Collapsed walls, burnt buildings, various dinosaur corpses, and scattered weapons littered the ground.
The once bustling camp of the Sun Gods was now a silent wasteland of scorched earth and ash. With the last member killed and all other Sun Gods either dead, on the run, or surrendered, the Sun Gods were completely annihilated.
Thus, the Berserker Alliance annexed another major power and consolidated its power.
On The Island, a three-way standoff had officially formed among the remaining factions, while the fleeing Jose moved through the dense forest like a hunted animal.
Reaching a river valley, he spotted the Mangrove Forest on the other side. Jose, riding a Velociraptor, was preparing to find a way across the river when several dark figures suddenly leaped from behind the rocks on both sides of the valley. They blocked his path in a coordinated encirclement.
After seeing them clearly, his expression changed to a slight scowl.
The leading figure, riding a Baryonyx, pulled down his hood and revealed an extremely fierce face underneath.
"Yo! If this isn't Mister Sun God himself?~" His voice dripped with mockery.
"Panicking so much that you're trying to hide in the Mangrove Forest like a turtle retreating into its shell?"
"Hahaha, look at him running like a stray dog!"
Someone nearby sneered, their tone filled with vicious sarcasm.
"You bastards!" Jose spat.
"Back then, you ran rampant in the East District, killing our brothers and sisters, and stealing our supplies. You probably never expected to end like that yourself!"
Jose's expression grew even uglier as he now fully recognized the seven. They were the remnants of the Black Coffins, he'd nearly destroyed.
Originally, the Black Coffins had been suppressed by him due to their many evil deeds. Most were wiped out, leaving only these few around while hiding in a corner of The Island.
After surviving for so long, they finally found a chance to take revenge on Jose.
"You think a few weaklings like you can stop me?" Jose tried to intimidate them with his usual bravado, but his feet were quietly moving back while looking for a chance to escape.
"Today, you are at the end of your rope, and it's the perfect time to end you. Brothers, attack!"
The group had been developing in secret for a long time. They rode various carnivorous dinosaurs towards Jose in a coordinated assault.
There were Baryonyx, Spinosaurus, and Allosaurus among their mounts.
Now, Jose only had a Velociraptor by his side. The situation seemed hopeless.
His eyes were solemn as he reached into his inventory.
He took out a Cryopod from his pack with deliberate care.
"This thing was originally saved for Boshita, but it seems I have no choice but to use it now."
Jose fiercely pressed the activation button on the Cryopod, and the blue light suddenly surged outward. As the light dissipated, a Tyrannosaurus Rex entirely covered in silver Tek armor appeared in the center of the valley.
The air in the valley was instantly filled with a terrifying pressure that made everyone freeze in fear.
The seven Black Coffin remnants subconsciously stopped their advance, and their mockery was replaced by shock.
Its body was several sizes larger than that of a normal Tyrannosaurus Rex. Its Tek armor glinted with a cold metallic luster in the dim light, and its pair of crimson mechanical eyes emitted a menacing glow.
[Tek Tyrannosaurus Rex] Level: 335
"Th-this is a max-level Tek Tyrannosaurus Rex?!" one of them stammered.
A level 335 Tek Tyrannosaurus Rex obviously had a level close to 180 when captured in the wild. The maximum level for wild dinosaurs on The Island is 150, and 180 for Tek creatures specifically.
Adding nearly half the levels from taming effectiveness, plus the subsequent 88 levels from grinding experience, it's terrifying level directly suppressed the entire battlefield.
Although the dinosaurs of the Black Coffin Tribe members were also high-level, they were only in the two hundreds at best.
The Tek Tyrannosaurus Rex let out a roar that shook the valley walls. The sound of mechanical shifting rang out, and it took heavy steps while charging towards the seven Black Coffin players and their dinosaur pack.
Its armored feet stepped on the ground and left deep footprints in its wake.
The two sides instantly clashed viciously.
"Damn it!" one of the riders shouted.
"Give it your all! Have all the dinosaurs pin down the Tek Tyrannosaurus Rex. We have more people, so find a chance to kill him as fast as possible!"
