"Charge! Brothers! Slay the Sea-Crushing Demon Whale! Share the whale jelly! Seize the demon core!"
With a shout, countless participating contestants soared into the sky like fish swimming upstream, rushing towards the Sea-Crushing Demon Whale.
As expected…
There will always be fools, no matter the time.
Not only did they fail to notice the anomaly hidden here, but they didn't even bother to observe before charging headfirst.
Even more outrageous was that these people often lacked any experience in dealing with fierce beasts.
Even ordinary fierce beasts might be quite difficult for them to handle…
Let alone the Tier 8 Lord-class fierce beast that stood before them – the Sea-Crushing Demon Whale, with its home-field advantage!
Did they judge the Sea-Crushing Demon Whale's attack power as unimpressive based on its playful demeanor with the Sakura warships?
If so, then a grand spectacle was about to unfold.
The Sea-Crushing Demon Whale might not have exerted its full strength against the Sakura people, but that didn't mean it wouldn't go all out against them.
Didn't they see that even stronger individuals, like Caesar and Arthur, hadn't moved?
Even Jin Taiguang, who was usually impatient, had uncharacteristically remained calm this time.
Thinking of this, Lin Ran cast his gaze towards the distant Sea-Crushing Demon Whale.
Why was a Tier 8 Lord-class fierce beast being toyed with by the Sakura country?
There must be a significant secret behind this!
Divine Might!
Lin Ran, bringing Luo Qingyan with him, retreated a couple of steps and activated his pupil technique.
If that was the case, he would investigate first…
On the sea.
The Sea-Crushing Demon Whale continued to splash water back and forth, playing with those so-called warships.
While the warships' cannon fire wasn't entirely useless, its damage could only be described as negligible.
Lin Ran felt that the rate of fire from those cannons likely couldn't even counteract its natural regeneration.
However, things were different now, as a large number of awakened ones had arrived.
These awakened ones, with an average strength of Tier 6 to 7, all possessed some means of aerial suspension, so there was no need to worry about a lack of landing spots.
"Ice Cone Barrage!"
"Crimson Flame Volley!"
"Brilliant Light Stab!"
"Shadow Bind!"
"Dust Blade!"
The awakened ones at the forefront formed a hemisphere in the air, each unleashing their innate abilities and directing their so-called output towards the Sea-Crushing Demon Whale.
However, although these attacks hit their mark, their effect was rather mediocre.
At least, judging by the Sea-Crushing Demon Whale's reaction, it was questionable whether the previous cannonballs had hurt it any more.
Seeing this, Arthur couldn't help but shake his head:
"What is all this…"
"Not only is there no coordination among these people, but they are even canceling each other's attacks."
"Their stances aren't even stable, and they're crowding their own people…"
"If they get hit by a wave of its power, won't they be utterly stunned?"
At this moment, Catherine, having appeared from somewhere, gently squeezed between the two of them and chuckled:
"Then, Duke Arthur, aren't you planning to lead your Knights of the Round Table to show them what coordination is?"
"And, incidentally, let them witness the strength of the Sunset Federation's main team this year."
Arthur cocked his head:
"The Knights of the Round Table are for fighting, not for doing such pointless things…"
"If these people want to make a scene, let them. I'm not joining in."
Catherine then turned her gaze to Caesar:
"Then your Holy Crusaders…"
Caesar snorted:
"Do you think I'm stupider than Arthur?"
"If anyone is going, Princess, you should lead your Iron Cross Guards yourself…"
Catherine finally stopped provoking them and continued with a smile:
"Then, what do you think the Eastern Islanders' plan is?"
"They wouldn't have made such a big fuss just to scare us, would they?"
Arthur shrugged:
"That's unclear at the moment…"
"But I feel like the result will come soon."
"After all, under the charge of these fools, they won't be able to hide it for long…"
"Ouch!"
As he spoke, the deck suddenly experienced a large-scale tremor once again.
Arthur, who was in mid-sentence, almost bit his tongue.
When he irritably turned his head to figure out what had happened, he witnessed a spectacular sight.
Giant whirlpools rising from the sea were madly devouring the contestants in the air, sucking them in one by one.
The Sea-Crushing Demon Whale also thrashed about on the sea's surface like a madman.
Under its thrashing, wave after wave surged forward, knocking down countless awakened ones.
Even their ship, the Amakusa Taro, which was farther away and extremely large, was violently shaking due to the continuous waves.
As for the closer Sakura warships, they had already fled at high speed.
However, some unfortunate souls who hadn't retreated in time were swept into the sea along with them.
"Is this the strength of a Tier 8 Lord-class fierce beast?"
Catherine murmured.
"Even with a slight use of its power, it can unleash a force that sweeps across a thousand armies."
Caesar sighed:
"And it's the most difficult type of fierce beast to deal with – the marine type…"
"It's incredibly difficult to defeat them when they have the sea at their back."
"Even a slight gust of wind and waves can create an exaggerated effect."
"Moreover, with its powerful vitality and recovery, it can dive into the depths when faced with an insurmountable opponent, and we can do nothing to stop it…"
Arthur nodded, picking up Caesar's words:
"Therefore, the existence of this Sea-Crushing Demon Whale has been a complete sham from the very beginning."
"The Eastern Islanders seem to want to use the Sea-Crushing Demon Whale's offensive to give us something…"
"Exhaust our strength? Crush our spirits? Extinguish our drive?"
"I really can't fathom them…"
"But their petty tricks can only fool those fools."
The three spoke without any attempt to conceal their voices, and the hundreds of "smart people" still remaining on the deck could hear them clearly.
Of course, this included the Shimada brothers from the Sakura country.
Seeing this, the younger brother immediately asked his elder brother in a low voice:
"Is what that blond Caucasian said true?"
"Is our plan… only this?"
The elder brother sneered:
"What do these stupid Caucasians know…"
"What we truly want to destroy is their invincible mindset!"
"As long as they falter, whether it's being defeated head-on by the Sea-Crushing Demon Whale or refusing to fight, it will become a flaw in their cultivation path."
"And our Shimada family is best at exploiting their flaws!"
"Not to mention, there's even more exciting things waiting for them later."
"Although it might be an unfair victory, for the glory of our Great Sakura Empire, let's fight together, brother!"
"Here, take this!"
Saying that, the elder brother handed his brother a pink crystal sealed in a glass jar.