Chapter 37: Surrounded by Dragon Aura

“Greedy human, you guessed right. I am indeed trapped in here. But so what? You’re just a second-tier brat. I could extinguish you with a single finger, and yet you dare act so arrogant before me? The number of people I’ve killed is more than the number of meals you’ve eaten,” the Corpsefiend Beast sneered with disdain.

“Heh… You say you’ve killed more people than I’ve had meals? That’s a bit exaggerated, isn’t it? I eat at least three thousand grains of rice per bowl, two bowls per meal, four bowls a day, porridge in the morning. That’s at least ten or twenty thousand grains a day, over 300,000 a month, more than three million a year. In a dozen or so years, that’s over thirty million. Are you telling me you’ve killed more than thirty million people?” Luffy retorted with undisguised contempt. That was simply impossible.

“Woof woof…” The Teddy Divine Beast barked derisively as well, clearly not believing the Corpsefiend Beast’s boast.

“Ahem… Well, that might have been a little exaggerated, but I’ve at least slain several thousand,” the Corpsefiend Beast replied with an awkward laugh.

“So what? You’re trapped here, waiting to die. We have countless ways to destroy you,” Luffy said coldly, treating the Corpsefiend Beast as if it were already meat in his hand. In truth, he wasn’t entirely confident, but he had to keep up the bravado.

“You’re quite arrogant, aren’t you? My current strength is only one percent of what it used to be. If I weren’t trapped here, I’d rip you to shreds in an instant,” the Corpsefiend Beast growled furiously. Never in its long life had a human bullied it like this—especially not a mere second-tier brat.

“Woof woof…” The Teddy Divine Beast stared at the Corpsefiend Beast, eyes shining.

“This little mutt dares to bark at me? Courting death!” With a sudden burst of energy from its mouth, the Corpsefiend Beast hurled an attack at the Teddy Divine Beast.

By the time Luffy and the Dragon Maiden reacted, it was already too late. The ball of energy engulfed the Teddy Divine Beast.

“Damn you! You dare to launch a sneak attack?” Luffy shouted furiously at the Corpsefiend Beast.

But in the next moment, the energy did not explode as expected. Instead, it vanished completely. The Teddy Divine Beast stood there, belly bulging, letting out two satisfied burps, looking irresistibly cute.

“What the…” The Corpsefiend Beast’s eyes bulged. What kind of mutt was this? It had actually swallowed his energy! This was beyond bizarre.

With a roar, the Corpsefiend Beast immediately split off a clone that lunged at the Teddy Divine Beast.

“You little wretch! Dare to devour my energy? Die!” The Corpsefiend Beast’s clone lunged at the Teddy Divine Beast.

Luffy didn’t bother about the Teddy Divine Beast’s safety. He charged directly at the Corpsefiend Beast, planning to capitalize on the chaos between the beast and the Teddy Divine Beast to slay the main body first.

“Trying to ambush me? Do you really think I wasn’t prepared?” The Corpsefiend Beast suddenly turned his gaze to Luffy. The chains rattled as two more clones, glowing with energy, rushed at him.

“Wow… This is going to be fun.” The Dragon Maiden’s eyes sparkled as she witnessed the scene. Somehow she had produced a chair, sat down beside them, and began watching the show.

Luffy was speechless. Did she really have the leisure to sit back and watch at a time like this?

The two clones of the Corpsefiend Beast roared and pounced at Luffy. In an instant, Luffy activated his Samsara Heavenly Eye. To him, the clones’ lightning-fast movements seemed to slow down dozens of times.

Effortlessly, he dodged their attack and, with a blade infused with dragon energy, unleashed the Great Flame Slash at one of the clones.

With a splatter, one of the clones was sliced in two and vanished instantly. The other appeared right before Luffy.

“Who are you, boy? How can a second-tier like you destroy a clone of mine? My clones possess the same power as my original body—albeit imperfect. Dealing with the likes of you should have been child’s play,” the true Corpsefiend Beast said, narrowing his eyes warily at Luffy.

“Who am I? I’m the one who’s come for a drop of dragon’s blood from your heart,” Luffy replied with a wicked grin. His clothes fluttered despite the still air, making him look dazzlingly handsome.

Nearby, the other Corpsefiend Beast clone was devoured by the Teddy Divine Beast, who waddled over with his swollen belly, barking for a reward.

“Out of the way,” Luffy said, kicking the Teddy aside. He wasn’t in the mood for jokes; the Corpsefiend Beast hadn’t yet revealed its true power, nor had Luffy. If they fought for real, the outcome was far from certain.

“You’re not bad, but still too green to claim my dragon blood. Let me show you the true power of my clone,” the Corpsefiend Beast said coldly. The clone before him suddenly radiated an aura of pure evil, tinged with dragon energy.

Clearly, the Corpsefiend Beast was now drawing upon its dragon blood. “Today, you’ll witness the real power of the Corpsefiend Beast!”

The beast’s skin began to change; it stood up, transforming into a humanoid form, sprouting two dragon horns and long claws from its hands.

In the blink of an eye, the humanoid Corpsefiend Beast lunged, saying, “Die, greedy humans, you wet-behind-the-ears whelps.”

The monster struck at Luffy with lightning speed. Even with the Samsara Heavenly Eye, Luffy was caught off guard; his sleeve was torn and blood began to flow. He had narrowly avoided having his arm ripped clean off.

Luckily, his quick reflexes saved him.

The monster moved so fast, even Luffy could only catch its afterimages.

Suddenly, the monster smashed a fist down toward Luffy’s head.

Luffy raised the Thunderblade in defense, but was blasted backwards, slamming hard against the cavern wall.

The Dragon Maiden gasped. She hadn’t expected the Corpsefiend Beast to become so powerful, moving with such speed. In a flash, she used her Ripple Step to join the fight, clashing with the beast. Sparks flew as her sword met the monster’s claws, their battle fierce and intense.

With a thundering blow, the Dragon Maiden was sent flying and landed atop Luffy.

“Damn… Was that on purpose?” Luffy muttered, shocked that her hips had landed squarely against his groin.

This was a situation ripe for wild imagination.

“I thought you were powerful, but you’re both nothing but paper tigers—utterly worthless,” the Corpsefiend Beast mocked, looking down on them with contempt and disdain.

“Is that so? Looks like it’s time to show you real power.” Luffy wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, raised his hand, and stepped forward. Dragon energy coiled around him, his aura growing ever stronger.