Chapter 86

Their skin was tough, and their bones seemed so flexible that breaking them without significant effort was impossible.

If not for the fact that half of the animals he struck became prey for their own kind, Bill would have been buried under the bodies.

Stepping on the back of a large, fur-covered lizard, Bill heard a wet crunch and kicked it away to be eaten. In the few seconds while the lizard was being devoured, he turned to see how the pirates were faring.

Of the thirteen men, he only saw seven. He had neither the time nor the desire to search for the missing six.

Among those seven, there were two groups.

The foolish pirate captain was fending off several small rat-like monsters, while three of his men wielded wooden shovels, and the other group was battling one large, strangely twisted badger.

At that moment, Bill realized he just needed to grab Hollandez and run.

He knew this, but despite these people likely being predators, and that in a different situation he might have had to kill them, he just couldn't allow them to be eaten by the beasts right before his eyes.

In this situation, the twisted badger was both the best and worst target.

The creature looked menacing with two eyes on each side of its head, but Bill knew that he could handle one larger creature more easily than several smaller ones, as long as the one wasn't too powerful.

He didn't have time to think — with one leap, he landed next to the badger and punched it right on the side of the head, crushing one eye and stunning the creature.

"BACK TO THE CAMP!"

Without waiting for a response, Bill added a kick upwards, breaking the creature's jaw. At that moment, he didn't know if the badger was dead, but it stopped moving.

Unfortunately for the badger, its kind either saw or sensed its weakness.

While the badger was being devoured, Bill saw the remaining pirates gather and run back to the camp, shaking off the rats along the way.

He decided to cover the pirates as they fled, but he hadn't gone far when a red tentacle burst out from the trees.

The tentacle was enormous, but it couldn't hide the giant creature it was attached to.

"An octopus?!"

Bill didn't have time to wonder why this octopus had so many tentacles or what it was doing on land.

For the first time during the battle, he was struck directly in the chest, sending him flying back several dozen meters. Saliva flew from his mouth, and the air was knocked out of his lungs.

Gritting his teeth from the pain, Bill quickly got up, wiped the saliva from his lips, took a deep breath, and dodged several more tentacles before closing the distance between himself and the octopus.

"Seismic Punch!"

Reflexively shouting out the name of the punch, which outwardly seemed no different from any other, Bill landed a blow with his fist right between the octopus's eyes.

Hitting a target without bones, his fist instantly deformed the creature's face, creating a crater about five meters in diameter. To his surprise, the creature didn't explode from such a punch; instead, it flipped backward several times before landing a few dozen meters away, its massive weight breaking dozens of trees.

Huff huff

Now Bill was exhausted.

Although the battle hadn't lasted long, he hadn't eaten a decent meal or enjoyed a full night's sleep for several days. During all this time, he had been working almost nonstop.

But despite the fatigue, he couldn't afford to rest.

Taking a deep breath, Bill turned to follow the direction the pirates had gone. Although he was still fighting without pause, the number of beasts had significantly decreased.

These creatures behaved like hungry piranhas. They wouldn't attack their kind if they were healthy, but if they sensed or smelled a wound, they would pounce on it.

Loud cracking sounds from the direction of the octopus on land made Bill realize that the creature had likely settled in his place; he only hoped it would last long enough for him to reunite with the Captain and the crew.

Running with all his might but occasionally forced to fend off giant animals, Bill covered only two hundred meters in about fifteen minutes.

After the octopus's strike, he completely lost sight of the pirates, but he wasn't concerned since he finally reached the dry reservoir.

It was just past noon, and like the previous day, the crew of Marines had performed a miracle by constructing several fifty-foot-high watchtowers.

These watchtowers were significantly smaller than those Bill had seen in the plans for the walls, but the fact that they were all bound with iron made it clear that they were built by Captain Hina.

As if his appearance was a signal, as soon as Bill saw the watchtowers, a red flag was raised, and the cannons installed on the towers began to fire.

As cannonballs flew over his head, Bill sped up and ran down the slope toward the beach, where he was met by a group of Marines lined up.

These men and women stood in a long line, in two rows of thirty people each, all aiming their muskets.

Bill wasn't sure if he would be killed by the musket fire or if he could dodge the bullets, but at that moment, he almost stopped until he heard a series of shouts.