Is that a Wisp?

The Mutant Monster Gecko continued to devour the colossal fruit as its stomach gradually bulged out. Soon, its stomach had expanded to the extent that it looked like it was pregnant. Surprisingly, it had only eaten half of the colossal fruit so far.

The Mutant Monster Gecko was struggling, pausing for a couple of minutes as it regained its bearings, shooting a glance at Krune to ask for his help.

"Fine," Krune said as he held the end of the colossal fruit, propping it up as the Mutant Monster Gecko laid flat on the floor, facing up as it held the eaten side of the colossal fruit. It then bit on the fruit using its jaws before swallowing chunks of it.

In this pose, its body felt the least muscular strain, now able to eat some more. As it continued to eat, its thighs had also begun to bulge, its arms being in the same situation not long after. Its body was rapidly digesting the fruit, sending the excess substance to the limbs first to allow more space within the stomach.

This way, as it continued to eat, its body ballooned, turning more and more into a ball. Even though it struggled, the Mutant Monster Gecko had lived for a long time, able to pace itself correctly. It was unlike the regular Monster Geckos that were unable to control their greed, eating the massive fruits that their bodies were unable to handle, losing their lives in the process.

Though, despite its careful proceedings, it seemed that even the Mutant Monster Gecko had reached its limit. It wasn't easy to become a King. Otherwise, there would have been more of them on the massive piece of land.

After all, the Primary Landmass had a radius of 5 kilometers. So, it was more than enough space for the current population of the Monster Geckos to double and still live comfortably.

Becoming the King was akin to reaching the peak of their race, so it was a long bridge to tread on. Even a Mutant Monster Gecko had to be alive for years, if not decades, before it became a King. And considering the conflicts that happened, there was a good chance it would die before achieving that.

And now, as the Mutant Monster Gecko was trying to bridge that gap in one sitting, it was struggling. Its body was failing, unable to handle the sheer mass and energy contained in the colossal fruit.

"Damn it! No, no, no!" Krune shouted when he saw the Mutant Monster Gecko show the whites in its eyes, a sign that it was beginning to lose consciousness. There was still a small piece of the colossal fruit left in his hand.

The fact that it was losing consciousness at this point meant that it was about to fail its evolution. "Damn it! Two months, I spent two goddamn months on you. Get up, damn it! Get the fuck up!"

Krune was just about to kick it in anger when he stopped. His mind whirred in thought as he weighed the pros and cons, thinking of what he had set out to do. "When this Mutant Monster Gecko dies, I would have obtained three Godly Points from this Primary Landmass. If I obtain five, I'll be able to go to another Primary Landmass. I'm sure the octopus wouldn't allow me to visit this same place again."

He frowned, deep in thought as he continued to think out loud, "With five Godly Points, I'll be able to hunt in another Primary Landmass. If I do well there, I'll be able to harvest 15 Godly Points. Then again, I don't think I'll get such an opportunity there. On top of that, this opportunity is only because I figured out a use for the bone trees. Well, that only happened through chance when I tied up a living Monster Gecko and made a bone tree absorb its blood."

He thought further, recalling the details of his passive abilities. "After killing certain creatures, I'll absorb their blood and gain their most prime ability as a passive. Considering the abilities possessed by the Monster Geckos, I'll probably gain abilities like frozen blood, wall-crawling, thermal eyes, or something similar."

"To get them, I need to absorb the blood of Monster Gecko Kings. Based on what I witnessed, as long as I remain in contact with its blood while killing it, its blood would flow into me...or at least the essence in its blood will. And I will get its ability as a passive ability. A bone tree absorbs all the blood. And…a Blood Essence Crystal…"

"One of the abilities it possesses…in its blood…as essence…probably the most dominant…" Krune muttered, gazing at the Mutant Monster Gecko that had shown the whites of its eyes.

His eyes lit up as he seemed to have obtained enlightenment, taking out the Water Essence as he inhaled a deep breath. "If my conjecture fails, then I'll be damned. Though, it seems likely that this would be possible."

Thinking as such, Krune diced the remainder of the colossal fruit into pieces with his Whale Tooth Dagger, slapped the jaw of the Mutant Monster Gecko until it partially regained its senses and stuffed the remaining piece in its mouth, almost making it choke. "Swallow it. You'll live immediately. I can guarantee that. And, you'll become a King if you do that. A King! King! King!"

