Modi opened his mouth to tell Bege to be careful, but in a blink, Bege had vanished into the dense forest. Modi shook his head with a wry smile, then put on a stern face and ordered everyone to start chopping down trees and setting up camp.
Bege intended to dedicate himself entirely to training for the next two years, leaving him no time to manage this group. He had to trouble Modi to take charge.
Monster Island lived up to its name. Barely a few dozen meters into the forest, Bege heard a hissing sound. Suddenly, leaves rustled violently, and a foul, fetid stench washed over him from above.
Bege swiftly dodged as a massive, emerald-green python lunged from the dense foliage, its tail still clinging to a branch. The snake's head swiveled, confused.
Where had its prey disappeared to?
Suddenly, a flash of steel sliced through the air, severing the giant python's body in two. Bege stood before the snake, his longsword angled. With another swift strike, he finished off the still-twitching head.
This python's strength was too weak.
Bege planned to incorporate the outer two hundred meters of the forest into the training camp. He roamed this area, slaying all the large predators he encountered, leaving the smaller beasts as a test for the others.
In less than half a day, all the large beasts within a two-hundred-meter radius had been eliminated. Moreover, the meat from these creatures would provide sustenance for the hundred and fifty-odd people for a while.
When Bege returned to the shore, carrying the carcasses of several beasts, Modi was directing everyone in a flurry of activity as they established the camp.
Bege lived with them for a week, essentially acting as a caretaker. Monster Island was no joke. A week earlier, the large predators in the outer two hundred meters had been wiped out, but slowly, more beasts began to emerge from the deeper forest, even reaching the campsite on several occasions.
In that week, Bege repelled four or five waves of beast attacks.
Gradually, the beasts learned that a terrifying human existed on the outskirts of the forest, and they stopped coming. The training of the recruits finally got on track.
Bege had high hopes for this group. Their daily training regimen was exceptionally grueling. Even the children's training was set at one-tenth of Bege's childhood training volume, leaving almost everyone unable to get up by the end of the day.
To cultivate stronger subordinates, Bege spared no expense. The Capone family's ship arrived every two weeks, bringing the herbs needed for medicinal baths. He provided them with the same medicinal baths he had used as a child.
Thanks to these baths, the recruits wouldn't be trained to death. If they could survive two years on Monster Island, those who lived would undoubtedly possess formidable strength.
On Popokai Island, Bege walked through the forest, his blade slicing through a half-meter-tall gray rabbit that had attempted to ambush him.
As Bege ventured deeper into the monster island, he finally witnessed its true terror. Most of the beasts in the forest were astonishingly large, their weight measured in tons. They were also extremely ferocious and brutal, with scenes of the weak being preyed upon occurring daily.
Since setting foot on the island, hundreds of beasts had fallen to Bege's blade, all of them having actively attacked him.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
A tremor shook the distant forest. A large flock of gigantic birds took flight in terror, followed by dozens of eight-to-nine-meter-tall beasts fleeing in panic.
Bege leaped onto a large tree, observing the cause of the stampede. It was a colossal Tyrannosaurus Rex, nearly nineteen meters tall, chasing after them. It rampaged through the forest, knocking down trees. With a sudden lunge, the T-Rex snapped up a nine-meter-tall giant elephant in its jaws.
Beasts that were eight or nine meters tall were as fragile as children before the Tyrannosaurus.
"This T-Rex is strong. It'll be a good training partner," Bege thought, his eyes lighting up with excitement. He leaped several times in quick succession, moving with astonishing speed through the fleeing beasts.
He pushed off a large tree with one foot, the force almost toppling it. He soared gracefully into the air.
Bege gripped his sword hilt, holding his breath, and rapidly closed in on the T-Rex. Then, he let out a roar.
"One Sword Style: Iai – Heaven Splitter!"
Bege unsheathed his sword with a blinding flash, sending a dazzling arc of cutting energy flying towards the T-Rex. It struck the beast's chest, carving a wound deep enough to expose bone. Blood splattered, staining the ground several meters around.
