Once everyone's creatures had been placed in their starting positions…
Valerius snapped his fingers.
"The finals begin."
Ruan Mei's mantis shrimp spawned inside a dense forest.
Its first action was to gather several massive leaves and drape them over its body.
The next moment, its entire body turned green, perfectly blending into the surrounding vegetation.
Herta: "Using the environment and setting up an ambush right away."
"This is in the bag."
Seeing this, Herta nodded in satisfaction.
As expected of Ruan Mei.
She had immediately grasped the key to the finals.
It didn't matter how many creatures you'd defeated.
What mattered…
…was knowing how to ambush.
Not far away…
Sucrose's creature had no such concerns.
Its powerful grasping hands swung from tree branch to tree branch like a primate as it raced through the forest.
It didn't care in the slightest where its opponents were hiding.
Jean: "Uh…"
"Is Sucrose's creature always this bold?"
Lisa: "It completely ignores its opponents."
Nicole: "Very good."
"Sucrose will definitely be the first one eliminated."
Diluc: "Give it up."
"No matter how you look at it…"
"…that wing-covered wolf will be eliminated first."
It was one thing for others to criticize Sucrose.
But what right did you have to say that?
Just look at your wolf.
Diluc was certain that if anyone got spotted first…
It would definitely be that wolf.
Soukaku: "Impossible!"
"My Wolfie is super strong!"
Kaeya: "How strong?"
Soukaku: "It can fly…"
"And even if one pair of wings gets hurt…"
"…it still has all the other wings!"
Anton: "So your entire strategy was running away from the beginning?"
Tsukishiro Yanagi: "Sigh…"
"I really need to pay more attention to this child's education."
As Soukaku's guardian…
Yanagi couldn't help but sigh.
The girl had absolutely no common sense.
She'd decided to enroll Soukaku in some educational classes after this.
Hopefully she'd learn a thing or two.
Wise: "Ms. Yanagi."
"I have a collection of Animal World documentaries."
"Would you like to rent some for Soukaku?"
Belle: "Forget it."
"She isn't old enough to watch those."
Tsukishiro Yanagi: "Animal World?"
"Why can't Soukaku watch it?"
Valerius: "Spring has arrived."
"And once again…"
"…the season of reproduction has begun."
Tsukishiro Yanagi: "…Understood."
Billy: "I don't."
"What does that mean?"
Anby: "It's better if you don't."
Seele: "Oh no!"
"Sucrose just ran into Hook's Mimi!"
That startled shout instantly pulled everyone's attention back to the battle.
The gorilla-like creature swinging through the forest suddenly spotted a massive blue feline ahead.
It had wings on its back.
And looked incredibly strange.
Lynx: "Wait…"
"Hook's creature barely changed at all."
Hook: "My Mimi is the strongest!"
"It doesn't need any weird upgrades!"
Hook puffed out her chest proudly.
Hadn't everyone seen it?
That enormous lion earlier…
Mimi had smacked it to death with ease.
Why would it need to evolve?
Natasha: "Well…"
"That actually makes sense."
She honestly didn't think Hook's decision was wrong.
Hook lacked biological knowledge.
If she'd evolved it randomly…
It might have ended up like Qiqi's dragon.
Better to leave perfection alone.
…
Inside the arena…
The two monstrous creatures locked eyes.
The gorilla with the hippopotamus head struck first.
It picked up a gigantic fallen tree trunk nearby…
…and casually rested it on its shoulder.
Seele: "What?!"
"It picked up a weapon!"
Gepard: "How is that fair?"
Luka: "That's cheating!"
Valerius: "That's nothing."
Valerius rolled his eyes.
You thought that was cheating?
You clearly hadn't seen Tighnari's creature.
That guy had literally covered himself with stinging nettles as fur.
It was shameless beyond belief.
Inside the battlefield…
Hook's Rathian roared.
Lowering its body…
It exploded forward straight at the gorilla.
"Whoosh!"
The gorilla swung.
The massive tree trunk smashed squarely into Rathian's head.
The tremendous impact staggered the wyvern.
