Adams's Plan

Amid the swirling dust, a giant gorilla slowly straightened up. Its massive body, over six meters tall, cast a suffocating shadow. Knotted muscles bulged beneath its dense black fur, fangs protruded past its lips, and drool dripped down.

"All right, little thing. Now no one will disturb us. Come with me nicely, and you'll suffer less."

A cruel grin spread across Barton's face as his huge foot crushed the ground beneath it. He advanced on the little girl, whose face was streaked with tears and dirt.

The little girl's eyes widened in terror as the shadow of death seized her in an instant. Instinctively, she waved her hand again, and countless spirits rushed toward the mountain-like gorilla.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Shockwaves continuously exploded against Barton's powerful, black-furred body. Yet to his thick hide and flesh in beast form, such damage was no more than an itch through a boot.

His steps paused for only an instant, not truly slowing at all. His scarlet beast eyes locked tightly onto his target as his enormous palm reached for her tiny body with despairing pressure. Only two or three meters remained.

The little girl closed her eyes in despair.

Whoosh—!

A piercing sound tore through the fading echoes of the explosions. A gigantic shadow, carrying the terrifying force of a falling meteor, suddenly blanketed the sky above Barton's head.

Barton's beast eyes suddenly contracted. An immense instinctive sense of danger seized him. He did not even have time to look up and see what it was. He only let out an enraged, startled roar, crossed his arms, and bulged his muscles as he tried to withstand it head-on.

BOOM—!!!

A massive boulder nearly ten meters across slammed brutally into Barton's crossed arms and enormous gorilla body.

The deafening impact seemed to make the entire forest tremble. The ground caved in like a drumhead struck by a giant hammer, forming a terrifying crater.

Countless clumps of dirt and shattered stones, mixed with broken branches and fallen leaves, were hurled into the air by the violent blast, forming a murky cloud that blotted out the sky.

A figure landed soundlessly at the edge of the crater, standing directly between the little girl and the dust-filled pit.

Adams quickly swept his gaze over the little girl, and his heart settled.

That was right. She was indeed the Perona he had been looking for. The weight in his chest quietly lifted. At least he had not come too late.

He leaned down slightly, deliberately softening his voice until it was like a stream thawing in early spring.

"Are you all right?"

Perona stared blankly at the silver-haired boy who had suddenly appeared before her, then looked dazedly toward the silent, massive body of the brown bear dozens of meters away.

The immense fear and grief of losing her only support finally burst through the dam.

"Waaah—!"

She suddenly broke into heart-wrenching sobs. Her tiny body shook violently with each gasp, and she pointed toward the brown bear as she cried so hard she could barely catch her breath.

"Kumashi... is dead... sob, sob..."

Adams quietly watched Perona weep as though the world had ended for a wild beast.

A brief, clear glint passed through the depths of his eyes.

She actually considered that bear so important. She really was pure.

Though he mocked her inwardly, his expression did not change at all. He spoke in the gentlest tone he could manage.

"I see... Then, if I give you a new bear, would you be willing to come with me?"

Perona's wailing abruptly caught in her throat, turning into hiccuping sobs. Her voice was hoarse, carrying a child's urgency and lingering tears as she asked,

"Really? You really can... can give me another... bear?"

Adams gently raised his right hand to waist level, his five fingers naturally spread. Thick, dark-brown mud suddenly poured from his palm, spinning, twisting, and taking shape.

In less than a second, the outline of a strong brown bear stood before Perona.

The earth-shaped brown bear moved without the slightest stiffness. Its huge body docilely lowered itself, and its rough head approached Perona's small frame. Its broad snout affectionately rubbed against her mud-stained little arm as a low, gentle rumble rose from its throat, like the call of a living creature.

Perona's crying stopped completely. She subconsciously reached out, her tiny fingertips carefully touching the brown bear's earthen head.

"It feels... cool,"

she murmured, her tears still clinging to her long lashes as confusion and disbelief filled her face. Then her voice suddenly rose, brimming with pure delight.

"But! It looks so much like Kumashi!"

"So, are you willing to come with me now?"

Adams spoke at the right moment. His voice remained gentle, yet carried an unquestionable guiding force.

For several seconds, Perona's gaze shifted back and forth between the earth bear's gentle eyes and Adams's calming blue ones.

Her immense grief was temporarily filled by this miraculous creation. The lost little girl had finally found a new support. She nodded her small head vigorously, her voice thick with tears.

"Mm!"

Children really were easy to coax.

