Without a word of warning, Beckman hefted his massive iron spear and charged straight at the wild boar with deadly determination.
Though Gustave and Po's javelin tests had alerted the beast to potential threats, its attention remained fixated on the three refugees clinging desperately to their tree branches. Only Beckman's rapid approach finally triggered the boar's defensive instincts.
The creature attempted to sidestep the incoming attack, but even stripped of his supernatural abilities, Beckman's physical conditioning remained exceptional among ordinary humans. His momentum carried him forward with unstoppable force, and though the boar managed a partial dodge, it couldn't avoid the spear tip entirely.
The iron point punched deep into the wild boar's right front leg, eliciting a scream that echoed throughout the entire forest. Beckman's professionally crafted weapon proved far more effective than Gustave's whittled javelins, penetrating thick hide and muscle with devastating efficiency.
The wounded boar thrashed frantically in pain and rage. Beckman tried to withdraw his spear for a follow-up strike, but his reduced human strength proved inadequate against the creature's massive bulk and desperate struggling.
With a violent swing of its injured leg, the boar launched both Beckman and his embedded spear through the air like rag dolls.
Shanks immediately sprinted forward, catching his first mate before he could crash into the surrounding trees.
The attack had accomplished its primary goal—the wild boar's hatred shifted entirely from Luffy and his companions to Beckman, the human who'd dared to wound it. After a moment of recovery that somehow stopped the bleeding through sheer animal vitality, the beast spread its legs wide and charged toward Beckman and Shanks with murderous intent.
"Don't forget about us!" Yasopp called from his distant position.
Both he and Chu Zihang had maintained their ranged positions throughout the chaos. Yasopp drew his slingshot with practiced precision, aiming for the boar's right eye, while Chu Zihang nocked an arrow and targeted the left.
They released simultaneously.
Yasopp's stone found its mark perfectly, striking the charging boar's right eye with enough force to blind it completely. Chu Zihang's arrow, though not quite as accurate, embedded itself just below the left eye—close enough to cause significant pain and disorientation.
The devastating eye injury stopped the boar's charge instantly. It roared in agony, thrashing wildly in place as blood streamed down its face. This single blow caused more suffering than all its previous wounds combined.
"Shanks, now!" Gustave bellowed, rushing forward with his machete held high.
Shanks immediately followed, joined by Po, Lucky Roux, and every other member of their improvised hunting party. They swarmed the partially blinded beast from all directions, wielding whatever weapons they'd initially chosen or crafted during their forest expedition.
Spears, clubs, makeshift swords—every available blade and bludgeon struck home as the group coordinated their assault. The wild boar's agonized squeals filled the air as multiple attacks found their targets.
However, the creature's natural armor proved frustratingly effective. Only the few remaining iron weapons managed to inflict serious damage, while the wooden implements were largely deflected by the boar's steel-like bristles.
The coordinated attack triggered the beast's final, most dangerous phase. No longer caring about its wounded eye, the boar raised its gleaming tusks and began slashing at everything within reach, driven by pure animal fury.
Everyone scattered desperately. Those tusks could disembowel a grown man with a single swipe.
"Shanks, what's our next move?" Gustave shouted while dodging the boar's increasingly erratic attacks.
"I don't have any miracle solutions!" Shanks replied, barely avoiding a tusk that whistled past his head. "This thing's completely berserk! With our current limitations, we'll have to wear it down gradually!"
The reality was sobering. Stripped of their superhuman abilities, even legends like Shanks were reduced to ordinary combat experience and technique. They knew more fighting methods than average humans, but that advantage had clear limits.
If they'd had time to prepare traps in advance, the situation might have been different. But this sudden encounter left them with no choice but direct confrontation.
The maddened boar's rampage was destroying everything in its path. Innocent trees toppled as the creature smashed through the forest in its blind rage, creating a widening circle of devastation.
"Shanks! Gustave! Lead it over here!" Beckman called out from a natural depression he'd discovered during the chaos.
He'd planted his iron spear at a forty-five-degree angle, creating an improvised spike trap with deadly potential.
