149: Legal mammoth

The two accelerated through the ancient swamp, finally stepping onto a solid piece of land.

The surrounding scenery was desolate, with almost no trace of greenery in sight. As far as the eye could see, there were only undulating grayish-brown hills. A dry wind swept up fine dust, swirling lonely across the empty surface.

Continuing forward, not long after, a breathtakingly majestic peak suddenly loomed ahead. It rose abruptly from the ground, its rock walls as vertical as if sliced by a knife. Following those steep lines upward with their gaze until they vanished into the deep clouds high above. Its height, it was said, could reach three thousand meters.

Lin Luo's eyesight was exceptional. Lifting his gaze, he immediately saw two small dots rapidly ascending the knife-cut cliff face—it was Sunny and Komatsu. Sunny, using invisible strands of hair hooked onto Komatsu's collar, the two seemed to have broken free from gravity's constraints, 'walking' lightly up the nearly vertical precipice, climbing swiftly.

Tina squinted, straining to see for a long while, but could only make out a blurry rock wall. 'Aren't we on the plateau? The Legal Mammoth is so huge, why can't we see even a shadow of it?'

Lin Luo gestured with his chin towards the cliff. 'I'm afraid they move about on the rock walls above. Sunny is climbing up right now.'

'Huh?' Tina was stunned. 'How do we get up that high? I don't know how to rock climb!'

Lin Luo sighed softly. 'What else can we do? I'll carry you on my back.'

Tina chuckled, saying, 'That's so embarrassing,' yet her body had already honestly climbed onto Lin Luo's back. 'Sorry to trouble you again, Lin Luo.'

Lin Luo didn't respond, about to exert force and leap—

'Lin Luo! Above! Run! Something's falling!' Tina's terrified scream rang out almost simultaneously.

In truth, he didn't need her warning. Lin Luo had already sensed the terrifying wind pressure and shadow abruptly bearing down from above a step earlier. Without hesitation, he pushed off with his feet, his figure shooting back dozens of meters like lightning!

The heavy oppressive feeling brought by the black shadow was also detected by Sunny, who was still climbing. Even as one of the well-traveled Four Heavenly Kings, his face changed drastically now, alarms blaring in his heart.

Bad luck! Such terrible luck!

Sunny, who always valued composure and graceful elegance, couldn't care less about his image now. Grabbing Komatsu tightly, his hair strands exerted force violently—not upward, but sideways, fleeing madly along the cliff face.

'Waaaaah—!' Komatsu, dragged by his collar, glanced back and saw the giant shadow blotting out the sky rapidly enlarging, scaring his soul out of his body.

Misfortune never comes alone. The terrifying tremor caused by the falling behemoth awakened another group of 'residents' hibernating in the caves of the Legal Wall.

Rustle rustle... Hiss hiss...

Countless twisted, elongated figures swarmed out from rock crevices and caves. They possessed serpentine, flexible long bodies, but their heads resembled mammalian beasts, covered in hard keratin, their eyes flashing with cold ferocity.

Snake Cliffs! Mammalian beasts, capture rank 30, apex predators of the Legal Wall. Once disturbed, they attack in swarms. Their flesh is inedible, but because their muscles can instantly harden, their attack and defense are extremely formidable. On Legal Island, they are top-tier predators.

They attributed the violent shaking of the rock wall to the two 'uninvited guests,' Sunny and Komatsu. Hissing, they slithered across the vertical rock face at astonishing speeds, chasing fiercely towards the two!

With 'the sky collapsing' ahead and 'the earth chasing' behind, Sunny and Komatsu were instantly plunged into a desperate situation.

And at that very moment, at the foot of the mountain on the other side, Toriko, dragging his exhausted body, arrived at the base of the Legal Wall with Rin in tow. Lifting his head, he took one look and clearly saw Sunny's perilous situation above.

Run? Where to? He would never abandon his comrades.

'Sunny! Over here! Jump down!' Toriko roared, making a decisive call. The muscles in his arms bulged, gourmet cell energy erupting. His hands transformed into sharp knife and fork forms, and he slammed them fiercely into the hard ground beneath his feet!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Rubble flew. A pit deep enough to hold several people took shape at an astonishing speed.

