Song immediately stood up and ran toward the positions of Merdu and Ningxi, but it was already too late.
The black mist had completely surged into Merdu's body, causing Merdu's body to undergo drastic changes!
"Bang! Boom!" A huge mushroom cloud rose into the air.
Standing on the shore a few meters away from the beach, Song watched anxiously at the center of the mushroom cloud. After the mushroom cloud dissipated, he saw an unimaginably huge monster appear—that was Merdu, altered by the Space Beast Factor.
This Space Beast stood over sixty meters tall, its entire body covered in dark red scales. The scales gleamed under the sunlight, a long tentacle lashed about, its mouth was filled with sharp fangs, and its crimson eyes stared fixedly at Ningxi.
Seeing Merdu transform into this behemoth before her eyes, Ningxi's eyes were filled with shock.
Merdu let out a furious roar, glared at Ningxi standing before it, and raised a claw, preparing to smash down.
People at the beach panicked and fled in all directions upon seeing this behemoth.
Seeing that no one was paying attention, Song directly took out the Evolution Trust...
After a dazzling flash of light, Nexus grabbed Ningxi just as she was about to be crushed and leaped backward, causing Merdu's attack to miss.
Nexus set Ningxi down on the shore. Looking at the massive Merdu before her, a trace of sorrow welled up in Ningxi's eyes. Crying out, she shouted, "Merdu, what's wrong with you!"
However, having transformed into a Space Beast, Merdu had completely lost its sanity and continued to roar furiously.
Nexus parried the attacks of the giant Space Beast before him. A massive claw came down, instantly stomping a huge crater into the ground near the beach.
Although Nexus could easily dodge, he could still feel the intense shockwave, forcing him to retreat and put some distance between himself and Merdu.
Looking at the mindless Space Beast Merdu, Nexus knew that words could no longer reach it; the issue could only be resolved through combat.
Nexus glanced at Ningxi on the ground and silently whispered an apology in his heart.
Striking a combat stance, Nexus guarded his chest with one hand, clenched his other fist, and prepared to attack.
Leaping into the air, Nexus delivered a kick to Merdu, but Merdu's defense was exceptionally tough, and the attack only made it take a few steps back.
Seeing this, Nexus leaped into the air once again, preparing to smash his fist into Merdu's head. However, Merdu suddenly snapped its fangs-filled maw shut around Nexus's wrist.
Struggling in pain, Nexus tried to break free from Merdu's jaws, but Merdu clamped down tightly and flung Nexus aside.
Just then, Merdu spat out a blue orb of light that blasted against Nexus's body, erupting into a flurry of violent sparks across his form.
A portion of the remaining light orbs blasted toward the tall buildings surrounding the beach.
"Bang!"
Violent explosions echoed from the surrounding buildings, and countless citizens fled in panic, crying out as they ran toward safety.
A heavy feeling gripped Nexus's heart; he knew he couldn't drag this out any longer and had to end the battle as quickly as possible, otherwise it would only result in greater casualties.
Watching the mindless Merdu, Ningxi felt deeply distressed. She squatted down and sobbed incessantly.
She thought to herself: if only she had listened to that young man yesterday, Merdu wouldn't have come looking for her, nor would it have ended up like this.
Standing atop a tall building, the Mysterious Man watched the battle between Nexus and Merdu. "My wager with you begins now..."
"Nexus, a dolphin modified by the Space Beast Factor. Will you choose to save the many human lives on the shore, or will you let the little girl's Merdu cause people to lose their positive opinion of you?"
With that, the Mysterious Man issued a command to Merdu: attack the humans on the shore!
Merdu lashed out with its tail, striking Nexus hard. Nexus let out a groan of pain and staggered back several steps.
Taking advantage of the moment before Nexus could recover, Merdu spat another orb of light directly from its mouth.
"Boom!" The huge orb of light exploded on the shore, killing many of the people scrambling to escape. Many others were knocked unconscious to the ground by the shockwave, and a great number were severely injured.
Looking at everything before him, Nexus was filled with overwhelming anger. Clenching his fists, he charged toward Merdu and slammed his fist fiercely into Merdu's chest.
Merdu let out a painful howl, but it didn't stop its attack, sweeping its massive claws toward Nexus.
Nexus dodged the strike, then rolled to Merdu's back and slammed his knee hard into its spine.
Staggering, Merdu crashed to the ground, but it quickly scrambled back up and lashed out at Nexus with its huge claws.
Quickly evading the attack, Nexus grabbed Merdu's claws with both hands and hurled it away with all his might.
Merdu crashed heavily into the sea surface, kicking up a flurry of waves. Staring fixedly at Merdu, Nexus prepared to unleash the Cross Ray Schtrom.
Right at that moment, Ningxi stood up. Wiping away her tears, she looked firmly at Nexus and cried out loudly, "Giant, please save Merdu! It's innocent!"
Nexus froze. He looked back at Ningxi, his heart filled with conflict. He knew Merdu had lost its mind, but he also knew Ningxi's deep affection for it, making him hesitate for a moment.
Just then, the Mysterious Man issued another command to Merdu: "Continue attacking those fleeing people."
Nexus snapped back to his senses instantly; he knew this was no time for hesitation. Clenching his fists, he gazed quietly at Merdu.
At that moment, the Core Gauge on his chest had already begun to flash.
Seeing this, Nexus gritted his teeth. A ray of light appeared on his chest, and then Nexus brought his hands together over his Core Gauge.
Accompanied by resonant shouts, the light particles outside Nexus's Core Gauge gradually converged, transforming into a brilliant cluster of light as countless light particles gathered around the gauge.
The light cluster spun continuously, the golden radiance growing increasingly intense until it finally formed a massive pillar of golden light.
Lifting the pillar of light in his hands, Nexus aimed it straight ahead at Merdu. Carrying immense energy fluctuations, the golden light particles slowly flowed into Merdu's body.
The massive light particles instantly engulfed Merdu, casting a golden glow over the surrounding seawater and turning the entire sea surface golden in an instant.
As the light particles poured into its body, the parts of Merdu's form altered by the Space Beast Factor slowly began to revert.
The light particles persisted for a moment before finally dissipating slowly. Ahead of Nexus, Merdu's figure was gone, leaving behind only a stretch of golden seawater.
A cluster of light particles burst out, trying to escape, but Nexus blasted the Space Beast Factor to pieces with a Cross Ray Schtrom...
As the sea breeze blew and ripples spread across the water, Nexus knelt on one knee.
His chest heaved violently, the Core Gauge on his chest flashed frantically, and his gaze remained solemn as he looked out over the sea.
Ningxi looked solemnly at the sea surface when suddenly, a dolphin leaped out of the water.
Seeing that Merdu was safe and sound, Ningxi happily rushed forward from the ground toward Merdu.
Seeing that Merdu was alright, Nexus let out a sigh of relief inwardly. That move had consumed a tremendous amount of his stamina.
Fortunately, his attempt to dispel the Space Beast Factor had succeeded.
Watching the scene before him, the Mysterious Man let out a wicked smile.
"It seems you still didn't obediently follow the rules."
A massive pillar of light suddenly erupted from the Mysterious Man's body, and shortly after, another Giant colored in black, white, and red appeared on the shore...