Lin Yue slowly opened his eyes and looked around.
He realized he had intended to take a short nap on the sofa, but unexpectedly, he fell asleep directly there.
Yawning, he stood up from the sofa.
Bai and Meng were not around, and the Little Ice Lizards seemed to be absent from the shelter as well.
Could it be that Bai and the others went to the Underground Ruins to hunt Lizardmen?
With this thought, Lin Yue headed to the basement to take a look, and sure enough, he saw a newly appeared Underground Ruins Stone Gate in the food storage area.
Next to it were some footprints, obviously belonging to Bai and Meng.
Lin Yue nodded in agreement.
This works; once they’re done clearing, he could take a tour, finish mapping the area, and directly obtain the Platinum Treasure Chest.
Of course, he could also get the Lizardman Priest and beggar’s treasure chests and Storage Space, perfect.
Lin Yue returned upstairs and pushed the door open.
This morning, he still needed to...
Just then, a sudden gust of whirlwind hit!
Almost reflexively, he closed the door, simultaneously pushing off his left foot to leap sideways. After landing, he rolled multiple times, instantly distancing himself several meters from the door!
At the same moment, a huge tremor erupted with a deafening roar at the door!
The thick iron plate-layered stone shelter door was blasted inward by the explosive impact, and a gigantic head entered the shelter!
Lin Yue glanced at the gigantic purple-skinned monster’s head, gasping, and immediately threw three Devils’ Peppers in that direction.
The monster saw the red fruits rolling closer, wrapped them with its unusually long tongue, and pulled them into its mouth. Meanwhile, Lin Yue was already sprinting toward the basement as fast as he could!
The monster’s roar echoed upstairs again; Lin Yue darted into one of the three emergency passages, sprinting out from a hidden door in the bushes.
The roars continued, accompanied by successive ground tremors.
Looking up, Lin Yue saw a massive creature, at least twenty meters long, with a caterpillar-like head and four enormous legs two to three meters thick. The sight made his skin crawl.
When he opened the door just now, his body moved faster than his mind, making the swiftest and correct choice amid that thunderous moment.
One could say that had it not been for the muscle memory reflexes from previous battles, he might have been swallowed whole by the monster that broke through the door.
Lin Yue hid completely between the bushes and the door; there were plenty of visual obstructions here, so unless the giant creature had an exceptionally keen sense of smell, it couldn’t see him.
He took a deep breath, donning the Celestial Dragon Armor and Celestial Dragon Battle Helmet, and adding the Exoskeleton for good measure.
All the while, he pondered a question.
Why did this creature come to this shelter?
It doesn’t make sense.
Lin Yue recalled that during the last system upgrade, it was mentioned more giant creatures would be introduced...
But the previous giant creature here was already eliminated, so why come without making any noise?
Moreover, even Bai and Meng showed no reaction?
Could it be that by the time it arrived, Bai and Meng were already inside the Underground Ruins Stone Gate?
"Perfect timing... or perhaps, we’ve been setup."
Using the wild grass as cover, Lin Yue glanced back at the blood-splattered wall of the shelter, which someone had already stained dark red. In addition, there were several corpse-like lumps beside the shelter.
The bodies had curled into lumps, pressed against the walls on either side of the door; there were also some scattered fragments, likely left from the creature’s tearing.
Could the Lizardmen have done this?
In hindsight, there seems to be no other possibility.
They might have quietly emerged from underground under the cover of night, quickly doing all this without being detected by Bai and Meng.
Or perhaps, when they executed these actions, Bai and Meng had already entered the Underground Ruins Stone Gate?
In any case, this is likely the root cause of the giant creature’s presence here.
Looking again at the monster, Lin Yue prepared his various weapons.
Firearms... probably won’t work, but better than nothing.
He’d just rummaged a barrel of gasoline from the warehouse, which should be useful, though there’s far too little of it.
"Even uglier than the last one." Lin Yue murmured after preparing, while watching the monster swinging its enormously long neck wildly and emitting horrendous roars.
The head of a worm-like creature, really.
Lin Yue noticed the monster, which had somehow entered within the shelter walls, had already stomped on one of his greenhouses, and it was acting manically after gulping down the three Devils’ Peppers.
With another blast, Lin Yue watched as the creature squashed the edge of another greenhouse, leaving it wobbly and on the verge of collapse.
Although other buildings were undamaged, if the creature lingered, it was only a matter of time before they were crushed or trampled.