These Black Coffin players were not weak fighters either, despite their losses. In the heat of battle, they began to use ranged weapons to attack Jose himself.
This left him scrambling for a moment while dodging.
Taking advantage of his distraction during the chaos, an Argentavis rider flying in the sky suddenly pounced on him from above. Sharp claws grabbed his shoulders, and he was lifted into the air by the massive bird.
In the blink of an eye, he was taken high into the sky.
He subconsciously swung the long saber in his hand and hacked fiercely at the Argentavis's wing. The Argentavis cried out in pain while letting out a long, shrill cry.
Jose seized the opportunity and slashed at the Argentavis's talons again with all his strength, and after a few seconds, the bird completely let go of him.
Losing his support, Jose instantly fell from dozens of meters in the air. The wind howled in his ears, and the scenery on the ground rapidly magnified below.
It looked like he was about to fall to his death on impact.
However, there was no panic in his eyes at the danger.
Just before hitting the ground, he suddenly opened the parachute in his backpack with perfect timing. The massive buoyancy slowed his fall dramatically, and Jose hung in the air while slowly drifting with the wind over the Mangrove Forest.
Seeing this, the Black Coffin Tribe players below immediately turned their ranged weapons toward the sky. Arrows and bullets struck at him again from multiple directions.
Just as he was about to land, he immediately pulled out a crossbow grappling hook from his belt. The grappling hook was fired into the Mangrove Forest canopy with precision.
Using the pull of the rope, he swung toward the Mangrove Forest like a dark shadow and crashed heavily against a tree trunk before sliding down to the ground.
Jose stood up unsteadily from the impact, and without time to catch his breath, he immediately cut the grappling hook rope and quickly dove deep into the dense Mangrove Forest.
"Don't let this guy get away! After him!" The leader shouted in frustration.
Seeing him escape into the Mangrove Forest, the Black Coffin Tribe members used their dinosaur pack to hold back the Tek Tyrannosaurus Rex while the others immediately began the pursuit on faster mounts.
Riding several fast Terror Birds, they rushed into the forest after him.
The Mangrove Forest's branches and leaves were interlaced and blocked out the sun completely. The roots coiled in the muddy wetlands and formed a natural barrier, perfect for hiding.
Jose ran fast ahead while the others chased closely behind through the tangled undergrowth.
He had put most of his attribute points into speed, so he wasn't running slowly despite his exhaustion. But running like this was not a sustainable solution since his stamina would eventually be completely exhausted.
He began to use the terrain to fight back strategically.
He took out a bola and swung it while running. Turning around sharply, he threw it directly at his pursuers, and the lead Terror Bird was instantly ensnared by the weighted cords.
The massive force caused it and the rider on its back to tumble and roll across the muddy ground.
He tried to use ranged weapons to fight back again while they recovered. Relying on his powerful stats, he moved around and killed two people in quick succession.
But the others still chased him relentlessly through the swamp.
Before long, his stamina was exhausted from the sustained sprint, and he was soon surrounded in a clearing.
Anger rose in Jose's eyes at the inevitable conclusion.
Was he really going to fall here today to these survivors?
These weaklings would have been done for in a few moves in reality, but unfortunately, in the ARK world, the opponents were all at max level with full armor protection.
Now, even his last main dinosaur was pinned down by their numbers.
He had now reached a dead end with no escape.
However, just as the others were about to go in for the kill, a dark shadow dove down fiercely from the dense canopy above.
Using the shade of the Mangrove Forest for a stealthy ambush, the person was so fast that only an afterimage remained visible.
Swish!
A Terror Bird rider was instantly tackled to the ground by the predator, then dragged away along the muddy earth amidst screams of terror.
Then, sharp teeth bit directly into the throat and silenced its victim.
"Ah... Who is it?!"
The few Black Coffin remnants were shocked by the sudden intervention.
A blue figure emerged from the shadows while riding a Thylacoleo, and it charged rapidly at the group again with deadly intent.
As the face was revealed in the dim light, the others hadn't even fully reacted yet.
But Jose's face was the first to turn pale with recognition and dismay.