Seizing the opportunity…
The gorilla leaped several times before landing on Rathian's back.
Then it started raining punches.
Valerius: "Holy crap…"
"It's Wu Song beating the tiger!"
Seele: "It's over."
Gepard: "It can't fight back."
The two monsters were roughly the same size.
Seeing Rathian pinned beneath the gorilla…
Most viewers had already lost confidence.
After all…
That gorilla possessed countless powerful genes.
Its raw strength was terrifying.
Several heavy punches later…
Rathian's head was spinning.
"ROAR!"
With an angry roar…
Rathian rolled violently across the ground, throwing the gorilla off.
Its mouth began gathering blazing flames.
BOOM!
A gigantic blast of fire erupted.
The explosion slammed into the ground.
The powerful shockwave hurled the gorilla three or four meters backward.
Seele: "Whoa!"
"It can breathe fire!"
Serval: "Didn't expect that."
Hook: "Hmph!"
"I told you Mimi was strong!"
Hook was immensely proud.
Everyone had doubted her before.
Now they finally understood how amazing her honorary member was.
Inside the battlefield…
After forcing the gorilla back…
Rathian let out another mighty roar.
It flapped its wings…
Took to the sky…
And flew away without even looking back.
Bronya: "It…"
"…it ran away."
Cocolia: "Ahem."
"It's called a tactical withdrawal."
Phantylia: "How is that running away?"
"Let the other monsters fight each other first."
"Then reap the rewards afterward."
Keqing: "What a pity."
Ningguang: "Why wasn't someone eliminated?"
Everyone from Liyue sighed in disappointment.
Qiqi had already lost all combat capability.
They were hoping the bottom three would be decided as quickly as possible.
That way…
Qiqi wouldn't have to suffer a punishment.
Furina: "Oh?"
"You can leave saving Qiqi to our Tighnari."
Cloud Retainer: "What do you mean?"
She was genuinely surprised.
Fontaine was helping them?
Furina: "Hehe."
"Didn't you see?"
"Our Tighnari already found someone."
Tighnari: "Ahem."
"Your Hydro Archon."
"Correction."
"It was my creature."
The way she said it…
Made it sound like he was the monster.
On screen…
Near a beach…
Tighnari's arthropod tiger had encountered Sushang's fleshy Cthulhu creation.
The tiger attacked first.
Its rear lifted…
Then it sprayed a stream of smoking liquid.
The instant it landed on the fleshy creature…
Large amounts of white steam erupted.
Hisssss—
Sushang: "Whoa!"
"What is that thing?"
She was shocked.
What kind of monster was that?
It could spray liquid?
And…
Why did it look suspiciously like sulfuric acid?
Qingque: "That's benzoquinone."
"It causes severe chemical burns."
Sushang: "How underhanded!"
Silver Wolf: "Exactly."
"Everyone else is using physical attacks."
"Why are you casting magic?"
Sushang: "I'm not scared."
"My creature has amazing regeneration."
"A little injury won't matter."
Almost as though responding to Sushang's confidence…
The fleshy creature moved.
Its enormous body was slow…
But its tentacles lashed out with incredible speed.
Four shot toward the tiger from the front.
Four more attacked from behind.
Sushang: "See?"
"How's that!"
She was delighted.
That weird tiger was finished.
Unexpectedly…
Something strange happened.
The instant the tentacles touched the tiger…
They recoiled violently…
As though they'd been shocked.
Sushang: "What's happening?"
Alhaitham: "Stinging nettle."
"A type of plant."
"It irritates the skin."
"Anything touching it swells immediately…"
"…causing pain comparable to a scorpion sting."
Sushang: "…"
Speechless.
So all of you were monsters?
Spraying benzoquinone as an attack was bad enough…
Now your defense was this ridiculous too?
She was starting to worry.
Her creature wasn't very fast.
If it got caught…
The consequences would be disastrous.
"…I'm doomed."
"I'm going to get punished again, aren't I?"
Thinking back to her previous punishment…
The sky suddenly seemed a whole lot grayer.
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