Just as Crocus and Dr. Kureha were about to examine Tengetsu Ares's condition, a sudden voice rang out.
"Meat!"
"I want meat!!"
Everyone stared at Tengetsu Ares in surprise.
Crocus said, "Tengetsu Ares, let me check your wounds first. At this rate, you need medicine immediately!"
"I want meat. I need to replenish my energy." Tengetsu Ares's voice was low and hoarse, as if even his throat had been damaged by the shockwave.
He knew very well that compared to medicine, what he needed most right now was food. Only by restoring his energy could he sustain the massive consumption caused by his body's regeneration.
Dorry immediately responded, "Tengetsu Ares, wait here. I'll get you some food right now!"
He turned to Brogy. "Come on. Let's go catch a dinosaur and give Tengetsu Ares something fresh to eat."
The two of them picked up their weapons and set off across the island in search of any surviving or hiding dinosaurs.
Meanwhile, Crocus rummaged through his medical box. But even if he combined every last wound medicine he had on hand, it would still be little more than a drop in the bucket against injuries this severe and against a body this huge.
"Tengetsu Ares, your injuries are too serious. The medicine I'm carrying... it just isn't enough." Crocus frowned and suggested, "Should we have Laboon carry us to another island to buy more medicine?"
"No need..." Tengetsu Ares rejected the suggestion.
It was not as though he knew nothing about treating injuries.
Back in the Mokomo Dukedom, the goat doctor had treated him for a long time. Through constant exposure, Tengetsu Ares had picked up more than a little knowledge himself.
What he needed right now was food. Only by feeding his body enough energy could he use Life Return to stimulate cellular growth and heal his wounds.
Even so...
A thought surfaced in Tengetsu Ares's mind.
"Compared to the Five Elders' immortal bodies, the healing effect of Life Return is still far inferior. How exactly did they achieve that?"
That question had always struck him as strange. If he could also obtain the kind of immortality the Five Elders possessed, his combat strength would become even more terrifying.
Unlike them, however, his body's durability and defensive power far surpassed theirs by hundreds or even thousands of times. If that were added on top of immortality, then he would become...
A truly undying monster!
"Perhaps, with enough energy, I could also achieve an immortal body."
He had thought about that problem a long time ago, but he had never found an answer.
Then he thought of the Munch-Munch Fruit he had just obtained in Drum Kingdom.
"If I could somehow gain a second Devil Fruit..."
"If I ate the Munch-Munch Fruit, then I could devour steel and ore, turn the inside of my body entirely into metal, and even consume everything as fuel for myself."
The problem was, Tengetsu Ares had no idea how one could wield a second Devil Fruit.
As for the theories surrounding Blackbeard Teach in his memories, opinions varied wildly. No one had ever arrived at a definite answer.
That uncertainty alone made him unwilling to gamble recklessly.
At that moment, Dr. Kureha had already taken out some of her secret medicine and was spreading it over Tengetsu Ares's wounds as she treated him.
"If it were an ordinary person, they would've died long ago from blood loss and injuries this severe. Only a monster like you could survive taking a combined attack from two giants."
"What a freak."
But by then, Tengetsu Ares had already shut out everything around him.
Now, while the sensations in his body were still vivid, he wanted to fully comprehend and experience the strike Brogy and Dorry had unleashed together, Hakoku Sovereignty.
Since they could do it, why couldn't he do it alone, without needing to coordinate with anyone else?
Inside his mind, the scene of Brogy and Dorry using Hakoku Sovereignty replayed frame by frame.
And unlike anyone else, he could observe it from a near-divine perspective.
At close range, he could study every minute detail of how they generated power throughout their bodies.
Read a book a hundred times, and its meaning reveals itself.
Tengetsu Ares, however, could replay that moment thousands upon thousands of times in his head, deepening his understanding with every viewing.
His grasp of Hakoku Sovereignty became increasingly profound and complete.
Still, observation alone was not enough.
He needed to practice it himself.
Unfortunately, his body was injured, so he could only suppress that burning excitement in his heart for now.
Once his wounds healed and his energy was restored, he would begin trying it out.
Hakoku Sovereignty was incredibly important to him.
It was not only a devastating killing move, but something that could open the door for him to develop an entire combat style of his own.
The history of the Giant Tribe could likely be traced back to a time even before Joy Boy, the Sun God. Their lineage might stretch back thousands of years.
Naturally, the battle arts they had passed down were extraordinary.
Soon enough, Dorry and Brogy returned with their prey.
They built a fire and started roasting the meat directly. After decades on this island, they had long since become masters at this sort of campfire cooking.
Brogy gave Tengetsu Ares a thumbs-up and clicked his tongue.
"Tengetsu Ares, you're really something. Crazy really does mean crazy. You actually dared to use your body to take mine and Dorry's attack head-on and still lived through it."
"You've really opened our eyes."
Dorry spun his sword in his hand while the dinosaur meat sizzled and dripped grease over the flames.
"I'm telling you, Tengetsu Ares, that was completely reckless. We both thought you were dead."
Tengetsu Ares's face darkened a little.
Truthfully, back then, he had also nearly believed he was going to die.
In the end, though, he had managed to hold on by relying on Conqueror's Haki.
That also made him realize very clearly that his current physique still had plenty of flaws.
Tengetsu Ares dragged his injured body over to the fire.
"This is too slow..."
"Give me the sword."
Dorry handed his giant sword over.
The moment Tengetsu Ares gripped it, he felt something incredibly strange.
In the past, he had always used his own body as a weapon. Ordinary swords were far too small for him. They simply did not suit him at all.
Whitebeard having acquired Murakumogiri, one of the Supreme Grade Blades, was pure luck. Weapons suited for men of their size were simply far too rare.
That was why Tengetsu Ares had long chosen to use his own body as his weapon, or even as his sword.
An ordinary weapon was not even as hard as his body, though of course the advantages of a true blade were something the body could not fully replicate.
Fortunately, Tengetsu Ares also possessed the Mythical Zoan Azure Dragon form, which meant he could use his tail as a weapon.
He had never truly searched for a weapon before, but now, holding Dorry's giant sword in his hand, the sensation felt...
Unexpectedly novel.
A thought surfaced in Tengetsu Ares's mind.
"Maybe I should try using weapons for a while. Only by understanding them can I eventually recreate true sharpness and cutting power with my own body..."
He did not think that was impossible at all.
With his Devil Fruit ability, he could experiment with rearranging and restructuring his dragon scales.
He silently tucked that idea away.
Then he opened his mouth wide and bit straight into the dinosaur meat before it was even fully cooked.