CHAPTER 171: CHAPTER 164 GIANT PANGOLIN

Xu Xin recounted his experiences and speculations within the [Explorer] group.

There was still no news from Ji Chaoyang.

Qin Yunlong: "So it turns out that’s the case. Doesn’t that mean people who can’t leave have their lives completely controlled by others?"

Qi Xuefei: "This... those vines below are actually the roots of the treehouse. That’s terrifying!"

Li Wenxi: "I have all these fragments here. I’ve already tested their effects, and they’re perfect! I just set up a grill by the window of the treehouse and it emitted a dense white smoke, causing the surrounding vines to retract back into the ground!"

Zhao Xiaochuan: "This... this is resolved? Did I just slack off again? Getting carried by the experts feels amazing."

Xu Xin: "Everyone, hold off on using it. Use it to drive them away when the vines start attacking again."

At this moment, Wang Lei and Wen Guixin also showed up.

Wang Lei: "Oh my God, does this mean I’m the savior?"

Wen Guixin: "So, was all this effort just to work for everyone else?"

Seeing these two making an appearance, Xu Xin asked, "How are things on your side?"

Wang Lei: "Relax, Brother Xin. We’re already barbecuing the big heart down there. Following your advice, I fired several flaming arrows at it on sight. The vines didn’t even react before they caught fire, haha."

Wen Guixin: "I’ve already dealt with all the vines here. After destroying the big heart, the points are massive. But... we don’t have your purple-level card, so we can’t trade on-site... do we have to carry it back piece by piece? That’s too troublesome..."

Wang Lei: "It’s not that troublesome. Our bodies have been enhanced so many times; you should be able to carry a hundred kilograms by now. Backpack weight is only 10%, so you can carry a ton at a time. It’s not far from the treehouse, so doing it ten times should be enough. We can get it done within an hour!"

Wen Guixin: "You guys are really a bunch of good folks. Alright, I’ll carry it. Even if we don’t share it with them, this stuff will be useful for us in the future. By the way, since we can disperse the vines, let’s give them some fragments and let them fight their way out!"

Li Wenxi: "No, no, the vines just retracted below ground. I tested it by going down, and while it’s fine to step under the treehouse canopy, going further out makes the vines pop up again, nearly injuring me!"

Wen Guixin: "I see, that’s tricky then... Hey, I found the seed Xu Xin mentioned!"

Xu Xin smirked. How could this be working for everyone else? This seed was their greatest gain from leaving, equivalent to a large courtyard on the ground!

Zhao Xiaochuan: "Wow, missed out. If I had known, I wouldn’t have given the chance to Wang Lei back then."

Wang Lei: "Hey, you might not have made it out. I had to put in a lot of effort to get out, almost getting tied up by those vines inside."

Xu Xin lay on the couch for a few more minutes before sitting up.

There was one last underground tunnel left to explore. He needed to take a look. Although there was no heart in the first tunnel, the red mist flower that released enhanced mutant powers was a substantial find for him.

This third tunnel must also have some good things.

The four beasts thought they wouldn’t be going out again. The Silver King and Mimi were yawning in the corner, while Keke was rolling around on the couch beside him. Afu wasn’t in the room; it seemed to have hung under the treehouse.

"Let’s go. There’s one last hole left. Once we finish exploring, we can come back to rest." Xu Xin stood up.

Hearing this, Keke climbed directly onto his shoulder, Silver King also stood up, and Mimi stretched lazily, pacing over to his side.

With the three beasts in tow, and calling Afu, Xu Xin climbed onto Silver King’s back. The group of one person and four beasts quickly arrived at the third tunnel entrance, which was discovered by Silver King.

"Meep!" Keke called as Xu Xin was about to enter, warning him of danger.

Xu Xin suddenly remembered that Keke had mentioned earlier that there was danger in each of the three holes. That’s why he didn’t know which one truly held the heart and had to try each one.

"Keke, is the danger inside here, or is the heart more dangerous?" Xu Xin stroked Keke’s little head resting on Silver King’s neck and asked.

"Meep... Meep!" Keke turned around, pointing a small paw in the direction of the second tunnel, where the heart used to be.

It seems like the strongest foe has already been dealt with.

There’s nothing to be afraid of then, no more time to waste. Holding a crossbow, Xu Xin lay on Silver King’s back.

"Mimi, lead the way, let’s charge in!"

"Meow!" Mimi responded, rushing into the tunnel with Afu, as Silver King followed closely behind.

All three tunnel passages weren’t significantly different from each other.

In just a matter of seconds, they reached the depths of this tunnel.

Like the other two tunnels, the deepest part of this tunnel was also a hall-like space, but this time, the underground space was empty, nothing at all.

"...Empty?" Xu Xin furrowed his brows.

No, it shouldn’t be empty. If it were empty, how would Keke have felt danger?

Xu Xin observed his surroundings and eventually noticed a slight anomaly on the wall.

It was fortunate that he had an ongoing enhanced vision, allowing him to notice that the soil texture and color on one part of the wall differed subtly from the rest—a difference so minor that it was almost invisible in the dark underground.

This difference was akin to the contrast between reworked soil and untouched soil.

At the unusual wall, Xu Xin took out a long spear and gently prodded it.