Bege had spent ten years diligently practicing basic swordsmanship, performing ten thousand slashes a day, then twenty thousand, then thirty thousand. This had honed his foundational swordsmanship to perfection.
The Iai – Heaven Splitter was a technique he had developed from his basic swordsmanship. This slash contained a relentless, unstoppable will, which is why Bege named it "Heaven Splitter," hoping one day to cleave the very sky.
The T-Rex didn't fall. The pain only fueled its ferocity.
It let out a roar that shook the forest, its crimson eyes locking onto Bege, who had landed on the ground. The dinosaur then stomped towards him.
Bege swiftly dodged to the right. Boom! The T-Rex's foot slammed into the ground, creating cracks. A putrid stench washed over Bege as the T-Rex, having missed its stomp, lunged down to bite him.
Bege vanished from the spot, using Soru to escape. The T-Rex snapped its jaws, crushing the large tree where Bege had been standing. It raised its head, roaring in unbridled fury.
"This T-Rex is incredibly strong, and its movements are surprisingly agile. It's a freak of nature."
Bege sprinted through the forest, the T-Rex's head sweeping through the trees like a broom, knocking them down as it relentlessly pursued him.
Bege flickered, pushing off a large tree with one foot and launching himself into the air like a rocket. He continued to kick off the air, running mid-air. This was the Navy's Rokushiki technique, Geppo, which Bege could use, albeit with some difficulty.
A brilliant white light flashed, and a gash as thick as an arm appeared on the T-Rex's neck. Its head tumbled to the ground, the cut perfectly clean.
Bege landed, panting heavily. The T-Rex's strength was considerable; it had taken him quite some time to slay it.
A wide grin spread across Bege's face. This was what made things interesting! There were bound to be even stronger monsters deeper within. He could get even better training.
Climbing a large tree, he rested for a moment before venturing further into the forest.
The next day, Bege encountered a troublesome opponent: a massive saber-toothed tiger, weighing over ten tons, six meters tall, and fifteen to sixteen meters long. It was a monster that possessed both speed and power.
The saber-toothed tiger's physique was enormous, but its speed was even more incredible.
It had ten toes on each foot, five in the front and five curled up at the back. Its powerful limbs generated terrifying speed, and when turning, the back five toes could adjust direction at will, aiding the giant tiger's agility.
Such a terrifyingly fast tiger made it extremely difficult to predict its attacks or keep up with it.
A flash of steel sliced across the tiger's throat. Terror filled the beast's eyes.
A torrent of blood erupted, and the giant tiger crashed to the ground.
Killing this tiger had left Bege with significant injuries. His back was raked with over ten deep gashes from the tiger's claws, and his arm bore a wound from its saber teeth that exposed the bone. He had fifteen other wounds, large and small, all over his body. He collapsed to the ground, utterly drained of strength.
Suddenly, the gate on Bege's chest opened, and seven people jumped out, expanding to their normal size. They were doctors and nurses, all dressed in white and wearing masks. These were renowned physicians Bege had "invited," using various methods, from nearby islands through Rod. There were over twenty doctors and forty to fifty nurses, each a leader in their respective fields.
The doctors and nurses efficiently treated Bege's wounds.
Time flew by like an arrow, and Bege spent his days and nights battling giant beasts in the depths of the forest.
In the dense forest, Bege sprinted nimbly, the ground behind him shaking violently as trees were uprooted and shattered. Three colossal monsters were in hot pursuit.
One was a blue giant elephant, nine meters tall and twenty meters long, with a trunk that was also twenty meters long. Its trunk could easily smash boulders eight or nine meters across. It uprooted trees with its trunk, hurling them at Bege like javelins.
Bege dodged frantically, the tree-javelins smashing into the ground, sending splinters flying in all directions.
Another was a five-meter-tall, eighteen-meter-long... red flea. And it had sharp teeth! Sharp teeth! It could leap hundreds of meters into the air in a single bound.
