"Lin Yue... can he come back?"
"I donât know."
"Did you see that? He had such a powerful weapon, almost killed that monster. By the way, the monsters in this Secret Realm seem to be afraid of fire."
"What does it matter if theyâre afraid of fire? Weâve only got one torch as our fire source. Damn it."
"Yeah, itâs too difficult."
"Wang Ce, canât you say something useful? Come up with some insights, will you?"
"Okay."
"Brother Lo, donât pay attention to Wang Ce. Weâre stuck here, and going downstairs is a death sentence. Who wouldâve thought the ladder we climbed up would be gone?"
"The ladder probably was taken by Lin Yue."
"It was him."
"Wang Ce, why are you so sure?"
"Intuition."
"Your intuition, seriously? We wouldnât have ended up here if not for your intuition. We shouldnât have come to this Secret Realm. We shouldâve just stayed in the Refugee Village."
"Xu Luo, enough already. Letâs figure out how to get out. I have a feeling Lin Yue isnât coming back."
"Who knows? Lin Yue, that guy... Oh my, is that him coming back?"
"Itâs him!"
...
The five of them were on a narrow balcony, looking through the frame of a shattered floor-to-ceiling window. They saw a black dot reappearing.
The dot moved towards them at a very high speed. As they got a clearer view, it was Lin Yue riding on the White Dragon.
A strong gust of wind swept up, taking parts of the broken window with it. The five of them lay flat on the ground, motionless. They saw the eyes of the suddenly approaching White Dragon, and Lin Yueâs eyes holding the Iron Spear, meeting theirs for a brief moment.
"Wow, thatâs so cool, riding a dragon is awesome."
"Lin Yue really is the strongest one."
"If I survive and go back, I want to find a dragon to ride too."
"Wang Ce, I warn you, the next adjective better not be two words."
"Awesome."
They talked among themselves when suddenly they heard the roar of the Giant Beetle from downstairs again.
Lin Yue was fighting it once more!
...
"Bai, donât save the gasoline barrels. Just throw them at it!" Lin Yue instructed Bai, letting Bai hurl the large gasoline barrels directly at the Giant Beetle.
Bai seemed to recall that back when it fought the Ox-Carrier Serpent Dragon, it poured gasoline rather than throwing it, creating confusion over Lin Yueâs command.
Seeing the gasoline swiftly run off the smooth black carapace of the Giant Beetle and fall to the ground, it seemed to understand.
It directly smashed the gasoline barrels onto the Giant Beetleâs mouth.
As the barrels fell, Lin Yue took out an Armor-Piercing Incendiary Arrow, timing it just right and firing a shot at each barrel!
BOOM!! BOOM!!
Two enormous fireballs erupted inside the Giant Beetleâs maw, emitting an extremely loud noise. Four of its five-part massive jaws were blown away!
"Very effective." Lin Yue commented briefly as Bai landed on the rooftop, and he held two more gasoline tanks, asking Bai to do it once more.
Lin Yue wasnât sure why he was obsessed with eliminating a monster he met for the first time.
But back at the Shelter, after unloading his gear and revisiting some strange murals he photographed earlier of Lizardmen, he confirmed what he suspected.
The images depicted Lizardmen and the Storm Flying Lizard, also known as Monster Winged Dragon, along with two moons, but there were many other characters.
Tentacle Monster, Strange Rat, a giant eight-legged tentacled creature, the Poison Celestial Dragon he had defeated before, and a spider... and this Giant Beetle.
In the murals, the Giant Beetle was used by the Lizardmen as a tool for digging tunnels and also as their "mount."
This desire to destroy such seemingly fierce creatures stemmed from them being nothing more than pets to the Lizardmen.
If the Lizardmen learned that there were controllable creatures in this Secret Realm...
Lin Yue wasnât sure if the Lizardmen were smart enough to emerge from the Underground Ruins Stone Gate and easily open the "Please Open Me" Ancient Secret Realm Gate to see their revered Storm Flying Lizard flying all around, and the Giant Beetle pets tunneling numerous holes from underground.
Perhaps they could.
Bai threw two tanks of gasoline, its strength allowing the heavy metal containers to reach their destination quickly and accurately!
That destination was the mouth of the Giant Beetle!
Lin Yueâs Armor-Piercing Incendiary Arrow followed up. With numerous practice shots, his accuracy was on point.
A Sharpshooter is shaped by shooting bullets, and for Lin Yue, every bullet and every Crossbow Arrow is built on practical combat experience.
This experience allows him to utilize all his potential in battle, maximizing the power of his weapons!
As the saying goes, the power of a weapon depends not on its attributes but on the user.
Now, Lin Yueâs prowess allows him to handle all kinds of weapons with ease, unleashing their maximum power!
The Steel Repeating Crossbow and the Alloy Tactical Crossbow fired simultaneously, the Armor-Piercing Burning Arrow striking the gasoline-filled barrel in the Giant Beetleâs mouth, causing an immediate explosion!
Two loud explosions rang out, fireballs shattered the last jaw, severed a massive horn, and ignited the flammable abdomen hidden beneath its normally protected armor!
The Giant Beetle was engulfed in a huge blaze. Even if it wanted to dig its way underground with its great horn as it did before, it was no longer possible.
Not to mention, with its severe injuries, it was completely drained, no longer able to struggle and eventually merging with the flames completely.
Lin Yue knew this was a victory.
The process was complicated, but the method was simplistic. It was the same old formula, the familiar taste.
Gasoline did the trick, easy and violent.
Still, a win is a win, regardless of aesthetics or drama.
More and more, Lin Yue came to understand that fighting monsters of this caliber, he needed just one thingâa result.
"No treasure chest reward, no excitement." Lin Yue let Bai glide back onto the rooftop.
The previous commotion was gone, and the sound of monsters was absent.
Bai let out a low growl, gazing at the distant window, and Lin Yue nodded.
Five Survivors were there; they couldnât be ignored.
"Gawuh!" Bai flew over with him at once, and with the M19 Pistol in hand, Lin Yue, after Bai tore away the window frame, entered the room, pointing the gun at the five people.
"Lord Lin Yue! We mean no harm!" The five felt as though descended upon by a Celestial God, quickly kneeling on the ground.
Lin Yue raised an eyebrow.
Wang Ce was there too.
This guy was supposedly sent back to the Shelter earlier.
"Oh? No harm?"
"Yes, itâs just that we canât go back. When we came, the iron ladder... uh, disappeared, so..."
The person leading the group spoke, looking at Wang Ce.
He was the only one among them who had met Lin Yue before, so they relied on him to explain.
Lin Yue glanced at Wang Ce as well: "So?"
"Lin Yue, you took it, right?" Wang Ce said.