Chapter 18: The Monster Was Furious

“Sir…” Heishi said nervously.

“Don’t worry!”

Though Liu Hen was somewhat anxious, having already understood the nature of the bonfire, he wasn’t as fearful in his heart.

Sure enough, the monsters drawn by the light all stopped five meters away—they did not come closer.

Perhaps they were the ones left behind after the magical tide receded, or maybe they were all the monsters from within a kilometer attracted by the firelight.

These monsters kept gathering in this direction, their numbers steadily increasing.

Finally, after their count surpassed one hundred, the growth rate began to slow.

Among them, Liu Hen spotted seven or eight four-armed monsters.

All of these creatures halted five meters away, their eyes filled with hatred and madness as they fixed their gaze on the two beside the bonfire.

That look… it was as if they harbored a monumental grudge against all living things, eager to recklessly leap forward and tear the two apart.

‘Indeed… starting a fire in the dark carries great risk!’

Liu Hen frowned in secret. How was he supposed to get back now?

He couldn’t possibly dig a tunnel back, could he?

They were still over 180 meters from the cave shelter.

Though the All-Things Pickaxe at Black Iron level ten was not slow at digging, the spatial backpack wasn’t large enough, requiring multiple trips.

At this rate, it would take at least ten hours to tunnel through such a length.

Moreover, in this rocky mountain area, the underground might contain iron ore or other hard-to-collect materials, which would only lengthen the required time.

‘Do I have to make a new workbench here, then craft a new bonfire from it, and leap from bonfire to bonfire?’

But wouldn’t that be too wasteful?

Most importantly, there was no iron ore in the spatial backpack, so crafting a workbench was impossible.

In other words, this method wouldn’t work either.

‘If only I had a bomb!’

Liu Hen’s eyes gleamed as he looked at the monsters forming a circle five meters away.

If he could toss a powerful bomb at them, he’d surely harvest a handful of demon crystals.

Demon crystals were indispensable for the Golden Finger and upgrading various items, even essential for crafting at the workbench—he could never have too many.

“Sir, what do we do now?” Heishi asked anxiously.

“You stay here, don’t move. Watch me.”

Suddenly, Liu Hen took out a piece of wood and weighed it in his hand.

This gathered wood was very regular, arm-thick and about a meter long, like a rolling pin—perfect for use as a short club.

Confirming that even ordinary wood was sturdy enough, he eagerly began to slowly step away from the bonfire and approach the monsters in that direction.

Immediately, the monsters on that side became agitated, crying out like wailing children, frantically stretching their hands toward Liu Hen.

Heishi behind him looked tense.

Fortunately, despite Liu Hen’s provocation, none of the monsters dared take a single step forward, and even their outstretched hands did not come within five meters.

Seeing this, Liu Hen felt more confident.

He sneered and suddenly struck one clawed arm with his club.

“Crack!” The claw snapped off and fell to the ground.

The monster let out a pained scream and instinctively withdrew its hand.

However, what troubled Liu Hen was that no blood flowed from the claw; instead, it quickly transformed into light and returned to the monster’s body.

Immediately afterward, the claw regrew.

‘Can’t kill it? Or rather… must kill it all at once, or it will keep regenerating?’

Indeed, the original owner’s memories contained such fragments.

This posed a dilemma; the wooden club was only so long, unable to reach vital spots like the head, making a one-hit kill difficult.

‘Must it really be a one-hit kill?’

Liu Hen was skeptical. ‘Surely there should be some consumption?’

He swung the wooden club wildly again, smashing the claws reaching out to him, making the monsters howl in rage.

Some monsters, filled with fury, wildly stretched their hands toward the damned living being, but no matter their anger, none dared cross the five-meter radius of the bonfire.

Liu Hen grew more confident and singled out one monster’s claw to repeatedly smash, intending to see if he could wear it down through attrition.

When tired, he would retreat and rest, making taunting gestures to the monsters to vent his frustration.

