Kast was dead. Miraj was dead. Naal was still in trouble. And if he entered the arena in front of Jigô, this killer and violent shark, either he or Shuu would die too.
Why did it have to end like this ? What was this shark doing in this competition ? Arun had a lot more questions than answers. But there was one last that haunted his mind, probably the most important.
The [Pet Pact] had been completed. The last time, he had been sent back to his world as soon as he had accomplished what he had to do in the world of pets. But here it was already a while since he was there, and nothing was happening. If only Mili were here ! Without the cat, the vet knew nothing about all the system he was given, and how it worked.
"Jigô and Ornella won the match and the final will start in a few minutes." The presenter's voice was fuzzy and distant in Arun's mind. He had not even looked up since Kast had fallen from the tree, preferring not to witness the victory of their next opponent as he was already raging against him. He would not let him get away with it. The shark was going to pay for what he had done to his friends.
Shuu's hand pulled him out of the second state in which he was immersed, ruminating on his anger, which turned into hatred little by little. Shuu smiled sadly at the young man, not really knowing what to say to cheer him up. The meerkat had not had time to really know the two squirrels... But seeing that Arun was affected also made him sad.
"No matter what rule is chosen, and no matter how strong our opponents are, I'll make sure we'll win. I've already beaten Rusheb, the meerkat that scared me the most... So now I'm not afraid of anything." The boy said, clenching his fist to give his partner confidence. It was the last straight line, they were not allowed to slip so close to the goal !
Arun got up and made smiled to the meerkat too. He was right. He did not want to be impressed or overwhelmed by fear and anger, because that was what Jigô wanted. They would fight to the end and win the victory. If he had known that he should fight against the animals he loved so much... The young man was eager to put an end to all this.
The girl escorting them to the arena arrived quickly, like all the other times, and they joined the place of the confrontation a second time, this time without the encouragement of the two squirrels. The huge tree had disappeared and the water that filled the arena had remained. The next rule was also using water ? Arun was beginning to think that the Meerkat Show was rigged to benefit Jigô...
In front of them, the shark and the wolf had not even left the arena, remaining on their platform with arrogance. Neither were injured during their match, so they did not need to be healed until the next one.
"Shuu, I have a plan to defeat Jigô. The best option is that we stay together. We won't be too much to fight against him." The vet suggested, thinking back to the boost conferred by the [Affinity Level]. That should continue to work as long as they stayed close, from what he understood... He hoped not to be wrong.
"How do you plan to beat a monster like that ?" The boy asked a little surprised. He would have rather thought that the goal would have been to avoid Jigo as much as possible.
"I know the weak point of sharks. You see, the sharks have organs called the ampullae of Lorenzini. Those are canals located in some places under their skin, often around the mouth, which are filled with electro-conductive jelly. These organs are normally used to detect electromagnetic fields and temperature gradients, but a man named Andre Hartmann who was the first to swim with sharks out of an open cage found something else about these famous ampullae." Arun explained with a smile. Shuu seemed a little lost, however.
"I... I didn't understand everything, but what did he discover ?"
"By touching these pores, the sharks became almost harmless and let their belly drift to the surface for a few seconds. So if I could reach Jigô's ampullae, I could stop him from moving for a few seconds. You would have the time to knock him out definitely after that !" The vet finished by unveiling his plan at the same time. It was the only solution he saw. The only problem was that the ampullae were located in a hard to reach place, and given the teeth of their opponent, he might lose a finger or two trying to reach those...
"You really know a lot about animals, it's impressive..." replied the boy who had tried to understand the maximum, without seizing anyway. For him who had never even known that animals like the shark existed, it was quite a discovery.
"I am a veterinarian after all." Arun smiles happily. He hoped to be able to go back to the clinic once everything was over, if he survived...
"The other problem left is Ornella, who didn't do anything during the first match. But I think she's going to really act now, and we don't know at all what she can do." The young man added, thinking of a way to integrate her into their strategy. She could change everything according to what she was going to do. They had to remain cautious.
"We need to get rid of Jigô first, I think she's safer to deal with alone." Shuu decided, a confident look on his face. Arun's knowledge will be terribly useful for the event that awaited them, and he was very happy to team up with someone so smart.
"You're right, we're going to do that. We focus on Jigô no matter what Ornella does." Arun nodded to his partner's decision before turning to the arena. The presenter's voice would sound from one second to the next, to announce the last rule.
"It's time to choose the third and last special rule that will apply on this last Egg Rush match !" The usual drum rolls took place in the speakers, succeeded by the traditional cymbal.
"It's still a change of scenery for this time ! Welcome to the city of the King of the Seas."
The arena shook again, and in a few seconds dozens of white stone buildings came out of the water, standing in the middle of the basin like the last vestiges of an ancient civilization. The ruins stretched almost to their starting platform, forming labyrinthine corridors mixing places under and over the water.
"The egg is hidden somewhere in the city ! The first team to place the egg on its starting platform will be declared winner of the Meerkat Show."
Even if once again the terrain did not favor them, Arun had confidence in their plan. It was going to work, he was certain, and they would beat Jigô for sure.