Death Worm

The gravity in the New World is similar to Earth's.

Although the plants and animals in the New World have differences, they still appear to be carbon-based life.

Du Ke picked up a dry, withered leaf, then materialized a lighter. With a click, the lighter produced a flame, which ignited the leaf. It burned quickly, leaving behind a bit of black ash. "It looks no different from Earth. There's enough oxygen in the air for combustion."

"Should I try taking a breath?" he mused.

But he quickly dismissed the idea. Safety first. Who knew what toxic gases might be in the New World's air? He wasn't in a hurry for now; his Mind Armor was continuously supplying oxygen, and the consumption wasn't high. He'd analyze the air's composition after setting up camp for the night.

"The sun is high in the sky, and the temperature shows 13°C. It was 12°C when I first arrived, so it's risen by one degree. Based on this, it should be morning now."

He made a simple judgment.

The distance between the two stars had barely changed, indicating that the planet beneath his feet was in a fixed orbit around a binary star system. The binary stars might be rotating around a common point, rather than one star orbiting the other. Of course, this was just his guess; he hadn't studied astronomy and didn't quite understand it.

"My time is still Earth time, 9 AM. I wonder how many hours are in a day and how many days are in a year in the New World."

There were too many questions to figure out. Fortunately, Du Ke had a clear goal: collect as many samples as possible and bring them back for analysis, hoping to find one or two new materials that could lead to getting rich. As for other information about the New World, it wouldn't be too late to research it on his next trip.

Suddenly.

Beneath a broken snail shell, Du Ke found a few strange little bugs, somewhat resembling Earth's pill bugs, about the size of a fingernail.

He took out tweezers, intending to pick one up, but the bug quickly curled into a ball. Then, for some unknown reason, it bounced off the ground and hopped away, disappearing from sight. The other bugs seemed startled too, and all of them mimicked the first, hopping away.

Du Ke was left dumbfounded. "Are all the bugs in this world this amazing?"

First, caterpillars that could shoot bombs, and now pill bugs that could turn into bouncing balls. And then there were these nameless, millstone-sized snails. He felt like his worldview was being challenged.

Lifting another snail shell, he found more pill bugs. Du Ke got smarter and materialized a transparent glass bowl, covering the pill bugs with it. The startled pill bugs immediately curled into balls and bounced around inside the glass bowl, like lottery balls being drawn. Fortunately, they didn't have much force, and the glass bowl didn't break.

After waiting for a while, these jumping pill bugs finally calmed down, unfurling their bodies and crawling around in the glass bowl.

"I'll call you Hopping Pill Bugs," Du Ke said, reaching in with his tweezers and grabbing one, then stuffing it into a glass test tube. He collected ten in total.

After putting away the test tube, he looked at the five test tubes he had already collected and felt a momentary sense of being a researcher. This journey through worlds felt like a scientist collecting samples in a foreign land. Although there were some scares, the overall process was comfortable and relaxing.

He was full of anticipation for the species of the New World.

However, as Du Ke hummed a tune and walked towards the next patch of forest, he didn't notice that the ground he had walked on was being pushed up by something crawling beneath it. Soon, this thing caught up to the oblivious Du Ke. Just as Du Ke bent down to crouch, it suddenly burst out of the ground.

A powerful force struck Du Ke's waist, flinging him violently without any chance to react.

"What the hell!" Du Ke exclaimed in shock. Unable to see what was behind him, he flailed his arms and legs in mid-air. Only after being flung around three or four times by the unknown monster did he manage to calm down slightly.

He extended a rope from each hand, attaching them to tree branches, which tightened rapidly, securing his body.

The monster behind him pulled harder, almost deforming his Nano Armor. At this point, Du Ke finally had the chance to twist his head and glance back with his peripheral vision. It was a large black snake, or perhaps a large worm, its slender body half in the ground, the other half biting him.

"Die!" Du Ke released one hand and quickly materialized a Great Sword, swinging it down at the monster behind him.

He had meticulously crafted this sword. It could cut through iron like mud and sever hair with a blow. He felt like he was cutting wood; it only penetrated less than an inch before stopping.

The monster's skin was too thick.

However, this strike did hurt the monster, causing it to suddenly release its bite. Du Ke swung away, pulled by the ropes.

Flipping to land, Du Ke finally saw the monster clearly. It was a giant worm, somewhat resembling the Mongolian Death Worm from Earth legends.

It had no eyes. Its head was a large mouth filled with sharp teeth. Four tentacles waved around, likely sensory organs.

"Die!" Du Ke didn't hesitate. The Great Sword in his hand had transformed into an Assault Rifle. He pulled the trigger, and a stream of fire erupted.

Bullets poured out, hitting the Death Worm and leaving craters, but none were fatal. The Death Worm let out a terrifying roar, wriggling its body and not retreating. Instead, it charged again. Its large mouth opened, spraying a stream of dark green liquid towards Du Ke.

The liquid sprayed too quickly for Du Ke to block, and he was doused in it.

The titanium alloy Nano Armor melted rapidly, as if snow were dissolving. Terrified, Du Ke quickly dispersed the Nano Armor and fled. After escaping the liquid, he quickly materialized a brand new set of Nano Armor. During this process, he couldn't help but inhale some air, but he couldn't afford to care.

The Death Worm burrowed underground. The bulging earth showed it was rapidly charging towards Du Ke, clearly unwilling to let its prey escape.

"Metal can't withstand its liquid. It must be some kind of acid. Switch to Ceramic Armor!" Du Ke's mind raced as he activated his backup plan.

Before traveling, he had anticipated that his metal armor might not be sufficient and had designed several alternative solutions. Ceramic Armor was one of them.

"Here it comes!"

As the bulging earth extended towards him, Du Ke cautiously guarded himself. When the Death Worm burst out of the ground, he suddenly dodged behind a thick blue tree, about as wide as a person could embrace. He had already materialized a Flamethrower in his hand. Turning around, he unleashed a stream of fire at the Death Worm.

Whoosh!

The flames were fierce, causing the Death Worm to roar repeatedly before diving back underground.

The bulging earth appeared and disappeared at varying distances. The Death Worm, undeterred by two failed attacks, was still preparing for a new assault.

"Come on, let's see who dies, you or me!" Du Ke held the Flamethrower, staring intently at the ground. Suddenly, the bulging earth disappeared.

Before he could guess if the Death Worm had stopped its attack, he felt a tremor beneath his feet. The Death Worm, somehow able to move stealthily, had appeared beneath him and launched an attack. Its massive maw opened, spraying thick acid that coated his Ceramic Armor.

But this time, the Ceramic Armor remained undamaged.

However, Du Ke realized one of his legs had fallen into the Death Worm's mouth. Its sharp teeth dug into the Ceramic Armor, leaving cracks.

"Go to hell, burn for me!" The Flamethrower roared, spewing flames directly at the Death Worm's maw, roasting it.

At the same time, Du Ke even managed to multitask. He materialized a Grenade, pulled the pin with one hand, and threw it into the Death Worm's mouth. The grenade rolled down the Death Worm's digestive tract, deep into its body. Thinking one wasn't enough, Du Ke threw three more in quick succession.

Under the roasting of the Flamethrower, the Death Worm couldn't hold on any longer. It spat Du Ke out and plunged into the soil.

Before its body had fully submerged, four explosions rocked the ground, scattering chunks of cooked flesh.