Shadow Beasts X Worm X Taming Max Elephant

"Grey Elder's convoy entered the Central City, heading towards District 13."

"Three vehicles, the one in the middle is a long, armored limousine."

"The man with the Shattered Eye didn't dare approach any closer once he reached the outer edge of the scrap yard."

There's Nen user on the bus.

Jiang Ye tightened the buckle on the arm guard, and the metal plate made a soft click against his forearm.

"Right."

"Shattered Eye said that the feeling of that energy was very strange, like something was moving underground."

Gray Beak's Adam's apple bobbed.

He couldn't describe it, but he said one thing: he felt the ground breathing.

Jiang Ye paused for a moment.

Underground.

Something flashed through his mind very quickly.

He remembered the configuration of the ten Shadow Beasts directly under the Ten Dons.

Worm can move freely underground, and their strength is much greater underground than above ground.

Owl, Conjuration, is a convenient large wrap that can shrink a person down to a tiny size.

The dog is infected; Enhancement and its teeth contain neurotoxins.

Porcupine, hairy quills.

There are also leeches, controlled by leeches.

It's impossible to determine at this moment which one, or more than one, the Grey Elder brought.

But the description of the ground breathing most likely refers to Worm.

"What about Iron Wall and Bago?"

"Iron Wall is guarding the perimeter of the steel foundry, while Bago and his commando team are waiting behind the scrap metal pile."

"As you instructed, the 500-meter cordon hasn't been removed, and there's no one inside."

Gray Beak paused for a moment, then pursed his lips.

"But leader, what if that Grey Elder goes straight to the steel foundry..."

"He won't."

Jiang Ye stood up, took the stab-proof vest off the back of the chair, put it over his old jacket, and tightened the side buckles.

"Grey Elder is the kind of person who likes to observe first, wait, and only act last."

"He brought the Shadow Beasts to send a message to the Ten Dons, to let the District 13 know that he has leverage."

"What he really wanted was for me to soften up after seeing that card."

He walked to the door and glanced at Gray Beak.

"So he would either send someone to deliver a message first, or stand in a place where he could see me and wait for me to come over."

Gray Beak's eyes lit up.

"So you mean...?"

"It means there's not much time left."

Jiang Ye pushed open the container door, and the grayish-white sunlight from the direction of the steel casting workshop fell on his face. His expression was blank, but he had already taken a step out.

"Grey Elder is waiting for me to come and bow my head, then I'll let him wait."

"But he won't wait long before he becomes suspicious. Once he's suspicious, those Worm will come down from underground to investigate."

As he walked, he took out the remaining Jenny from the Shadow Space and stuffed it into Gray Beak's hand.

"Go to the black market in Central City and find a shop that sells explosives to buy signal flares."

"Red, three shots."

"It doesn't need to be good, as long as it makes a loud noise and produces smoke, that's fine."

Gray Beak took the Jenny without asking why, then turned and ran toward the narrow path on the side of the camp.

Jiang Ye walked to the iron gate of the steel casting workshop. The Iron Wall was leaning against the steel frame by the gate, and a giant iron shield stood at his feet, its surface covered with patches upon patches.

Seeing Jiang Ye approach, he straightened up, his rough face expressionless, but the veins on his hand gripping the shield bulged.

"Alliance Leader."

"The inside has been completely emptied. The hardened concrete layer is intact, the roof steel frame has been re-supported, and the sheet metal on the four walls has been patched with three layers."

The sound of the Iron Wall was deep and steady.

"There's not a soul within 500 meters. The Shattered Eye ' men are guarding the outer perimeter at three checkpoints; even a fly would have to get past three of them first."

Jiang Ye nodded and reached out to push open the iron gate.

The steel casting workshop was more spacious than when he last visited.

The ground is a grayish-white hardened concrete with some fine cracks at the joints, but it is smooth enough to drive a car on.

The iron patches on the four walls were welded tightly shut. After the steel frame of the ceiling was re-supported, sunlight could only penetrate through a few narrow gaps at the top, casting thin strips of light on the ground.

He went in, followed by the Iron Wall, and the iron door slammed shut behind him with a dull metallic clang.

"Iron Wall."

Jiang Ye stood in the center of the workshop and turned around.

"Get out now and lock the door from the outside."

"No matter what noises come from inside, do not open it before dawn."

Iron Wall frowned. He opened his mouth, the words "Alliance Leader, you're all alone" stuck in his throat, but were ultimately suppressed by Jiang Ye's gaze.

"If I haven't come out by dawn."

Jiang Ye's voice was calm.

"Take Gray Beak and Shattered Eye, head north to the old industrial area."

"Don't go back to camp."

Upon hearing this, Iron Wall's body tensed for a moment.

He didn't ask any more questions, bowed in a gesture of respect to the Rust Remains Alliance, turned around, opened the iron gate, and walked out.

The sound of the latch closing came from outside; it was heavy and solid.

The workshop fell silent.

The wind whistled through the gaps in the tin roof, like someone blowing a broken horn in the distance.

Jiang Ye stood on the hardened ground, looking down at his shadow.

The outline of the Max Elephant throbbed deep in the shadows, heavier and more muffled than the previous two days, each pulsation like something pushing upwards from the ground.

He took a deep breath, which rose from his abdomen and spread evenly over his entire body. His Aura Nodes closed one by one, and his breath settled into a state of still water.

Then he raised his hands, interlocked his fingers, pressed his thumbs together, and arched the backs of his hands outwards.

The middle and ring fingers bend inward and come together, while the index and little fingers curve out in an ivory-like arc.

The hand shadow fell on the ground, and the outline of a giant elephant with its head held high silently spread out on the gray-white concrete.

"Max Elephant."

By the time those two words were squeezed out between his teeth, the shadow was no longer something he could control.

The ground suddenly shook.

A spiderweb-like network of cracks burst open at the joint of the concrete, and a black shadow surged up from the cracks, like an underground river bursting its banks.

The grayish-white elephant rose from the shadows, its shoulder height approaching four meters and its body length exceeding six meters. Its limbs were so thick that they seemed to have twisted the abandoned steel beams in the workshop into pillars.

Two tusks curved out from either side of the elephant's trunk, grayish-white and cold, their tips gleaming with a matte finish in the dim light.

The moment Max Elephant opened his bloodshot eyes, Jiang Ye felt as if he had been hit on the temple with a hammer.

gas.

A large amount of gas.

An untamed Shikigami needs to be forcibly suppressed by the sorcerer using their qi, draining its very essence with every breath.

He estimated that at this rate, it wouldn't last more than twenty minutes.

The Max Elephant raised its head and let out a loud bellow, the sound waves crashing against the four iron walls and bouncing back, making Jiang Ye's eardrums buzz.

Its forehooves pawed the ground, sending concrete debris flying, and its crimson eyes scanned the workshop before finally settling on the nearest living creature.

Jiang Ye himself!