After resting enough, he resumed the frantic strikes.

Thus, the monsters kept shrieking in anger.

The sharp “crack” sounds continued as the targeted monster’s claw was broken repeatedly.

Though the claw regenerated quickly, the next moment it was struck off again.

This repeated over and over.

“Waaah…”

Suddenly, the two-armed monster that had been relentlessly attacked lost its patience and self-destructed.

With a loud “boom,” Liu Hen was blasted backward.

Though it was only the shockwave that threw him, and he wasn’t truly injured, it still startled him.

‘Monsters can self-destruct?’

He was dumbfounded, as the original owner’s memories contained no such information.

Could it be that he had angered it enough to explode?

Monsters that normally only attack living beings wildly could actually get angry?

In fact, Heishi was also stunned; monsters self-destructing was unheard of to her.

“Sir, are you alright?” Heishi hurried over and helped Liu Hen up.

“I’m fine.”

Liu Hen quickly stood and looked toward the explosion site.

Not only was he blown away, but many monsters there were thrown down as well.

As for the self-destructed monster, it seemed to have vanished completely, leaving no demon crystals behind.

The monsters that had been blasted away had already returned, still glaring furiously and bitterly at them.

Perhaps unable to come closer, their emotions were even more agitated than before, as if ready to perish alongside this brazen living being.

Liu Hen instinctively picked up the wood lying nearby, but this action immediately provoked the agitated monsters—

“Boom!” “Boom!” “Boom!”

Four or five monsters exploded one after another, their shockwaves tossing nearby monsters into the air.

“???”

Liu Hen quickly knocked Heishi down to the ground; since this time they were farther away, they remained unharmed.

But now, he was more cautious about provoking these creatures, feeling a chill in his heart.

Like before, the self-destructed monsters left nothing behind but vanished into smoke and ash.

‘They’d rather blow themselves up than leave their demon crystals to me?’

This meant the method of wearing down the monsters with the bonfire’s repelling effect would not work.

Liu Hen felt helpless and retreated with Heishi to the bonfire’s side.

‘They’re still five meters away…’

He wanted to continue provoking them here; even if no demon crystals dropped, as long as he could escape, that was enough.

However, when he saw the seven or eight four-armed monsters, he restrained himself.

Just one two-armed monster’s self-destruction was enough to send him flying—

What if the four-armed monsters exploded too?

Five meters is manageable if only one four-armed monster is present; he could take a gamble.

But here there were eight four-armed monsters; if all eight exploded simultaneously, it would be disastrous.

Especially with over a hundred two-armed monsters—if these unstable creatures all chose to perish alongside him, that would be a nightmare.

There was still one option: keep upgrading the bonfire to expand its repelling radius, then continue provoking them.

But the wood he had would only upgrade the bonfire one more level, increasing the radius to merely six meters—not very safe.

“Sir, maybe… maybe I could provoke them?” Heishi asked softly, her lips trembling as if making a difficult decision.

She had realized the monsters could really be enraged to the point of explosion.

If she stood in front, perhaps her lord would have a chance to survive.

He was too good to her; she didn’t want to see them die together.

“No need. You look too weak, not fierce enough,” Liu Hen shook his head.

Heishi: “???”

Liu Hen thought the reason he could provoke the monsters to self-destruct was because of his own arrogance.

If it were someone else, they probably couldn’t do it.

He continued, “This was the simplest way to escape, but it seems it won’t work anymore.”

With that, he stowed the wood and flipped out the All-Things Pickaxe again.

“You wait here. Don’t provoke the monsters. I’ll dig a tunnel.”

Originally, he hadn’t wanted to use this method—it was too time-consuming.

But now, he preferred to be cautious; after all, they had enough food and wouldn’t starve.

“By the way, hold onto this for me.”

He took out the tree core and handed it to Heishi to free up space in the backpack.

With that, he crouched down and swung the All-Things Pickaxe, beginning to dig the tunnel.