Chapter 755 - 454: The Giant Hive Deep Underground

Chapter 755: Chapter 454: The Giant Hive Deep Underground

Everyone suppressed their urge to complain, silently picked up the hoes and shovels on the ground, and started digging.

From two to three in the afternoon was when the sun was at its most intense.

In the perilous wilderness, humans, the Mutant Beasts living there, and even ordinary animals would all find a shady place to escape the sun, waiting until the most scorching part of the day had passed to become active again.

And yet, during this sweltering time of day, in the perilous wilderness and by a shimmering pond, a group of people was fervently swinging hoes and shovels.

"Heh..."

"Phew..."

"Damn this weather. It’s already September, and it’s still this hot."

"Yeah! But I checked the forecast. The temperature is supposed to drop in a little while."

The Exotic Beast Hunters swinging their hoes and shovels were drenched in sweat under the intense sun, making small talk as they dug.

Through their combined efforts, they had already dug a large pit, over ten meters in diameter and a full two meters deep.

Even after digging such a deep pit, they still hadn’t reached the Tiger Bees’ underground nest.

"This Tiger Bee nest is buried really deep!" Lin Li remarked, scooping up a large clump of dirt with his shovel and flinging it out of the pit with a swing of his arm.

The captain of the Exotic Beast Hunter team, who was digging beside him, heard Lin Li’s remark and said with a smile,

"According to the records we have, these Tiger Bees—which were affected by Spiritual Energy and mutated, but didn’t quite awaken into full-fledged Mutant Beasts—love to build their nests deep underground. The larger the swarm, the deeper the nest.

The swarm you wiped out before was many times larger than any we’ve encountered, so the depth of their underground nest will be significantly deeper than that of a normal Tiger Bee swarm."

’So that’s how it is. Good thing I didn’t insist on turning down their help.’

’Otherwise, if it was just me, I could have dug with all my might for the entire afternoon and probably still wouldn’t have reached this Tiger Bee swarm’s underground nest by sunset...’

Lin Li nodded, taking in the experienced Exotic Beast Hunter captain’s explanation.

Then, seeing his fellow Hunters, who were helping him dig for the nest, looking exhausted, drenched in sweat, and covered in dirt, he thought for a moment. With a flicker of intent, he retrieved a case of bottled mineral water and two large watermelons.

"We’ve been at it for a while. Let’s take a break! Wash your hands, have some watermelon."

"Huh?!!!"

The digging Exotic Beast Hunters stared at the case of bottled mineral water that had appeared at Lin Li’s feet and the two large watermelons in his hands, all of them frozen in place in a stunned daze.

Although they already knew their colleague was a Cultivator who had awakened the Storage Space Superpower, they couldn’t help but show their astonishment when they saw him so casually produce a case of mineral water and two large watermelons.

A case of bottled mineral water was one thing; if you couldn’t find a water source in the wilderness, it was absolutely necessary to bring some.

But bringing large watermelons was a bit unusual; after all, they weren’t a necessity.

After climbing out of the deep pit, Lin Li called out to the Exotic Beast Hunters still standing inside.

"Don’t just keep standing in the pit, come on up! There’s a big tree next to the pond. Let’s go eat watermelon under it."

"Coming," the Exotic Beast Hunters replied, snapping back to their senses. They immediately grabbed the case of mineral water Lin Li had brought out and climbed out of the pit.

Lin Li had brought out the case of mineral water intending for the Exotic Beast Hunters to wash their hands and faces, but after climbing out, they went to the pond and used its water to clean up instead.

"Help yourselves. If it’s not enough, I’ll cut more..." Lin Li said to the Exotic Beast Hunters after slicing up the two watermelons.

"This watermelon is so sweet!"

"Yeah! It’s way sweeter than the ones I’ve bought at the supermarket."

"This is the sweetest watermelon I’ve had all year..."

Seeing his colleagues praise the watermelons he’d grown on the Mysterious Small Island to no end, Lin Li chuckled, grabbed a slice, and started eating heartily.

CRUNCH, CRUNCH, CRUNCH...

In the shade of the large tree, the group of men held slices of watermelon, making loud slurping noises as they ate.

"Ahh..."

A gentle breeze rustled the leaves. For the Exotic Beast Hunters eating watermelon, this was the first time in their years in the profession that they had ever eaten watermelon out in the wilderness. They couldn’t help but think to themselves how incredibly convenient the Storage Space Superpower was.

The group finished off the two large watermelons completely. Lin Li was about to take out another one to cut, but the other Exotic Beast Hunters stopped him, saying they’d had more than enough and there was no need to cut another.

After resting for a while in the shade and recovering a good deal of their strength and energy, everyone returned to the deep pit, picked up their hoes and shovels, and resumed digging.

...

After the hottest part of the day had passed, at a little after three in the afternoon, the group of diggers finally reached their destination.

"We’re here, we’ve hit it!" an Exotic Beast Hunter with thick eyebrows shouted excitedly to the others. As his hoe struck down, the ground collapsed into a large hole, revealing what was inside.

Hearing this, Lin Li, who was shoveling dirt, stopped what he was doing. He and the other Exotic Beast Hunters simultaneously paused and looked toward the location of the Hunter with the thick eyebrows.

THUMP, THUMP, THUMP...

The group gathered at the collapsed spot, their faces filled with delight as they looked at the hive revealed within the hole.

"Clear away the surrounding dirt. Let’s see just how big this hive is," the captain of the Exotic Beast Hunter team said.

Then, everyone grabbed their hoes and shovels and started to dig outward from the collapsed area.

After another twenty-odd minutes, the collapsed area had been widened several times over, and an enormous hive was revealed before them all.

As they looked upon the massive hive—at least four meters long and weighing several tons—everyone was left in absolute shock.

White pupae wriggled within the hive’s combs, so densely packed it was enough to make one’s skin crawl. Fortunately, no one present had trypophobia, or the feeling would have been indescribably... intense.

"So many pupae. If we collect them all, we’ll probably have two or three hundred pounds!"

"Two or three hundred pounds? I think you’re lowballing it. To me, it looks like at least four or five hundred pounds!"

As the Exotic Beast Hunters were discussing the enormous hive, Lin Li took out several large bags from the Mysterious Small Island.

"There are so many pupae, I can’t possibly eat them all myself. Take these bags and fill some up to bring back. Let your families have a taste..."

Lin Li said as he handed out the large plastic bags to the Exotic Beast Hunters.

"We can’t possibly accept. You’re the one who wiped out the Tiger Bee swarm, so these pupae are your harvest. We can’t take them for free," the captain of the Exotic Beast Hunter team said, shaking his head adamantly.

"You wouldn’t be taking them for free," Lin Li said with a laugh. "If you hadn’t helped me excavate the nest, who knows how long it would’ve taken me to dig it out by myself..."

"But..." The captain of the Exotic Beast Hunter team tried to say more, but he was cut off by Lin Li before he could get the words out.

"No more ’buts.’ Didn’t I already tell you? I can’t eat all these pupae by myself, and there’s no need to sell them. It’s not like I’m short on the cash I’d get from it."

Since Lin Li had put it that way, the Exotic Beast Hunters exchanged glances and then thanked him.

After that, they took the bags Lin Li had given them, walked up to the hive, and began to pick out the wriggling white pupae one by one, placing them into their bags.

...