Rubber Beast

Biodata

Biology and Forms

Rubber Seed Parasitism

• Source of their abilities: Rubber Seeds infest living creatures and grant them the ability to stretch and reshape their limbs. The seeds cannot germinate; the system describes them as a hunting method used by a type of tree 43.
• Internal changes: The first Rubber Gorilla has a fist-sized seed in its skull in place of its brain 43.
• Condition after death: That gorilla loses its elasticity after being killed. Its flesh is identified as an ordinary cooking ingredient, not Magical Creature meat 43.
• Control: Bai Ling perceives Rubber Beasts as extensions of their nest trees’ wills rather than independent creatures 46.

Documented Forms

Lin Yuan considers whether additional seeds make a host stronger or whether stronger hosts require more seeds to control, but neither explanation is confirmed 46.

Habitat and Behavior

Giant-Tree Nests

• Each giant rubber tree contains numerous trunk hollows housing an entire Rubber Beast Herd. In Bai Ling’s vision, these trees are taller than ten-story buildings and wider than they are tall 44.
• Rubber Beasts run and play in the broad clearing around the Giant Tree Forest; stronger composite creatures occupy the nests within 44 46.
• Infested animals perform different functions: some attack other animals, some lure new hosts toward the trees, and some willingly become fertilizer 44.
• Bai Ling’s vision indicates that the trees have enslaved almost all the island’s creatures 44.

Defense and Coordination

• Nest defenses are initially local: attacking one nest does not automatically provoke its neighbors 47.
• Multiple nests mobilize together when Lin Yuan approaches the clearing containing the imprisoned giant turtle 47.
• Rubber Beasts resting inside their nests fail to detect the Adventurer Group’s concealed passage, provided the ship avoids hitting the trees 46.
• Spotlight considers hunting isolated jungle specimens much safer than fighting beside the densely populated nests 45.

Abilities & Skills

Elastic Limbs

Rubber Seeds allow hosts to stretch and reshape their limbs 43.

• Evasion: The Rubber Gorilla extends an arm to a branch more than ten meters overhead and pulls itself clear of Lilia’s scythe while airborne 42.
• Arboreal movement: It transfers between trees by stretching an arm toward another branch 43.
• Rebound attacks: While hanging from a branch, it uses elastic recoil to launch itself at Lilia hard enough to knock off her detachable limbs 43.

Composite Strength

Assembled Beasts are stronger than ordinary Rubber Beasts, with still more powerful specimens found inside the dens 45 46.

• Some multi-creature composites withstand an initial ram strike and require another attack 46.
• Lin Yuan judges the Assembled Beasts among the strongest Magical Creatures, even by marine standards 48.

Demonstrated Limits

• Vulnerable to restraint: Lin Yuan’s barbed harpoon anchors inside the Rubber Gorilla, allowing him to drag it down with his 500 Strength 43.
• Vulnerable to freezing: The Frost Sea Serpent Ram freezes nearby beasts that escape its direct impact, leaving them exposed to finishing attacks 46.
• Limited armor penetration: During the mass battle, the herd inflicts less damage on Lin Yuan than he loses powering his light blade 48.

Rubber Seed Harvesting

Story Role / Major Arcs

Discovery

Bai Ling tracks traces of transcendent power and detects a gorilla waiting to ambush the group. Its elastic escape reveals that the island’s rubber source is animal-based rather than an ordinary rubber tree 42.

After Lin Yuan harpoons the gorilla and Lilia kills it, its ordinary flesh initially appears useless. Bai Ling locates the anomaly in its skull, leading to the discovery of the Rubber Seed. Touching that seed subsequently gives her a vision of the giant-tree nests and enables her to locate them 43 44.

Nest Raids

Bai Ling negotiates to draw away the perimeter herd so Spotlight’s Adventurer Group can enter the forest. Lilia attracts the beasts by challenging them directly, and Lin Yuan then uses his Frost Sea Serpent Ram to kill or freeze the gathered attackers. The trio proceeds through the outer nests, harvesting seeds and encountering increasingly powerful composites 45 46.

Captain’s Quarters Key Pursuit

After the dying giant turtle entrusts Lin Yuan with the Captain’s Quarters Key, Rubber Beasts pour from the nests and fixate on him. Lin Yuan deliberately displays the key to draw their attacks, destroying the surrounding wave before it can follow his retreat and guide the approaching Tree King toward him 47 48.

He repeats the tactic against another pack pursuing the Adventurer Group, harvests the available seeds, and escapes before the slow-moving Tree King reaches him 48.