Chapter 65: Enslavement Scroll
In the remaining time, Su Chen and Iron Cliff went through the entire cave, discovering and breaking apart every single mound of poop the metal-eating bug had left behind. Indeed, every few that they broke open, they would find something.
After half a day, all of the poops had been broken. Upon confirming that there were no intact pieces of poop remaining, the two of them stopped. At this time, the amount of starsilver essence that Su Chen possessed had increased from the size of a pellet to the size of an infant’s head.
Su Chen was intoxicated by the sight of so much starsilver essence.
Outside the gorge, a walnut-sized starsilver essence was worth around five thousand low-grade Origin Stones. The piece that Su Chen held in his hand was roughly three to four walnuts, which meant that it was potentially worth above twenty thousand Origin Stones.
“I never expected that you were actually a money-making machine,” Su Chen muttered to himself as he looked at the sleeping metal-eating bug.
Starsilver essence refinement was an extremely complex process, and it also consumed a lot of raw starsilver in a ratio of forty to one. Thus, the value of starsilver essence remained incredibly high.
Su Chen did not know exactly how much the metal-eating bug consumed, but he knew that it needed to eat a lot.
The metal-eating bug’s appetite was huge, being able to eat roughly fifteen kilograms of metal ore in a single day, with five percent of it being starsilver. That was to say that it roughly ate one half of a kilogram of starsilver a day. According to Ulrich’s writings, he had already been in this place for 270 days or so, meaning that it had eaten a total of close to two hundred kilograms of starsilver. The starsilver essence that Su Chen collected was around ten kilograms despite only being the size of a baby’s head. Thus, this conversion rate was roughly twenty to one, much better than forty to one.
Of course, this was an estimate and could not be confirmed. It was possible that the metal-eating bug had simply eaten large amounts of starsilver ore in the beginning.
Quite frankly, the only reason that Su Chen had discovered the starsilver essence was because he had fed the giant beetle four pieces of pure starsilver, not just starsilver ore. These four pieces of pure starsilver was already much greater than the bug’s average intake of starsilver. This, this had resulted in the metal-eating bug pooping out a large piece of essence, whic Su Chen had noticed. Otherwise, Su Chen most likely would have been like Ulrich and overlooked this precious, hidden treasure.
That was also to say that if he were to feed it pure starsilver, he could also obtain even more starsilver essence? In addition, he could more accurately calculate the conversion rate.
Su Chen thought for a moment.
In the following days, the quality of life for the metal-eating bug went up drastically.
Su Chen instructed Iron Cliff to feed the metal-eating bug pure starsilver, calculating the weight carefully every time.
The large bug was extremely happy about the increase in its food supply, and its relationship with Iron Cliff had become one of adulation.
However, Su Chen waited for three entire days for the metal-eating bug to excrete its waste with no result. In fact, the amount that it ate also began to decrease.
This made Su Chen feel quite surprised.
On the fourth day, the metal-eating bug was obviously lacking energy. Even if Iron Cliff fed it, it refused to eat, leaving after sniffing it a few times.
Su Chen began to worry that he had done something wrong.
That night, the metal eating bug sat in its corner and began to use force.
It let out pained cries and whimpers, constantly rubbing against the rock walls, causing pieces of rock to fragment off and fall to the ground. However, it just could not poop anything out.
Upon seeing this scene, Su Chen finally understood.
“Crap, it’s constipated.”
Iron Cliff: “……”
That night, the metal-eating bug struggled for half of the night before finally pooping out a silver, shiny lump of excrement.
Upon weighing it, good Lord, it weighed two kilograms – Iron Cliff had fed it half of all the starsilver in the storage ring to it.
No wonder it couldn’t poop it out.
This experiment helped Su Chen realize two things. First, the metal-eating bug’s rate of conversion was closer to twenty two to one, slightly lower than his previous calculations but not by much. Secondly, too much was just as bad as too little.
The Black Streak Battle Blade and the Moon-Swallowing Heavenly Wolf Blade could not kill the metal-eating bug, but it had almost died from constipation. One could only say that this world was truly too strange.
From this time onwards, Su Chen fed the metal-eating bug its normal diet, only mixing in a few bits of pure starsilver. The metal-eating bug’s energy also quickly returned to normal.
When he had nothing to do, Su Chen wondered if the metal-eating bug could poop out starsilver essence after eating starsilver, would it produce other essences if it ingested other metals?
He could only find an opportunity in the future to test this hypothesis out.
His current mission was more important, which was how to bring this moneymaking machine with him.
Thankfully, Ulrich had left behind a method to control the metal-eating bug in the form of an Enslavement Scroll. After using it on a target, it would generate an imprint of the user as its master on the target’s heart. Thus, it could understand and carry out commands to a certain extent.
The Enslavement Scroll was not difficult to learn. Su Chen had mastered it very quickly.
On the eleventh day that he had entered the cave, all of the starsilver ore in the cave had been completely mined.
Su Chen was also reaching a point where he more or less understood Ulrich’s experiments and knowledge. Thus, there was not much point in remaining in this place.
Before leaving, Su Chen pulled out a white Origin Scroll. This was a scroll made out of Vicious Beast hides, and the talisman for the Enslavement Scroll was inscribed on it. He pointed it at the metal-eating bug and activated it. This was one of the ancient Arcana techniques.
Current people often used the simpler and more convenient Origin Talismans. Origin Talismans were created using a special kind of paper that could store Origin Power. Its benefits were that they were low-cost and could be mass-manufactured. However, their effects would be slightly worse than a scroll, and their storage durability was not too good either.
The Enslavement Scroll had just landed on the metal-eating bug’s body when it exploded with a “BANG!”, turning into grey ash.
Enslavement resistance.
Strong life-forms would resist the Enslavement Scroll. The stronger it was, the more difficult it was to successfully enslave them. Su Chen’s strength was not comparable to the metal-eating bug, so his Enslavement Scroll had been broken instantly.
Su Chen was not yet satisfied. He created two more Enslavement Scrolls, and both of them were met with resistance.
This gave Su Chen a feeling of helplessness.
Ulrich had only left behind four blank Origin Scrolls in total. Now that three had failed, only one was remaining.
As he gazed at this last Enslavement Scroll, Su Chen hesitated.
If this one also failed, he probably wouldn’t have any more opportunities to tame it.
At this time, Iron Cliff said, “Can you let me try? Master.”
“You?” Su Chen was shocked.
Iron Cliff trembled with some anxiety. “Please don’t misunderstand me, Master. I don’t have any intention of seizing this pet from you. I only feel that it may be more likely to listen to me.”
Su Chen looked at Iron Cliff, then laughed, “No, I don’t mind…… Perhaps you are right.”
He handed the Enslavement Scroll to Iron Cliff, then said, “Go ahead.”
Iron Cliff held the Enslavement Scroll and slowly turned his head to look at Su Chen. “You know, Master. If I succeed, it will…… only listen to me.””
“Of course, don’t worry about it. Go ahead, Iron Cliff.” Su Chen patted him.
Iron Cliff breathed in deeply and walked forward, placing the Enslavement Scroll on the metal-eating bug’s back.
In terms of strength, Iron Cliff was lower than Su Chen.
But in that instant, the Enslavement Scroll wasn’t destroyed.
The metal-eating bug raised its head and looked at Iron Cliff, letting out a few muffled roars.
Then, the Enslavement Scroll disappeared into the metal-eating bug’s body.
Upon seeing this scene, Su Chen broke out into a smile. “Congratulations, Iron Cliff, you are now stronger than I am.:
Iron Cliff knelt in front of Su Chen. “Iron Cliff will always belong to master.”
