The withered leaves came to life upon contact with water.
The serrated veins on the leaves, once swollen with water, transformed into sharp instruments that could devour flesh and blood at incredible speeds.
A flying creature several times the size of the Chimera was completely consumed by the swarming leaves in just two or three seconds.
One could only imagine that a human, if caught by these leaves, would likely not last even an instant before being reduced to nothing, not even bones remaining.
Chimera, ascend!
A chill ran down Morrow's spine as he shouted urgently, simultaneously firing a Deceptive Shooting Star upwards without hesitation.
Roar!
The Chimera had witnessed the gruesome fate of the other flying creature, its eyes widening in shock.
Though it prided itself on tearing apart prey with its spiral-shaped oral cavity at its tail end, and considered its speed of devouring flesh to be extremely fast, it was nothing compared to this swarm of leafy creatures.
Hearing Morrow's command, it frantically beat its wings, soaring into the sky against the curtain of rain.
The others, pushing aside their terror, quickly wedged themselves into the gaps between the slightly raised scales on the Chimera's back.
This was a unique biological structure of the Chimera; its scales could lift up like a shark's gills, revealing neat slits for people to secure themselves.
Moreover, the degree to which the scales could be raised was adjustable. In a crisis, they could act as shields to block attacks for Morrow and his team, and during normal flight, they effectively blocked strong winds.
The Chimera shot almost vertically into the sky.
Dense raindrops smashed against its raised scales, splashing into a hazy mist.
However, just as it left the ground, the pile of withered leaves below, soaked by the rain, swelled and revived, opening their mouths that were as fine as leaf veins.
Then, as if instantly locking onto the Chimera in the air, they shot toward the sky like bouncing rubber balls.
Even more shockingly, during their ascent, they achieved an unbelievable secondary acceleration mid-air by colliding with one another.
In an instant, the dense mass of leafy creatures converged into a torrent through continuous collisions, chasing straight up against the downpour.
Biscuit and the others, nestled in the Chimera's scale slits, looked down. Upon seeing the locust-like swarm of leafy creatures, their pupils trembled, unable to suppress the horror in their hearts.
Are you kidding me! What kind of creature is this?!
Just as the swarm of leaves was about to catch up to the Chimera, the Deceptive Shooting Star Morrow had previously shot upward returned.
Amidst the torrential rain, the crisp sound of a coin flip echoed.
A faint glimmer of light fell through the rain curtain, it was a Divine Script coin engraved with a star mark.
The Shooting Star, returning from above, chased after that glimmer of light, brushing past the Chimera.
The next second.
The fluorescent green Shooting Star hit the front of the leafy creature swarm.
BOOM!
The Shooting Star exploded violently, instantly tearing countless leafy creatures to shreds.
The resulting shockwave blasted a hole through the offensive of the leafy creatures further below.
The Chimera seized the opportunity to pull up with all its might, finally escaping the pursuit range of the leaf swarm.
The other flying creatures that had chosen to land earlier were not so lucky.
They were completely engulfed by the surging tide of leafy creatures, and within a few seconds, not even a trace of blood remained.
Morrow's group watched the tragic scene below as if witnessing a magic trick that made people vanish into thin air.
The leaf swarm, after devouring the flying creatures, did not quiet down. They continued to writhe and vibrate like thousands of chainsaws.
As far as the eye could see, every inch of the ground was completely covered by these teeming, squirming creatures.
Although they had temporarily escaped the threat of the leaf swarm, merely witnessing this scene from a distance left Biscuit and the others with lingering fear.
It was simply too terrifying.
If one were to traverse the Dark Continent on foot and unfortunately encounter rain here, it would be a hopeless situation with no escape.
Faced with terror of this magnitude, no matter how many human armies were thrown at it, they would likely be annihilated in an instant.
As the Chimera climbed to a safe altitude, the leaf swarm on the ground gradually reined in its aggressive posture.
After confirming they were temporarily free from the ground threat, Morrow immediately turned his gaze to the countless tentacles descending from the sky.
They were still slowly retracting, spewing flames from time to time, turning any creature that tried to pass through into charcoal.
Despite being in a downpour, as the distance closed, the group could still faintly feel the scorching airflow on their faces.
It's getting closer.
Morrow's expression was grave.
Up to this point, they had yet to see the full form of this behemoth.
They neither knew how the tentacles spewed such violent flames, nor could they comprehend how its massive body remained so stably suspended in the air.
There were too many questions and no time to delve into them.
The immediate priority was to figure out how to escape the tightening hunting net of the behemoth above.
Hm?
