In the two months that the Mutant Monster Gecko was bound, Krune was creating a cage that would trap it after it finished evolving. It was a simple setup, but thanks to his ingenuity, Krune managed to install a locking mechanism that would constrict the Mutant Monster Gecko after it finished evolving.

Then again, if he had placed it while it was evolving, its bulging body might burst. So, the cage had to be kept during the final moments of its evolution. Plus, it had to be fast and perfectly functional. Otherwise, he would lose his life.

Not only that, but it should have enough weight to fully immobilize the Mutant Monster Gecko that would have evolved to a King. And well, that was precisely what he had used now. Even though the Mutant Monster Gecko had surpassed his expectations and became a Monster Gecko Emperor, his cage was still barely enough to hold it in place.

Then again, he didn't have a guarantee of locking it for long. Upon knowing that the Water Essence was still circulating in its body, Krune knew that he couldn't delay. After all, knowing that it would heal, the Monster Gecko Emperor might struggle without caring about the damage it accrued.

This way, it would be able to escape the bindings. And once that happened, Krune was as good as dead. Or worse, once it got used to its enhanced strength, it would be able to break free from the cage naturally.

Krune could clearly feel that its explosive power was at least one and a half times greater than a Monster Gecko King's. So, his cage definitely wasn't enough to hold it down. After all, even though it was like a weight press made using many boulders, the anchors were still bones of the Monster Geckos.

On top of that, they weren't strong enough to contain something that stood at the absolute peak of their race. So, Krune hummed a tune, attacking the Monster Gecko Emperor's mind first, acting in the time it took to process what he had said.

During the time it was processing the damage to its pride and whatnot, Krune cut the tip of its tail and attached it to the wilting bone tree.

From its initial height of 40 meters, it had wilted to twenty meters. Nevertheless, it retained a considerable amount of toughness, a reason its branches hadn't fallen and crumbled into dust yet. To ensure the blood-draining process continued without stopping, Krune tied its tail to the stem.

He had already made the knots on the bone tree's stem beforehand, making all the preparations perfectly. So, he wasn't in any hurry, executing his actions efficiently.

The Monster Gecko Emperor's eyes widened in shock as it could feel its strength abating. Its blood was being sucked out, causing it to struggle in an effort to break free. Every time it struggled, the boulders on its back trembled, moving up and down accordingly.

As time passed, the vibrations were continuing to increase as the bones lodged into the ground began to crack, seemingly on the verge of breaking. At this moment, Krune kneeled on the ground, making eye contact with the Monster Gecko Emperor, causing it to look at him in shock while struggling.

Considering the fact that he wasn't in the least flustered, its violent actions slowed down a bit. Then, Krune flashed a smile as he spoke slowly, "Do you know the promise I made with you?"

For a moment, the Monster Gecko Emperor was confused. Even though it couldn't understand the language Krune spoke, it was able to understand the emotions he wished to convey through the undulations of his voice.

Due to the two months of…training, it was able to understand bits and pieces of his intentions. And, as if he wished to give it the absolute best, Krune spoke with deep care, "I promised to make you a King, but you were unable to endure the pain. Remember when you fainted. I had to use an absolute treasure of mine after that."

He stared into its eyes, speaking with clear conviction, "And, this absolute treasure not only allowed you to live but also managed to break your shackles and resulted in you in becoming…"

"An absolute being." Hearing his solemn voice, the Monster Gecko Emperor for a moment felt pride in itself. Though, it quickly broke free out of its trance as its growing ego didn't like their current eye level, wishing to be the one that stared from the top.

Once it struggled to break free once more, it noticed in shock that it wasn't able to push the boulders as much as before. It eventually realized that with every passing second, its strength continued to wane.

"Yep, I was buying time. And now..." Krune smiled, waving his hands before it. "It's already too late for you. See, you're already dead."

"You died!"

"You're dead!"

"You died long ago!"

"You're a corpse now!"

Krune continued to speak in the same manner, affecting its mental state as it was able to grasp his intent, psychologically weakening the strength it could exert in its struggles. It wasn't actually as weak as he made it out to be.

