The Nen Beast coalesced, and Illumi's figure flickered, appearing on the Nen Beast's back. With a thought, several black threads shot out from the Nen Beast, coiling around Kalluto, who stood still below. They brought him over to Illumi's side, positioning and securing him.
"This is the first time I've seen a Nen Beast like this. It's truly astonishing," Kalluto blinked, regaining his composure, and exclaimed in admiration.
"Let's go."
Illumi glanced at him from the corner of his eye. The massive wings of the Nen Beast beneath him suddenly shook with a roar, sending a powerful gust of wind upwards. In an instant, it became a black speck, completely disappearing from the butlers' sight.
In the East Pacific Ocean, within the human-developed territories.
As Illumi and his brother departed, a cruise ship and three destroyers were slowly sailing in the open waters between the Ozma Federation's territorial waters and the Kakin Empire's territorial waters.
"We're back," Sergio looked at the three Kakin Empire destroyers escorting them from behind, his heart filled with emotion. "The Dark Continent wasn't so difficult after all."
"Not so difficult?" Cervantes glanced at Sergio, his face grim. "If it weren't for Illumi and their flying Nen Beast this time, no one would have returned from that hellhole."
"Moreover, you think negotiating with Kakin was easy? We have to hand over all our gains from the Dark Continent to the Kakin Empire."
"Tch, it's not like you're in charge of the negotiations anyway," Sergio said, hands clasped behind his head, enjoying the salty sea breeze with a relaxed expression. "Besides, they don't know how much we gained. Just give them some Nitromite, and that'll be fine."
Cervantes's eyelid twitched, but he held back, no longer bothering with the other man.
Originally, after Illumi and his group left, Beyond and his entire team had moved to the Bay Beach, as the beach was the safest place at the moment. Various large creatures and strange organisms wouldn't appear there. After half a year of arduous survival, they finally awaited the rescue cruise ship dispatched by the Kakin Empire. Then, the group boarded the ship and, guided by their escort, after a three-month voyage, finally returned to human-developed waters.
At this moment, inside one of the cruise ship cabins, Natalie sat on a stool, using the ship's microscope equipment to examine the flowers and soil she had brought back from the Dark Continent.
"Hiss..."
Suddenly, Natalie felt an itch on her left arm. She immediately raised her left hand and pulled up her long sleeve, revealing a tattoo-like pattern on her left forearm.
"What is this?"
On her left forearm, the purplish-blue wound that was previously there had disappeared, replaced by a black tattoo in the shape of two tightly connected oval circles.
"It's somewhat like a Mobius strip?"
The moment she recognized the mysterious pattern on her arm, Natalie's heart was filled with questions. She didn't remember when she had gotten such a tattoo. Moreover, the location of this tattoo was precisely where she had sustained a wound while battling an unknown monster in the Dark Continent swamp. What concerned her even more was that a persistent itching sensation emanated from the tattoo, making her忍不住 want to scratch it.
"Why is it still itching?"
Natalie scratched back and forth vigorously, but no matter how much she scratched the skin where the tattoo was, the itching persisted. The unbearable itching felt as if it wasn't coming from her body, but from her very soul.
"Dark Continent tattoo..."
After concluding that scratching was ineffective, Natalie stopped her actions and carefully pondered the source of this mysterious tattoo. Fortunately, although the itching persisted, it was bearable.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
But just as Natalie was deep in thought in her room, a series of deafening cannon fire suddenly erupted outside. Hundreds of meters away from the cruise ship, the naval cannons and close-in weapons systems mounted on the three destroyers were continuously firing shells towards the rear of the fleet.
Single-barrel 130mm naval guns, firing at 10-40 rounds per minute. Type 730 30mm CIWS, firing at over 6000 rounds per minute. Overwhelming barrages of shells filled the sea and sky, whistling as they plunged into the seawater, causing continuous, violent explosions. For a moment, the sea before them turned into a sea of fire.
"What in the world are they attacking!?"
On the cruise ship deck, Sergio and Cervantes looked at the three destroyers, which had suddenly opened fire, their faces grim. They looked at the continuously exploding sea of fire behind them. With their vision, they even saw a destroyer launch torpedoes.
"Gurgle gurgle..."
At this moment, beneath the sea of fire, unseen by them, a colossal creature swiftly swam by.
"Boom!"
Suddenly, a torpedo hit its broad back, exploding with a fierce burst of fire.
"Whoosh buzz"
The gigantic creature swimming in the sea cried out in pain, opening its mouth and letting out a shocking sound. An impact wave even rippled outwards beneath the water, spreading in all directions. On the cruise ship, Sergio and Cervantes clung tightly to the railing. The entire cruise ship swayed violently due to the turbulent waves caused by the intense explosions on the sea surface.
"What was that sound!?" Sergio's face changed drastically. He roared at Cervantes, "Cervantes, did you hear that!?"
Cervantes didn't respond, but looking at his expression, it was clear he had heard it too. Not just the two of them, but everyone present on this vast sea had heard a strange sound amidst the fierce bombardment—a sound they had never heard before and couldn't comprehend. It was a sound that seemed to come from ancient times, a sound that could reach the very soul.
"Bang!"
Just then, the sea surface thirty meters in front of a destroyer suddenly exploded in a towering splash. The shadow of a giant creature leaped out from beneath the waves, charging towards the destroyer in front.
"BOOM!!!"
Accompanied by a thunderous roar, the massive body suddenly crashed onto the hundred-meter-long destroyer. The terrifying weight combined with the unknown monster's astonishing speed caused the destroyer to snap in half with just one blow.
With a "boom," the destroyer exploded violently. The hundred-meter-long destroyer instantly disintegrated, fire shot into the sky, and countless steel fragments scattered in all directions.
"Whoosh~"
A series of whooshing sounds filled the air. Sergio and Cervantes looked up at the sky, only to see four fighter jets roaring past over their heads.
"Bang bang bang bang..."
The four fighter jets each launched two rockets towards the colossal creature that had appeared on the sea surface, which whistled as they approached.
"Boom boom boom..."
Eight rockets accurately hit the gigantic creature's body, which was now floating on the sea surface, triggering a series of intense explosions.
"Whoosh buzz~!!"
The monster lurking beneath the water cried out in pain, shaking its head and suddenly letting out a terrifying roar from its open mouth, causing the water surface to tremble violently.
"Eagle One, target hit, Eagle One hit..."
"BOOM~!"
Before the pilot could finish speaking, a gigantic tail, like a skyscraper, surged from beneath the sea, striking the fighter jet's body at an astonishing speed.
"Ah~!!!"
Accompanied by the fighter jet pilot's scream, one fighter jet exploded with a "boom" in mid-air, turning into countless fiery fragments that fell into the sea. The monster's attack did not stop there. After its hundreds-of-meters-long tail destroyed the fighter jet in the air, its momentum undiminished, it violently slammed towards a destroyer a hundred meters away.
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