Diamondhead turned both hands into sharp spikes, bracing one arm to block the Dragon Crocodile's claw while driving the other spike forward, stabbing straight into its armpit.
"Gah!" The Dragon Crocodile let out a pained grunt, its brown eyes widening.
Damn it! When did he notice my weak spot?!
Diamondhead's strike hit like it went straight to the creature's soul.
The moment the Dragon Crocodile raised its claw, Diamondhead caught sight of its armpit, the only place not covered by hard dragon scales.
He immediately decided that had to be the Dragon Crocodile's weak point. Even if it wasn't, there was no way it could withstand his spikes.
Sure enough, after taking that brutal hit, the Dragon Crocodile instantly wilted. Its arrogant momentum vanished without a trace, leaving it limp and floppy like a washed-up fish.
At that moment, the Dragon Crocodile felt searing pain under its arm, and its whole body went weak. It wanted to counterattack, but it simply couldn't.
Diamondhead followed up with a single punch that knocked the Dragon Crocodile out cold, securing victory.
Whoosh!
As expected, the spectators in the stands erupted in cheers, loudly applauding Diamondhead and tossing down all kinds of rare minerals.
After all, unlike the match between Muddragon and Lucian, where the gap in apparent strength was obvious, plenty of people had bet on Diamondhead to win.
"Oh yeah, who's the baddest!" Diamondhead threw both hands into the air, basking in the cheers and enjoying it to the fullest.
Thud!
A burst of intense red light flashed, and Diamondhead reverted to his original form, turning back into Ben.
Ben stood there, then suddenly seemed to remember something. He hurried over to the unconscious Dragon Crocodile.
He grabbed the Dragon Crocodile's claw and swiped it across the Omnitrix. The central screen immediately shifted from red to yellow, beginning to record the Dragon Crocodile's genetic data.
Unlike the calibrated Omnitrix, the Omnitrix replica worked like the prototype. It needed to touch an alien's body to record their genetic data.
The calibrated Omnitrix, on the other hand, could scan DNA samples remotely without close contact.
So far, Ben had gained fifteen Alien Heroes.
Besides the ten original heroes, he also had Humungousaur, Spidermonkey, Chamalien, Red Spikesnake, and the Dragon Crocodile's DNA.
"Awesome, another Alien Hero!"
Ben smiled brightly. This Dragon Crocodile wasn't weak at all, and it looked insanely badass too, perfect for showing off.
...
Over on Kevin's side, the fight was already over.
Piglord had attacked with saliva and also spewed filthy insults at Kevin, even saying he wanted to "break" him.
Kevin was already hot-tempered. Hearing that kind of talk made him snap completely, the rage inside him surging to the extreme, like a furnace drenched in gasoline, reaching a terrifying level.
He had Heatblast's genes in his body, and the angrier Heatblast got, the stronger he became.
Piglord's behavior brought about his own destruction.
That freakish flame giant arm carried horrifying power. If Piglord hadn't raised his slaughter knife in time, he would've been roasted into a whole pig on the spot.
In the end,
the slaughter knife blocking Kevin's flaming punch shattered, and Piglord's fat body was sent flying, slamming hard into the wall and falling unconscious on the spot.
Kevin wanted to kill him, but he had already burned through all his strength. Combined with the earlier poisoning, he didn't even have the energy left to slaughter the pig.
Since Piglord was crippled and in a deep coma while Kevin was still awake, the match was declared Kevin's victory.
A strange red light lit up beneath Kevin's feet, teleporting him to the cafeteria.
...
In the cafeteria, Lucian sat on a chair while the squid-man beside him chattered nonstop.
"My good brother, you actually beat that Muddragon. Not bad!"
The squid-man raised a tentacle, curling it slightly backward.
"Besides Technorg, there aren't many people I'm afraid of anymore. Muddragon is one of them. For you to beat him… that really surprised me!"
"You flatter me," Lucian said with a faint smile.
The squid-man's eyes rolled.
"By the way, how did you become a Methanosian? Can you teach me?"
"It's something you're born with. You can't teach it," Lucian said, spreading his hands.
"Alright then." The squid-man looked a little disappointed, but his eyes quickly lit up again. He leaned close to Lucian's ear and whispered, "Good brother, you're so strong. From now on, I'm counting on you to cover for me, alright?"
Seeing him act so secretive, Lucian couldn't help laughing, but he shook his head.
"Don't worry. I won't be covering for you."
"Why?" The squid-man's eyes dimmed, his voice turning a little aggrieved.
"Are you really planning to stay here for the rest of your life?" Lucian asked back.
The squid-man's eyes twitched, filling with shock and fear.
"Could it be… you're planning to…!"
"Shh!" Lucian put his index finger to his lips and whispered, "Join me. I guarantee I'll get you all home."
The squid-man's gaze struggled as if he were weighing something, absentmindedly fiddling with his tentacles.
After a moment of silence, he looked up and made a major decision.
"Alright. I'll go with you!"
Seeing that look in his eyes, like he was ready to die for it, Lucian could only sigh. This guy really had been scared into obedience…
"Cuz."
A familiar voice came from behind.
Lucian turned and saw Ben, completely unhurt. He chuckled softly.
"Ben, looks like you beat your opponent too. Come… tell me what kind of opponent it was."
The two exchanged a few words and learned about Muddragon and the Dragon Crocodile.
When they talked about recording their opponents' genes, they both started laughing at the same time. It seemed like they really were cut from the same cloth.
Lucian cleared his throat.
"Muddragon and the Dragon Crocodile aren't weak. If they're willing to cooperate, they'll be very useful."
"The Dragon Crocodile is hard to say. He's got a terrible temper," Ben said, scratching his head in frustration.
"Forget it. We still have two matches left. Let's deal with what's in front of us first," Lucian said unhurriedly.
"But Cuz, we've got controllers installed on us. What do we do when the time comes?" Ben's face filled with worry.
Even if they turned into aliens, they still feared electricity.
Lucian twisted his head and glanced at the controller on his back.
"Don't worry about it. For now, we still need to record genes in the arena. To avoid raising suspicion, don't remove it yet."
"Okay. We'll do whatever you say, Cuz."
Sweeping his gaze around, Lucian found that there weren't any particularly strong aliens here. Forget Technorg—there wasn't even anyone on Muddragon or Dragon Crocodile's level.
As for why they were here, maybe it was because they were newcomers… or maybe Slix Vigma had already discovered the Omnitrix's secret and wasn't letting them record stronger DNA?
Lucian shook his head and stopped thinking about it.
He couldn't be bothered scanning the weaker aliens around. Recording them would be useless and might even become a burden.
Seeing how picky Cuz was, Ben became picky too. Besides, his recording required zero-distance contact, so he simply didn't go.
Two hours had passed since Lucian defeated Muddragon.
"The battle is about to commence. Contestants, prepare yourselves."
The cold mechanical voice rang out from above once more.
Thud!
A crimson glow enveloped dozens of aliens, and they vanished from where they stood.
When Lucian came back to his senses, he realized he was already in the arena.
And standing opposite him was… a lizardman?