nycdaug Chapter 114 Lin Xuan's Transformation
Chapter 114 Lin Xuan's Transformation
Chapter 114 Lin Xuan's Transformation
The long, blue worm, as thick as an arm, landed in front of Lin Xuan, twisting its enormous body, raising its upper body, and staring intently at her with its vertical pupils.
"Aaaaaah!!!"
Lin Xuan had never seen anything like this before. Her scream pierced through her gas mask, and she froze on the spot, gripping the machete tightly in her hand, her body trembling uncontrollably.
The sea snake seemed startled by the sudden commotion. It shrank its neck, flicked its tongue, and appeared extremely nervous, but hesitated to pounce.
Clearly, the strong, pungent smell of fish emanating from Lin Xuan made it feel extremely threatened.
"Don't scream! Don't move!"
Su Jin lowered his voice and shouted, not rushing over rashly, for fear of disturbing the other snakes lurking in the surrounding trees.
Damn it, there are still snakes that refuse to leave, and some of the larger ones even tried to ambush level 3 sea beasts.
He had underestimated the audacity of these creatures. It seemed that starving sea monsters would not only eat their own kind but also their natural enemies.
His expression was somewhat grim as he instructed Lin Xuan, "Lin Xuan, listen up! You're currently carrying the gallbladder of a third-tier sea beast. In its eyes, you're an incredibly terrifying monster!"
"Keep moving forward, don't show weakness, it's even more scared than you are now!"
Lin Xuan swallowed hard; her face beneath the mask was already soaked in cold sweat.
She stared at the long worm just centimeters away, her mind filled with images of Wang Qingmei's stark white skeleton.
"I, I can't walk anymore—" Her legs were shaking so badly they were about to give way, and she might kneel on the ground in the next second.
"You have to keep going, even if you can't! If you back down, it'll know you're just bluffing!"
Su Jin's eyes hardened, and he casually ripped off an extra, smelly fish gallbladder from his waist, slamming it onto the open ground in front of Lin Xuan like a grenade.
With a snap.
The gallbladder burst open, releasing a concentrated, foul odor of sulfur, followed by a burst of pungent, sticky fluid that splattered all over the sea serpent.
The snake writhed on the ground in agony, as if it had been doused with concentrated sulfuric acid, desperately trying to escape.
"Now's the time, let's do it!" Su Jin shouted encouragingly.
As Lin Xuan watched the long worm flailing around her feet, her inner fear, under extreme tension, slowly transformed into an explosive rage.
She remembered Su Jin's words, "rowing against the current," and how if she didn't become stronger, she would eventually be swallowed up by this world, leaving not even bones behind.
"Aaaaah! Die!"
With her eyes closed, she roared, gripped the machete tightly with both hands, and without any regard for technique, chopped down hard at the snake's vital spot, which Su Jin had mentioned.
"Pfft!"
The force of this strike was extraordinary; it actually sliced the snake's body, which was as thick as an arm, in two.
Bright red blood splattered all over Lin Xuan, staining her clothes, which had been stained white with lime, with red spots.
The two halves of the snake writhed wildly on the ground for half a minute before finally ceasing all movement and becoming completely dead.
Lin Xuan was breathing heavily, still holding the knife tightly in her hand, and she leaned against the tree trunk beside her, feeling completely exhausted.
"Wow, Xiaoxuan, you're even more amazing than I imagined."
Su Jin walked over. He had been holding a stone spear in his hand, ready to provide assistance at any time. Upon seeing this scene, he put away his weapon, his eyes full of admiration.
"I was originally planning to take action myself, but I didn't expect that when you, this academic genius, get ruthless, you're even more vicious than me."
Lin Xuan wiped the blood off her mask with a hint of disgust. Her voice was still trembling, but her eyes were noticeably more steady than before: "I didn't expect it either—it turns out that killing this thing is just so-so."
Su Jin laughed and patted her shoulder: "That's right. As long as you're not afraid of it, they're the ones who should be afraid. Let's go, the steel-wood is just ahead, let's go and come back quickly."
After this battle, Lin Xuan seemed to have undergone some kind of psychological transformation, and her walking posture became much more steady.
Not long after the stinky fish's gallbladder exploded and the sea snake's bloody smell spread, all the surrounding sea snakes dispersed.
