First, in terms of offensive power, the Doku Doku no Mi's ability is terrifying.
However, this damage is not burst damage.
Normally, for a red-quality ability that is purely offensive, with the strength of a Pig-headed Man, one attack might be enough to wipe out a dozen Pig-headed Men.
But the Doku Doku no Mi cannot achieve this.
The Doku Doku no Mi's damage is fearsome, but it is sustained damage.
It cannot be called a weakness, just a type of attack. However, it does present some hidden dangers. The opponent might fight Bai Ye to the death before the poison fully takes effect. Since they are going to die anyway, they might as well drag Bai Ye down with them.
What makes the Doku Doku no Mi so annoying and disgusting is...
Once you're poisoned, it's very hard to get rid of it, unless you have an antidote. Furthermore, even with an antidote, this poison is corrosive and has no specific antidote; one can only use medicine to treat the wounds. Therefore, even with an antidote, the Doku Doku no Mi cannot be completely countered.
Then comes the endless torment. The poison continuously erodes the body, damaging it physically and mentally.
Secondly, Bai Ye can release poison or toxic gas from his entire body, which means...
Getting close to Bai Ye is seeking death. If one gets too close, let alone touching Bai Ye, even breathing the same air as Bai Ye is a mistake. The toxic gas will enter the opponent's body through the air.
Of course, this level of poison is weak, but even weak poison has an effect and will continuously worsen.
In any case, Bai Ye put himself in the other person's shoes and thought that if he faced someone with the Doku Doku no Mi, he would most likely run away. Getting close would mean getting poisoned, which is too disgusting.
And if one stays far away?
Poison clouds, poison bullets, poison dragons...
A host of ranged attack methods.
At this moment, the sound of footsteps interrupted Bai Ye's thoughts. Ziyuan emerged from the bushes.
"Don't touch me!" Bai Ye quickly dodged as Ziyuan reached out to pat him, saying, "I'm covered in poison right now, even more poisonous than your cooking."
Ziyuan had originally wanted to praise Bai Ye for doing a good job, but upon hearing the latter part, she immediately huffed, unwilling to talk to Bai Ye anymore.
Her cooking skills would improve sooner or later.
On the other hand, Ziyuan's actions reminded Bai Ye. When using the Doku Doku no Mi's ability, Gengar could be released, as Gengar's Beast attributes are Ghost and Poison.
Therefore, Gengar is immune to poison and can fight alongside Bai Ye. However, Goodra absolutely cannot be released. Goodra belongs to the Dragon attribute, not the Poison attribute, and it constantly likes to hug and cuddle. It might end up poisoning itself to death.
Thinking this, Bai Ye made the poison on his body disappear and quickly followed Ziyuan.
After crossing the marshland, Ziyuan pointed to a vine-covered cave and said, "This is the entrance to the Lizardmen's lair."
Bai Ye nodded, took out Gengar's Beast Ball, and threw it, releasing Gengar. "Gengar, go scout!"
Gengar chirped softly, then sank into the ground, turning into a shadow as it headed into the cave.
Jin Sha was undoubtedly an excellent Beast Master. Recommending Gengar to Bai Ye was truly a good suggestion. In terms of combat ability, Gengar was decent among blue-quality Beasts. Furthermore, besides combat ability, Gengar, as a dual-attribute Beast of Ghost and Poison, its Ghost attribute made it an excellent scout. This creature could not only phase through walls but also hide in shadows, making it very difficult to detect.
While Gengar went ahead to scout, Bai Ye and Ziyuan did not stand idle. They followed into the cave but did not walk too quickly, as the situation inside was still unclear.
Moving forward...
Drip, drip, drip...
Water droplets constantly fell from the cave ceiling, making crisp sounds.
Every five meters or so, there were two torches for illumination. After walking forward about ten meters, Bai Ye smelled the scent of blood. Soon, corpses appeared before Bai Ye and Ziyuan.
There were corpses of Pig-headed Men and Lizardmen. Broken weapons lay scattered around, indicating a fierce battle had taken place. Moreover, the bodies were badly mangled.
It was clear that the group of Pig-headed Men had been killing and devouring corpses to strengthen themselves.
Continuing forward another ten meters, Bai Ye stopped and looked at Ziyuan.
A fork in the path appeared before them, with three branching caves. There were traces of battle in front of each cave, with corpses, broken weapons, and torches dropped on the ground.
Ziyuan spread her hands. "Don't look at me. I know where the Lizardmen live, but I've never entered their caves. At most, I've only been to the outskirts of the marshland."
Bai Ye scratched his head, feeling somewhat troubled.
At this moment, Gengar suddenly emerged from the ground.
Bai Ye's eyes lit up. "How was the scouting? Did you check all three paths?"
Gengar ran to the first cave entrance, rubbed its face, and miraculously transformed its face into that of a Pig-headed Man. Then, it grabbed a torch from the ground and swung it vigorously.
"You have this talent too?" Bai Ye exclaimed. "Super Change?"
Gengar proudly waved the torch at Bai Ye, then ran to the second and third cave entrances, performing the same actions.
Bai Ye asked, "Are there Pig-headed Men behind all three caves?"
Gengar swayed its body and nodded.
Bai Ye asked, "What about the Lizardmen?"
As soon as Bai Ye asked, he couldn't help but slap his forehead. He was being foolish. Gengar's actions depicted Pig-headed Men fighting. Naturally, there would be Lizardmen; who else would the Pig-headed Men be fighting?
However...
After thinking for a moment, Gengar suddenly ran to the middle cave, stretched its face to resemble a Lizardman's, then placed its hands on its head, raising its fingers one by one to form the shape of a crown.
Bai Ye was stunned for a moment, then excitedly exclaimed, "The Lizardmen's leader?"
Gengar shook its head but pointed to its head and made the crown gesture again.
Bai Ye understood. Gengar didn't know if it was the Lizardmen's leader, but the fact that the figure wore a crown suggested a high status.
"Let's go!" Bai Ye said to Ziyuan, "We'll go through the middle one!"
Ziyuan was completely bewildered, watching Gengar hop around and completely unable to understand its meaning. But since Bai Ye said the middle path, they would take the middle path!
The two followed the middle cave inward, and soon, the sounds of fighting and the clang of colliding weapons could be heard.
Bai Ye and Ziyuan exchanged glances, then quickened their pace.
Soon, at the end of the cave, an open space appeared. A large number of Pig-headed Men and Lizardmen were engaged in a fierce battle, fighting tooth and nail.
Suddenly, Ziyuan pointed to several Lizardmen and said, "Those are the Lizardmen leader's personal guards!"
...