After finishing his bath, Foxy returned to the shore, his limp feeling finally fading. Naked, he returned to his cave, put on a piece of dried tiger skin around his waist, and then, armed with a short sword, disappeared into the forest.
Lately, his appetite had been growing, and the lion he had eaten at noon was long digested. He needed to prepare dinner now. Running swiftly through the forest, Foxy quickly leaped onto a tree about seven or eight meters tall and continued to jump from tree to tree.
“What should I have for dinner?”
“Roar…”
A sudden beast roar stopped Foxy on a tree. He looked towards the center of the island, where a massive volcanic crater was located. In the glow of the setting sun, one could faintly see the smoke rising.
The beast’s roar was filled with a dominating aura, not like that of a common animal. It reminded Foxy of Drake’s roar when he transformed into an Allosaurus, suggesting it might be an extinct dinosaur.
In the past month, Foxy had yet to venture into the center of the island because the seasonal changes there were even more severe. In the area around his cave, the temperature could reach sixty to seventy degrees Celsius. The deeper into the center, the hotter it got, and in colder times, it could drop to minus thirty or forty degrees, which Foxy couldn’t withstand.
Although he had adapted to the island, the recent life-threatening experiences left him wary. More importantly, the center was home to many extinct creatures like dinosaurs, saber-toothed tigers, and raptors. Foxy once saw a thirty-meter-long saber-toothed tiger from the edge of the center. The sheer size and ferocity of the creature made Foxy realize he was no match for it. Even with his abilities, killing it would require cunning and strategy, not brute force, which wasn’t what Foxy wanted.
Recently, Foxy noticed that as he continued to train and grow stronger, developing his Devil Fruit powers became more efficient. Unless facing life-threatening danger, he avoided using his abilities during the day but continued developing them at night.
Redirecting his focus, Foxy quickly disappeared into the forest, aiming for prey that was at least eight or nine meters long to fill his growing appetite.
Twenty kilometers away from his cave, Foxy found a suitable target: a giant python about twenty meters long and thicker than Foxy. It was coiled around a large tree, and upon sensing Foxy’s presence, it raised its head and hissed.
“You’ll do.”
Foxy formed a delicate hand gesture with his left hand, ready to use his ability without playing with the snake. He wanted a quick kill.
Over the month, Foxy had developed the ability to make the slow rings as large as a washbasin, expanding their range and traveling faster.
Animals have instincts, and the python, sensing the threat, evaded the ring and swung its thick tail at Foxy with a gust of wind.
“If you don’t want to die painlessly, I’ll make it painful for you.”
Perhaps due to his near-death experience with a snake when he first arrived on the island, Foxy held a deep-seated grudge against snakes. Instead of dodging, he braced himself for the tail strike.
Boom!
The impact was immense, akin to being hit by a speeding train. Foxy’s feet sank into the ground, and he was pushed back, grimacing in pain. However, he grabbed the python’s tail and grinned fiercely. Stamping his right foot heavily on the ground, he roared and swung the python around.
The python, which had opened its jaws wide to swallow Foxy, was flung uncontrollably, crashing into several giant trees, snapping them in half. Foxy held onto the tail, gritting his teeth and swinging the snake like a windmill.
Boom, boom…
Dirt flew everywhere, and the area around them turned chaotic. Soon, Foxy smashed the python to death.
After confirming the python was dead, Foxy dragged its lifeless body back to his cave at a high speed, causing a commotion along the way. Herbivores and carnivores alike cringed at the sight.
By the time Foxy returned to his cave, it was already dark. He skillfully severed the snake’s head, skinned it, and prepared the meat on a makeshift spit, using firewood to light a bonfire and start roasting the meat.
Sitting cross-legged by the fire, Foxy rotated the snake meat while developing his Devil Fruit powers. Forming the delicate hand gesture with his left hand, he shot a pink ring from his index finger and little finger, merging them. He tried to shape the ring into a sword, but it dissipated after forming a slight blade tip.
Even though it lasted one more second than a month ago, he couldn’t yet fire two rings simultaneously. In the original story, Foxy could shoot two slow rings at once, but he still had a long way to go.
After a five-minute cooldown, Foxy tried again. He had managed to reduce the cooldown from six seconds to five, which was quite an achievement. Currently, Foxy is focused on developing the basic abilities of his fruit: duration, cooldown, range, speed, and the concept of a slow sword.
Although the progress was slow, it was tangible. Foxy’s biggest gain over the past month was his physical improvement—his adaptability, physical fitness, alertness, and keen senses had all greatly enhanced.
The aroma of roasting meat brought Foxy back from his thoughts. He grabbed the snake meat, not caring about the heat, and began to eat voraciously. Without any seasoning, the meat was still delicious, mainly because filling his stomach was crucial. He needed the energy to train and grow stronger.
“Only one step away from mastering Soru. I’ll focus on it for the next few days.”
As he ate, Foxy planned his next steps. Once he mastered Soru, he intended to explore the island’s center. The outskirts were now more challenging for him. To continue growing more assertive, he needed more formidable opponents and dangers.
For some reason, Foxy enjoyed this lifestyle, wondering if he had a madness gene.
After finishing the entire snake, except for the head and tail, Foxy continued developing his Devil Fruit powers. As the moon rose higher, around midnight, he retreated to his cave to sleep.
In the past month, Foxy had been ambushed three or four times while sleeping. The first time left him drenched in cold sweat. Since then, he had been a light sleeper, placing dry branches at the cave entrance to alert him of any intruders.
His heightened vigilance was forged through a month of constant threats!
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