"Yes! That was almost certainly it!"
Lou Gao excitedly pointed at the dark scales on the snake corpse, speaking rapidly.
"Look at its scales! They have the color of obsidian, yet the cold, hard texture of metal, along with those naturally formed Earth Element Patterns!"
"This was far more than mere natural armor! It had coiled here, Devouring Ore from the Underground Ore Vein to strengthen itself!"
"Those Rare Metals and Mineral Ore containing Earth Element energy were its finest nourishment! Through the transformation of its special physique, they ultimately settled and condensed into this armor of scales, impervious to blades and spears!"
"The reason we found no mineral deposits after digging all the way in must be because it ate them!"
This deduction was like a sudden enlightenment, instantly explaining why they had gone a hundred meters deep yet found so little.
The true treasure had not been buried deeper underground. It had already been absorbed, transformed, and worn by the guardian before them!
"Yo-kee! Yo-kee yo-kee!!!"
At that moment, after venting its dissatisfaction with the giant snake, Larvitar seemed to notice something as well.
It brought its small nose close to the snake corpse, especially the areas near the scales it had gnawed on, and sniffed hard.
Those Scarlet big eyes suddenly lit up, as though it had discovered an unparalleled delicacy!
Larvitar hesitated no longer. It opened its mouth full of tiny sharp teeth and accurately Bited down on another palm-sized scale whose edge had been loosened by its gnawing.
Crack! Crunch crunch!
Unlike the dull sounds of it chewing ordinary ore earlier, this time the chewing carried an unusual crispness, as if it were crunching an incredibly hard biscuit that was unexpectedly delicious.
Larvitar's small cheeks moved rapidly, and its scarlet eyes narrowed in satisfaction as