With a crash, half of the strange-colored portion collapsed. After a few more pokes, a two-meter-high opening appeared before him.

Were these holes dug by those pangolins? But why were they sealed?

The Silver King lay quietly beside him, while Mimi paced back and forth by the entrance, looking deep into the hole. It suddenly stopped, shrinking back slightly.

This wasn’t an action of fear; instead, it was a stance ready to strike. To Xu Xin, it seemed like a lurking tiger poised to kill its prey with one deadly blow!

"Ying!" Keke pointed at the largest entrance and let out a sound.

This cave was about two meters in both length and width, enough for Xu Xin and the four beasts to enter together. About ten meters in, there was a turn, and the deeper parts were not visible.

Should we go in and take a look?

Suddenly, a large head emerged from around the corner, gradually revealing its whole body.

Its scales were covered with dust, and the blood lines weren’t noticeable under the layer of dirt, yet its sharp claws were peculiarly clean, although somewhat out of proportion.

An oversized pangolin, with its tail, it was at least three meters long!

With parts of its body strengthened to be bigger and stronger, this pangolin, even if it wasn’t a mid-tier mutant beast, was almost at the same level as Mimi and Silver King before their upgrades.

Moreover, this was probably the largest individual of its species.

The pangolin wasn’t afraid upon seeing them; it even leisurely walked up to them.

"Hah—" Mimi’s fur bristled, and it hissed at the pangolin, then swatted it with a paw.

The pangolin didn’t dodge, and was knocked to the ground by Mimi. However, its body was protected by scales, and Mimi’s attack was only probing without extending its claws, so it wasn’t harmed. It flipped over and approached Xu Xin again.

This time, even Silver King bared its sharp teeth, growling threateningly.

"Hold on, don’t attack!" Xu Xin stopped Silver King and Mimi, who intended to assault the pangolin, and stepped forward himself. Wearing his own scale armor set, he wasn’t afraid of a sudden attack from this large pangolin.

Upon getting closer, Xu Xin noticed that many of the pangolin’s scales were broken. This wasn’t caused by Mimi’s blow just now, but had been damaged for a long time.

What had bullied this pangolin?

The pangolin extended its claw, nudging his scale armor, then turned to walk into the cave.

Was it wanting him to follow?

"Ying!" Keke nudged Xu Xin’s cheek, shaking its head to express refusal; it could sense the danger within the cave.

"Not as serious as the heart, right?" Xu Xin squinted, looking at the pangolin’s back, and asked.

"...Ying." Keke hesitated for a moment, then nodded its little head.

"Then it’s alright, let’s all go in!" Xu Xin decided, gripping the crossbow in his hand.

With explosive crossbow bolts at hand, even a heart could be blasted apart, so there was no need to be overly cautious.

The pangolin stopped at a corner, looked back at him, as if waiting for him to catch up.

"Let’s go, follow along!"

As Xu Xin was about to follow, Mimi gently leaped ahead of him, entering the cave first.

It seemed Mimi was still concerned for his safety. Xu Xin smiled and followed Mimi into the cave.

Seeing them follow, the pangolin quickened its pace, leading the way ahead.

The cave twisted and turned, with numerous forks, resembling the underground maze they had traversed before. Xu Xin silently memorized the paths and marked a notch on the cave wall at each fork they passed.

Mimi stopped at one fork, looking toward the path the large pangolin didn’t take, its body suddenly tensing.

Xu Xin frowned and followed Mimi’s gaze, his pupils constricting as he inhaled sharply.

The inside of that fork was still shrouded in darkness, like a flat space resembling a floor in a high-rise building, with only a height of two or three meters, but a large area.

Using his night vision and enhanced sight, he could see the space was filled densely with pangolins!

These pangolins varied in size, all covered with red patterns!

He even saw a massive pangolin lying in the deepest part; just its lying height almost reached the three-meter-high ceiling, and its body length was at least tens of meters.

Unlike other pangolins, this one had no blood patterns, just an incredibly gigantic physique.

...A giant pangolin like the Lake Giant Python and Creek Bottom Giant Crocodile?!

The large pangolin leading the way, seeing Xu Xin not following but instead looking towards that space, hurriedly ran back, nudging his armor as if not wanting him to disturb those inside.

Xu Xin exhaled deeply, continuing to follow this pangolin.

That giant beast, he couldn’t handle it. But Keke had said the danger level here was lower than that of a heart; if it was a giant beast, how could it be lesser than a heart?

Could it also be a neutral entity like the giant crocodile?

But why would a neutral entity mingle with a group of mutant beasts?

Unfortunately, the map couldn’t display the underground markers, so he couldn’t discern them through the map and opted to avoid provoking them for now.

After a few more turns, the pangolin finally stopped at the end of a corridor.

"This is..." Xu Xin’s pupils trembled slightly.

At the end of the corridor was a small grassy nest, in which two tiny pangolins were lying. They moved slightly upon seeing someone approach, somewhat adorably.

"Are these...your children?" Xu Xin asked softly.

The large pangolin nodded its head slightly, seeming to acknowledge it, and then nudged the grassy nest towards Xu Xin.

"Are you entrusting your children to me?" Xu Xin understood the pangolin’s intent.