The space was huge and filled with all sorts of things. There were ores that fit the stone giants' nature, but also some that didn't.
Ging, tall and muscular, stood before a stone wall, frowning as he suddenly glanced up toward the ceiling. He seemed to sense something faintly but quickly shifted his focus back to the wall in front of him.
The enormous stone surface was painted with colorful murals, which broke up the gray and black tones.
Though the artwork was a bit blurry and not especially skillful, it clearly depicted the surrounding area.
At the center was the rocky land they were currently on.
To the west lay a grassland, with a red "en" deliberately marked on it. Inside that "en" was a dark green figure with an odd smile, vaguely resembling a tree man.
Ging paused for a moment when he saw this-someone had made that mark on purpose.
The creatures inside the red "en" weren't easy to mess with. At least, it wouldn't be wise to provoke them right now.
A little further west was a purple forest, but nothing in it was marked with red.
Beyond that was the beach and the endless ocean, the obvious path Larry and the others had taken after landing.
Ging then turned around and looked east, toward the rainforest-like terrain.
Painted there were swamps and other landscapes typical of a tropical jungle.
But what caught his eye was something circled in white, right in the middle of the green rainforest.
The image was somewhat abstract, but it was clear enough to recognize a snake-like creature.