After escaping the bunker, he had focused all his attention on the Dragon Hoard.
Especially after entering the Fifth Floor, with Hope leading the way straight to the entrance to the Sixth Floor, he had barely explored the entire Fifth Floor. He hadn't even entered any of the caves they'd passed.
Aside from the patrolling Crystal Golems, they hadn't encountered much along the way.
It had nearly made him forget that before the Hag Kana begged for mercy, she had revealed that a Flail Snail was crawling toward the Fifth Floor.
Now that it was close by, he couldn't help but hesitate:
"Flail Snails are elemental creatures. They don't seem to be afraid of salt crystals like Giant Snails, do they?
"But their shells seem even tougher than a Giant Snail's. They probably won't be easy to damage, either..."
Dawn reminded him:
"It's crawling deeper into the dungeon. We should probably act soon."
Tang Qi peered out again and saw that the Flail Snail had its back to them. Its dazzling shell, woven with every color of the rainbow and sparkling like the stars, was fully displayed before him.
Tang Qi hesitated.
"Where are the Wealth Footprints?"
Flail Snails swallowed sand, gravel, and crystals as they went, producing a layer of glassy material.
But Tang Qi hadn't seen any trace of it where the snail had passed.
Could this Flail Snail have indigestion?
"Anyway, let's make our move first. We can't pass up a windfall."
Given the shell's [anti-magic] property, any magical effect cast upon it might be reflected right back, with interest.
So Tang Qi didn't wake Hope or Kuru. Instead, he drew his curved blade and crept toward the snail with Dawn, keeping as hidden as they could.
From a distance, it was hard to make out much.