Chapter 42 Snake Scale

Ding!

A sharp metallic ring burst through the cavern.

Sparks flashed through the cold air.

[Spinning Slash]

The Decapitating Longsword carved an iron-gray arc through the darkness and slammed into one of the serpent’s black scales.

“Ah… Ouch, ouch, ouch!”

The recoil shot straight through Xia Nan’s hands.

His fingers went numb.

Then his arm.

Then half his body.

A heartbeat later, agony exploded beneath the splint and bandages wrapped around his right forearm.

Xia Nan dropped to the ground.

He sat there for a long time before the pain finally eased enough for him to breathe normally again.

His back was soaked with sweat.

Leaning against the stone wall, he stared tiredly at the enormous serpent body in front of him.

Then he looked up.

Far overhead, the dead snake head still hung from the cavern ceiling, its jade-green eyes open and seemingly fixed on him.

Xia Nan sighed.

[Was I really being too optimistic?]

A few dozen minutes earlier, after that brilliant idea had entered his head, Xia Nan had enthusiastically begun his grand plan to harvest materials from the serpent.

He did not know what species it was.

That hardly mattered.

Scales.

Gallbladder.

Blood.

Meat.

Whatever he could take back to town would almost certainly sell for a fortune.

The problem was getting anything off it.

The giant serpent’s defenses were ridiculous.

Its body was already far beyond anything an ordinary person could imagine, and its scales seemed tough enough to rival the armor of the most advanced armored vehicles.

Xia Nan had tried everything.

Hacking.

Chopping.

Prying.

Drilling.

For nearly an hour, he had burned through every idea he could think of.

Eventually, he had even ignored his injuries and forced out [Spinning Slash].

The result?

Nothing.

Not even a scratch.

At this point, Xia Nan seriously suspected the smooth, icy-black scales could shrug off bullets and explosives from a technological world.

His dagger and longsword were useless against them.

The comparison that came to mind was painfully familiar.

Humanity against the Trisolaran Droplet.

Primitive.

Helpless.

Embarrassing.

Xia Nan had also tried climbing the serpent.

The stone spike pinning it to the ceiling had obviously broken through the scales. If he could reach that spot, maybe he could pick up a few fragments.

Even a few drops of blood would have been something.

That plan also failed.

The scales looked angular and layered, but the gaps between them were so tight that his fingers could not get inside.

There was nowhere to grip.

Worse, the edges were razor-sharp.

Every time he tried to put force on them, they sliced his hands open.

And even if he somehow climbed all the way to the ceiling, there was another problem.

The height.

One slip from up there and he would die on impact.

Not even a healing potion would save him.

Using his uninjured left arm for support, Xia Nan slowly pushed himself upright against the wall.

The Decapitating Longsword went back into its sheath.

After reading through so many monster-harvesting methods in the [Adventurer’s Handbook], Xia Nan knew exactly how valuable a creature this large had to be.

That only made giving up worse.

[What a waste.]

His expression twisted slightly.

Then he forced himself to look away.

There was no point becoming obsessed.

If he could not do it, he could not do it.

No amount of stubbornness would magically change that.

[I’ll come back later.]

[If I ever get the chance.]

For now, the priority was escaping this place alive.

Xia Nan breathed out slowly and forced his mood back under control.

Then he began surveying the cavern again.

Unlike the dark, narrow corridor outside, this chamber was brightly illuminated by dense colonies of glowing fungi.

Ghostly blue light filled the entire space.

That made details visible that would otherwise have been hidden in darkness.

Xia Nan’s gaze moved along the walls.

[Scrape marks.]

[Impact marks too.]

[The serpent probably left those while it was alive.]

He looked toward the passage he had come from.

[That tunnel is nowhere near large enough for something this big.]

[So how did it get in here?]

[Was there another entrance?]

[Or something else?]

His gaze swept across the cavern again.

[And all those human remains outside…]

[There aren’t any here.]

He paused.

[Hm?]

Something pale had caught his eye.

Deep in one corner of the cavern, a patch of white stood out against the stone.

Xia Nan walked over.

It was a human skeleton.

Unlike the scattered bones outside, this corpse was mostly intact.

Lower legs.

Pelvis.

Ribs.

Skull.

Several tattered scraps of dark blue fabric still hung from the bones, enough to suggest that the person had once worn a long robe.

But that was not what caught Xia Nan’s attention.

In the center of the skeleton’s chest was a pitch-black scale.

It had pierced straight through the torso and spine before embedding itself in the stone wall behind the corpse.

Xia Nan’s eyes lit up.

[No way.]

A moment ago, he had been ready to accept defeat.

Now the path had opened again.

“Sorry to disturb you.”

He gave the skeleton a brief apology and stepped forward.

Then he gripped the scale with both hands and pulled.

It came free from the wall.

Xia Nan immediately held it up for inspection.

The scale was diamond-shaped and roughly the length of his forearm.

Its surface was smooth and glossy.

Cold to the touch.

Hard.

But not brittle.

There was a subtle toughness to it, a flexibility that made the material feel even more extraordinary.

No question about it.

This was the same steel-hard snake scale he had spent nearly an hour desperately trying to pry off the corpse.

Xia Nan’s gaze sharpened.

He remembered [Spinning Slash] slamming into one of those scales without leaving so much as a mark.

If he took this back…

Maybe he could have it made into equipment.

[Rockhammer, maybe.]

[Their shop does custom work.]

A shield or a piece of armor would probably make the best use of its absurd defensive ability.

The scale might be too small for full armor, though.

And if he turned it into a shield, he would also need to find someone to teach him how to use one properly.

Then again…

The edges were viciously sharp.

A small weapon might work too.

[I’ll think about it once I’m back.]

Xia Nan shook his head and carefully buried the scale deep inside his backpack.

A second later, he realized how ridiculous he was being.

Careful?

With this thing?

If he ran into something strong enough to damage the scale, Xia Nan himself would probably have been reduced to ashes long before the scale even noticed.

Still, the unexpected gain lifted his mood considerably.

He was about to move on when something beside the skeleton caught his attention.

A wooden sword lay on the ground.

Old.

Dust-covered.

Weathered by time.

Xia Nan paused.

Better safe than sorry.

He held his breath, focused his attention, and stared at the sword.

A moment later, a long string of translucent text appeared before his eyes.