Chapter 139: The Strengths and Weaknesses of Gigantism
Translator: Letty Editor: DarkGem
"Shhhh-" Sanpang jumped out from the bush when he heard the two-headed kid’s screaming. "What are you screaming? It"s me!"
"Ma! Someone was peeking at me!" The boy kept shouting, and the noise he made also woke the girl up.
She swiftly joined him in screaming and now there were two loud voices.
"Mom! There is a pervert; a pervert was peeking at us!" the girl screamed at a high pitch, and soon she attracted the attention of Yin Qing and everyone else.
However, all were busy with their ow thoughts and only lifted their eyes to give an oblique look to the two-headed kid, before looking away once they were sure nothing serious had happened.
Only Yin Qing stood up and approached.
"What"s wrong with you?" She hugged her child and looked over their shoulder to see Sanpang standing nearby. "What are you doing?"
"Nothing, I was just worried about them. It might not be safe for them to come here alone." Sanpang changed his expression, making himself look worried. "See, I can"t just let them run around without anyone watching."
"Son, is this what happened?" Ying asked the boy.
"No, he was peeking at us from the bushes," the boy answered honestly.
"Well, I was afraid that I was going to scare them if I showed up randomly," Sanpang explained. He avoided anymore questioned by quickly leaving awkwardly. "That"s why I was in the bush. But since you guys are fine now, I’ll be heading to my sleeping bag. You know, there’s no reason for you to worry about me."
Sanpang ducked into his sleeping bag and turned his back to them.
That night wasn"t as peaceful as the previous nights.
Just when Chang was about fall into deep sleep, a bitter smell caught his attention. He didn"t think it was a big deal in the beginning - after all, a lot of the insects in this jungle had the same smell.
However, something felt wrong, and he sprang up from the ground so he could distinguish the smell better. His nose twitched to capture more of the scent.
The bitterness initially flew in the air faintly, but then it became more intense. The smell was almost overwhelming to Chang"s sensitive nose.
There could only be two explanations for this: either there was a big swarm pa.s.sing by, or the newcomer was tremendously huge.
When Chang was sure that the unknown was coming toward them, he woke everyone else in a rush.
"Hey! Wake up! Everyone!" He pulled Zhizhi"s blanket away. "We"ve got trouble, wake up!"
"Trouble?" Zhizhi skin ran with gooseb.u.mps from the chill. She sprang up from her place, and immediately the bitter smell almost suffocated her. "d.a.m.n, I slept a little too well, I didn"t notice this at all."
Zhizhi was guilty about her insensibility. Ignoring it for the moment, she shook everybody in their blankets or sleeping bags while trying to identify the smell in the air. "You’re right, we"ve got trouble, it smells like a centipede."
"It should be a centipede, be prepared to run and fight! Do you feel it?" he asked Jing, who had just woken up, in the end.
"Yes, it"s in my detection zone now, about three hundred meters away, and it"s fierce." She extracted the information from her senses and said, "Its danger index is about 100. Chang, are you sure you can fight it?"
"I’m not confident, I don"t have a proper weapon for it." Chang raised his handgun. "Not with this."
"Then what should we do?" Sanpang asked.
"No need to stress about it, I‘ll distract it away from you guys." Even if the centipede was unbeatable, it didn"t mean Chang couldn’t take up its time. Although he was nothing compared to Qing Shui or the Willow, he was a superior being among humans. If he had proper tools or weapons, there would be a chance for him to overcome this roadblock.
"We can go with you," the clones said, wanting to be brought along. "We can help."
"Sure, we"ll go together." Chang picked up the clones in his hands and dashed out at his full speed.
The bitter smell was the perfect guide. Chang soon discovered the source of the smell - a gigantic centipede.
The size of the centipede was even more ma.s.sive than he had imagined. Chang was able to see things in a thirty-meter range, but the centipede extended further than his vision. Though he could estimate its size from its glossy head.
The centipede"s body was flat and segmented. Its legs were about four meters long, and as wide as a townhouse. The creature had to be longer than fifty meters to make it"s body proportionate.
Judging from the body, the centipede was much more immense than the millipede that Chang had encountered before. For some reason, the centipede was covered in red and was armored. From whichever angle Chang observed, the centipede was much st.u.r.dier than the millipede.
Still, without a second thought, he fired a shot to test it out.
Ping!
The bullet sparked upon hitting the centipede, and sliding a bit sideways got stuck in between the segments.
"Its armor is tough, the resistance is one of the best I"ve ever seen!"
The shot had successfully attracted the centipede"s attention. Chang grabbed the clones immediately and trotted away in zigzags.
The centipede followed up tightly.
"Surprisingly it isn"t fast at all." Although the clones were squeezed against Chang"s chest, they were still thinking clearly. They even started a.n.a.lyzing the centipede’s strengths and weaknesses.
"I agree. In fact, when animals expand their body size to a certain level, they’re going to be restricted by themselves." The clones kept discussing while on their b.u.mpy ride. "For example, the elephants and the blue whales, they are largest species on this planet, but they obviously aren’t the fastest."
"I also think that the huge body size doesn"t provide any benefits to hunting. They just get dumber somehow. Bulking up without weighing the advantages and disadvantages isn"t a wise choice."
"Though I think this centipede made a good decision for itself." Shui Qing laughed. "After all, the good thing about gigantism is that you eliminate the possibility of natural enemies. Just like how lions seldom predate on bulls or elephants. The best thing about gigantism is that it improves combat power.
"That why, if Chang doesn"t have proper firearms, hurting this guy even slightly is just a daydream," Qing summarized.
"Yo, guys."
Chang was das.h.i.+ng through the jungle, trying to lead the centipede in the opposite direction of where his family was. Even though the centipede wasn"t that fast, it wasn"t slow either. It was always on Chang’s heels and would catch up if Chang slowed down even a bit.
He couldn’t help but attract the clones’ attention when he heard the whole conversation. "What are you really doing here? Are you trying to help or what?"
"For help, you know us," Qing said. "Should we think of the next move now?"