The landscape here was similar to the forest, but the atmosphere was darker, the trees twisted and gnarled, and black swamps dotted the ground. Their next target? The Sauce Star Mushroom.
As its name suggested, it was a star-shaped mushroom that naturally produced a rich, flavorful sauce. But before they could begin their search, they were interrupted by uninvited guests.
A chorus of low, guttural growls echoed through the swamp.
Dozens of dark shapes emerged from the murky water, large, powerful crocodiles with thick, armored scales and hungry, predatory eyes. More and more appeared, as if there was no end to them.
Menchi barely reacted. "Dark Crocodiles," she said, her tone casual. "They're common in wetland areas and hunted as food, but they're pretty aggressive. Not many people bother catching them because of the risk."
Larry observed the creatures carefully. They weren't weak. More importantly, there were a lot of them.
Menchi, already calculating the best way forward, continued, "We don't need to waste time on them. We can just fly out with Dragonite, "
Before she could finish, Larry had already jumped off Arcanine.
Menchi blinked in surprise as he landed lightly on the soft, wet ground. He stared at the approaching crocodiles with a relaxed expression, a smirk forming at the corners of his mouth.
"Well," he said, "since they're here, might as well make use of them."
His fingers twitched with anticipation. Until now, he had mostly fought in close combat. But this… This was the perfect chance to test something new.
The crocodiles hissed and snapped their jaws, surging forward in waves. But Larry didn't move. Instead, he took a slow, deep breath. A faint silver glow appeared in his mouth.
Then, a small, concentrated ball of light formed at the tip of his tongue, pulsating with power. Aura flowed into it, compacting into a dense, deadly sphere, like fueling a tiny sun.
The white sphere expanded rapidly, stretching into a column of pure energy before shooting forward like a blinding beam of light. A suffocating aura of destruction wrapped around it, and in the blink of an eye, it reached the crocodiles frozen in shock.
The dim wetland forest was instantly flooded with an overwhelming white glow. Destruction Death Light!
A deafening explosion followed.
Boom!!!
The energy beam tore through everything in its path, leaving nothing but devastation in its wake. In a single instant, the once-crowded swamp, teeming with crocodiles, was wiped clean. All that remained were scattered limbs and a gaping void where life once thrived.
Larry and Menchi stared at the scene before them, an enormous, straight corridor of annihilation stretching endlessly into the horizon, as if leading to the edge of the world itself. A strange sense of familiarity crept up Larry's spine. Where had he seen this kind of destruction before?
'Oh. Right.' The Zoldyck family had caused a similar scene once.
Meanwhile, the residual white light from the attack was still bright enough to make anyone flinch, even in broad daylight. The distant rumble and lingering shockwaves startled two approaching figures.
Larry smirked as he glanced at the flood of notifications appearing in his system. 'Just one shot of Destruction Death Light gave me this many experience points?'
A new realization dawned on him, maybe targeting massive groups of strong, social creatures was far more efficient than grinding individual Nen users. Of course, creatures that fit such conditions were rare on the six continents.
But things would be different in the Dark Continent. That place was crawling with monstrous, high-level beings. If he wanted fast experience, it was basically a paradise.
Menchi finally arrived beside him on her Arcanine, her expression calm and composed. She barely reacted to the spectacle.
After spending so much time with Larry, she had already grown numb to his absurd level of power. It was pointless to measure him by normal standards, he was destined to be the strongest in the world.
So wasn't it natural for him to make a little noise?
Maybe the Sauce Star Mushroom was just too rare, or maybe they were just plain unlucky, but after searching the wetland area for what felt like forever, Larry and Menchi still hadn't found a single one. On the bright side, they did stumble across a ton of other rare ingredients.
As they continued their search, a low rumbling echoed through the swamp.
Boom... Boom...
Larry paused, sitting atop Arcanine's back, and turned toward the noise. Something big was crashing through the trees, headed straight in their direction.
Before he could fully process it, two familiar figures came sprinting out from the undergrowth. Lika and Gel. The way they were running for their lives made it painfully obvious, they were being chased.
Gel, who was leading, caught sight of Larry and Menchi up ahead. The moment she recognized them, relief flashed across her snake-like pupils. They were saved. "Larry! Help! We can't handle this thing behind us!" she yelled.
Before Larry could even respond, their pursuer emerged, a massive, grotesque three-headed snake with shimmering, iridescent scales. Its appearance was so bizarre it sent an uncomfortable chill down his spine.
A sickly, bloodthirsty aura radiated from it, sending smaller creatures fleeing in terror. Larry narrowed his eyes, silently expanding his En to gauge its strength.
'An A-rank creature?' No wonder Gel, one of the Zodiac, was being chased down.'
It wasn't just that, though. The venom Gel relied on the most had little effect on this creature, making it nearly impossible for her and Lika to fight back. Their only choice was to run.
Fortunately, they had spotted Larry. To them, Larry had become synonymous with overwhelming power. Every time he made a move, it was as if reality itself bent to his will.
If Larry was here, then there was nothing to worry about.
Without a word, Larry raised a hand and snapped his fingers.
Snap!
In an instant, a streak of orange light appeared before Gel and Lika.
The air shook violently as a powerful burst of aura erupted, creating a shockwave strong enough to send leaves and branches flying.
Gel's pupils contracted.
That pressure, just feeling it sent a bone-deep chill through her body. It felt like being locked inside an ice-cold tomb. But what was terrifying was that the aura wasn't even directed at them. It was aimed at the three-headed snake.
The snake let out a guttural, hissing roar.
But before it could react, Bang!
A blur of orange shot forward. Dragonite's body flickered, appearing directly in front of the three-headed snake in an instant.
Then, a single devastating strike. The next second, the massive serpent was launched into the air at impossible speeds.
Not long after, Boom!
It exploded into a mist of blood.
Dark green liquid rained down, sizzling against the grass with a corrosive hiss. The acidic stench was unbearable.
Gel and Lika, still in shock, took a few seconds to register what had happened. The battle had lasted only a heartbeat, and yet, the monster that had been hunting them moments ago had already been reduced to nothing.