A lush, green island floated on the sea. The weather was calm, and the *Freewill* sailed slowly.
Allen stood on the third floor, his gaze looking out over the sea.
[Demonic Beast Island・Valkav]. This was an uninhabited island covered in a primeval rainforest, known alongside [Rusukaina Island] as a forbidden zone for humanity.
Rusukaina was an island located near Amazon Lily in the Calm Belt. In Allen's memory, it was the place where Luffy trained in Haki under Rayleigh.
After the Summit War, there were no less than five hundred ferocious beasts on Rusukaina that Luffy couldn't defeat. One could only imagine how strong the creatures there were.
And Demonic Beast Island Valkav was not inferior to it in the slightest. It was safe to say that, aside from Allen, everyone on the ship would be at the absolute bottom of the food chain on this island.
Even experts like Sanji, Gin, and Killer would only be considered mid-tier at best.
In short, they were weaklings here.
...
Soon, the *Freewill* gradually approached the coast. Nami and the others came out, standing on the balcony to look at the lush, dense rainforest.
In the thick forest, pairs of eyes gleaming with a fierce crimson light faintly appeared, accompanied by the occasional bizarre cry and roar.
"It looks really dangerous here..."
Nami couldn't help but shiver. She hid behind Allen, her trembling hands tightly gripping his coat cape.
Allen half-squinted, his gaze sweeping the surroundings. Through his Observation Haki, he could sense that no less than ten hidden beasts at the edge of the forest had already locked their sights on them.
Moreover, their auras were incredibly fierce and powerful. Even though he had come prepared, he couldn't help but feel surprised.
Sanji and the others also wore solemn expressions. Although they didn't possess Observation Haki like Allen, their primal instincts warned them of the approaching danger.
The *Freewill* slowly pulled up to the coast. Amidst a slight jolt, the crew snapped to attention and quickly began preparing to disembark.
Allen simultaneously called out to remind them, "According to the encyclopedia written in the near-ancient era, the creatures on this island are divided into four threat levels."
"Among them, a saber-toothed tiger the size of a house is only classified as the lowest tier—a Regular-level creature. Don't let your guard down once we're ashore. Prepare to land."
With that, Allen took the lead, jumping off the ship and stepping onto the shore.
Sanji and the others were completely dumbfounded.
A saber-toothed tiger the size of a house... was just a lowest-tier Regular-level creature... No way.
How did those words even make sense in the same sentence?
"Whatever. This island sounds like a pretty good natural pasture. I wonder how saber-toothed tiger meat tastes."
Sanji's eyes glinted with interest. He lit a cigarette, took a drag, and then jumped off the ship.
Behind him, Gin, the Nyaban Brothers, and Killer followed suit, leaping off the deck.
Seeing that they were all ready to leave, Nami, who had absolutely no desire to set foot on the island, could only cast a pitiful, pleading look at Robin.
"Oh my, sorry, but I want to go on an adventure too."
Robin smiled faintly, grabbed a small shoulder bag, and jumped off the ship as well.
"Waaah! Wait for me!"
Nami shed two pathetic streams of tears. Seeing that everyone had chosen to disembark, she had no choice but to follow, no matter how reluctant she felt.
As dangerous as the rainforest was, at least there would be people to protect her. If she stayed behind alone, there was no telling what might happen.
...
Stepping into the damp rainforest, the group was surrounded by endless, towering giant trees.
The noisy chirping of insects and birds filled their ears. Sparse sunlight filtered through the gaps in the leaves, illuminating fingernail-sized patches of moss crawling up the massive trunks. A damp, vibrant green filled their vision, and the air was thick with the smell of rotting leaves and muddy earth.
The crew looked up, taking in an environment where everything seemed impossibly huge. Even the leaves drifting down from the canopy were larger than a human face.
Allen couldn't help but marvel. If he didn't know that Elbaf was in the New World, he would have thought this was some kingdom of giants.
*Rustle— Rustle—!*
Just as the group was observing their surroundings after stepping into the rainforest, a sudden commotion erupted nearby, and several dark shadows swiftly lunged out!
"Roar!!"
"Watch out!"
