Chapter 202 - 179: The Treasure Trove Giant Worm
Cao Biansheng trembled as he recalled the hunt for the Desert Giant Worm.
Although he hadn’t killed it up close with his own hands, operating the Car-Mounted Crossbow and pinning it to its death—wasn’t that, in its own way, doing it himself?
This was the Car-Mounted Crossbow he had operated with his own two hands.
’Could I kill such a huge beast with conventional weapons?’
Cao Biansheng suddenly had an epiphany.
A vehicle-mounted crossbow is still a crossbow, and a crossbow arrow is still an arrow. ’So isn’t this, in its own way, a form of Arrow Skill?’
Qin Ziwu was a little chagrined. He was still replaying his second shot from a moment ago—the one that had missed.
The worm had been moving constantly, making it difficult to aim.
He felt it was a shame. ’If only my aim had been a little better.’
After the Desert Giant Worm died, the group waited on the sidelines for a long time, unsure if it had any companions.
"Are there any more worms in the desert?" Luo Gang shouted, cupping his hands around his mouth.
The distance was too great, and the wind scattered his voice, so both sides could only hear a few scattered, intermittent words.
Luo Gang thought for a moment, then took out a pen and paper from his pocket. After writing a message, he asked Qin Ziwen to have the Beaked Eagle deliver it.
The two groups managed to communicate. The students didn’t know if there were any more Desert Giant Worms in the dunes either; at the very least, they had never seen two appear at the same time.
To be safe, the group waited another half hour before working together to drag the Desert Giant Worm’s corpse out of the sand.
The Desert Giant Worm’s body was lighter than expected.
With more than a dozen people pulling together, they barely managed to drag it, inch by inch, out of the dune area.
After some testing, they roughly estimated the Desert Giant Worm’s weight to be around four tons.
Its hide was smooth, like the shell of a crustacean, but also had a certain elasticity.
Through the gaping wound in its side, they could see its hollow internal structure, with only a simple white skeleton supporting its entire body.
Its overall appearance resembled a stack of tires.
Du Yu stepped forward and collected the three Cards floating above the corpse.
One was yellow, one was gray, and one was gold with a black border.
[Building Enhancement Card] Random, [Building Card] Blacksmith Shop, [Advanced Resource Card] Water Dew Fruit Tree Forest.
As soon as the Desert Giant Worm was dragged out, Wang Yun began to examine it.
He was very curious about this strange new creature he had never seen before.
After a long while, Wang Yun stood up and reported to Qin Ziwen, "Chairman Qin, this Desert Giant Worm’s vital organs are almost all concentrated behind its head. Therefore, its main weak point is likely its head. As for the rest of its body, acid sacs capable of secreting corrosive gas are distributed at regular intervals.
During my examination, I found its body cavity is filled with this acidic gas."
As he spoke, Wang Yun raised his right hand. While examining the creature, he had accidentally put his hand into the body cavity. In just two seconds, the skin on his hand had become noticeably red.
"Additionally, I found a special air sac behind its head," he continued, "which can release a liquid with anesthetic properties. The teeth in its mouth are not its primary means of attack; their main function should be to help secure prey.
When it envelops the upper body of its prey with its mouth, these fine, sharp teeth pierce the victim’s body to hold it in place. Then, it releases the anesthetic liquid inside its mouth to knock the prey unconscious before swallowing it whole. Finally, it uses the corrosive gas in its body to break down the prey."
"Is that so? I thought it tore its prey to shreds with its teeth." Qin Ziwen crouched down, looking at the Desert Giant Worm’s hideous, chrysanthemum-shaped maw and the dense rows of sharp teeth within.
They certainly looked intimidating, at least.
"Its teeth are indeed quite hard and strong, but the structure of its mouth makes it difficult for them to be its primary weapon." At this, Wang Yun added half-jokingly, "Unless its head could spin at high speed like a power drill. Then its head could become a blender."
Qin Ziwu, standing nearby, laughed. "Well, that might be possible if it lived in the sea. It could learn to do a death roll like a crocodile."
"So it has no meat?" Qin Ziwen was only curious about one thing: whether it was edible.
Wang Yun said, "It has some muscle, and its muscle density is very high, so the meat should be very chewy. Chairman Qin, this Desert Giant Worm is quite valuable, not mainly for its meat, but for its organs.
The acid from its internal sacs can be collected, and the organ that releases the anesthetic fluid can also be harvested. The liquid inside is a natural anesthetic.
Then there’s its hide. It’s quite strong. If made into armor, its Defense Power would be higher than many types of Leather Armor.
Given its size, we could make ten full sets of armor with no problem, and we’d still have some spare plates left over.
Chairman Qin, don’t be fooled just because the Crossbow Wagon pierced its body with a single arrow. Against a Crossbow Arrow, not just Leather Armor, even Iron Armor would be shattered all the same."
"Alright. Go ahead and start processing it then."
Qin Ziwen nodded.
He looked into the depths of the desert. After another long wait, one of the students finally slid cautiously down from his high perch and sprinted across the sand.
He was fast, clearing the dune area in less than a minute.
Once he was out, he was still shaken, his face filled with the relief of having survived a disaster.
He hugged the other students around him, then came before Qin Ziwen to express his gratitude.
The other students had already told him that the main reason they were able to kill the Desert Giant Worm was Chairman Qin’s Car-Mounted Crossbow.
Without this new superweapon, it would have been nearly impossible for them to deal with the Desert Giant Worm in the desert.
Because if the Desert Giant Worm couldn’t win a fight, it could run.
At its speed, if it escaped back into the dunes, it would be almost impossible for them to catch it.
After that, the rest of the trapped students ran out one after another.
All of them wore expressions of lingering fear.
"BLEAGH—"
At the edge of the group, a student helping to butcher the worm suddenly clutched his stomach, ran to the side, and began to vomit violently.
He pointed a trembling finger at the tail section he had been assigned to cut.
The others realized what he might have found, and their faces fell.
The group walked over and found a human corpse near the end of the Desert Giant Worm’s tail.
Judging from the clothes on the body, it was the student who had been swallowed.
Most of the soft tissue on the body had already decomposed. The clothes were warped and twisted, the rubber shoe soles had turned sticky and blistered, and the exposed parts of the body were almost completely dissolved, revealing stark white bone.
One of the students covered his mouth and turned away, his stomach churning.
The victim’s teammates, who had spent every day with him, found it even harder to control their emotions.
Luo Gang sighed. "Get him out of there. We’ll bury him here."
Seeing this, Qin Ziwen, who had just been thinking of trying the Desert Giant Worm’s meat, silently dismissed the idea. ’I’ll just have to find an opportunity later,’ he thought, ’and try one that hasn’t eaten a person.’
Still, this thing was indeed a suitable prey. It was powerful, but its strength lay mainly in its combat effectiveness in specific terrain. Once removed from its environment, its combat power wouldn’t drop a full tier, but it would fall at least half a tier. And the Cards it dropped were very generous—a full three of them.
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