One piece : Armor of Justice

Bill didn't get to see the result of his actions, but he knew that he aimed correctly and believed that Rance would manage to free Ricky and land safely. This was a move he could only use with someone like Sasha.

But now, he had his own problems. Half of the Super Ants colony was on his tail, and somewhere ahead was an unknown creature waiting to appear any second.

As Bill ran forward, it seemed that the noise behind him was getting closer, and soon he saw a red spot in front of him.

The Super Baboon was smart enough not to approach the anthill, but apparently not clever enough to flee when Bill started charging at him.

So, he didn't run until it was too late.

Seeing his opportunity for salvation, Bill let out a joyful laugh, putting all his strength into sprinting past the baboon, who seemed too scared to even remember that he could climb trees.

When the Super Baboon looked at Bill with pleading eyes, Bill glanced back with a sly smile and, with a powerful strike, sent the creature back towards the ants.

Watching the baboon take on the ants' assault, Bill laughed again. Somewhere nearby was his father, and he knew the baboon wouldn't die, though it might get a bit roughed up.

Although Bill wasn't particularly attached to the creatures released upon him, the ape-like beings seemed intelligent. Once, his father had set a Super Gorilla upon them. That creature could have easily turned Bill and his friends to pulp, but it fought only slightly harder than they did.

So, having killed two birds with one stone, Bill turned south. He had no particular reason to go this way apart from it feeling right.

He was lucky to find Ricky after Rance. After all, if it had been Fia or Sasha, there was a real possibility he wouldn't have been able to catch up with them after they split up.

Out of all five, Ricky was the most quick-witted but the weakest physically. Ricky's dual sword fighting style impressed Bill, who had always thought using two swords was pointless. However, Ricky was agile enough to switch freely between attack and defense.

The fighting style his father taught him was called Thunder Sword. This style focuses on parrying and thrusts. A master of this style could summon lightning to cover their blades. Instead of focusing on powerful single strikes, this style was useful against multiple opponents.

However, despite all this, Bill reminded himself that Ricky was still a novice, and thanks to this, he soon caught up with the two boys.

As Bill approached closer, he heard noise and saw Ricky battling three Super Rats, while Rance darted back and forth between them and the Super Sparrow.

Running up to them, but trying to stay as quiet as possible, Bill caught all six by surprise when he delivered a "Super Strike!" to one of the Super Rats.

After the blow, all five original fighters watched in shock as the unfortunate rodent soared above the trees and disappeared into the distance.

Glancing down at the remaining ones, it took less than a second for the other three creatures to flee.

Looking at Ricky and Rance, Bill slowly approached, panting heavily after such a long run.

Huff Huff* "They might come back, but the Super Baboon is out of the game now."

"Wow! You kicked it so far!"

"Hey, Bill! Why did you leave me like that?! Not all the ants followed you!"

When the two boys greeted him, Bill placed his hands on his knees and took a deep breath before straightening up again.

At this point, he had enough control over his body to efficiently use all the oxygen he inhaled. He could even reduce pain after intense workouts, although he always had to be careful not to create too many micro-tears in his muscles.

He thought of it this way: he had mastered the Return of Life, but he hadn't turned into Wolverine—so while he could recover faster, he couldn't do it instantly.

Laughing at Ricky's words as he sheathed his swords, Bill turned to Rance and asked, "How many of them followed you?"

"Around a dozen, I had to pick one up and run."

Hearing this, Ricky looked indignant and said, "You didn't untie me!"

Laughing again, Bill interrupted Rance before he could respond.

"Alright, are you ready to run? I think we should head south before turning west."

With agreement from the two boys, they turned and headed where Bill's instincts guided them.

Now that the monsters were more or less neutralized, the path south went much faster, and when they found Fia on a small island in the middle of a pond, locked in a sea-stone cage surrounded by Super Crocodiles, they realized it was perhaps the most dangerous challenge his father had ever set up.

But now they had time to look around.

The first thing Rance noticed was obvious: "This cage probably has a key."

The second thing Ricky pointed out: "There's a bow with an envelope tied to the tail of the big Super Crocodile.

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