novelraw Chapter 88: Three-Headed Lion, It’s You Then!
Chapter 88: Three-Headed Lion, It’s You Then!
Lin Xun carefully examined the four options provided by the game text.
The first was to run away, the second was to negotiate using a beastman Shell, the third was to send the Three-Headed Lion to distract the giant, and the fourth was to go in head-on.
Out of the four options, the second and third seemed to be the most reasonable.
After considering it thoroughly, Lin Xun decided to try the second option first and negotiate using the beastman Shell.
Even if it turned out to be the wrong choice, at worst he would just lose one beastman Shell, without suffering any other setbacks.
Thinking it through, since he was about to negotiate with a Beastmen Giant, it made sense to use the elder from the Corrupted Blood Beastmen tribe, the Corrupted Elder Beastman, which might improve his chances of success.
[You have Possessed the Shell of the Corrupted Elder Beastman.]
To be safe, Lin Xun first unsummoned the Three-Headed Lion, just in case the negotiation failed and dragged the little lion into it.
Then he pressed the second option.
[You tiptoe forward. Standing before the mountain-like Beastmen Giant, you try calling out softly, but your voice is drowned out by its earth-shaking snores.][Do you want to continue trying to wake the Corrupted Beastmen Giant?]
[You tap its lower leg with your bone staff. Its eyelid twitches slightly, and the snoring momentarily pauses. Then it scratches its leg with a beast claw and continues snoring.]
[Do you want to continue trying to wake the Corrupted Beastmen Giant?]
[You jump up high and smash the bone staff against the Beastmen Giant’s knee.]
[The Corrupted Beastmen Giant suddenly opens its eyes. Its scarlet pupils are filled with confusion, but when it recognizes who disturbed its sleep, it lets out a furious roar.]
[You are about to apologize and attempt to speak…]
[A blast of intense wind pressure hits as a massive beast claw slams down from above, crushing your tiny body into pulp.]
[You are dead!]
“…”
Lin Xun spread his hands helplessly, successfully ruling out the second option.
[The feeble wandering soul is reborn in the cave of the Nameless Valley…]
“Looks like I’ll have to send the Three-Headed Lion to its death again.”
With the Shell’s death, the Corrupted Blood Beastmen tribe’s mobs had respawned for the third time.
Lin Xun decided to be cautious and did not rush to slaughter the mobs again just yet.
[You have Possessed the Shell of the Corrupted Theater Dancer.]
[You have used Bloodshadow Step. Moving with nimble dance steps, your Shell’s figure gradually fades and disappears.]
After activating the invisibility skill, he slipped past the beastmen’s huts and advanced all the way to the giant gate.
[The Corrupted Beastmen Giant leans against the gate, once again fast asleep, its snores shaking the sky.]
[Delicate and fragile Apostle, what will you do?]
The game text once again presented the same four familiar options.
Since the second option had proven useless, only the third option remained.
Lin Xun opened his Inventory and clicked on the Brass Whistle.
[With a crisp whistle, you summon the fierce and burly Corrupted Three-Headed Lion.]
Remaining invisible, he clicked on the third option, ordering the Three-Headed Lion to move forward and attract the attention of the Beastmen Giant.
[At your command, the Corrupted Three-Headed Lion lowered its trembling body, hugging its three heads with its two large paws and sticking its rear in the air, clearly unwilling to go forward.]
[Without a word, you gave it a swift kick on the rear.]
[The Corrupted Three-Headed Lion whimpered, then sprang up and charged toward the mountain-like Beastmen Giant…]
[The Corrupted Beastmen Giant jolted awake, baring its massive fanged mouth and roaring in fury.]
[A giant beast claw swiped down at the Three-Headed Lion, which quickly dodged and ran, narrowly escaping a crushing death.]
[The Corrupted Beastmen Giant, eyes blazing with rage, got up and chased after the Three-Headed Lion…]
The Three-Headed Lion successfully lured the Beastmen Giant away. Lin Xun silently prayed that it could hold out a bit longer.
If he managed to open the gate before it died, he could cancel the summon and save some soul strength.
[Remaining invisible, you silently approach the giant gate.]
[Looking up at the thick chain hanging from the top of the gate, you attempt to pull it to open the gate.]
[You use all your strength, but the chain does not budge.]
Lin Xun suddenly realized that the Dancer’s slender Shell clearly wasn’t built for heavy labor.
He quickly opened the Shell Panel and clicked on the Engineer Shell.
[You have Possessed the Shell of the Pyramid Corporation Engineer.]
[You step up again and pull the thick chain with all your might, but it still does not move at all.]
“Damn!”
Lin Xun had never expected that even the usually reliable Engineer would fail him here.
He frowned. If even the Engineer’s strength couldn’t open the giant gate, that meant the third option was also a dead end.
Did this mean he had no choice but to fight the Beastmen Giant head-on?
Judging by the Three-Headed Lion’s reaction earlier, the hard-fight option was most likely another death trap.
Lin Xun found himself stuck for the moment. The only bit of good news was that the Three-Headed Lion was still alive.
Since the third option had also failed, he quickly opened the Inventory and clicked the Brass Whistle, intending to cancel the Three-Headed Lion’s summon to avoid wasting soul strength.
[You blow the whistle, but the Corrupted Three-Headed Lion is too far away to hear the whistle and cannot be unsummoned…]
“…”
Upon seeing this message, Lin Xun’s first reaction wasn’t to curse this game.
Instead, a crafty idea popped into his head.
When he first obtained the Brass Whistle, the game text had mentioned something like this.
[Only one summoned creature can exist at a time. If you have already summoned another creature, using this item will summon the Corrupted Three-Headed Lion, and the previously summoned creature will be unsummoned.]
In other words, if he used the Summoning Horn to call forth his horse mount, the Three-Headed Lion would be forcefully unsummoned.
He opened his Inventory, but the Summoning Horn text was grayed out. The Turkoman Bloodhorse had died last time and had not yet been reshaped, so it was currently unavailable for summoning.
Lin Xun let out a long sigh and prepared to return to the Resting Page to refresh things.
That might reset the monsters and give the Three-Headed Lion a chance to survive.
Just as he was about to close the Inventory, his eyes caught sight of an item.
[Beastman Pill (Item): A round black pill made by blending unknown herbs with the blood of Beastmen Giants. It emits a strong, fishy stench. When used, it causes a human Shell to undergo beastification, temporarily granting immense combat power. If used on a beastman Shell, it temporarily enlarges the body to giant size, transforming it into something akin to a Beastmen Giant.]
According to the old beastman’s memories, the larger the beastman’s body, the greater its strength.
If he Possessed a beastman Shell and used the Beastman Pill, causing the beastman’s body to grow larger, could he then pull the chain mechanism?
The idea made Lin Xun slap his forehead, cursing himself for being a bit slow on the uptake.
If he had just used the Beastman Pill on a beastman Shell to make it grow as large as a Beastmen Giant, maybe the Beastmen Giant would have mistaken him for one of its own and let him through without trouble.
But that was only his guess. Whether it would actually work remained to be seen.
[Your summoned creature Corrupted Three-Headed Lion has died!]