It crashed down from the sky, flattening a large swathe of trees, and continued its furious pursuit of Bege.
The last was a thirteen-meter-tall giant gorilla. This gorilla was the strongest monster he'd encountered so far. It knew how to box, seemingly understanding basic force application techniques, each punch producing a sonic boom.
"I shouldn't have been so cocky," Bege muttered regretfully, gritting his teeth and sprinting at full speed, leading the three beasts deeper into the forest to escape them.
Two years later, in the very heart of Popokai Island, the territory of the island's strongest monster, the Tricera-Rhino Dragon.
Bege faced off against the Tricera-Rhino Dragon. It was over thirty meters tall and sixty meters long, the largest monster on the island.
It had three massive, fifteen-meter-long horns on its head and was covered in thick scales. This wasn't a simple rhinoceros; it was a rhino-dragon.
For the past six months, Bege had fought this Tricera-Rhino Dragon dozens of times, always being driven back. Today was the last day of the two years, and Bege intended to settle the score.
The Tricera-Rhino Dragon charged at Bege. Its three sky-piercing horns could shatter anything in their path. The behemoth, weighing over a hundred tons, made the forest tremble with each stride. The entire monster forest fell silent, trembling under the rhino-dragon's wrath.
"Hahahaha! Good, come on! Let's settle this today!" Bege roared with laughter, taking a deep drag from his cigar.
He suddenly vanished, reappearing before the Tricera-Rhino Dragon with two Soru steps.
"One Sword Style: Iai – Flying Dragon!"
A dragon-shaped blast of cutting energy slammed into the Tricera-Rhino Dragon with a thunderous roar. However, the rhino-dragon roared and charged through it.
Bege used Geppo to gracefully evade the rhino-dragon's charge. The beast's long, massive tail whipped around like a steel whip, moving too fast for the naked eye to follow.
"I can see your attacks."
Bege's eyes moved, his Observation Haki capturing the afterimage. Unfortunately, the tail's attack was too fast for Bege to completely dodge. He could only instantaneously block the tail with his sword. However, the immense force sent him flying, smashing through over a dozen giant trees.
The Tricera-Rhino Dragon continued its relentless pursuit.
"Time to get serious." Bege wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, a grin spreading across his face.
"Ichi Gorilla!" Bege suddenly shouted, his arms swelling to twice their size. This was something Bege had developed, inspired by Zoro's arm-strengthening technique, "Ichi Gorilla." Though the name was the same, the effect was different. Zoro's strengthened one arm, while Bege's strengthened both.
"Ni Gorilla!" His arms swelled further, veins bulging.
Bege took a deep breath, drawing a massive amount of air into his lungs. He then roared.
"San Gorilla!"
The veins on his arms looked like steel cables wrapped around them.
San Gorilla was the final enhancement, the starting point for Bege to unleash his advanced swordsmanship. The technique he was about to use could only be performed in the San Gorilla state.
Bege exhaled, and with a bang, his figure vanished, reappearing in mid-air.
His expression was blank, a ferocious aura radiating from him. Behind him, a faint image of a raging black giant ape appeared.
"Gathering fury, rage, wildness, brutality, and ferocity... into the blade! All who are cut shall become the blade's dead souls!"
"One Sword Style – Demon Ape Slash!"
The massive blade of light crashed down upon the rhino-dragon, cleaving its colossal body in two. Due to the force of the impact, the rhino-dragon's body slammed into the ground, split from head to waist.
Crimson blood rained down, soaking the ground for dozens of meters.
Bege landed, the sword in his hand cracking and breaking into pieces.
"Ordinary swords can't withstand the force of the San Gorilla state. I need to find a good sword," Bege muttered, frowning as he discarded the broken hilt. If he had used a Supreme Grade Sword, or even a Great Grade Sword, his Demon Ape Slash would have completely bisected the rhino-dragon.