As Morrow's mind raced, he stared intently at the gradually contracting formation of tentacles in the distance.
He noticed that whenever a flying creature was burned by the flames and fell, other tentacles that weren't spewing fire would pass straight through the flames to precisely snatch the charred corpses.
In other words, not only could these tentacles efficiently create fire, but their own structure also possessed extremely strong fire-resistant properties.
It was as if they were the heatproof armor Feitan conjured when using Pain Packer, capable of completely insulating against any form of damage from high temperatures.
In that case, as long as they could cut off a section of a tentacle, they could theoretically create a piece of fireproof equipment on the spot.
But before putting it to use, its actual effectiveness had to be verified.
They also needed to consider whether the behemoth would react violently to its tentacle being damaged.
However, regardless of the potential risks, it was better to actively seek a breakthrough than to passively await their fate.
Those tentacles should have heat-insulating properties.
Morrow immediately informed the others of his idea to create heatproof armor on the spot.
If a normal person were to consider this, they would surely conclude they'd just be "baked and stewed."
But Morrow had personally experienced Feitan's Nen ability, and there was the example of the Chimera being able to swim in lava, so he felt that making heatproof armor from the tentacles was highly feasible.
Besides, in this place, common sense was irrelevant; anything was possible.
Moreover, they could always verify its effectiveness before deciding whether to use it.
"But getting away in one piece after cutting off a tentacle is easier said than done." Biscuit's brow furrowed, her tone laced with worry. "Among us, only you have what it takes to carry out this plan, right, Morrow? But the power of those flames is no small matter. We can feel the heatwave even through the rain from this far away."
"I'm not the one who will be carrying out the cutting mission."
Morrow shook his head gently.
The others, who had been worrying about the risks of the plan, were taken aback by his words.
After all, Morrow was the only one on the team who possessed both the ability to fly and significant offensive power.
Morrow looked at his teammates and explained, "The Chimera is better suited for this task than I am, and I can temporarily keep everyone afloat in the air."
"Send the Chimera?"
Biscuit tilted her head up slightly, looking at the Chimera's long, arched neck in front of them. Still worried, she said, "But it's too conspicuous, and it's a large target. Won't the risk be even higher?"
"The Chimera is indeed the best choice!" Menchi suddenly interjected. "It can sleep in lava. Those flames probably can't harm it in the slightest."
"Sleep in lava?!"
Biscuit, Gel, Ponzu, and Sanbica's eyes widened in unison upon hearing this.
They truly hadn't expected the Chimera to possess such an astonishing biological trait.
Morrow said, "Yes, that's why I believe the Chimera is better suited to carry out this mission."
After learning about the Chimera's biological characteristics, Biscuit and the others agreed that it did indeed have what it took to execute the mission.
Having made his decision, Morrow immediately took action.
"Terpsichora."
A powerful aura surged from his shoulders, instantly condensing into a puppeteer.
The phantom's outstretched arms were like wings, with countless threads drooping from them and connecting to various parts of Morrow's body.
Seeing this, Gel activated her ability in sync.
Hiss.
Her arms, enveloped in aura, rapidly transformed into serpentine Nen beasts, which then suddenly extended several meters as her ability activated.
The extended serpentine bodies deftly coiled around and secured all their teammates.
After completing the preparations, Gel gave Morrow a slight nod.
Morrow blinked to her side, wrapped one arm around her slender waist, and, under the levitating effect of Terpsichora, carried the entire team, floating steadily in mid-air.
The Chimera's bird-like head turned backward. After personally confirming that Morrow and the others were stable in the air, it beat its wings and flew toward the nearest tentacle.
Under everyone's watchful eyes, it rapidly approached the airspace where many tentacles hung.
The moment it got close, the cluster of tentacles immediately reacted.
The next second, sucker-like pores opened up in multiple places on the tentacles' surfaces, and several streams of blue flame erupted from them, weaving into a net that completely engulfed the Chimera.
However, the Chimera was unharmed in the flames.
Braving the raging blue fire, it suddenly accelerated and charged toward one of the tentacles. Then, with a sharp twist of its body, it slashed with its scale-covered wings, which were like sharp blades wrapped in aura.
Swish!
With a soft sound, the severed section of the tentacle floated down toward the ground as lightly as a willow catkin.
At the same time.
The severed end of the tentacle, like an out-of-control gas valve, began to spew flames madly without warning, and the entire tentacle started to swing and shake violently.
The Chimera, unconcerned by the rampaging flames before it, controlled its tail, coiled it, and precisely scooped up the severed piece. It then turned and charged back in the direction of Morrow and the others.
