A deafening sound was heard, as if a bomber had been launched, but there was no sign of fire; the monster had simply stopped moving!!!! Ali looked back at the water and saw Noor fighting fiercely, clutching a wooden plank left over from the flood. "Don't underestimate me, you hybrid monster," she said, her eyes a blazing blue beam of determination. Julius had already pierced the monster's heart with a decisive blow. Julius was glowing and steaming like a steam engine, the second part of his staff protruding slightly from the monster's other side. The scene looked like something out of a comic book; it was unimaginable that a group of boys could single-handedly defeat the Zighra monster. As the monster fell beside Julius, causing the base he was standing on to collapse, shouts of victory erupted from the group. Ali rushed to Noor's aid, who was barely clinging to the plank, and helped her to her feet. Her condition was disastrous; she was bleeding from her ears, nose, and mouth. This momentarily halted the team's jubilation as they realized the gravity of the skill Noor had used. On the other side, Julius was forced to... He rushed into the water, for his body was also in danger. He had lost nearly two liters of fluids due to the heat he had generated, and his clothes were melting away, leaving only a few remaining. As soon as he entered the water, the steam rose like a burning ember. After the care Noor received from Luna, who seemed extremely worried about her—so much so that one might think Luna was Noor's sister, but it seems she had quickly bonded with her—and thanks to the healing skills Luna had learned from her aunt, she was able to recover after about half a day, by sunset.
While Julius, exhausted from his exhaustion, rested, Ali took command. Their top priority was to get away from the battlefield in case there was another Zegra, perhaps an adult or even the cub's mother. So they hurried off. Afterwards, Ali decided they should celebrate the brothers' legendary, unprecedented feat. 016 had already cut a generous portion of the beast's meat for them to eat for dinner. Once they had fully recovered and were enjoying their Zegra feast, they ended up vomiting the tough, unappetizing meat. This was probably because there were no proper cooking methods, especially since it took a long time to tenderize and required a lot of spices to balance its strong flavor. But it was better than going hungry, and better than some of the canned goods they had been saving.
While they were enjoying themselves, Noor lay down on her brother's lap, and he patted her head, saying, "Good job, sister." But Noor protested, on the verge of tears, saying her head was going to explode and that she was in pain. Everyone sympathized with her and kept quiet so the girl could sleep peacefully. On the other side, Ali was talking to Luna while rowing.
Ali: "This might seem rude, but being a princess, I never expected you to dare eat the flesh of this monster. You seem heartless, girl." Luna: "You really don't know the meaning of tact and politeness. Anyone who hears that a girl eats monster meat would think she's a monster herself. Besides, as you know, I've had a very turbulent and difficult upbringing so far, and this is nothing compared to what I've been through." Luna continued after a sigh of relief at the overall situation, "And why haven't you eaten yet, Ali?" Ali firmly: "We need to stay as far away from that area as possible; it might be the monster's nest." Luna looked at the food and, in a moment of initiative, picked up the chopsticks and a piece of meat, her cheeks flushed. "Well, there's no other choice," she said. "I'll feed you myself. Come on, open your mouth, aaaah." Ali: "No, thank you. I don't want to... ugh." Before Ali could finish his sentence, Luna had already She forced her mouth open and stuffed the meat in, saying, "Men shouldn't complain so much. There's a beautiful girl here trying to feed you, you heartless idiot." Ali spat out the food, his face contorted with anger. "Listen, redhead," he retorted, "don't take advantage of me while I'm rowing. I'm trying my best to stay focused, not fall asleep, and to get as far away as possible. Rowing for ten hours is exhausting." Luna replied, "Fine, it's your fault for refusing my food. Now open your mouth again." Ali sighed, "I swear, girl... ugh, ugh." Luna repeated the gesture, smiling, while Ali cursed and spat out the food. This continued, and they were both enjoying themselves—at least one of them, I don't know.
While Luna and Ali were bickering, Noor had fallen into a deep sleep, while her brother turned to the scene before him: the orange light emanating from a pot placed on the fire for cooking. Luna and Ali, and he said with a smile, "It seems the coming days will be full of fun and adventure."
"I think so too, brother."
An hour later, everyone fell asleep, and Ali remained rowing alone. This continued until the next morning, which began with the energetic Julius waking up. He saw Ali, who was practically a zombie, with dark circles under his eyes and a weak rowing gait, and suggested they switch. Ali was nearly dead from exhaustion, and as soon as Julius handed him the oar, he fell into a deep sleep. The two girls woke up later and found Ali completely unconscious from extreme fatigue. They decided to play a game with him. Noor and Luna each took some of the charcoal they had taken the day before and began smearing his face with funny drawings.
