Chapter Thirty-Nine: This Isn't Scientific!

The Thunder Snake King, feeling as if it had been looked down on by a tiny bug, let out a roar the moment they met...

There was no flashy battle scene, nor any complicated process. As the Thunder Snake King lunged to bite Jiu Ming at close range, he simply dodged in a hurry and jabbed the steel pipe in his hand at its head.

The Thunder Snake King had even sneered at it! A steel bar that size couldn't even pierce its skull. Some scrap metal he'd found god-knows-where... What good could it do?

It worked!

The Thunder Snake King froze. After the steel bar pierced straight into its skull, it was left stunned. How was this possible!? How could this happen? Its body could withstand cannon fire, yet an unremarkable steel pipe had broken through its defenses?

The pain that followed, along with the feeling of its surging power ebbing away, filled it with anger—and deep regret. Why had it let the little bug get so close?

And even if it had gotten close, why had it been careless enough to open its mouth and bite?

It should've just hit him with a massive discharge and killed him!

As several streaks of blood spurted out, the Purple Bead embedded in its head came free along with the steel pipe. Jiu Ming smoothly snatched it up, then turned and put some distance between himself and the Thunder Snake King.

Just as expected, the next moment, the Thunder Snake King transformed into Lightning Man. Its nearly hundred-meter-long body was covered in flashing arcs of lightning, and every bolt that shot out carried tremendous destructive power. Even Jiu Ming felt uncertain.

Well, uncertain about whether the Sealed Card for Imagine Breaker he'd prepared to use would work.

He'd been prepared for an indiscriminate AOE attack like the Thunder Snake King's. He'd had the Sealed Card pinched between his fingers from the start, but the Thunder Snake King's carelessness had saved him the trouble of using it. Either way, once Jiu Ming got close, the chance of taking the Purple Bead was seventy percent.

With anyone else, it would've been several times lower...

The Purple Bead seemed to have grown right into the Thunder Snake King's head. When Jiu Ming pried it out, he could even see the exposed bone where it had been embedded. Ordinary methods couldn't have removed it, and if he couldn't take it out in an instant...

He'd have faced exactly what the Thunder Snake King was doing now: a massive, full-body discharge. Would anyone dare touch it then?

Not to mention, with the Purple Bead, the Thunder Snake King's lightning was even more powerful.

Name: Super Energy Crystal

Type: Consumable, Accessory

Attribute: Lightning

Quality: Excellent

Uses: 1/Pseudo-Infinite. As long as its energy isn't completely depleted, this item will automatically absorb energy to replenish itself.

Notes: A precious treasure among lightning-type items, greatly amplifying the power of lightning-type beings. The stronger the user, the weaker the effect... Of course, you could also go completely nuts and use this thing as a one-time nuclear bomb...

Convertible Origin Power: 14300

Fourteen thousand three hundred!!!

Here's how it worked: under normal circumstances, items had set conversion values for Origin Power. For example, an item of ordinary quality could convert at most five points of 'Origin,' since the maximum value in that range was ten. The next level up, advanced quality, could reach a maximum of one hundred, and converted into fifty points of Origin Power. The next level up, fine quality, was ten times higher again. And this lightning-type Super Energy Crystal of excellent quality...

Well, it was already among the very best of the rare items. That was just under normal circumstances, though. Abnormal cases included Suzumiya Haruhi's phone.

It had the quality of a 'Divine Artifact,' but hardly lived up to the name. Drop that phone from the height of a two-story building, and it'd be guaranteed to break...

Oh? There's no restriction on forced collection.

Jiu Ming glanced at the Thunder Snake King, which had just lost its precious treasure. Maybe its intelligence wasn't up to par. Jiu Ming flipped his hand, and the fist-sized 'Lightning Bead' turned into a Sealed Card right before the Thunder Snake King's stunned eyes.

Then the card disappeared from Jiu Ming's hand.

Rumble, rumble—

The booming thunder drowned out every other sound nearby. The students stared blankly toward the snake pit, where enormous bolts of lightning kept crashing down.

"Is... is it going through tribulation?" one student murmured in surprise, only to get smacked on the head by his teammate.

"Shut up! Have you been reading too many novels? Obviously someone went to provoke the Snake King!"

His words made everyone present grimace. The large Thunder Snakes had already caused them heavy casualties and put them under enormous pressure. If an enraged Thunder Snake King joined in... they'd all be wiped out before the rescue team arrived.

The Thunder Snake King's display of power now had their hearts pounding. Then, to their great relief, they saw the snakes around them start to retreat. The Thunder Snake King was calling them back.

"Whoever that is, they're probably dead, right?"

Even as they felt relieved, someone couldn't help thinking this. A Thunder Snake King, plus a huge swarm of Thunder Snakes... There was no way anyone could survive!

"What? There's a rule like that?"

To prevent the shopkeeper from using the Mysterious Shop as a shelter to avoid battle, returning to the Mysterious Shop was forbidden while in combat!

