{Northern Plains}
"As we stand before the den of the ferocious Shark Wolves, our victory over the Myriad Beast King draws near," exclaimed Sand Man, his eyes blazing with determination.
A burst of vile laughter immediately followed by spontaneous coughing came from Gas Man as he replied, "Indeed, the taste of triumph is on our lips!"
With a confident smirk on his face, Hit Man declared, "And with my newly reinforced hammer, I shall strike with even greater force!"
Inquisitively, Gun Man asked, "Pray tell, what happened to your previous hammer, Hit Man?"
"Ah, yes. I believe it was something about the old hammer's axle not being able to handle its own weight, but this one is crafted from rank-4 materials, making it much more resilient," replied Hit Man.
Gas Man chuckled, reminiscing, "Back on Earth, you could bench press a ton. But this one's only 200 kg."
"Swinging a hammer in battle requires a different kind of strength than bench pressing, Gas Man. Besides, if I swung around a ton, I'd be sent flying every time I attacked," explained Hit Man.
Sand Man, taking charge, ordered, "Enough chit-chat, it's time to get serious. Gas Man, get ready to flush them out of their underwater cavern." As he put on his own gas mask and earmuffs, he continued, "We can't take any chances with these Shark Wolves."
Gas Man eagerly walked up to the water's edge and plunged his hand into the dark waters. Suddenly, the water began to turn black, as if ink had been poured into it. Gas Man quickly withdrew his hand and ran back to the group.
As they watched, a single Shark Wolf Myriad Beast King leaped out of the water, its fury palpable. Recently its entire family had been hunted down, fueling its anger toward the intruders who dared to disturb its territory.
Gun Man swiftly pulled out a high-powered electromagnetic pump-action armor-piercing tank-busting ballistic sniper rifle. As he aimed down his sights at the Myriad Beast King, he muttered, "Now you see me, now you don't!"
A bullet zoomed toward the Shark Wolf Myriad Beast King at an incredible speed, too fast for it to dodge. However, the beast's Gu instinctively activated, protecting its host from the full impact of the shot.
Meanwhile, in a small village located 10 kilometers away from the Northern Plains, the deafening sound of the gunshot reverberated through the air. The villagers exchanged puzzled glances, wondering what could have caused such a disturbance from so far away.
Despite wearing earmuffs, the team could hear a loud ringing sound in their heads. As they looked back towards the Shark Wolf Myriad Beast King, they noticed a large dent in its head where the bullet had struck, but to their surprise, the dent began to slowly reshape and heal itself.
Standing up and gritting his teeth, Gun Man declared, "It'll take me another 5 minutes to make another shot like that." He snapped his shoulder back into place, the recoil from his powerful gun proving to be too much for him.
"Damn thing survived something that could pierce an Aircraft Carrier! Hit Man, show it the power of American hospitality!" Sand Man growled, frustration clear in his voice. For a while now he's been trying to put the beast to sleep, but it continued to fight back fiercely, resisting his efforts to subdue it.
Hit Man rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck with a menacing grin. "When I'm done with this wolf, its blood will color the ground deep dark blood red," he declared confidently. He rushed towards the Myriad Beast King and slammed into it with full force, determined to break through its defenses.
Despite the wolf's already damaged defensive Gu, it still attempted to protect its master. The first hit from Hit Man caused only a few visible cracks, but rather than feeling discouraged, Hit Man's smile widened. "Unlike Gun Man, I have rapid fire!" he boasted. He continued to unleash a barrage of hits, each one adding more cracks to the Myriad Beast King's already heavily damaged defense.
Until finally Hit Man's barrage of hits had successfully broken through the Myriad Beast King's defenses, but its healing Gu had recovered its health enough for it to begin retaliating. The beast activated its rank-4 Water Spout Gu, sending Hit Man flying through the sky with tremendous force.
"Gas Man, your turn!" shouted Sand Man, as he watched Hit Man get launched into the air.
Gas Man had been waiting patiently for his moment, slowly accumulating more and more poison into a sphere. When the command finally came, he tossed the sphere at the Myriad Beast King, covering it instantly in a thick, sticky black sludge.
The wolf was instantly plagued by three conditions: nausea, paralysis, and loss of vision. These conditions, combined with Sand Man's sleep-inducing ability, caused the creature to lose its balance and collapse on the ground.
Sand Man turned to Gun Man and inquired, "How much longer until you can fire again?"
"It's only been a minute. I need another four," Gun Man retorted.
"Then let's hope it doesn't recover within that amount of time, and Gas Man, keep poisoning it!" ordered Sand Man.
Suddenly, a deafening roar reverberated through the atmosphere, and the team's expressions morphed into shock and fear.
"Hurry! We must withdraw! The Beast Emperor has resurfaced!" Sand Man bellowed, grabbing Hit Man and dashing back to their headquarters.
A Beast Emperor is capable of taking on and possibly even beating most rank-5 gu masters.
"This shouldn't be happening! He should be at least 20 kilometers away from here," Gun Man protested, hastily dematerializing his sniper rifle and joining the others in their retreat.
Gas Man reacted quickly and created a thick smoke screen, hoping to delay the Beast Emperor's pursuit, if even for only a few seconds.