Noor said, "Luna, look! What do you think of the masterpiece I drew?" There was a drawing of angry eyes above Ali's eyelids. Luna replied, "Good, but watch and learn!" There was a drawing on his forehead showing wrinkles as if he were annoyed, and a drawing of a pig's snout on his nose. Next to his mouth was a drawn bubble containing the text, "Hehehe, I'm an angry pig." The two girls burst out laughing, anticipating his reaction when he woke up.
An unexpected voice came from the side. It was Julius, smiling. "Girls, shall I tell you stories about my school days with Ali?" The girls' eyes lit up at the idea, and they turned to him excitedly. "But tell us the embarrassing ones," Luna said. "Especially if there's a story like when he wet his pants, or when someone poured a glass of water on him and how he reacted," Noor added.
Julius sighed. "Okay, I'll see what I can remember. One day, there was a bully in our class. He always sat behind Ali to harass him. Sometimes he'd throw papers at him with hurtful words and hurtful things because he was an orphan. But as usual, Ali didn't pay any attention. One day, however, this bully got annoyed by Ali's indifference, so he decided to take advantage of him when he was less cautious. While Ali was sleeping during class because he was so tired, he decided to put his plan into action. The bully took the pens and began He drew disturbing drawings on his face that were so badly done they were incomprehensible. He did the same on the table. As soon as Ali woke up and discovered it, another demon woke up with him..." The two girls were terrified by the implication they were hearing from Julius. Noor asked her brother in surprise, "So, brother, what did Ali do?" Julius replied coldly, "Nothing specific. He just burned his closet where his sportswear was and posted doctored photos of himself naked. In addition, he revealed his love for a girl and audio recordings that prove the bully wanted to look at the girl's body lustfully. I think that's all he did, nothing much."
Luna was terrified as she asked, "All this because he drew on his face?" His veins went cold with fear, and the two girls turned to Ali, filled with terror.
Noor spoke, her voice trembling, "I think you've got the roles wrong, brother." "Isn't Ali the bully in this story?" Luna asked. "I'm starting to feel really sorry for that boy."
016 interrupted them, mocking them. "And soon, my brother Julius and I will be feeling sorry for you both." Noor and Luna gasped in horror, "Ouch!" and quickly wiped Ali's face.
016 whispered to Julius, "I'll remember your legendary rescue of my master, brother." Julius replied, "Don't worry, he's like a brother to me too."
As things continued like this, and Ali woke up, the two girls were still worried he would find out. But Julius promised he wouldn't tell, and things returned to normal. By the end of the fifth day, they had about two nights left before they reached their destination.
On the night of the fifth day, Noor woke up in the middle of the night to find Ali rowing. "Haaah, why are you rowing, Ali, instead of my brother? And is that why we haven't arrived yet?"
Ali: "Hey little chick, what do you need?" Noor: "Ugh, just stop the boat, please. I need to relieve myself." Ali: "What?! In your dreams! Now you're the one who's going to make us late!" Noor: "Well, it looks like I'll have to do it in the boat because someone wouldn't stop." Ali: "Hey, hey, I'll stop." As soon as he stopped rowing, Noor started taking off her clothes, looking back. Noor: "I warn you not to look!" As she threatened Ali, he replied, "Seriously, who would want to look at an immature body?" Noor's eyebrows furrowed in insult, and she threw a bunch of things at him, hitting him on the head. Then Noor got off to relieve herself, and while she was doing so, she screamed in terror, "Kyaaaaaaa!" Ali jumped down like lightning to help her, but to his surprise, there was nothing but a few corpses and piles of garbage. When he approached her, he asked, "Give me one reason why I shouldn't just take the boat and leave you." "Here, why did you scream?!" Noor said, trembling and clinging to Ali. "Look there." He turned to find a dead head, which turned out to be the cause of her fear. Ali cursed her for being scared, then felt a warm sensation between his feet, exactly where Noor's feet had been. He said, "I think I feel something warm." Noor blushed, and Ali understood it was her urine. "Damn it! Damn you, you idiot!" He ended up furious with her, and as he tried to return to the boat, he turned to Ali, who was sobbing after he had yelled at her, "Ali... Ali..." Ali: "What now?" Noor: "I can't reach... the boat." Ali lamented his fate and cried, "Damn the world!" He approached her and told her he would go underwater to lift her by her feet, so she should get ready. As soon as he got under and grasped her warm, soft feet, he began pushing upwards, but unfortunately, she slipped and fell onto his shoulders, his head now between her thighs. While he cursed in the water, the girl regained her balance and managed to get back to the boat.
The next morning, when it was time to change rowers, Julius found Ali shivering and soaking wet. "What's wrong, my man ?" Ali: "Nothing, Achoo!"