But in just those two or three seconds of lingering, the surrounding tentacles once again spewed columns of blue fire, engulfing the Chimera's massive body.
Yet the Chimera remained completely unscathed.
In the distant sky.
Seeing the Chimera succeed, Biscuit and the others let out a slight sigh of relief.
The Chimera soon returned with its prize.
The half-section of tentacle held by its long tail was fifty to sixty meters long from the break point alone.
Morrow led his team to land steadily back on the Chimera's spine.
As soon as he steadied himself, the Chimera controlled its tail to suspend the now-motionless tentacle section in front of everyone.
No one touched it rashly; instead, they first observed it cautiously from a close distance.
The tentacle seemed to be made of a thin, gelatinous material. It was semi-transparent and completely empty inside, with no visible tissue structure.
Yet this gelatinous tentacle, empty on the inside, was capable of spewing such ferocious flames.
Could it be that the tentacle was more like a pipe, capable of transporting a colorless, odorless flammable gas to ignite the flames?
As Morrow pondered this, he shifted his gaze to the Chimera's tail.
He saw no abnormalities at the point of contact, which seemed to indicate that the tentacle's surface was not harmful.
"Don't be so quick to touch it."
Seeing Morrow about to reach out and touch the tentacle, Menchi immediately spoke up to stop him.
Morrow paused, looked back at Menchi, and immediately understood her meaning. He nodded and said, "Alright, let's have you test it with your ability first."
"Mm."
Menchi strode forward, drew the Poultry Scarlet Knife from her waist, made a light cut on the tentacle's surface, and then used the tip of the knife to pick up a small sample and place it in her mouth to chew.
Her "God's Tongue" Enhancement Ability allowed her to extract basic information from an object by chewing it.
However, while the ability was active, her body was in a state of "isolation" from the chewed object, so even if the sample contained a deadly poison, it would not affect her.
This method of obtaining special abilities by enhancing a specific organ was not uncommon among Enhancers.
For example, Dogman, one of Morena's former trusted subordinaries, could directly sniff out a target's Nen type and other information from a certain distance by enhancing his sense of smell.
And on Greed Island, the Nen user Binolt can learn a target's physical traits and age by chewing their hair.
Morrow was quite familiar with information about these abilities, but the development of "God's Tongue" was not his suggestion. It was an ability Menchi had developed after clarifying her own needs.
Because of this, the ability had reached an extremely high level of strength and suitability.
Menchi chewed carefully a few times, her eyes narrowing slightly. She then turned her head and spat out the small piece of gelatinous skin, summarizing, "Non-toxic, inedible. Also, I extracted trace information of hydrogen gas remaining on the surface."
"Hydrogen gas?"
The group was slightly surprised to hear this.
Hydrogen gas itself is colorless and odorless, yet Menchi's taste-based ability could still directly analyze its presence.
This was perhaps the most astonishing characteristic of Nen.
To think it detected the presence of hydrogen.
Morrow looked at the numerous tentacles hanging down like a beaded curtain, then raised his head to gaze at the faint gray-black giant shadow in the clouds. He raised a hand to his chin and said, "No wonder the inside of the tentacles seemed empty, yet they could spew such intense flames. And the reason its massive body can float so stably... I see."
He had roughly deduced the principle behind the behemoth's levitation.
But right now, the most important thing was to verify the tentacle's fireproof properties.
The testing method was simple: Kalluto's familiar spirit would serve as the lab rat, and the Chimera would spew lava to test the protective effect.
The results came out quickly.
The familiar spirit, Youpi, wrapped in the tentacle skin, was able to remain completely unharmed while enveloped in the lava spewed by the Chimera, even without the reinforcement of "aura."
This showed just how absurdly fireproof this thing was.
If Feitan hadn't died, this thing would have been the perfect counter to his ability.
This thing... could perhaps be considered a kind of 'hope' as well.
Morrow held a piece of the tentacle skin in his hand.
Putting aside distant possibilities, if this material could be popularized in the field of firefighting, the casualty rate for firefighters in the future would drop to zero.
—--
Information:
Shahu (Calamity · Gaseous Lifeform)
Ferocity: A (The ecological behavior of this entity poses a fatal danger to humans.)
Quantity: B (Between several hundred and several thousand.)
Reproductive Ability: ?
Destructive Power: A (Very high fatality rate, extremely difficult to evade.)
Overall: A- (Must be annihilated as soon as possible, but is extremely difficult to deal with, requiring world-class cooperation.)
Weakness: Strike the core directly before it fully forms.
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Bonus chapter @250powerstones ? Easy, right ?