Chapter 342 - 314: Black Nest Sea Urchin
Above a nearby patch of ruins, a thick curtain of algae floated, resembling hanging drapes.
Behind the dark green algae curtain, the shadows of fish occasionally darted past.
Qin Ziwen first cautiously used Insight to observe from a distance.
After confirming that both the algae curtain and the fish swimming through it were just ordinary creatures, he slowly approached.
The abandoned underwater city was vast and silent.
A few species of bioluminescent fish, along with some glowing aquatic plants, served as the only sources of light.
"Ba ba ba," the Little Fishman gestured from the side.
Pura helped translate, "Master, he says there’s no danger in here. He used to come here to play with his friends all the time. There are lots of little snacks, but sometimes there are some annoying black spiky balls. But those spiky balls are slow, so there’s nothing to be afraid of."
Qin Ziwen took the White Coral out of his mouth and then consumed a Deep Sea Oxygen.
"What are these ’black spiky balls’?"
Through Pura’s translation, Qin Ziwen learned the true identity of the "black spiky balls."
It was a creature that resembled a sea urchin. The spines on its body were highly venomous, and it liked to hide among the seaweed, which it fed on.
They were also very aggressive. If they saw a living creature nearby, they would actively approach it and stab it with their venomous spines.
Before long, Qin Ziwen saw the thing the Little Fishman had mentioned.
[Extraordinary Black Nest Sea Urchin: ☆☆☆]: Level 1 Paralyzing Poison.
A sea urchin nearly half a person’s height was partially visible in a clump of algae.
It was slowly extending its "Aristotle’s Lantern"—the common name for a sea urchin’s chewing apparatus.
Like a sophisticated grinder, it sucked in the algae, then sliced and pulverized it.
’This will make a perfect material for the Eternal Hunting Tomb,’ Qin Ziwen thought.
At first, he had thought the requirements for the Eternal Hunting Tomb were very steep.
After all, it required ten different Extraordinary Creatures.
Sometimes, you couldn’t even find one on an entire map.
But everything is relative. Compared to the requirements of another Miracle Card, hunting ten Extraordinary Creatures for his Home didn’t sound so difficult anymore.
The probability of Extraordinary Creatures appearing also seemed to increase on later maps.
Sensing Qin Ziwen’s approach, the Black Nest Sea Urchin suddenly shuddered.
It didn’t retreat. Instead, it floated up slightly, hovering suspended in the water.
The dense black spines on its body gently opened and closed with the rhythm of its breathing, like a forest of trembling needles.
After rolling over once, the Black Nest Sea Urchin charged in his direction.
Qin Ziwen backed away. ’This thing’s desire to attack is actually this strong?’
Lorne raised his arm. Within Qin Ziwen’s perception, an undercurrent surged out of nowhere, pushing the Black Nest Sea Urchin backward and rapidly increasing the distance between them.
"Don’t let it get away," Qin Ziwen said immediately.
Hearing this, Pura patted Lorne’s shoulder and gestured emphatically.
The Little Fishman paused, glanced at Qin Ziwen, then spread his webbed palm and pressed down.
A torrent of water crashed down from above, slamming the sea urchin hard against the roof of a building below.
The Black Nest Sea Urchin rolled across the wall, scraping off a large patch of attached barnacles and grime, but it remained almost completely unscathed, with only a few white spots abraded onto the tips of some spines.
"It’s pretty tough," Qin Ziwen said, narrowing his eyes.
As he stared at the black spines on its body, a thought suddenly flashed through his mind:
’If I could collect these spines, process them, and make them into Arrows or other weapons, would they be effective?’
’Such a hard natural material, and according to Insight’s attributes, it’s also poisonous. Isn’t this a purely natural, animal version of Poison Arrow Wood?’
After learning of Qin Ziwen’s idea, Lorne said, "In our tribe, we sometimes collect the toxin of the Black Nest Sea Urchin. You just have to be careful not to get stabbed by its poisonous spines during collection."
"During the hunt for the Thousand-Eyed Snake, the Long Spears that emerged from the Snake Puppets were coated with the Black Nest Sea Urchin’s venom."
"After being poisoned, the victim’s whole body gradually stiffens, eventually becoming like a stone. They remain conscious but can’t control their body or even breathe, and ultimately suffocate to death."
After Pura translated, Qin Ziwen silently concluded that the Black Nest Sea Urchin’s venom was some kind of powerful neurotoxin.
Cao Biansheng raised his Long Spear and cautiously approached.
When he stabbed with the Long Spear, it felt like piercing some kind of hard shell.
He stabbed it many times in a row, but the Black Nest Sea Urchin kept rolling, nearly crashing into Cao Biansheng several times.
Fortunately, the Little Fishman was there to coordinate, using water currents to push it away each time.
Mogu stood in the back with his arms crossed, glancing indifferently at the Black Nest Sea Urchin. He disdained to act against such a weak opponent.
Seeing two rookies struggle so much against a total weakling, Mogu finally said impatiently, "Its weak points are its mouth and its anus."
Cao Biansheng bit his lip and cursed inwardly, ’I’m not an idiot. Of course I f*cking know its weak points are its mouth and anus.’
’But I have to actually be able to hit them!’
’The light is already dim, and the thing keeps squirming around.’
’How am I supposed to know where its ass is?’
After being stabbed multiple times, the Black Nest Sea Urchin finally seemed to feel threatened, and its limited brain capacity made a decision.
Rolling over once, it prepared to hide in the cluster of buildings below.
But just as it started to move, currents squeezed in from all sides, forcibly trapping it in place.
Immediately after, a sharp pain shot through its rear!
Cao Biansheng let out a low roar, thrust his Long Spear in with all his might, and gave it a vicious twist.
A large amount of transparent fluid gushed out from the wound.
The sea urchin struggled violently a few times, but its movements grew slower and slower, like a punctured water bladder, gradually deflating and shrinking.
Finally, it sank quietly onto the building’s surface and stopped moving.
𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮
After a good while, a gray Card slowly materialized on the surface of its body.
An Ordinary Building Card...
Qin Ziwen shook his head slightly. The creature wasn’t without its dangers. Braving the risk of an Extraordinary poison, with two Extraordinary beings hunting it together, it only dropped a single Ordinary Building Card.
Cao Biansheng picked up the Card and was about to hand it over, but Qin Ziwen waved his hand, signaling for him to keep it.
Compared to one Ordinary Building Card, he was more interested in the Black Nest Sea Urchin’s corpse.
’It would be great if I could take this thing back to raise it. Then I’d have a limitless supply of poison needles to use in the future.’
After that encounter, Qin Ziwen had a rough idea of the Black Nest Sea Urchin’s movement speed.
As long as he was careful and remained vigilant, it wouldn’t be easy to get stabbed.
Afterward, led by Lorne, Qin Ziwen explored the entire expanse of the underwater city’s ruins.
After finishing his tour, he came to one certain conclusion—the place had been picked f*cking clean!
Aside from the Black Nest Sea Urchins, all that remained were some ordinary marine creatures.
He slowly floated up, hovering above the city.
In the dark waters below, the city submerged at the bottom of the sea resembled a dead Giant Beast.
Qin Ziwen gazed down and sighed silently. He’d found the abandoned underwater city, but how could he take it with him?
’I can’t just take out a Card and expect it to WHOOSH and suck the entire city in, can I?’
"Hm?"
Qin Ziwen’s eyebrows shot up.
He hesitated for a moment, then took out the iridescent Miracle Card.
In an instant, a brilliant light erupted.
The five-colored streams of light on the Miracle Card surged out, completely engulfing the city below.
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