"I WAS TOO CONFIDENT!"

  At the last moment before dying, this was the last thought of the Basking Shark. A thought of indignancy filled with regret, double regret, and regret again.

  As an old purple tier predator who was the only one of his species in this whole region, he could be said to be a veteran who already survived countless near-death experiences and was already daily life to him.

  As a veteran, he almost never acted rashly, preferring to evaluate risks before engaging. He also evaluated this group of Great White Sharks before engaging. At first, they didn't seem like threatening opponents at all.

  And this assumption was what caused his death.

  After the first clash with Sebastian, the mere fact that he couldn't kill a lesser-tier shark brought him huge humiliation. This was more prominent when this shark had the sound domain too, it was like a tight slap across his face. 

  Originally, with the normal modus operandi that allowed him to survive for decades to today, he would have immediately retreated when his first full-force offensive didn't succeed in overwhelming the enemies.

  This was before, but his pride held him back this time.

  Despite being a purple tier shark who unlocked the hidden Basking bloodline, facing an encirclement of dozens of orange and white tier Great White Sharks was dangerous but he did it because of his confidence in his escape skill.

  In the end, faced against Sebastian's spamming attack method, he didn't even have the opportunity to use the escape skill before being beaten to a near-death state. He was shocked and furious, but also regretful.

  When Verni dealt the last blow to him, all he could think of were sad thoughts that left him feeling indignant till death. 

  "I didn't die to the terrifying brainless Jellyfish, not to any other purple tier predator, but I actually died before the jaws of an orange tier Great White Shark".

  "Pride, is dangerous…"

  …
The battle was not over yet, and this was proven as the remaining part of the whip-like adaptation rapidly retreated towards its source. As soon as its retreat stopped, its source was detected by all the sharks.

  The source was, a TOAD!

  The heck! Sebastian almost cursed despite being tense and alert for battle. This new opponent was a toad, a purple tier toad, a toad that towered at an enormous size of 5 meters with 6 legs.

  Of course, compared to the 15 meters long Sebastian, this toad looked like a little brother but the tag called purple tier that was attached to it elevated its status to a realm that made all the Great White Sharks wary.

  This enormous hunch-backed toad had orange-red eyes. Eyes that glowed from its previously hidden location, revealing a gait of extreme wisdom inside them like those of a wise tortoise told in fairytales.

  The whip-like adaptation was actually its tongue. The tongue clearly mutated to become this, being able to elongate and contract at will, and also being able to turn unimaginably strong and sharp, like a real magic weapon.

  The toad's back was covered with ugly blisters. The blisters may look ugly, but Sebastian immediately identified them as a defense adaptation. 

  The set-up, sturdiness, and arrangement of these blisters across the toad's hunched back against all odds formed a frightening defense formation almost on par with the shell of a turtle.

  This was a purple tier powerhouse, a powerful predator.

  The enormous toad originally hid inside an almost negligible crack inside the cliff walls. Its emergence was clearly caused by the battle that just ended, which meant that a round 2 battle was about to start.

  Against other purple tier predators, after clashing with them so many times, Sebastian would not have been afraid but this toad was different.

  Its orange-red eyes that were filled with wisdom, its whip-like offensive and blisters defensive adaptation and its ability to enter the battle without alerting his electroreceptors all told Sebastian that this toad meant trouble.

  In life, despite all the planning, there would always be those times where situations spiral out of control and this was clearly one.

  The toad also felt wary as it saw the death of the same-tier predator a few seconds ago. Of course, it was shocked at the power displayed by this enormous Great White Shark, but even more, confused at how it was possible.

  Though it still felt wary, its curiosity to know this shark's secret soon became the overwhelming influence. No matter how strong they may be, the divide between the purple and orange tier realms was still significant.

  All these from the emergence, to the silent observation, to thinking, to all the deductions, took less than 3 seconds. The toad attacked first, striking before the Great White Sharks could react properly.

  Whoosh! Whoosh!

  The whip-like tongue adaptation shot out again, this time with an even faster and deadly speed that took the sharks by surprise.

  Due to the speed of the tongue's movements, the tip of its side became orange-red as the toad took this opportunity to pour in its fire domain magic. From normal red, the tongue turned molten red before hitting the first target.

  Squash!

  Meat paste! The unfortunate Great White Shark was immediately squashed into a bloody meat paste, showing the offensive power of this whip-like adaptation.

  "Defense formation!"

  Sebastian finally roared. After integrating his new team members, he already took time to explain some basic terms like these so they understood him but it seems that his orders came a little bit too late.

  Bam! Bam! Bam!

  Water defense shields and light defense shields lit up at the last moment, preventing the 3 tongue attacks from connecting at full force but they were all still breached, showing the horrifying power of this toad again.

  Of the 3 tongue strikes, 2 of the target sharks were left terribly injured while another died. After the first successful conquest, the Ultimate Dissectors hunting team felt invisible, but from this, they were terribly wrong.

  [You have activated skill: Water Cyclone.]

  [You have activated skill: Sonic Drill {×3}.]

  Sebastian finally struck. A raging water cyclone erupted, spreading its influence far and wide and forming a huge magic defense wall to protect the Great White Sharks from the lethal tongue adaptation.

  While the cyclone raged like a tsunami, 3 drilling sounds like those from a gunshot reverberated as 3 deadly sonic drills shot towards the dangerous toad.

  Pat! Pat! Pat!

  Sebastian's eyes almost popped in shock. He didn't put his hopes too high, but at least he expected some effect from his attack. Unfortunately, he was wholly disappointed this time.

  The 3 sonic drills hit the toad's carapace-like blister defense adaptation, making pitty pattering sounds like drizzling rain which showed how trivial they were to this dangerous toad. They felt like a mere itch to him.

  Perhaps, the only damage dealt was internal and from the sound waves but this compact sturdy toad clearly didn't suffer much. The impact may have only felt like an itch, but it was enough to irritate this toad.

  It already observed enough from its hole, this pack of Great White Sharks just had some filthy luck to have defeated the Basking Shark.

  Its 3 legs made loud thudding sounds as it pushed itself out of its hole, coming outside to face the sharks directly. Its intelligent orange eyes flashed and narrowed down on Sebastian, then its powerful leg muscles contracted.

  Whoosh!

  With a powerful leap, this enormous toad soared high across through the water like a jet taking flight.