It still had enough strength to eventually break free from the cage. But, Krune didn't wish to see that, attacking it mentally. That was why he spent a lot of time with it in the past two months. Without it realizing the intent, he was making its mind weak.

This was so that even when it became a King, it would still be susceptible to his words. Though, if Krune tried it a day later, it wouldn't work. After all, the Monster Gecko Emperor would have fully stabilized its mind from the ego of its powerful self, etching the fact in its mind that it now stood above everyone else.

But now, it was still affected by his words. Even though the bones of the cage continued to crack, its struggles became weaker and weaker. Time passed in such a manner as its body continued to shrivel up, eventually turning into a piece of skin.

And soon, when Krune exhaled, even the skin vanished, the remainder turned into dust. Everything of substance in the Monster Gecko Emperor had been absorbed into the wilting bone tree.

A Monster Gecko Emperor, the most powerful being the Monster Gecko race had ever produced. It died the fastest, only living for a couple of hours. If it had been set free, the Monster Gecko race would have become significantly powerful and would easily be able to expand into the ocean waters without much effort.

After all, not many would be able to match the Monster Gecko Emperor in sheer power. Even the whale-like creature Krune fought wasn't a fighter type, despite the sheer presence it exuded. It was a type that only preyed on weaker fishes en masse.

Based on this presence alone, the Monster Gecko Emperor was on the same level as the whale-like creature, the biggest creature he had seen apart from the Checkpoint Turtle. Moreover, the Monster Gecko Emperor was a mobile creature that was born to attack and slaughter.

So, Krune dared not imagine the changes the Monster Gecko race would experience if it had been set free. Though, it didn't matter now since it had died.

Krune looked at the wilting bone tree with anticipation, watching it shrink little by little. He just munched on a small reserve of meat he had packed for this, intending to have enough energy for whatever he had to do next.

Another day passed by as the bone tree finished wilting. There was a large mound of bone powder before him. Though, Krune didn't even have to dig as something from within floated up, hovering in the air.

He hurriedly dug through the bone powder, noticing that there wasn't anything else buried within it, finally gazing at the object that hovered before him, mesmerized, "Beautiful."

It was a sparkling blue gem the size of his nail. On it was exactly five crimson strips. It was radiating a mixture of blue and crimson light, almost blinding him in the dark cave. Moreover, waves of energy pulsed out from it, causing him to suffocate every time this happened.

Krune double tapped his glabella, summoning his tablet to notice that he had received another Godly Point in the process. He then retracted it as he gazed at the gem before him, wondering what he had to do with it.

Though, he approached it closer, eventually sniffing to smell a similar scent to the Water Essence and the Blood Essence Crystal. As he had been with them all along, Krune was familiar with their scents. And now, the gem was emitting a mixture of the two scents.

Krune carefully touched it, feeling that it was warm to the touch. He pocketed it, checked the cave to see if he had left anything behind before sprinting back to his cave, hurrying along the way as he was careful to not alert any Monster Geckos.

Nevertheless, excitement covered his face, his gait, and his very body language.

Absolute treasure!

Krune was almost certain of this fact. It was what he had pondered about a lot. And considering his life experience, Krune knew for a certainty of the gem's wonder.

At the very moment he returned to his cave, he headed straight towards the pool, jumping into it immediately as he held the gem in his hands. "This is what I've been hoping for all this time."

Taking in a deep breath, Krune mentally prepared himself, swallowing the gem. For almost a minute, he didn't feel anything, barely able to feel the gem reach his stomach.

As if his thoughts had arrived too soon, intense pain emanated from his body, knocking him out unconscious instantly. Krune plopped into the pool, touching his bottom as his body turned hot, causing the water to vaporize while something from within was absorbed into his body.

Even though he was within the water, he didn't drown. After all, his nose was still able to breathe normally.

Passive—Underwater Breathing!

His mouth then opened as a sonorous hum reverberated, causing bubbles to form on the water.

Passive—Sonic Radar!

And after that, the entire place was lit up as if it was daytime, causing the emitted light to even spill out of the cave.

Passive—Neon Radiance!

All his passive abilities had activated automatically and were in full swing as Krune's body began to subtly change.