147: Sani

"They're here!" Rin put down her binoculars and shouted to the others who were still feasting.

On the distant hilltop, a gigantic, mountain-like figure gradually became clear—its reddish-brown body was mottled with tiger stripes, six thick, short legs steadily trod the ground, and two long trunks swayed slowly in the air.

And supporting its entire weight was a slender male figure. His long hair, as vibrant as a rainbow, almost reached his ankles. With each step he took, the ground beneath him cracked and sank, leaving deep footprints.

It was evident how terrifying the weight he bore was.

"S-such a massive size... Is this the Legal Mammoth?" Tina's voice trembled.

"Is that Mr. Sunny, one of the Four Heavenly Kings? He's amazing... He's lifting it with just one arm!" Komatsu was also so shocked that his mouth hung open.

The scene before them was truly beyond imagination—that mountain-like giant beast was being carried forward by one person with a single hand.

"No, not a single arm..." Director Mansam chewed on his Drunken Beef Steak and said leisurely.

Before he finished speaking, an unexpected change occurred.

"It's the Gang Hoods! They want to steal the Legal Mammoth!" Komatsu exclaimed, his eyes wide.

Several dark figures swiftly lunged towards Sunny from the flank—

Whoosh!

In a flash of lightning, all the attacking Gang Hoods froze in mid-air simultaneously, then fell to the ground, unable to move.

They were instantly subdued by pressure points.

"Catch!"

Sunny tossed it effortlessly, and the 'small mountain' of a Legal Mammoth flew through the air towards where the group was.

"Ahhh—Run!!"

"Brother! You're too reckless!" Rin stomped her foot and yelled angrily.

The shadow of the giant beast already loomed overhead.

The mountain-like behemoth crashed down with a roar, and Komatsu and the others instinctively screamed and scattered.

"Hah—!"

Director Mansam braced himself, his arms pushing upwards, and he managed to catch the falling Legal Mammoth. The immense impact made him sink sharply, his feet deeply embedding into the ground, his figure seeming to shrink instantly.

"My apologies, my apologies, was it a bit heavy, Director?" Sunny said apologetically, yet his face showed a carefree and unrepentant expression.

"A beautiful catch. It seems your wrist strength hasn't diminished at all." As he approached, he gently stroked half of his cheek with his fingertips, scrutinizing Director Mansam's posture with a critical gaze. "However—it's simply not 'beautiful'."

Sunny shook his head, his tone filled with artistic criticism:

"This posture of catching the Mammoth completely fails to stir one's heart, not even a shred of emotion is evoked. Look at those bowed legs, utterly hideous, lacking any sexy rhythm... Honestly, you might as well not have caught it at all..."

Komatsu and Tina, seeing one of the Four Heavenly Kings who lived by 'aesthetics' for the first time, were dumbfounded.

T-this person's personality... isn't it a bit too terrible!

"You bastard Sunny! Don't throw such an important food treasure around like garbage! You haven't changed a bit, you'll get your comeuppance eventually!" Director Mansam roared, holding the Mammoth.

"Director, I thoughtfully transported it for you; you should be thanking me properly." Sunny lightly leaped into the air, landing nearby.

"Yo, Toriko, long time no see." He turned to Toriko, his eyes seemingly carrying invisible probes. "Your cellular activity is more vigorous than before, and your muscle elasticity has improved quite a bit... It seems you've eaten a lot of good things recently."

"Hey, hey, don't suddenly come over and touch someone else's face, it's disgusting!" Toriko touched his own cheek, a look of distaste on his face.

Rin, standing by, glared fiercely at her brother, feeling a vein throbbing in her forehead—that stinky brother, how dare you touch him casually?!

"Hmm? Blocked?" Sunny paused slightly, his gaze shifting to Lin Luo, who stood silently to the side. His 'tactile senses', a thousand times finer than hair, were somehow blocked by an invisible barrier when they approached Lin Luo's vicinity, unable to get any closer.

This instantly sparked his intense interest.

"Interesting... Who are you?"

"My name is Lin Luo. Four Heavenly Kings Sunny, it's a pleasure to meet you." Lin Luo responded calmly.

"Lin Luo... I'm curious, why can't my 'tactile senses' get close to you?" Sunny's eyes gleamed with an investigative light. "Aside from that little guy over there—a Fighting Wolf, right? It sensed me early on and avoided me. Among all these people present, only you completely blocked my perception."

His gaze first swept towards Terry, the small Fighting Wolf in the distance, who was warily watching him, then slowly retracted, settling back on Lin Luo, filled with undisguised curiosity and scrutiny.

Lin Luo raised his hand and gently waved it.

An invisible yet condensed force swept through, and the fine 'threads' that were invisibly spreading densely in the air quietly receded—those were Sunny's extended 'tactile senses', his unique and keen sensory organs.

Lin Luo's voice was calm, yet carried a clear warning: "Sunny, if you continue to probe so recklessly... I won't be so polite. I do have the ability to sever these 'threads'."

Upon hearing this, Sunny's eyes sharpened, and he almost instantly retracted all his extended tactile senses. Although these 'tactile senses' were extremely strong and exceptionally resilient, they weren't without limits. More importantly—they were distinctly different from ordinary hair.

Each 'tactile sense' was tightly connected to his nerves; if even one were truly severed, the excruciating pain would be enough to make an ordinary person faint on the spot. Even Sunny himself would never want to easily experience that sensation.

Rin saw her brother get rebuffed and couldn't help but gloat: "Serves you right! You're always so arrogant, and now you've met your match, haven't you?"