This seemed to be the two third-tier overlords telling them that they were not to be underestimated and would kill any that came their way.
Making an example of someone to deter others was indeed effective. Su Jin and Lin Xuan traveled smoothly without any obstacles, and the sea snakes did not bother them.
Following the footprints left by Wang Qingmei before her death, and braving the sea snakes that were full of suspicion, the two finally saw a strange ancient tree with a dark silver body in the deepest part of the forest.
This is their goal for this trip—steel and wood.
Yes, just like Zhao Tieshan said, it's a bit small.
"It's enough. It's a bit small, but the system doesn't require a large size."
Su Jin pondered for a moment, preparing to take action, but still felt a little regretful.
Although the system didn't say it, there are definitely significant benefits, and the resulting benefits will certainly be even greater.
But now is not the time to dwell on this. The right thing to do is to cut it down and take it back to upgrade it into a level 5 twin-track sailboat.
Without another word, Su Jin picked up the axe and swung it at the dark silver tree trunk.
"when!"
With a crisp crack, the recoil made Su Jin's hands go numb. This was no chopping down a tree; it was like chiseling an iron pillar.
But his attributes are now completely different from before. He took a deep breath, exerted all his strength, and swung the axe blade heavily, one blow after another, with a whooshing sound.
"Clang! Clang! Clang!"
The dull thud echoed far through the deathly silent forest, its aggressive noise startling the already suspicious sea snakes.
They had never seen anything like this before, and thought some kind of top-tier third-order monster was destroying their home. They hurriedly slid down from the treetops and retreated to the edge of the forest.
Meanwhile, Shen Qiaoqiao, who was guarding the boat, was about to explode with rage.
She squatted on the deck, gripping the large iron pot tightly in her hands, her eyes wide open.
She saw a swarm of large, blue worms suddenly emerge from the woods, so densely packed that just one look at the sight could give her nightmares for half a month.
"Ah! Why are there so many?!"
Shen Qiaoqiao screamed in fright; in a state of extreme stress, her brain couldn't process what was happening.
She grabbed two spare gallbladders from the nearby Incinerator and threw them into the shallow water with all her might.
"boom!"
The gallbladder burst open in the water, and the concentrated cartilage toxins spread instantly.
The sea snakes that had just entered the water hadn't even swum two meters before they floated to the surface belly up, dragging several small fish with them.
Just as Shen Qiaoqiao was about to throw the third one, a loud rumbling sound suddenly came from the hillside.
"Holy crap! Holy crap! We can't stop it!"
With Su Jin's somewhat surprised shout, the more than ten-meter-long steel log rolled down the hillside, and since there weren't many trees to block it, it rolled directly onto the beach.
Along the way, there were many sea snakes that had been crushed, with their limbs and tails scattered all over the ground.
The steel and wood slammed heavily against a huge rock on the beach, coming to a stop not far from the bow of the ship.
Su Jin and Lin Xuan emerged from the woods covered in lime and blood, looking utterly disheveled.
Su Jin wiped the dust off his face, looked at the steel log that had made such a great contribution, and chuckled somewhat embarrassedly: "Well—this slope was too steep, and I slipped and almost sent our boat away."
But he soon noticed the large number of snake carcasses with their bellies up on the sea surface, and his lips twitched involuntarily. He turned to look at Shen Qiaoqiao, who was still carrying the iron pot.
"Qiaoqiao, your destructive power is no less than mine, this steel and wood."
Seeing that the two were alright, Shen Qiaoqiao breathed a sigh of relief and plopped down on the deck, patting her chest with lingering fear: "Uncle, how dare you say that! Those snakes were terrifying, my heart almost stopped just now."
Looking at the snake carcass floating on the sea and the results of the steel and wood roller on the beach, Lin Xuan couldn't help but sigh, "Although the process was a bit abstract, at least we got the snake meat and the steel and wood."
Looking at the mess on the ground, Su Jin felt all the gloom in his heart vanish.
He gestured for Shen Qiaoqiao to lower the hook, and while working, he thought to himself, "Alright, let's call it a day! This snake meat may not be anything special, but it's good to take it back to render oil or trade it for something for Old Zhang."
"Most importantly, we'll see who wins our Category 5 sailing ships tonight!"