Chapter 83 - 73: Discovery of a Snake Shedding
Chapter 83: Chapter 73: Discovery of a Snake Shedding
However, it now seemed the project was dead in the water.
"Did we fail?" Buck Teeth finally managed to squeeze out after holding it in for a long time.
"Looks like it," Shire said, patting Buck Teeth’s shoulder. "It can’t be helped. Trying to do this all by ourselves was a huge challenge from the start."
Shire had only ever been experimenting when he tasked the goblins with cultivating mushrooms. Now, it seemed the idea had been nothing more than a flight of fancy. He had to accept the limits of his goblins’ abilities.
’This kind of work isn’t for goblins, anyway. It’s a job for the Druids from the Earth and Life Church.’ Shire rubbed his face. ’If we could get a Druid to come over and cast a few Natural Magic spells, it might work. Then again, looking for them would probably be no different from looking for death.’
He chuckled humorlessly, then instructed Buck Teeth, "You check on them again. Let me know if all the Red Bulls die and the mycelium withers."
Buck Teeth nodded, showing he understood.
As Shire prepared to leave the Fortress—he had to lead a hunt that afternoon—Buck Teeth finally let loose behind him. "Your f-ing this, the sky’s f-ing that, a charming f-ing whatever." He had clearly been holding it in for too long.
"Chief," One-Eyed’s voice rang out from behind Shire.
"Hm? What is it?" Shire stopped in his tracks.
"Under your brilliant leadership, we have successfully excavated the buried mound," One-Eyed said with a slight bow.
"You just broke through?" His interest piqued, Shire immediately headed for the excavation site.
One-Eyed followed a step behind, adding eagerly, "We broke through before lunch. You told us not to go inside yet."
"Did you have Fulu scan it?" Shire asked.
"We did," One-Eyed nodded, but then added, "Fulu said the situation is a little peculiar."
"Hm? Peculiar?" Shire stopped walking.
"Yes. He felt a powerful, evil Mind, but then the feeling vanished after a moment." One-Eyed immediately stopped as well, even taking a quick, subtle step back.
’Vanished?’ Shire frowned and quickened his pace toward the site. This was unexpected. ’Could it be that the other party can block Telepathy?’
It wasn’t long before they arrived at the excavation site. This was the other corner of the massive stone chamber used for storing ancient Runes, located opposite the "Door Room" they had found earlier.
Shire reached the entrance and saw that the mound had apparently been deliberately created to seal something. Once excavated, it revealed a descending passage constructed from stone bricks.
"Is that feeling still there?" he asked, looking up at the floating Fulu.
"It just reappeared, but now it’s gone again," Fulu replied, its tentacles twitching. "The presence feels vicious and evil. It’s very dangerous."
’Should we seal it up for now?’ Shire mused, stroking his chin. ’Or should I go in and take a look?’
"One-Eyed, go get Caocao, Broken Tooth, Red Eyes, and Miss Agatha." He decided to go down and take a look but, to be on the safe side, he would post some of his strongest people at the entrance.
A few minutes later, Agatha arrived, followed by Caocao, who was carrying Red Eyes and Broken Tooth.
Shire used Fulu’s "chat group" to brief them on the situation. He told them to guard the entrance carefully and to be prepared if anything came rushing out.
"Whatever is in there might be something even a Heart Stealer couldn’t handle. You all must be extremely careful," he warned them earnestly.
"Are you really going down to check?" Agatha asked, concerned. She had offered to go with Shire, but he had refused.
"Don’t worry, I’ll be fine." Shire smiled and reassured his old classmate. He couldn’t tell her about his invincibility, but he held up the Magic Scroll in his hand for her to see. "A standard-issue Scroll. The Magic on it is Slippery Feet."
’His original plan was to send Broken Tooth down. If there was danger, he could just tear the Scroll. But then he reconsidered. If the enemy’s senses were sharp enough to detect a hidden Broken Tooth, it could probably instakill him. After all, a single Mind Shock from the Heart Stealer had been enough to knock Broken Tooth unconscious.’