'Rin, get in!' Toriko shouted, leaping into the pit with Rin leading the way. Being directly hit by a Legal Mammoth of that size, even a Four Heavenly King would likely be instantly pulverized—that terrifying weight was no joke.

'Aaaaaah—!' Sunny's scream grew from far to near. He drained his last ounce of strength, his hair strands pulled to the limit, dragging the nearly unconscious Komatsu, and leaped from the nearly vertical cliff face towards the direction of the pit!

At the critical moment!

Just as their figures vanished into the pit opening—

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!!!!!!

It was as if a meteor had struck the ground!

The giant beast, in free fall from the three-thousand-meter plateau, smashed solidly into the vast wasteland before the Legal Wall. An indescribable terrifying impact force instantly erupted. The earth trembled and cracked violently like fragile eggshells! A visible shockwave spread outward in a ring with insane ferocity, sweeping up sky-obscuring dust and rubble, transforming into a devastating sandstorm that swept in all directions!

Hiding behind Lin Luo, Tina gripped his clothes tightly. She felt the ground beneath her feet madly bucking, a continuous buzzing in her ears, her vision filled with nothing but overwhelming, dusky yellow. If not for Lin Luo standing like a mountain in front, his steady Qi field neutralizing most of the impact, she would likely have been sent flying long ago.

A howling gale, sand and stones clattering against Lin Luo's back. He stood unshakable, his gaze piercing through the chaotic sandstorm, tightly locked onto the giant crater in the distance 'kissed' by the 'meteor,' and further away, that small yet resilient underground pit that had just swallowed his companions.

Almost the instant they left their original spot—

BOOM!!!

The earth shook and mountains trembled! An unimaginably massive impact exploded just ahead of where they had been standing moments before. Smoke and dust shot into the sky, carrying rubble that shot out like cannonballs. The The violent airflow transformed into a tangible shockwave. transformed into a tangible shockwave, even shaving a layer off the distant hills.

Lin Luo stood firm, shielding Tina behind him, squinting towards the center of the smoke and dust.

'Wh-what fell down?' Tina asked, heart still pounding, her voice trembling.

As the dust settled slightly, it revealed a glimpse of the behemoth—a leg covered in long hair, thick as a sky-piercing pillar, and a small part of its massive body resembling a hill.

'Legal Mammoth,' Lin Luo said gravely, a trace of solemnity flashing in his eyes.

This Legal Mammoth resembled the one Sunny had captured earlier in form, but its size... could no longer be described as 'mountainous.' The hill-sized mammoth Sunny captured would likely appear as small as a child's toy doll before this colossal entity.

Boom—Rumble!

The earth groaned again under unbearable strain. The giant beast, lying on its back with six legs in the air in a somewhat comical posture, suddenly struggled. Its massive body shook violently amidst the dust, actually flipping over by sheer force and standing up again. The pair of disproportionately small wings on its back, currently flapping, looked especially bizarre now—anyone could tell they were utterly incapable of supporting this mountain-like weight.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

The re-standing Legal Mammoth was clearly agitated. Its giant eyes, like small lakes, slowly rotated, scanning its surroundings. Its nostrils expelled two thick plumes of white steam, emitting a low, thunderous hum.

A few reckless beasts appeared before it. It simply used its left trunk to inhale sharply. A powerful airflow instantly formed a tornado, sucking all those beasts into its nose. Moments later, its right trunk blew out a hurricane, a pile of white bones forcefully expelled by the strong wind, merging with the dry bones on the ground.

Enormous. Terrifying. But in the eyes of the Legal Mammoth, humans were as insignificant as ants, not warranting its slightest attention. Lin Luo whispered, 'Let's hurry and regroup with Sunny, Toriko, and the others. They've taken shelter in an underground cave.'

He leaped up, and with a few agile maneuvers, brought Tina to the front of the underground cave Toriko had cut out. The originally several-meter-deep pit had been compressed by the impact of the Legal Mammoth's fall to only half a meter deep. If it had been any shallower, their lives would have been in serious danger.

