Even with his strong physique, he let out a full-throated scream of agony.
“Third! Second!”
The leader, who had been circling around to avoid the Diamond Ape and Iron-armored Python’s brawl, noticed the sudden changes behind him.
After calling out several times and receiving no response, he decided to dash straight for the Serpent Saliva Fruit.
In the end, he chose the fruit—perhaps realizing his brothers’ fate, he made the rational choice to seize the Serpent Saliva Fruit instead.
Knowing someone was hiding in the dark, he also ordered the Diamond Ape to finish off the Iron-armored Python quickly.
“Roar!”
Pounding its chest, the Diamond Ape roared and tore the heavily injured Iron-armored Python in half, then abandoned the corpse and ran to its master’s side to guard him.
“Hiss, hiss, hiss—”
A dense chorus of hissing filled the air before them, blocking their path toward the Serpent Saliva Fruit.
Zhou Ming knew that with the Ferocious Beasts’ sharp senses, a sneak attack by the Ironthread Snakes would fail.
It was better to intercept the man halfway and stop him from reaching the fruit.
If the man managed to obtain it, Zhou Ming would completely lose the initiative.
These dozens of Ironthread Snakes had already been positioned around the Serpent Saliva Fruit in advance when the stranger hunter squad first acted.
“How can there be so many Ironthread Snakes? A Beast Tamer? No—impossible! No one can control mutated beasts, let alone command so many Ironthread Snakes!”
The sight before him completely overturned everything he knew about Beast Taming.
“Kill!”
The leader was decisive—he commanded the Diamond Ape to attack the swarm of Ironthread Snakes.
As long as he seized the Serpent Saliva Fruit, victory would be his.
The ape’s palm, wide as a fan, swept toward the snakes.
Under normal circumstances, the Ironthread Snakes would have been slaughtered instantly.
But this time, they were under a Beast Tamer’s control.
As the Diamond Ape’s strikes descended, the snakes scattered, evading the blows while slithering toward its master.
Seeing their coordinated movement, the leader was now certain—a Beast Tamer was indeed controlling them.
He opened fire with his Storm-series rifle, spraying bullets at the approaching Ironthread Snakes, while the Diamond Ape crushed them one after another with its fists.
Zhou Ming’s carefully deployed swarm was being wiped out fast.
“Bang.”
Just then, the leader froze mid-motion and suddenly collapsed face-first onto the ground.
The Diamond Ape, which had been wreaking havoc, let out a muffled groan and fell lifeless beside him.
Not far away, Zhou Ming stood with a twisted expression, holding a pistol—the one he had taken from the dark-skinned “Third.”
If you have a gun, why not use it? Who said a Beast Tamer can’t wield a beast of iron and fire?
“Cough, cough…”
The deaths of so many Ironthread Snakes sent stabbing pain through Zhou Ming’s head.
Fortunately, he had rushed over after claiming his spoils—otherwise, in his current state and with the few Ironthread Snakes left, he would’ve been unable to stop them from taking the Serpent Saliva Fruit.