The fast approaching grappling hooks were a shock to the four claw scorpion, but it managed to react fast enough to snip away at one or two. Unfortunately, due to the lack of lightning reflexes, the rest of the grappling hooks managed to pierce its carapace.
When the hooks pierced and locked themselves onto the scorpion, it screamed in pain and stopped in its tracks. However, the penguins riding the bikes did not stop and instead, they accelerated even more when they were pushed back by the inertia of the falling scorpion.
They did what they can to continue dragging the scorpion along with them there was no way the scorpion could retaliate. On a separate note, Lynn was thankful that Hou Fei’s stabilisers were working exceptionally well or else the weight of the scorpion from the fall would pull the bikes towards it instead of away from it.
At the same time, Lynn slowed her bike before shooting her grappling hooks. They managed to pierce through the tail and sent a mild electric shock that caused the scorpion to flinch.
After making sure it was unable to move, the penguins in the pillon seat took the chance to run across the ropes of the hooks like tightrope acrobats and went straight for the scorpion’s main body with their weapons drawn. The first thing to stab was the joints of the claws so that it would not have any chance to retaliate back.
“Qiu Yue! Go!” Lynn turned her head and commanded at her pillon passenger.
“ARE YOU MAD?! You want me to climb on top of a motorcycle and jump across at I don’t know how many hundred kilometres per hour hoping I can kill it in one shot?!” Qiu Yue was scared shitless and did not want to follow the instructions.
“It’s not even a hundred kilometres per hour! Don’t exaggerate!” Lynn leaned to one side and showed her the speedometer.
“NOOOOO!!!” Qiu Yue denied seeing it at all.
“Fine! Then hold tight!” Lynn sighed as she broke off the grappling hook and turned her accelerator handle multiple times and pressed on the pedal to change into the highest gear.
At that moment, she also lifted her bike handles with her cultivation (despite it being extremely heavy due to the numerous hidden compartments it had) and voice activated her bike’s compartment with her helmet that was wirelessly linked to her motorcycle.
“Rocket Boost!”
“ROCKET WHAT?!” Qiu Yue managed to catch that in time but had no opportunity to do anything about a sudden nitro boost from the back turning into a dual rocket booster that provided them with the lift they needed to fly momentarily. While in the air, she turned her combat bike sidewards and summoned a Ninja Yari (Spear).
“Spear Arts! Penguin Beak Pierce!” Lynn shouted the name of her Combat Art, and she threw the spear right above the scorpion’s carapace. The spear had the silhouette of a penguin diving into the scorpion, and as it hit, brownish yellow blood spilt all over the area before it was continuously dragged by the penguins.
Meanwhile, Qiu Yue was screaming her lungs out in her helmet (thankfully the anti acoustic inscription from the inside covered it) as Lynn skilfully returned on her bike with a slide while running the accelerator on so that she would be moving forward the moment she found her balance on her bike. (Else, she would be hit by the scorpion body.)
The rest of the penguins slowed down their advance as they were reaching near the end of the tunnel while Lynn continued to speed up towards it. “WHAT ARE YOU DOING LYNN!?! YOU WANT TO CRASH?!” Qiu Yue did not know whether to continue on this adventure with Lynn or teleport back.
Lynn smirked within her helmet as the combat bike stopped within centimetres from the dead end of the drain tunnel, but the inertia caused Qiu Yue to knock her head on the wall (a little too hard).
“Oops. Hehe!” Lynn chuckled as she managed to balance herself.
“HE HE MY ASS!” Qiu Yue took out her helmet, placed her hands on Lynn’s shoulder and squeezed it tightly. (Powered with some chi as well) Lynn shrunk her body inwards as she felt the pain vibrating through her entire body, and Qiu Yue was not letting go a single bit. She was going to let out ever inch of fear she had accumulated and passed it into this chef’s body.
“Owowowowow!! Okayyyy, I’m sorry!!!” Lynn apologised for scaring her companion as she laughed in pain and fell from her combat bike. Qiu Yue stopped with the rough treatment, but as she still felt unsatisfied by her retribution, so she proceeded to lift Lynn’s shirt a little and began tickling at her waist level.
Lynn immediately squirmed and cried for help from the penguins. (Although they refused to enter, knowing too well not to get involved in a girl’s fight.)
The penguins on the sidelines enjoyed the sideshow very much until the four clawed scorpion, which was supposed to be dead, suddenly shot one of its claws towards Qiu Yue and Lynn at a frightening speed. There was no time for the two girls who were playing around to react accordingly to the monster’s strike.
Fortunately, someone else did something at the same time. A spear flew down from above the crevice of the drained tunnel and stabbed through the four clawed scorpion’s carapace and forced it to stop before it managed to touch either of the two girls.
“Lady Lynn, it was the right choice to pierce the heart of the four clawed scorpion, but there is one feature of it, you could not have known about it. Especially since you come from another world.” A voice boomed from above and echoed throughout the drain tunnel. A silhouette jumped down from the crevice to pick up its spear.
“The four clawed scorpion has the unique trait of being able to protect its heart, by shifting it to the left under layers of muscle when it senses danger. It is possible to tell when it does so if you paid sufficient attention to it. You should have seen how the glow was slightly faint when you were aiming your stab, right?” The silhouette turned out to be a penguin.
“Elder Perate!” Kido was delighted to see that their most seasoned hunter was alive and well.
“Elder Perate! Thank you for saving our lives. I shall remember your guidance and do better next time.” Lynn stood up and bowed gracefully for this timely rescue.