Jiu Ming's instant escape method failed. Looking at the surrounding swarm of Thunder Snakes closing in, he felt his scalp prickle. He... couldn't get away. And there was also the Thunder Snake King, who looked like it wanted to swallow him whole!

The Thunder Snake King's eyes were practically on fire... no, arcs of electricity crackled out of them.

"What counts as escaping combat!? Don't mess with me!"

After combat begins, the enemy must die, or you must completely evade its pursuit!

The enemy must die...

Jiu Ming rubbed his eyes and looked around. Oh, just think of it as chopping cabbages. There were so many of them, he'd never run out even if his arms got tired.

A minute later, the students successfully met up with the support forces. Thank goodness, thank goodness—their losses were still under a third... Damn it!

That was already way too many!

If the snakes hadn't been drawn away, they'd probably have lost half.

Students and teachers alike wanted to curse. Damn, damn, damn! This was what happened when you went looking for trouble. If something seemed wrong, they should've pulled back at once. And yet they'd still been thinking about treasure hunting?!

Why would a bunch of students do something like that? If they wanted to, they should've waited until the adults arrived and acted together. They could've treated it as a chance to gain experience!

The team had taken a while to arrive, but there was nothing they could do about that. Flying through the Death Forest was practically asking for trouble; they'd attract a whole flock of flying Exotic Beasts.

Walking was more efficient than flying. They could rely on their numbers and push through... Well, they still couldn't go too far. If they crossed the line for the Exotic Beasts in the depths of the Death Forest and drew an attack from the entire forest, no matter how many people they had, they'd all be wiped out.

It had been a minute already. As the students cursed, they couldn't help marveling at how tough the person in the snake pit was. They'd held out this long without dying.

Wang Hai frowned and looked around. All the Hidden Support members he could reach had been notified, and the remaining students who weren't here had been told through their communicators that the field exercise was temporarily suspended. Jiu Ming still hadn't shown up. Was he hiding nearby?

Or... had he run away?

Ahem. He didn't seem like the type to do that.

"Fall back first!!" A blinding burst of lightning suddenly erupted from the snake pit. Even from far away, they could feel the oppressive force.

"Maybe if our snake buddy could talk, he'd add, 'It's time to end this'?"

That was cheating!

Looking at the Thunder Snakes around him, which were 'charging up' the Thunder Snake King, Jiu Ming let out a long breath. He'd already prepared for the worst. High rewards came with high risks, and besides, he'd taken almost all the rewards for himself!

So it was only natural that he'd have to bear all the risks!

Judging by the Thunder Snake King's furious reaction, it was clear that the 'Lightning Bead' Jiu Ming had stolen from it was its only one.

Drawing in the lightning released by the Thunder Snakes around it, the Thunder Snake King now had an incredibly dense aura of lightning coiled around its body. Just one look could've been enough to blind someone.

So it really was unavoidable that he'd have to use this thing. He'd barely gotten it into his hands, and it was already going to be gone!

After taking a small breath, Jiu Ming brought out the Sealed Card for Imagine Breaker again. He hoped this thing would work!

All the lightning on the Thunder Snake King gathered in its wide-open mouth. The enormous lightning ball taking shape made Jiu Ming's heart pound.

"Quick! Get out of here!!"

Back with the students, the scouts sent out by the force had only just left when they hurried back at an even faster pace, shouting a warning to everyone!

The attack the Thunder Snake King was charging up with the help of the snake swarm was terrifying. The scouts had only needed a glance to make a fairly accurate assessment: once that lightning ball was fired, it would roll straight through everything in its path and reach them. Hardly anyone present could stop it!

And if it exploded, the consequences would be even worse.

With a force that made Jiu Ming feel as tiny as an ant, the lightning ball erupted. The flash of electricity that blazed to life in an instant looked like a little sun. It was clearly visible from far away. Anyone who didn't know what was happening might've thought aliens were invading Earth!

Huh!?

The lightning ball hadn't even reached him, but Jiu Ming was already affected. His Soul Body began to waver.

Holy crap, this looked even more impressive than that whatever-it-was, the Spirit Bomb!

At least that thing was just a big ball. This had turned into a super-bright light bulb! That light, that brightness... It'd blind you!

Snap!

The Sealed Card in Jiu Ming's hand shattered into specks of light. He clearly felt something—he had no idea what—'coat' the hand he'd used to crush the card. Anyway, if he wanted to die, all he had to do was press that hand lightly against his chest...

Don't mess with me!

Jiu Ming charged straight at the enormous lightning ball rolling toward him, an act that reeked of suicidal recklessness.

This isn't scientific!!

The Thunder Snake King's eyes widened. If it could talk, it would've shouted its complaint right then: the lightning ball that had taken so much out of it to launch had stopped rolling forward. Even more unscientific, its size was rapidly shrinking...

Such a earth-shattering attack, and it was over just like that?

Not only was the Thunder Snake King stunned, but the force that had prepared to withstand the impact in the distance was stunned too. What was going on? All thunder and no rain?

Who were they kidding!