Whenever a Motor Fish was drained of all energy and had even thinned in size, Krune fed it with a lot of fruits. He also gave it the extract he created by infusing his healing ability in a piece of meat and squeezing the juices out.
Without much surprise, it worked wonders in developing their bodies, causing them to gain muscle mass quite quickly. Even though a lot of time was being consumed in this elaborate process, and the two knew for a fact that the bandit group was getting progressively stronger as the days passed, they had no other choice but to wait.
Even though the bandit group was getting stronger, Krune and the Seamstress were getting significantly stronger individually. It was because they were using their abilities without care and constantly trained like madmen.
It came as a pleasant surprise to Krune that the Seamstress was more or less similar to him in views and ideologies. The only difference was the fact that she wished to stick to her childhood's ideals.
As for the reason, she simply said that she wished to accomplish a challenging task. So, she took up a task that seemed the toughest and would never end. With that, even if she were to become a God, she would never be bored.
Whether she was weak or invincible, her methods might change, but the goal she should strive forward would always be the same. At the start, she was driven by her vow. After that, it became her obsession due to an incident she experienced.
And now, it was her way of life.
It had been eight months since the day Krune met the Seamstress. Krune observed the Motor Fishes, speaking, "Alright, we have attained a limit of sorts. For the past two days, there have been no noticeable differences when they consumed the fruits."
"Are we going to kill them now?" the Seamstress inquired. All along, Krune hadn't explained the method to her yet, saying that she would only understand it when she witnessed it herself.
"Nope." Krune smiled, dragging one of the bone cages holding a Motor Fish with him. The bone cage wasn't something it had at the start. It was what he had created over the months to house it. After all, it had doubled in size over the months.
Just by sensing its sheer presence, Krune determined that it was on the level of a Mutant Monster Gecko right now. On top of that, it seemed that it wasn't able to grow beyond this level...at least, not naturally. Its natural limit was what it was eight months ago.
Its current form was already because of the bone tree fruits that had boosted its growth tremendously, evolving it into a higher existence.
Over the eight months, other than training, Krune expanded the ship's size. From its initial radius of three meters, it had expanded to five meters. As its skeletal base was the bone tree, expanding it was simply too easy.
All Krune had to do was cover it with bones of other fishes before layering it with leather. He had plenty of Monster Gecko leather, so he simply used them, already used to them aesthetically. The increase in space made the boat seem too big, especially considering that there were only two people and a baby living on it.
Krune and the Seamstress sparred against one another a lot, understating the complex dynamics at play when humans used their passive abilities to fight. This way, they built up more experiences related to the fights between humans and not just between humans and fish.
"Now, what happens next will shock you." Krune smiled as he grunted, slowly pulling the Motor Fish's cage above a bone boat. It was created by stringing three bone boats together. It was tied to the Paddle. Growing on it was a bone tree.
Krune carefully placed the Motor Fish cage next to the bone tree. He then took in a deep breath as he gazed at the Motor Fish within. Despite possessing a presence on par with a Mutant Monster Gecko, it wasn't even in the least bit threatening.
It was because the Motor Fishes were a tamed race. They lived by using their superior agility to steal the hunted prey of other marine creatures. So, they would never attack.
As Krune pulled it out of water, the Motor Fish began to face difficulty in breathing as its body began to twitch. He swiftly made a small cut on its tail and touched it on the bone tree, watching the Motor Fish shudder in response and twitch harder.
"Help me hold it!" Krune shouted as the Seamstress jumped out of the Paddle and landed on the bone boat, grabbing hold of the Motor Fish as she tried to keep it as steady as possible. Even though she wasn't as strong as Krune physically, she wasn't that far off.
Within a minute, the Motor Fish stopped twitching as it lost all strength, gazing with glazed eyes as its body visibly shrunk further until all its blood had been sucked away. Krune maintained the position for some more time before he noticed that no more blood flowed out from the Motor Fish, heaving a sigh of relief as he let go of his hold. "Now, let's do it two more times."
Krune then placed the dried Motor Fish on the floor of the Paddle. Without wasting any time, they did the same to two other Motor Fishes. Once that was done, they continued to wait while going about their daily activities.
The Seamstress tested the Blood Essence Crystal, marveling at the boost she obtained from it. After using it to the limit, she rested for a day, recovering from the side effects. Krune then gave her another three, telling her to use it when they fought against some tough opponents.
The number of weapons they had created during these past few months was significant. Using their combined prowess, they managed to create a bow, a really powerful bow that was only a meter wide but packed a powerful punch. The bowstring was something the Seamstress had created using the thread from the Rope Bush.
She processed it for months using the heat from her passive ability, Heat Radiance. She did the same thing for the bows, too, upgrading their strength to a greater level. And when she was bored, the Seamstress worked on Krune's Whale Tooth Sword and the pair of Whale Tooth Daggers, slightly upgrading their quality.
On the other hand, Krune worked on the arrows, making a special component in the tip where he was able to store some of his blood inside. It did take multiple trials and errors before they managed to create an arrow tip that was able to contain his blood without freezing over.
With that, they obtained arrows that would inject his frozen blood into his pierced enemies, turning their bodies numb from the cold. They could put it to good use when attempting a Secondary Landmass next.
Even though heading to a Primary Landmass was easier, a Secondary Landmass would prove to be better in terms of profit. Moreover, they could head inside as a team, which was the most important.
Only one person could enter a Primary Landmass. Three people could enter a Secondary Landmass. As for the Tertiary Landmass, a total of nine people could enter it. If they all held hands or made bodily contact while ripping the entry tickets, they would all end up in the same Secondary or Tertiary Landmass.
It was unknown how many Primary, Secondary, or Tertiary Landmasses were in the layer. So, they couldn't get an accurate grasp. Moreover, even though they had roamed about a significant distance, they hadn't come across any of the landmasses.
The only piece of land that could be said was the cove where the Motor Fishes lived. Now, it was controlled by the pirates as a mobile fortress around which they were building a ship.
Whatever they were preparing, Krune and the Seamstress had to make a breakthrough. So, they were accumulating some of their own secret weapons. The one that played a major factor in this was the Seamstress' passive ability, Coral Wave.
Using it in conjunction with her Heat Radiance, she was able to refine tiny cylinders that were capable of holding his frozen blood without freezing over. It did take three months of continuous trial and error to figure out the correct combination. But when it did, it paid a lot.
Using it, she created tiny thumb-sized containers, cylindrical in shape. Krune was able to store his frozen blood in them, around 10 milliliters. Surprisingly, they worked no different from a grenade. There was a tiny pin on their top that, upon pulled, would turn the container fragile.
And, when it collided with any object, the frozen blood within would splash forth. If the pin wasn't pulled, the container wouldn't shatter. Krune had experimented and noticed that only if he hacked it using his Whale Tooth Sword would the container break if its pin is not removed.
Surprisingly, ten milliliters of his blood was pretty effective. After testing it, they realized that it was the perfect amount to slow a relatively larger creature for a moment. Moreover, it had the most efficiency of usage. Krune called it the Frozen Cylinder.
They were making a Frozen Cylinder every five days. It did take time to create them. After all, if the containers were of subpar quality, they would break if the user ran or fell or suffered an attack. They would just freeze over.
After all, even Krune wasn't completely immune to it, even though it was his blood. If it landed on his foot, it would form ice over the ground and his foot, keeping him stuck to the place. Even though the ice wouldn't directly damage him, it would still hinder him.
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