Both men immediately understood the strategy. They began coordinating their attacks, striking the boar simultaneously to draw its attention and redirect its fury toward themselves.
The tactic worked perfectly. The wild boar fixated on its two most persistent tormentors and charged straight at them with reckless abandon.
Gustave and Shanks sprinted toward Beckman's position, leading their pursuer directly into the ambush. The creature's damaged right eye prevented it from noticing the carefully positioned spear until far too late.
CRASH!
Another earth-shaking scream split the air as the wild boar impaled itself on Beckman's iron spear, the point punching completely through its chest cavity.
But even mortally wounded, the beast's incredible strength continued driving it forward. Despite being anchored in solid earth, the spear couldn't halt the boar's momentum, forcing Beckman to slide backward under the immense pressure.
Gustave and Shanks immediately rushed to his aid, combining their strength to stabilize the spear and prevent the dying animal from completing its final charge.
With the three men working together, they managed to hold their improvised trap in place until the wild boar's struggles finally ceased. The massive creature collapsed with ground-shaking impact, raising a cloud of dust that settled slowly over the battlefield.
"Haha!" All three hunters looked at each other and burst into triumphant laughter. They'd actually defeated this forest king using nothing but ordinary human strength and teamwork.
"We did it! We actually did it!" Luffy cheered from his tree branch refuge, dancing with joy as he watched the motionless boar. The terrifying beast that had chased him across the forest was finally dead.
Tom and Jerry joined in the celebration, their earlier terror forgotten in the euphoria of survival.
CRACK! CRASH!
The universe apparently disapproved of premature celebration. The very tree that had sheltered the trio throughout their ordeal chose this moment to finally succumb to the boar's earlier ramming attacks.
"Luffy!" "Tom!" "Jerry!"
Everyone rushed toward the falling timber, fearing the worst. In their current powerless state, being crushed by a massive oak could easily prove fatal.
"We're okay!" came Luffy's muffled but cheerful voice from within the pile of branches.
The survivors watched in relief as Luffy emerged from the wreckage with Tom and Jerry tucked safely under his arms. Somehow they'd avoided serious injury despite the dramatic collapse.
"You absolute idiot!" Ace delivered a sharp smack to his younger brother's head the moment he was within range. "How could you be stupid enough to provoke something that dangerous?"
"Hey, why are you hitting me?" Luffy protested indignantly, pointing toward their fallen prey. "If it wasn't for us, would we have caught such an amazing prize today?"
"You little—" Ace prepared to escalate the discipline.
"Ace, that's enough," Shanks intervened with a restraining gesture.
"Actually, Luffy has a point," Gustave added diplomatically. "Without them stumbling into this situation, we never would have encountered such impressive prey."
Ace glared at his smirking younger brother but backed down out of respect for both adults' intervention.
Since the hunt had required everyone's combined effort to succeed, Gustave declared there would be no last-place finisher—meaning no punishment for anyone.
The real challenge now was transportation. A quick assessment revealed their prize weighed somewhere between two thousand five hundred and two thousand six hundred kilograms—far beyond their current carrying capacity.
Every hunter except Luffy, Tom, and Jerry had managed to bag at least some smaller game during their expedition. Combined with the massive wild boar, they faced what Gustave privately termed "the happy problem of too much success."
Through tremendous group effort, they finally managed to drag their collective prizes out of the Moral Lord's restricted zone.
The moment they crossed the boundary, supernatural power flooded back into their bodies like a dam bursting.
"It feels incredible to have my strength restored!" Gustave stretched luxuriously as familiar energy coursed through his enhanced physiology.
"Amazing how much we take this for granted," Shanks agreed, casually lifting their two-thousand-pound boar with one hand as if it weighed no more than a loaf of bread.
Gustave surveyed their abundant harvest—multiple deer, various smaller game, and one absolutely enormous wild boar—then raised his fist triumphantly.
"We've had incredible success today! Tonight we feast with a proper bonfire celebration!"
"YEAH!" came the enthusiastic response from every member of their hunting party.
With arms full of hard-won prizes, the victorious hunters made their way back toward the Bamboo Staff and the promise of an unforgettable meal prepared from their own catches.