Heavenly Pool

In the water of the Heavenly Pool.

The Winged Gull plunged straight into the water, transforming into a Magikarp beneath the surface.

At once, a wave of weakness washed over him, making even the slightest flick of his tail difficult.

But the next moment, a warm current suddenly flowed into his body, restoring some of his strength!

"Hm?"

"This warm current can actually help me overcome some of the Devil Fruit's side effects!"

Luo Sa was overjoyed. Without wasting a moment, he quickly flicked his tail and struggled to swim toward the bottom of the lake.

The deeper he went, the stronger that power became.

Suppressing his excitement, Luo Sa continued to dive. After struggling down several hundred meters, he finally saw the bottom of the pool.

Suddenly, his eyes widened. Lying on the pool floor was a gigantic beast's skeleton!

At that moment, golden light radiated from the entire skeleton, and a familiar energy filled its every bone!

"Why does this skeleton look so much like the Chinese Divine Dragon from mythology? It's so alike—uncannily alike!" A strange look appeared in Luo Sa's eyes.

"So these bones are the source of that energy. But how am I supposed to take such a huge skeleton with me?"

He finally understood why the World Government hadn't taken this treasure. It wasn't that they didn't want to—it was that they had no way to move it!

"Looks like all I can do is absorb as much of this energy as possible!"

Luo Sa sighed and checked his Transformation Energy.

His face immediately lit up. His energy value, which had been 301, had risen to 302.

He had spent a full two days just to increase his energy value by one point after it reached 300.

But now, from the moment he'd begun diving, barely two hours had passed, and he'd already gained a point!

Perhaps some of that was energy he'd accumulated earlier, but there hadn't been anything like this concentration of energy during his descent!

"The Survival Trial ends tomorrow. There should be about 24 hours left. I wonder if my energy value can reach 310 by then?"

"I can't wait!"

Luo Sa smiled to himself, swam over beside the skeleton, settled next to its skull, and closed his eyes. He began absorbing the energy with all his might.

Time flew by. Sixteen hours passed in the blink of an eye.

"My energy value has reached 308. I'm almost at 310!" Delight shone in Luo Sa's eyes.

But just then, the golden light around the skeleton suddenly began to fade. In the time it took Luo Sa to blink, it vanished completely, and the energy began to dissipate as well.

"What's going on?!"

Luo Sa's heart tightened. He was only one step away from 310!

While he was distracted, the energy visibly dwindled by another large amount.

"This is bad. I'm hundreds of meters underwater. If this energy disappears, I might not be able to make it back to the surface!"

Luo Sa came to his senses, panic flashing in his eyes, and hurriedly began swimming upward.

Fortunately, ascending was much easier than diving. Before the energy vanished completely, he burst out of the water. The climb took an hour—twice as fast as his descent!

Transforming into a Winged Gull, Luo Sa flew back to shore. He watched the energy vanish entirely beneath the water and fell silent.

He regretted not finding this place sooner.

They were leaving Monster Island at noon today. They wouldn't have another chance to return until next year's recruit trials.

"Wait, this energy..."

"A week-long Survival Trial..."

"The annual recruit trials..."

Shock spread across Luo Sa's face. He felt certain that none of this was a coincidence.

"Perhaps these seven days every year are when the beast's bones release their power. The real purpose of the Survival Trial is to let the recruits compete for it!"

"It's easy to imagine that after we return, those of us who passed the Survival Trial will have grown immensely stronger."

"So this is the true meaning of the Survival Trial?"

Luo Sa closed his eyes, steadied himself, then looked down the mountain.

"Roar! Roar! Roar!"

Just then, a series of angry-sounding roars erupted from the forest below.

A sudden commotion swept through the woods, and trees began toppling in droves!

"Hm?"

"What's going on?"

Luo Sa had been standing at the edge of the cliff. Suddenly, an intense pain struck his head.

His body began swaying from the pain. Then his foot slipped, and he tumbled down the steep mountainside like a rolling boulder.

"The final day is here. The real Survival Trial is about to begin!"

In the control room, Zephyr watched the upheaval across the island and drew a deep breath.

"Pass it along: everyone is to heighten their vigilance. Send out every soldier on patrol."

"The Berserk Factor in the monsters has been activated. Make absolutely sure the recruits stay safe!"

"Hey, wake up. Are you all right?"

At the foot of the mountain, a pink-haired girl was shaking Luo Sa's body repeatedly.

Suddenly, Luo Sa stirred and snapped his eyes open!

"Phew, you're all right. Thank goodness!" the girl cried happily, letting out a quiet sigh of relief.

"You're... Hina?"

Luo Sa took one look at the girl's face and immediately recognized her.

"Yeah. Do you know me?"

Hina stared at Luo Sa in surprise. She didn't remember knowing him.

"Hm?"

Suddenly, a sharp pain surged through Luo Sa's head again, and he let out a muffled groan.

"Are you all right?" Hina asked with concern.

"G-Get... away!"

Without warning, Luo Sa shoved Hina aside. Then he sprang to his feet, clutching his head as he ran into the distance. A glint of red flickered in his eyes.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Just then, a gigantic ape with blood-red eyes charged straight toward them. Its wild, clawing movements were terrifying.

"Brown-backed Giant Ape!"

Hina was horrified. She was about to shout for Luo Sa to come back when she suddenly saw him transform into a humanoid gull and charge at the Brown-backed Giant Ape with incredible speed.

"Get out of my way, you weakling!"

Luo Sa roared. His wings turned into white light as he slashed viciously at the Brown-backed Giant Ape.

With a flash, Luo Sa appeared behind the Brown-backed Giant Ape and transformed back into human form. One of his hands was slick with blood!

Boom!

A muffled thud rang out as the Brown-backed Giant Ape's head sailed high into the air!

"T-That can't be real!"

Hina stared, stunned. The Brown-backed Giant Ape was the strongest monster on the island, and that guy had killed it in one move!