'Mr. Lin Luo, Young Miss Tina, you made it too!' Komatsu's face lit up with joy upon seeing them.

However, now was not the time to relax. Because what had been shaken down by the mammoth, besides Sunny and Komatsu, were countless Snake Cliffs. These creatures had first-rate survival skills. Relying on huddling together and hardening their muscles, they had actually survived the impact of the mammoth's fall, appearing completely unscathed.

Toriko, exhausted from the long journey and battles, was already struggling to cope. Sunny still had some strength left, but facing such a situation, Lin Luo naturally wouldn't stand idly by.

'Leave it to me,' Lin Luo spoke up. 'I've gained some new insights into mobilizing gourmet cells recently. I can also circulate energy for ranged attacks like you all. When attached to the body surface, the enhancement is also significant. My strength has advanced another step.'

'Knife!'

He shaped his hands into blades. A sharp, cold light swept down from the edges of his palms, instantly killing a nearby Snake Cliff.

Toriko was astonished. 'That's my 'Knife'? Did you steal my ability? Its power is actually stronger than mine.'

Lin Luo grinned. 'Among Gourmet Hunters, how can it be called 'stealing'? It's just borrowing a bit.'

Under Toriko's amazed gaze, Lin Luo's hands transformed from knives into claws—not into fork shapes, but into fierce beast claws, easily tearing through the Snake Cliff's hard hide.

Suddenly, a cry rang out from above. Streaks of purple venom rained down on the muscle-swollen Snake Cliff swarm like machine gun fire. The nerve-paralyzing toxin took effect instantly, the Snake Cliffs stiffening one after another, unable to move.

The Emperor Crow spread its wings, blotting out the sky, devouring all light. A clear, refreshing voice came from above:

'Yo, is everyone okay?'

'Coco!' Toriko looked towards the newcomer with delight.

'Toriko, Sunny, Lin Luo, am I not too late!' Coco leaped down lightly, landing before the group.

'What a splendid entrance, stealing all the spotlight... The timing is simply unparalleled in its beauty,' Sunny covered his face, his tone full of envy and resentment. Why did such perfect moments never fall to him? He wanted to make such a grand appearance too.

Lin Luo laughed heartily. 'Perfect timing! Relying on me alone to handle this trouble would have taken quite some effort.'

However, there was simply no time for idle chat.

Whoosh—!

A sharp sound of something tearing through the air rang out. A searing energy beam ripped through the air without warning, shooting straight at Sunny!

'Danger!' Lin Luo shouted a warning.

Sunny's figure had already flitted back like a ghost. Where he had been standing moments before—

Boom!

The ground violently exploded, earth and stones flying, smoke and fumes billowing, the power comparable to a heavy artillery shell.

Toriko, Coco, and Rin all tensed up. The consequences of being hit by that strike would have been unthinkable.

Almost simultaneously, the ground not far away shattered with another explosive sound. A large-bodied gt robot, its metal shell gleaming coldly, burst from the earth, its heavy landing causing the ground to tremble slightly. That treacherous sneak attack just now had come from it.

'Hahaha... To have three of the Four Heavenly Kings present, what a rare feast,' the robot's head flashed with a crimson light, emitting a mad laugh mixed with electronic static. 'Burying you all here would be a great achievement!'

'Who did you say you'll bury? A pile of laughable scrap metal!' Sunny's eyes held murderous intent, laughing in extreme anger.

His hair strands stirred without wind, about to strike.

'Sunny, wait,' Coco stepped forward, his calm voice carrying an undeniable resolve. 'The Legal Mammoth has been paralyzed and immobilized over there by me. You all hurry and go capture the jewel meat. My 'Electromagnetic Wave Vision' detects multiple abnormal electromagnetic reactions inside the Legal Mammoth... The Gourmet Association may have already entered ahead of us.'

He turned slightly, facing the menacing gt robot, a faint purple dangerous aura beginning to circulate around him. 'This guy, leave him to me. Time is tight, don't waste it here.'

Toriko nodded heavily, Battle Intent and urgency burning in his eyes. 'Understood! Coco, be careful!'

Sunny snorted coldly. Though unwilling, he understood priorities. His dazzling hair strands slowly settled down.