Lilliput

The moment he got Lilliput, Zhou Lu felt that no matter how today ended, this trip into the secret realm had already been worth it.

He had not only obtained the planned White Jade Snail Shell, but also snagged a brand-new skill. Even if he could do nothing for the next six days, the 5 Academic Credits had not been wasted.

Zhou Lu took a deep breath and recalled Huohuo, who had been having the time of its life.

Huohuo came running proudly before Zhou Lu with several pocketfuls of Nightmare Butterflies.

It lifted its snail shell and nuzzled Zhou Lu's ankle.

Patting Little Grass's shell, Zhou Lu looked at the sweating merchant beside him. "We can settle up now."

The merchant swallowed.

The instant Huohuo returned to Zhou Lu's feet, everyone present turned their eyes toward him.

Never having endured so many gazes before, the merchant immediately felt his pressure double.

Yet his professional integrity still compelled him to dutifully say, "These Nightmare Butterflies were injured by the Sticky Slime, so their price will be lowered somewhat..."

Well now, so this was what his professional integrity meant—haggling even at a time like this.

Zhou Lu was not someone who quibbled over every last detail, and Huohuo's Sticky Slime had indeed hurt the Nightmare Butterflies somewhat. "About how much lower?"

Perhaps Zhou Lu's calm aura, even under everyone's watchful eyes, had intimidated the merchant as well. In the end, although the transaction price did not reach the hundred thousand Zhou Lu had expected, the unit price still came to ninety-seven thousand.

The spread-out wings of the Ghost Face Nightmare Butterflies took up quite a lot of space. A single butterfly occupied a large area, so Huohuo had caught thirty-three in total during those five minutes.

Zhou Lu did not hesitate and exchanged all of them for Academic Credits.

At this stage, Academic Credits were far more useful than money.

"Another 32 Academic Credits? What a coincidence." Zhou Lu looked at the credits on his student card and smiled.

At current market rates, the purchasing power of 1 Academic Credit was equivalent to one hundred thousand yuan. In other words, if he converted the credits from his initial combat assessment into cash, he would have ten million yuan.

For the wealthy elite families, that might not amount to much.

But for an ordinary household, it was unquestionably an enormous sum.

Sighing inwardly at how profitable Beast Tamers were, Zhou Lu calmly looked behind him.

After Huohuo left, the Ghost Face Nightmare Butterflies seemed as though they had sent off a plague god, finally taking flight once more.

Yet the other Beast Tamers were now watching Zhou Lu cautiously.

Zhou Lu had expected these people to rob him, so he was somewhat surprised by this sight.

But since he had already profited from this trip, he felt completely at ease. He nodded to everyone present, then turned and left with Huohuo.

The merchant who had followed Zhou Lu was even more decisive. He activated his wristband and promptly parkoured out of the secret realm.

Thirty-three Ghost Face Nightmare Butterflies were enough for him to live in style for quite some time.

Huohuo was very happy along the way. It had clearly noticed that it seemed to have learned another skill.

However, it was already deep into the night, and Zhou Lu did not dare linger in the wilderness. He hurried back to camp with Huohuo first.

Only after checking into the inn he had reserved did he put Huohuo down and begin verifying the effects of Lilliput.

Lilliput: A Ghost Face Nightmare Butterfly Racial Skill that could shrink itself or objects within the range of its light.

Huohuo first took everything out of its shell, then activated Lilliput.

A faint glow appeared on its leaves, and every item shrouded by the light rapidly shrank at a visible speed.

At that moment, Zhou Lu had the illusion that he was watching Doraemon use his Small Light.

Starting the next day, Zhou Lu conducted more detailed tests on Lilliput. He felt that this skill had better uses than merely allowing Huohuo to stuff more things into its shell.

The Linxi Secret Realm had a great many small spirit beasts, so Zhou Lu did not need to worry about lacking materials for his experiments.

After several days of testing, Zhou Lu finally roughly determined Lilliput's limits. It could reduce an object's size and weight.

However, there was an upper limit to the objects Lilliput could affect. By his estimate, it could not work on targets obviously larger than Huohuo. Nor could it shrink things indefinitely; there was a limit.

Determining the specifics required detailed scientific testing, which was not Zhou Lu's forte. Nor did he intend to expose Huohuo's ability.

Second, Lilliput's shrinking effect was actively applied rather than passive, and it could also be actively dispelled. Huohuo could restore the items it stored to their original size and weight by canceling the skill.

Lilliput's range was not large. Only areas around Huohuo illuminated by its light could trigger Lilliput.

However, removing Lilliput's shrunken state had an almost unlimited range. At the very least, Huohuo could restore an object it had shrunk at one end of the safe zone while standing at the other end.

Looking at the stone in his hand, which Huohuo had shrunk to the size of a soybean, Zhou Lu suddenly had a very devilish idea: use Lilliput to shrink an object and trick someone into swallowing it...

Then cancel Lilliput's shrunken state, and the object would directly expand inside the other person's stomach.

Just like the Stand Little Feet in JoJo's Golden Wind.

The Nightmare Butterfly could not do this because the largest object it could shrink was not enough to burst a human being to death instantly, but Huohuo could.

Zhou Lu quickly dismissed the thought. He still had to consider more practical techniques.

During the remaining six days, Zhou Lu also tested Lilliput's effects on living creatures.

As long as it was not actively canceled, Lilliput's effect on shrunken nonliving objects was nearly indefinite. Living creatures that were shrunk, however, had a duration that varied according to their original size. So far, the longest he had tested was around ten minutes.

After ten minutes, the target would automatically return to its former size.

If a living creature died while shrunken, it would immediately revert to its original size. Using the shrinking effect on a corpse treated it as a nonliving object.

Shrinking itself, on the other hand, could last for a long time...

Thinking of this, Zhou Lu helplessly tapped Huohuo atop his head.

Ever since obtaining Lilliput, Huohuo had loved nothing more than shrinking itself and lying on Zhou Lu's head or hand. From time to time, it would crawl all over him, sometimes poking out from his trouser leg or sleeve, sometimes extending one or two leaves from his collar.

Of course, its favorite place to stay was still atop Zhou Lu's head.

Little Grass lay on Zhou Lu's head like some bizarrely shaped hat.

Whenever Zhou Lu tried to shake it off, it tightly wound its vines around his head and refused to let go no matter what.

That made Zhou Lu's head and neck suffer terribly, even after Lilliput had reduced its weight.

At that moment, he finally understood the truth of Xiao Xi's words:

"You can't even lift a three-ton Super Star Stone. What kind of Beast Tamer do you think you are?"

Just as he was thinking about it, Zhou Lu suddenly felt his hand grow heavy.

At some point, Huohuo had already crawled onto his right arm.

Huohuo extended its vines and affectionately hugged Zhou Lu's arm, occasionally rubbing against it with its tender sprouts, looking comfortable and delighted.

If one ignored Huohuo's weight, the scene was actually quite warm.

Suddenly, Zhou Lu thought of a way to use Lilliput:

"Huohuo, try seeing whether Lilliput can be used on your offshoots."

Thanks to Wuyu 996 for the 5,000-point coin donation.

Thanks to Guard Bureau Member for the 100-point coin donation.

That's all for the bonus chapter for now. I'll save up some drafts and go all out with updates once it goes premium.