Chapter 14 :Time to Reap the Spoils
Under immense pressure, the Venomous Mist Centipede released the last trace of its toxic fog before curling its thin limbs around the body of the Cyclone Moth.
The Cyclone Moth beat its scaly wings frantically, trying to lift off, but weighed down by the centipede, it only managed to rise two or three meters before crashing back to the ground.
The intense pain enraged the dying centipede; its sharp palatal fangs and spined legs pierced deep into the moth's soft abdomen.
A cloud of white, pus-like liquid gushed from the puncture wound.
The Cyclone Moth felt the pain but lacked vocal organs to scream its only reply was a furious counterattack.
Its straw-like mouthparts stabbed into the bomb wound on the centipede's side like a spear, sucking out flesh and blood.
The two titans wrestled in a death match, rolling across the barren valley like ancient beasts locked in combat, their movements growing weaker by the second.
Seeing the end was near, Germain leapt onto the centipede's limbs and fired his musket into one corner of its head.
Then, using his butcher's cleaver, he hacked off the moth's suction-like mouthparts.
He aimed again this time at the Cyclone Moth's head and pulled the trigger. The scattered bullets tore it apart.
Bang!
The swollen torso of the centipede collapsed first onto the valley floor.
Its long, flattened limbs froze mid-twitch, motionless.
The moth soon followed, crashing against the centipede's body like a dying lover's final embrace.
Its vast scaly wings went limp, stirring a cloud of dust.
Suddenly, the moth's abdomen began to inflate like a balloon.
With several spasms, a cluster of white, sticky eggs poured from its rear, piling into a small mound.
Laying eggs after death? Germain jumped down from the beast's corpse, staring thoughtfully. Creatures from the Dark Continent truly defy common sense.
No… it's fair to say all creatures from the Hunter World are incredible.
He lifted his blood-dripping butcher's cleaver, absorbing the lingering resentment of the slain monsters.
This time, unlike before, he didn't just gain two attribute points and two Clairvoyant Pressure points he also received two new Resentment Instruments:
a new lantern and a flamethrower.
It had been over a month since he'd obtained any new instruments; receiving two at once felt almost fated.
As usual, he allocated two attribute points to Endurance and Stamina.
Vitality and Fitness: 20
Endurance: 19
Clairvoyant Pressure: 28
Resentment Instruments: Butcher's Cleaver, Fire Pistol, Flamethrower, 3 Lanterns (4-minute cooldown)
With the new lantern, Germain could now expand his range of exploration and choose new teleportation zones.
As for the flamethrower, its function was clear it unleashed a torrent of fire forward, dealing devastating damage.
Still, if this was all he gained from such a perilous hunt, he would be unsatisfied.
He turned to the colossal corpses sprawled across the dry valley, gripped his cleaver, and approached.
Germain first sliced off the edge of the Cyclone Moth's wing it was only a fragment, yet the size of a bedsheet.
He rolled it up and bound it with climbing rope.
Next, he moved to the Venomous Mist Centipede, drawing a thick syringe of venom from its palatal fangs and sealing it in a glass container.
Finally, he sawed open the carapace of the crimson flesh-eating insect. Amid the tangled flesh, he found a vermillion stone the size of his head.
At first, he dismissed it as a simple carmine ore from the insect, but as he lifted it, its color began to shift gradually matching the hue of his own arm.
Looks like something valuable. I'll take it.
He had planned to collect one of the Cyclone Moth's eggs, but the sight of the slimy residue on the shell quickly changed his mind.
Dismissing the musket and cleaver, Germain packed away the venom jar, gripping the scaly moth wings in one hand and the crimson stone in the other as he approached the lantern.
That was all he could carry.
The lantern, aside from transporting Germain himself, could also teleport anything he physically held.
He extended his pinky toward one of the little messenger imps.
The imp chirped happily, grasped his finger with both hands, and in a flash of light vanished with him.
After a long silence, the barren ground of the valley began to bulge.
Crimson flesh-eating insects crawled out of the earth, drawn to the fallen eggs of the Cyclone Moth.
They confirmed the scent with their antennae, cracked open the shells, and inserted their straw-like mouths into the gaps.
Gudong, gudong, the valley echoed as they drank greedily.
Meanwhile, Germain had safely returned to the human world to that same dark mine.
His Clairvoyant Pressure had increased by 10 points, reaching 38.
The lantern's purple glow cast eerie light over his face as he reviewed the new traits displayed on his Hunter's Emblem:
Beast Slayer and Gluttony.
Beast Slayer was a positive trait, granting him bonus strength against wild creatures.
Gluttony was negative, intensifying his appetite for food.
Counting the previously gained Kleptomania, he now possessed one positive and two negative traits.
He glanced again at the lantern; its display had changed once more:
Lantern Location: Dark Continent, Dry Valley.
Cooldown: 8 minutes (Countdown 6:45).
His assumption about the lantern's cooldown seemed correct.
Germain stacked his spoils from the Dark Continent in a corner of the mine, then checked the traps outside to ensure no enemies were near before returning inside.
He sat in the shadows of the mine, entered a meditative abstinence state, and slept until dawn on the 26th.
At sunrise, he left most of his equipment behind, taking only the portable venom syringe.
He traveled to a nearby village and found the local black market.
For now, his only option was to trade with an underground merchant.
The trader initially sneered at the strange syringe of venom. But after taking several samples and confirming it was a type he'd never seen before, his tone changed.
Name your price.
Germain, unwilling to share his secrets, simply asked the man to make an offer.
The merchant gritted his teeth and gave him a number.
Germain frowned, picked up the syringe, and turned to leave.
Hey, hey don't go! The price is negotiable! shouted the merchant desperately.
Only then did Germain pause and turn around.
(End of Chapter)