"Bang..."
"Clap clap clap..."
"Roar--"
"Laugh--"
"Clap clap clap..."
The sounds of fighting and chewing echoed intermittently throughout the corridors.
The interval in the middle is a bit long.
But there was nothing they could do. Although they saw Calamity Beasts along the way, only a small portion of them were capable of flying or had wings.
Finally, once again, a Fifth Tier falcon landed on the ground.
Shen Heng let out a soft breath, and as he turned his gaze to the side, he saw that Stone had already run towards him, his steps slightly unsteady.
"I said, this is the fifth one, isn't it?" Liya Nolandir asked.
"Mm," Shen Heng replied.
"It's still not growing? Could it be that I'm mistaken, and it only grows if I eat parts of it that I have? Or is it that if I keep eating the same part, it won't get enough nutrition and won't grow?" Liya Nolandir speculated.
There was no reply. Shen Heng looked at the Stone in the distance that had begun to gnaw on the wings of a falcon.
He paused for a moment, then said...
"Let's check Stone's feedback later. If it doesn't work, kill two more. If that still doesn't work, let Stone try eating different parts."
"Hey, what's next? Besides the wings, it seems like this guy doesn't have any normal limbs, right?" Liya Nolandir asked curiously.
Upon hearing this, Qin Yu also turned her gaze to the captain.
Shen Heng pondered for a moment, his eyes darkening; this did indeed seem to be a problem.
Seemingly sensing his distress, Liya Nolandir suggested, "How about we eat something more unusual?"
"What's so special about it?" Shen Heng looked over.
"Like eyes, ears, or something like that," Liya Nolandir suggested. "Even if two more of those limbs grew, it shouldn't have much of an impact on the Stone, right? Or maybe horns, spikes, or Scalearmor!"
"The front is fine, but what about the back? Is it edible?" Shen Heng asked.
"You can't eat it, but if you do, who knows, under those rules, it might actually grow a layer!" Liya Nolandir gestured to the two of them. "Just think about it, there will be a layer of stone armor on the surface of the Stone, and underneath that, there will be another layer of scale Scalearmor. Wouldn't that defense be off the charts?! At that point, based on defense alone, even if it doesn't qualify us for an A-Class rating, it will definitely be very close!"
There was no response. Shen Heng imagined the Stone, with a layer of Scalearmor faintly visible through the cracks in its armor.
It must be said that this does seem to be a very good direction for the development of Stone body Distortion.
But...
"If it's because, as you say, it's not getting enough nutrition and that's why it hasn't grown, then how many of these animals would you have to eat for it to grow the corresponding limbs and organs?" Shen Heng pondered.
"Uh..." Liya Nolandir was at a loss. "What should we do?"
There was no response, Shen Heng pondered.
Qin Yu, standing to the side, glanced at it and said:
"If that's not working, let's just keep letting Stone eat the wings of the Calamity Beasts as is. After all, Stone always says that the feeling in his back gets stronger after each meal, right? This is the safest way!"
"Even if it succeeds, we still need to find new parts to feed it, right? Otherwise, it'll just have an extra wing, how much will its strength improve?" Liya Nolandir muttered.
Qin Yu paused, tilted her head, and said nothing more.
The scene fell silent.
After a long silence, Shen Heng finally said, "If that still doesn't work, then kill two more and eat their tails instead."
"Hmm? A tail?" Liya Nolandir looked over.
"Yes, the tail fits what you said—it's a part that Calamity Beasts naturally have; it also has more meat than wings; and Calamity Beasts with tails are much, much easier to find than those with wings. I currently have a large corpse of Calamity Beast with a tail in my storage space." Shen Heng nodded, paused, and added, "Furthermore, an extra tail won't have a significant impact on the Stone!"
"Huh? That makes sense!" Liya Nolandir's eyes lit up, then she seemed to have thought of something and asked, "But, why not just eat it?"
"We don't know the specific rules that cause the Calamity Beast's body to Distortion, so if possible, let's try to ensure that the Stone's diet is monotonous. This way, the possibility of the Distortion occurring as we expect will be greater," Shen Heng said.
"Oh--" Liya Nolandir responded knowingly.
Then, the three of them quieted down and looked at the Stone in the distance that was still gnawing on the wings of the falcon.
By this time, the Stone had already chewed a large gap in the falcon's wing, and blood was flowing out in large quantities from its beak and the edges of the torn wing.
Then, one-fifth, one-third, one-half.
Stone was still eating heartily, and even though his belly was already half-full, he showed no sign of stopping.
Shen Heng silently watched the scene unfold before him.
At one point, his gaze suddenly paused, lingering on the Stone, which was gripping the wing flesh and bringing it towards its mouth.
"You paused for a moment just now?"
The image of the Stone pausing in mid-air with its claw raised flashed through my mind.
Without going to stop him, Shen Heng continued to watch from where he was.
Qin Yu, who had been watching closely from the side, clearly noticed the situation as well, and her gaze became even more serious.
Then, under the watchful eyes of the two—no, the three— the Stone's pauses became more and more pronounced and frequent.
It's even reached the point where you can spot it without really looking.
Stone was seen repeatedly raising its claws to pluck pieces of wing flesh and putting them into its mouth, occasionally stiffly craning its head forward to tear at them.
However, it didn't seem to notice this situation and continued eating bite by bite.
No, rather than saying I didn't notice, it's more accurate to say that my state of mind was somewhat abnormal, and I couldn't notice it anymore.
Before they could think of anything else, Stone's condition rapidly deteriorated.
What started as a sporadic effort suddenly became a struggle, with even lifting its paws becoming difficult.
What used to take a second or two to eat now takes seven or eight seconds or more.
Beast claws, lift, lift, lift...
The Stone suddenly stopped there.
Then.
"Uh, ah, uh..."
Its body was stiff and uncomfortable, and it swayed and Distortion in place.
"Wait, is it going to succeed or fail?" Liya Nolandir exclaimed worriedly.
There was no response; Shen Heng stared at the Stone.
At the temple, the molten gold-like marks began to flow rapidly.
He lifted his leg and took a step forward, but then quickly stopped.
His gaze was fixed on that spot, lost in thought.
Thousands of threads, centered on the back of the Stone, connect there...