Sunny and Rin, as siblings, should ideally have a deep bond, but reality was quite the opposite—the two were at loggerheads as soon as they met, constantly bickering and verbally sparring, almost to the point of physically pulling each other's hair.

"Rin, what's with your pipe-like legs?" Sunny unceremoniously scrutinized his sister from head to toe, entering taunting mode. "After being apart for so long, your subcutaneous fat reserves are truly astonishing. It's because you're addicted to sweets all day that you've become like this."

Rin immediately bristled upon hearing this: "None of your business! Besides, this has nothing to do with you, Big Brother, you're being too nosy!"

"Heh, if I could, I wouldn't want any connection with you, 'tomboy sister'." Sunny turned his face away with a look of disdain.

"I don't want to waste words with you, 'effeminate brother'!" Rin immediately retorted, not backing down.

"Who are you calling effeminate?! Shut up, tomboy!"

"Listen up, effeminate brother—" Rin put her hands on her hips and declared forcefully, "You're not allowed to casually touch Toriko anymore!"

"Hahahaha..."

At this moment, Director Mansam had already placed the Legal Mammoth firmly on the ground. He clapped the dust off his hands and laughed, "Since Sunny is also here, I'll officially state the details of this commission."

Toriko was stunned upon hearing this: "Director, isn't the commission just to capture this Legal Mammoth?"

Sunny also looked confused—he had clearly caught the Legal Mammoth and personally handed it to the Director!

Director Mansam shook his head, his expression becoming serious: "You've misunderstood. This is just a 'cub' of the Legal Mammoth. What the Gourmet Association is truly after... is the adult Legal Mammoth! They have already infiltrated the First Biotope, and your mission is to capture an adult individual before they do!"

"What?! This is just a cub?!" Toriko and Sunny exclaimed simultaneously. "Then... how big is an adult Legal Mammoth?!"

Tina, standing by, was also dumbfounded. If a cub was already like a small mountain, the scale of an adult Legal Mammoth was truly unimaginable.

From the research institute, traveling to the Legal Highlands requires crossing several special areas: next to the Black Grass Prairie are the Mushroom Forest and the White Forest, and further ahead are swamps and a dangerous area known as the 'Devil's Arena'. As the core area of the First Biotope, the average capture rank of beasts here reaches Rank 27. Between the Legal Highlands and the plains, there is also an almost vertical, insurmountable giant wall—the Legal Wall.

After confirming the commission, Lin Luo and his group did not delay and immediately arrived at the first essential location: the vast and boundless Black Grass Prairie.

Not far away, herds of herbivores were leisurely grazing, enjoying this rare grassland.

"Wow! It's the Black Grass Prairie!" Toriko's eyes lit up, and he shouted excitedly, "This is a top-tier ingredient for salads!"

He strode forward, casually pulled up a clump of inky black grass, put it in his mouth, chewed a few times, and then smiled brightly: "Haha, it's delicious indeed! Lin Luo, you should try it too!"

Lin Luo walked closer and squatted down, also picking a small handful to put in his mouth—it was crisp, with a unique mellow fragrance similar to chocolate, truly extraordinary.

"Woof! Woof woof!"

Just then, Terry, the small Fighting Wolf closely following Toriko, suddenly perked up his ears and barked alertly, his gaze sharply fixed on one side of the grassland.

Lin Luo had already sensed something amiss and looked in that direction, seeing three massive figures, shaped like stacked boulders, approaching them with heavy, synchronized steps.

Gurgle gurgle... The Stone Golems' throats rumbled with low, malicious sounds, and raw ferocity gleamed from their rock-crevice-like eye sockets.

"Tsk... It's the Rock Drums!" A cold sweat subtly beaded on Toriko's forehead.

Rock Drums, giant shelled beasts, capture rank 27. They originally inhabited coastal areas but, due to their insatiable appetite and boundless greed, continuously invaded inland in search of more food.

Grrrraaaah—!

One of the Rock Drums suddenly threw its head back and let out a deafening roar, causing the surrounding animals to scatter in panic, throwing the grassland into chaos.

Boom!

Another Rock Drum raised its stone fist, like a giant hammer, and smashed it down hard on a plump wild boar that hadn't managed to escape far. With a dull thud and the sound of bones shattering, the wild boar was instantly crushed into a pulp. The Rock Drum bent down, scooped up the bloody, mangled remains, and casually stuffed them into its crevice-like maw, chewing sounds mixing with gurgling blood.

"Ah—! H-how disgusting!" Rin screamed, unable to help herself, witnessing the brutal and bloody scene.

And this scream, like a fuse, instantly ignited the Rock Drums' attention.

The nearest Rock Drum slowly turned its rock-like head, its savage gaze concretely locking onto them. Then, it began to take heavy, ground-shaking steps, one by one, directly approaching the group... "I can't handle these creatures that are driven purely by instinct and have no brains." Lin Luo frankly took half a step back and glanced at Toriko and Sunny. "With you two here, I'll save some energy."

He said this candidly, but it also contained another consideration. While Divine Sense could deter or even erase the consciousness of such low-intelligence creatures, it consumed a great deal of energy. This was only the beginning of their journey; if he expended too much strength here, the situation might become passive if they encountered more troublesome dangers later.

Rather than fighting head-on, it was better to leave the task of 'clearing out the cannon fodder' to the experts who were better at direct overwhelming force.

Sunny elegantly tossed his vibrant, multicolored long hair, his expression haughty: "Everyone step back—today, I'll let you witness with your own eyes what 'gorgeous' art truly is!"