“Heh, you are jesting! I should be the one to thank you for keeping our penguin village alive. Just make sure not to get deceived by its feint of playing dead in the future. One careless moment may turn the predator into its prey’s next meal.” Elder Perate said as it swirled its spear to remove the yellowish bloodstain.
“Be that as it may, you are not here by chance. Am I correct in assuming the penguin villagers asked you to find Chieftain Skitter or at the very least, recover the Totem of Atem from him?” Elder Perate wondered, and the penguins and Lynn nodded their heads in acknowledgement.
“In that case, you’ve come at the right time. We can use some extra help.” Elder Perate said and told them to follow him as he led the way to their chieftain.
“As always, our genius was right on the mark.” Elder Perate said as he recounted how the Elder Colwaski had broken his amulet into various pieces and placed it along the path of the cathedral hoping someone would notice it and follow their trail.
“You were betting that I would notice it?” Lynn asked, and the elder penguin laughed heartily.
“Yes, indeed. With the Elder Council and the chieftain going missing, the villagers would eventually call upon someone who has the ability to find them. And who may be better suited than our benefactor?” Eldar Perate recounted Colwalski’s analysis and Kido agreed with him.
“Indeed. Even us penguins who are skilled enough to conduct searches, without finding anyone within a day, we would come to exactly that conclusion. The giants are something we cannot underestimate. For the first time, we managed to have a population increase and many of us do not relish the idea to fight against the giants blindly. You, however, have provided us with the power to ensure our survival.” Kido stated how Lynn had enabled the fights to be more manageable despite the previous encounter.
“Trust me, I have much to learn as well.” Lynn grabbed onto Qiu Yue’s arm and pointed her to the other penguins. “If you require a tactician, you probably should ask her instead.”
“Thanks, but I feel you are pretty good at leading the penguins. I am happy for the praise, but tactics also require great team leaders and capable members willing to execute it. ” Qiu Yue shrugged at the possibility of her being Jin’s tactician even though there were rumours that Jin recruited her mainly for her skill to command armies and organising the building of his city.
The four clawed scorpion was officially dead and the Sub System, who apologised to Lynn for the gross oversight, had begun to teleport to freezer. Unlike Jin, Lynn’s killing of monsters allowed the Sub System to replicate the body for consumption after an in depth analysis, much like the counterfeiter machine.
However, that does not mean catching or killing the same monster again would not be beneficial for Lynn. The increase in the number of catches allowed the Sub System to analyse the monsters and allowed it to pick and recreate the DNA code.
Thus, it provided the Sub System with the opportunity to replicate the exact same monster with lesser defects, and potentially a tastier food material for Lynn to utilise.
——-
The combat bikes were kept by the Sub System, and the scouting party jumped out of the drain via the crevice as they followed Elder Perate to where the Chieftain was located. The team later realised that Elder Perate had seen them coming out from the cathedral with the gifts that Lynn had bestowed them when she visited the village.
“Glad to know the binoculars came in handy.” Lynn smiled, and Elder Perate led them into an abandoned house through a broken sill of the main door. That was when the others managed to judge the kind of era the past occupants had been living, and it was probably the early Middle Ages.
Qiu Yue could make out an old looking fire stove at the centre of the house which had a pit designed for wood or charcoal to be burnt and a pot hanging from the top. Along with the skeletons of the fish and dried up rotten fruits as well as the clothes that were hung up on the ceilings, those items had confirmed her suspicions.
It was also at the centre of the house that they saw the rest of the elder council who were right beside Chieftain Skitter.
“Oh, Lady Lynn! Kido! My Warriors! And good day to you, Miss… Friend of Lynn’s I presume!” Chieftain Skitter greeted them from afar as they converged together to meet up.
“Chieftain Skitter, it’s good to see that you are still safe. Why did you not inform the village people that you will be away longer from the regular trip to the Altar of Giants? A heads up would not make them worry too much.” Lynn said, and the rest of the elder council laughed before they apologised to them.
“Lady Lynn. It’s because of this. I cannot reveal much to the village people of this particular secret.” Chieftain showed her the Totem of Atem, and it seemed like it was breaking apart. “You see, there once lived an oversized hamster that was somehow not affected by the giantism virus like those monsters you encountered, allowing him to retain his intelligence.”
“He was the one who created this Totem of Atem and requested me to return in ten years time to exchange it with him. Unfortunately, we are unaware of the whereabouts of the Great Hamatarou.” According to Skitter, Hamatarou was also the one who instructed them to visit the Altar of Giants to renew the blessing for the Totem of Atem, and with this year being the tenth year mark, Skitter had promised to return here.
“We did not mean to overstay our visit with our limited resources, so Colwaksi purposely placed the broken pieces of his amulet as a trail in case we were long overdue.” Chief Skitter acknowledged that they had been running out of rations if not for this fortuitous encounter with Lynn.
“I keep telling that stupid chief to stop being so optimistic. Ten years is a long time. Hamatarou could have died or even worse, killed and eaten.” Elder Colwaski reiterated. “Besides, for us to be able to live and break away from the Giantism Virus for ten years is already a blessing. We can only hope our new younglings can naturally break out from it too.”
“You know…we can A) attempt to find this Hamatarou for you or B) fix this Totem of Atom-” Qiu Yue casually gave the standard few suggestions but before she could finish…
“ATEM!” The red panda cultivator was then interrupted by every penguin and Lynn in the vicinity which they all simultaneously laughed until they felt some rumbling noise from afar.