Sanji shouted, snapping his head around to see seven or eight massive dire wolves, nearly two meters tall at the shoulder and covered in grayish-brown fur, rapidly charging at them from three different directions.
The closest one in the middle had already pounced right in front of them!
"Tch! What a huge beast."
Sanji scoffed, his eyes narrowing as he raised his leg and delivered a vicious kick squarely to the dire wolf's jaw!
*Bang!!*
"Awooo—!"
The heavy, powerful kick easily sent the giant wolf's massive body flying backward, crashing into a tree trunk with a pitiful howl.
Gin and Killer were equally swift. With a sudden burst of speed, their figures darted out from both sides.
Spinning their dual tonfas and dual scythes at high speeds, they charged into the attacking wolf packs on the flanks with icy glares.
The Nyaban Brothers, however, didn't have it so easy. Facing these massive yet agile dire wolves, the two of them were locked in a stalemate just fighting one each.
"This guy's strength is way too much...!"
Sham raised his arms to block, but was sent sliding backward by a swat from the giant dire wolf's paw.
As soon as he steadied himself, he immediately transformed into his Caracal form. Moving at high speeds, he circled the giant wolf, his claws continuously leaving slash marks on its body.
On the other side, Buchi had also shifted into his human-beast form. His palms were locked in a test of strength with the giant dire wolf opposite him as he shouted, "Lasso! Bomb him!"
"Woof!"
The dachshund gun barked, spitting a baseball bomb from its mouth that landed beside the giant dire wolf and violently detonated!
*Boom!!*
Flames engulfed the giant dire wolf, and the explosive shockwave sent it flying before it crashed heavily onto the ground.
Before long, the sounds of battle gradually subsided. The rainforest returned to tranquility, leaving only the occasional chirping of insects and birds.
"Dire wolves. Due to their pack-hunting nature, they are classified as Danger-level creatures, though their individual combat strength is actually a bit weaker than a Regular-level giant saber-toothed tiger."
Allen commented casually. Looking at the dire wolves lying haphazardly on the ground, he quickly lost interest.
Sanji, however, found it somewhat unbelievable and said, "I recall you saying the creatures on this island are divided into four levels. The individual combat strength of these giant wolves is only at the lowest tier?"
"Are you serious? You're not tricking us, right, Boss? I feel like they're pretty tough."
"If this is the lowest level, doesn't that mean we won't be able to beat the stronger ones?"
The Nyaban Brothers couldn't help but be surprised. Although they had successfully dealt with two giant dire wolves, they had to admit that the creatures possessed formidable strength and speed.
In response, Allen simply curled the corners of his lips and said, "Never mind you guys. Even Sanji and the others wouldn't be able to defeat the beasts living in the center of the island."
This island had a strict territorial hierarchy. The closer a beast lived to the depths of the island, the stronger it was.
Based on the danger level upon encounter, the encyclopedia divided the island's creatures into four tiers, which Robin had translated as:
The huntable Regular-level, the caution-requiring Danger-level, the nearly invincible run-on-sight Disaster-level, and the certain-death Fatality-level.
A giant saber-toothed tiger the size of a house was classified as a huntable Regular-level creature...
To be honest, Allen didn't know what kind of deep-seated grudge the author of the encyclopedia had against their readers.
Or perhaps, the "humanity" mentioned here referred to heavily armed groups? But even then, they would need a machine gun in every pair of hands to pull it off.
However, Robin had proposed another possibility.
Perhaps a tribal civilization had once existed on this uninhabited island, and the people of that tribe possessed the ability to wrestle with these gigantified beasts.
Allen actually thought this was quite possible.
Not only was the *Demonic Beast Island Biological Encyclopedia* written in ancient text, but judging from its narrative style, the original author seemed very much like an indigenous inhabitant who had lived here.
Unfortunately, he hadn't finished reading the book yet, so he didn't know if there were any other records later on.
"Let's go."
Allen led the group as they continued forward.
This was merely the outermost edge of the rainforest. Next, they would enter an area with far more complex terrain, teeming with Danger-level and Disaster-level beasts.
Only from there on out could it be considered Allen's hunting grounds—or even deeper, where the Fatality-level creatures monopolized the freshwater resources of the massive lake at the island's center.