This Steelix weighed at least six hundred kilograms.
Its massive steel-serpent head alone accounted for at least half of its entire body weight—absurdly heavy.
On top of that, Steelix's bite force was tremendous.
Trying to pry its jaws open was, frankly, a lot of work.
However—
In front of GeoGreymon's overwhelmingly strong Power attribute…
That little bit of difficulty didn't count as anything.
Reaching out, Shiko placed his foreclaws on Steelix's upper and lower jaws, taking a stance as if he were about to exert force.
Seeing what he was doing, Himeko froze for a moment.
She couldn't quite figure out why Shiko was suddenly doing this.
But she didn't ask.
Instead, she sensibly stepped farther to the side, putting some distance between herself and the scene to avoid getting caught up in any possible fallout.
"Roar!!"
A deep, muffled growl rumbled out of Shiko's throat.
In his two forelimbs, the muscles could be seen clearly—tensing and bulging as they continuously exerted strength.
Steelix's jaws, hard and heavy like solid alloy, slowly began to part, opening into a thin slit.
"Roar!"
With another burst of roaring force, Shiko finally pried Steelix's mouth fully open.
At the instant its mouth opened completely—
A sudden, dazzling cyan-silver light burst out from inside Steelix's mouth for no apparent reason.
It looked like the brilliant radiance of treasure erupting from a chest the moment it was opened.
That sight made the one human and the two creatures present stare in shock for a brief moment.
When the abrupt light finally dispersed, Shiko immediately checked inside Steelix's mouth.
Sure enough!
Just like he had guessed—there was something in there.
Wrapped within Steelix's mouth was a droplet of liquid metal, only about half a palm in area.
It lay there quietly, pooled in place.
Such dense Steel-type energy!
Shiko couldn't help marveling.
So his earlier feeling hadn't been wrong.
That fleeting trace of sharp, concentrated Steel-type energy he'd sensed—
It really had existed.
And it was coming from this small pool of liquid metal right in front of him!
Judging by the extremely high purity of the energy aura alone, Shiko could conclude one thing—
The Steel-type law contained within this half-palm-sized pool of liquid metal…
Was enough to raise the Steel-type law he had already mastered in his body by another two percentage points.
The moment he realized that, intense greed and yearning burst forth in his draconic eyes.
After all—
Back in Dragon Valley, when he absorbed Dragon-type energy—
Even a Dragon-type energy crystal bigger than his fist only provided just under three percent growth in Dragon-type law.
But now…
This tiny pool of liquid metal—only half a palm in size—
Could provide a two percent increase in Steel-type law!
Just comparing those two—
Made it obvious how terrifyingly powerful the energy inside this liquid metal was.
It was even stronger than a pure Dragon-type energy crystal!
What in the world was this thing?
Surprise surfaced in Shiko's gaze.
He stared fixedly at that pool of liquid metal.
The more he looked, the more he felt it wasn't something naturally formed.
It seemed more like something that had peeled off from a Pokémon—or was part of something's body composition.
After examining it more closely, Shiko noticed another detail that was easy to miss.
Inside Steelix's mouth, there were vast areas of corrosion damage.
After the smooth, silvery-white surface layer had been eaten away, it revealed a rusty-iron-like brown beneath.
Countless tiny pitted holes sank into the surface, densely packed like a honeycomb.
"Corroded this badly?!"
Shiko blurted out in shock.
Steelix's hardest part was its lower jaw.
After all, Steelix relied on its powerful, hard jaws to gnaw on Steel-type materials and ores—strengthening its outer body, increasing its size, and raising its overall toughness.
A structure this hard and stable—far surpassing diamond—how could it be corroded so easily?
Shiko frowned, puzzled.
Then—
He tilted Steelix's head slightly downward, letting the liquid metal flow closer to the edge of its mouth.
And with that one look—
His expression turned to outright shock.
Beneath that pool of liquid metal, everything had already turned brown.
Those horrifying deep pits—
In Shiko's eyes, it could no longer be described as mere "corrosion."
This was naked, brutal devouring.
Looking deeper inside, Shiko also saw that Steelix's throat area had been devoured into the same brown, ruined state.
So—
Steelix must have accidentally swallowed this lump of liquid metal earlier.
After realizing it couldn't digest it, and that its own insides were being devoured by it—
It had been forced to try to spit it back out.
But it was already too late.
The internal damage this liquid metal caused was completely irreversible.
So in the end—
Before it could even fully vomit the thing out…
It had already croaked on the spot.
After reasoning out Steelix's cause of death, Shiko's inner sense of alarm only grew stronger.
Just what kind of metal was this?!
It could devour Steelix's body—harder than diamond—bit by bit?
If this was a substance from some Pokémon's body…
Then…
A method this powerful and terrifying—
At the very least, it would have to belong to a Legendary Pokémon that surpassed the limits of ordinary Pokémon, right?
A Steel-type Legendary…
Shiko rapidly flashed through one form after another in his mind, filtering for the Pokémon that fit best—
While at the same time extending the sharp claws of his forelimb, cautiously touching the liquid metal.
He wasn't too worried that his claws would be devoured or corroded by it.
After all, within his body—
He had already mastered twenty-one percent of the Steel-type law.
He should be able to withstand this metal's corrosion.
With just a light touch, Shiko nudged the liquid metal, pulling it slightly outward so it stretched into a thin extension.
When he withdrew his claw, he distinctly felt a fierce sensation of being eaten away traveling up from his claw—
Like an ant swarm gnawing madly.
Fortunately—
The Steel-type energy within Shiko's body was powerful enough to suppress the metal's devouring.
But even so—
That terrifying ability still left Shiko shaken.
The small extended sliver of liquid alloy he had teased out…
After a brief moment, it flowed back and restored itself to its original shape.
Huh?!
This is memory alloy?!
Shiko was startled by what he saw.
Liquid memory alloy?!
Strong Steel-type energy, and devouring properties?!
Could it be…
After combining all the clues and information together—
Shiko already had a rough guess about the owner of this small piece of liquid alloy…
(End of Chapter)
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