A cold gleam of satisfaction flashed through the depths of Adams's eyes. He extended his hand, preparing to take Perona's.

ROAR—!!!

A thunderous roar filled with rage and humiliation suddenly erupted from the dust-shrouded crater behind him.

BOOM! The massive boulder was hurled away by violent force!

The swirling dust was ripped apart by a savage burst of air, revealing the terrifying figure at the center of the crater as it staggered back to its feet.

Barton's gorilla form remained enormous, but he was now in a miserable state. Large patches of his thick black fur had curled up, exposing bloody wounds and bruises. His arms and shoulders in particular showed clearly unnatural bends in the bones.

His beast eyes were bloodshot from the agonizing pain and extreme fury. They fixed on Adams as though they might spit fire.

"Brat, you actually dared... interfere in Colombo Family business... You're dead!"

The Colombo Family was one of the Five Great Families of the West Blue underworld. Its current godfather was Colombo Avery, and its main businesses were public employment centers and fisheries.

The name of the Five Great Families, the names of their leaders, and their fields of business were common knowledge throughout the West Blue, so Adams knew this much.

Anything more detailed, however, would require inquiries in certain places.

He had chosen Ejadi Island as his first stop because he had intended to wait for the Five Great Families' next bloody clash over territory or profit, then kill some of their lackeys and thoroughly provoke them.

Anger would make them send an endless stream of "experience packs" after him. Tempering himself and growing in battle was, in his view, the fastest and most effective path to becoming stronger.

But he had not expected that before he could witness the Five Great Families' conflict, he would encounter a Colombo Family lackey in this remote forest on Stette Island. Fate truly was full of coincidences sometimes.

In that instant, he had weighed every advantage and disadvantage. Adams calmly looked down at the giant beast trembling in the crater from pain and fury.

"So what if I interfered? And what the hell are you? You think you're worthy of saying that to my face? Have Avery come himself. That would be more like it."

ROAR—!!!

"I'm a great pirate worth nine million! How dare you look down on me? Die!"

The utter humiliation completely ignited what little reason Barton had left. His mission and everything else were thrown to the back of his mind. At that moment, he wanted only to tear the silver-haired man before him into pieces.

With a completely crazed roar, Barton's massive body unleashed its last reserves of strength. Like an out-of-control siege engine, he charged recklessly at Adams.

With every step, large sections of earth along the crater's edge collapsed. His twisted arms swung wildly, stirring up shrill gusts of wind.

Adams watched the dying beast charge at him without expression. His body seemed to lose all substance in an instant, sinking soundlessly into the earth beneath his feet like a drop of water merging with the sea.

A vast and majestic will instantly spread outward. With the point where Adams sank as its center, the ground for dozens of meters around seemed to come alive.

Dirt and gravel roiled and surged as if boiling, rising from the ground. They frantically gathered, stacked, and took shape.

In an instant, a twenty-meter-tall giant formed from rock, earth, and turf rose from the ground, standing majestically in the forest. At that moment, the forest itself seemed shorter.

The giant's arm carried the terrifying power to crush mountains as it swung down casually, as though swatting a fly.

Barton's six-meter-tall gorilla body was as fragile as a tattered rag doll before the absolute power of the earth giant.

His enormous body deformed and twisted as though it had been struck head-on by a massive warship. The dense crackling of shattering bones rang out like beans popping in a pan. Blood erupted from his mouth like a fountain, mixed with fragments of internal organs.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

A series of horrifying crashes rang through the forest as tree after tree was smashed off at the waist. Barton's body plowed through the woods like a harrow, carving a devastated trail dozens of meters long.

At last, he slammed heavily into an exposed giant boulder. Only then did he slowly slide down like a heap of mud, dragging a long streak of blood across the ground.

Dust filled the air as the giant slowly dispersed. Adams's figure condensed once more. He stared at Barton, who was reverting to human form from his severe injuries, and slowly said,

"If you want revenge, come find me on Ejadi Island."

He needed an endless supply of opponents to make himself stronger, and he needed Barton to go back and deliver the message. That was why he did not finish this man off.

Leaving those words behind, Adams turned and walked toward Perona, who stood frozen beside the giant earth bear. The earth-shaped brown bear docilely lowered its head.

Adams extended his hand. Perona hesitated for a moment, then wrapped her little hand around one of his fingers. The touch carried the coolness of earth and a steady strength.

Adams shifted slightly, and an invisible force lifted him, Perona, and the docile Dirt Brown Bear gently into the air.

TO BE CONTINUED