His shouts hypnotized it, causing it to struggle with every ounce of strength it possessed, barely managing to swallow the final portions of the colossal fruit. Though, it seemed to have exceeded its limits by doing that, looking like it was about to die within a couple of seconds.

Having braced himself, Krune stuffed the Water Essence in its mouth, hitting its jaws until the Water Essence barely managed to slip into its throat. If Krune looked into its mouth, he would still be able to see the end of the Water Essence. After all, until the tip of its throat, the fruit pulp it swallowed had accumulated.

But then, at the very moment, the Water Essence touched it, it began to melt, seeping the healing properties in it through the chunks of fruit pulp. Surprisingly, this did allow the Mutant Monster Gecko to live, albeit barely. It was constantly on the verge of death, looking like it would die the moment the effects of the Water Essence disappeared.

Unfortunately for the gecko, it was in a constant state of pain, having to endure the pain that was tearing its body apart. Its body was also burning up thanks to the evolution as the sounds of its thumping heart resounded in the cave, becoming louder and louder.

"Is this what happens when a King is being birthed?" Krune muttered with curiosity as he staggered a couple of steps back, sensing a fearsome presence churn within the Mutant Monster Gecko. He could notice a faint change in its demeanor as it was happening, even though it was in a lot of pain.

'The moment it finishes evolving, its body would be completely healed. Thanks to the boost from the Water Essence, there's a good chance it would become stronger than the other five Monster Gecko Kings. Even though the presence of each King is vast, the one before me already has that at the start,' Krune thought, realizing that he was birthing an incredibly fearsome monster.

The moment it finishes evolving, it would be stronger than the rest. Only now did Krune realize a certain something. Even though Monster Gecko Kings were immensely powerful, as if they had reached the peak of their race, it seemed that it wasn't the truth.

Rather, they were just below the cusp of their race, hindered due to some natural barrier, either biologically or because they had grown by eating the fruits from the bone trees. But right now, the Water Essence seemed to be cleansing the Mutant Monster Gecko's body while healing it.

While doing so, its essence seeped into the pulp of the colossal fruit, subtly changing it. Only now did Krune think of another point that he had thought of before in passing. The bone trees needed blood to nurture fruits. Then again, there couldn't be that much blood in the ocean near it.

After all, when Krune had drunk the ocean water, there wasn't even a tinge of blood in it. Even if it was, the trace should have been negligible. So, it wasn't possible for there to be enough blood that seeped into the island through the water and was later absorbed by the bone trees for the number of fruits it nurtured.

So, there was a chance the bone trees didn't survive from blood alone. Rather, they also absorbed the ocean water that seeped through the landmass. As Krune's cave had a pool that was a result of seeping water, the bone trees were probably using something similar that their roots could reach.

So, because of that, they were able to bear fruit by absorbing the essence in the ocean water. On the other hand, the Water Essence, a concentrated product of that, had taken a year to create using a mysterious method.

So, the Water Essence increased the quality of the colossal fruit while healing the Mutant Monster Gecko, giving it that final push to reach the absolute peak of its race. A day later, its body had reached 6 meters in height, turning into a colossal Monster Gecko.

It could very well be called a Monster Gecko Emperor, one that would lord over the five Monster Gecko Kings. Within a day, thanks to the boost given by the Water Essence, it had managed to finish evolving. On top of that, the effect of the Water Essence hadn't finished yet, still circulating through its body, revitalizing it.

Feeling unsurpassable power coursing through its body, the Monster Gecko Emperor intended to roar to announce its appearance when it noticed that it wasn't able to open its mouth. Moreover, its body also seemed immobile, unable to move.

Right at this moment, it saw through the corner of its eyes a pair of feet that were covered by Monster Gecko skin. It was the very same one that had tortured it for a month. And now, its enhanced self felt its pride was hurt to have submitted to something as weak as Krune.

Then again, it was unable to move its body, so it struggled. Though, it stopped when it heard a derisive sneer that accompanied a hum. "A boulder on your two legs, a boulder on your two hands, a boulder on your back, a boulder on your head, and everything nailed into the ground by the bones of your kin. You get…this!"

Krune smiled, watching the boulder cage that he had used to completely immobilize it, leaving it no way out to even wriggle itself. After that, he tugged the end of its tail, most of which had been immobilized by another boulder, making a tiny cut on its end before touching the wilting bone tree and saying, "And...voila!"