"Alright, I know I can’t talk you out of it. This is your base, after all," Agatha said, her expression glum. Then she intoned, "Salman Tulu."
Rubus leaped out from a rift, nearly crashing into Caocao.
"Let him go with you. If it’s dangerous down there, you just run. Rubus can use Star Realm Jump, so you don’t have to worry about him." Agatha pulled the Star Realm Dog over.
"Alright," Shire nodded in agreement. ’Her meaning was clear: if they were attacked, I should let Rubus take the hit while I tear the Scroll and run.’
He beckoned to Fulu, gave Rubus’s neck a pat, and entered the tunnel as Agatha watched.
The passage, more than ten meters long, descended in a straight line. Fortunately, fluorescent mushrooms grew all over, lighting the way so Shire could see.
The further down he went, the louder a strange noise became. It sounded like the RUSHING of water.
’An underground river?’ he muttered to himself.
Soon, the goblin, the Star Realm Dog, and Fulu emerged from the passage. To his amazement, Shire found himself in a natural underground cavern.
The cavern was six or seven meters high, and its ceiling and surrounding walls were covered with Blue Fluorescent Mushrooms. Before him lay a stone platform covering several hundred square meters.
By the fluorescent light, Shire saw an underground river several meters wide crossing through the middle of the cavern, its destination unknown.
"Do you feel anything?" he asked softly.
"Yes, it’s much stronger here," Fulu replied, its tentacles, now turned green, twitching.
Shire nodded, calming the restless Rubus before scanning the entire platform.
The platform showed clear signs of having been artificially constructed. The space above it was clear of stalactites, but the platform itself was messy and littered with fish bones.
"Hm?" He spotted a long, shriveled "pipe" lying in a corner of the platform.
Shire tiptoed closer, afraid of making a sound. He noticed that the translucent fur on Rubus’s back was standing on end; the Star Realm Dog was growing agitated.
"Shh." Shire made a hushing gesture and walked over to the "pipe."
’This seems to be... a Snake Shedding,’ he thought, frowning as he touched the leathery object. ’It’s huge... more than ten meters long.’
’If the Snake Shedding is this long, the Giant Snake itself must be close to twenty meters.’ He set down the snakeskin and carefully backed away.
’This tunnel was probably sealed by the Heart Stealer.’ Shire nervously scanned the cavern, alert to every sound. ’This must be the Giant Snake’s lair. It’s probably hunting in the river right now, which would explain why Fulu’s senses are coming and going.’
’The Heart Stealer couldn’t defeat the Giant Snake, or maybe it was a stalemate, so it sealed the tunnel with rock and dirt.’ He stared at the gushing underground river, his expression grim. ’The Heart Stealer killed so many Magical Beasts and collected over a dozen Beast Cores, but it couldn’t handle this Giant Snake.’
’Should I seal this place back up?’ Shire thought, one hand on Rubus to calm the Star Realm Dog, his eyes fixed on the river in the distance. ’This river can support a Giant Snake that size, which means it must be teeming with life.’
He had heard of places where a "Fish Spring" would appear and had even seen videos of it. The sight of fish schools scrambling to pour out of the spring had astounded him. Only later, after reading the comments, did he learn that this was often caused by a rising underground river forcing the fish out.
’So, if I could cast nets from this platform, the catch would be huge. It would be a stable source of fish.’
’More importantly, this is a water source,’ Shire thought, stroking Rubus’s translucent back fur. ’If we take this place, we won’t have to haul water from the creek anymore.’
The tribe had to go to the forest creek for water every day, making several trips back and forth. Right now, Bai Mao was in charge of that, leading the female goblins. If they could secure this platform, they wouldn’t have to make those frequent, dangerous trips anymore, which would be much safer.
"Let’s go. We’ll head back for now," he whispered to Fulu and Rubus. He had decided to return and plan things out with Agatha and the others.
’Now that the tunnel is open and I’ve left my scent here, the Giant Snake will definitely notice when it returns. We need to come up with a plan quickly.’
’I have to find a way to kill it, and fast.’