Chapter 300: Napoleon.
There exists another monster that collects Strike Dragon Guns not for the guns themselves, but rather for various sturdy building materials to use as parts.
This monster possesses an extremely high level of wisdom, capable of utilizing large metallic constructs while also using its own silk threads to combine collected parts into a steel behemoth named “Ruin City,” which it pilots with its silk.
Like piloting a Gundam.
Wrapping the golden silk around his claws again and again, Jié Jié knew who had stolen his buried Strike Dragon Gun.
The Queen Mantis, a monstrous insect comparable to an Ancient Dragon.
The Old Mountain Dragon was still hiding underground without showing itself, so he could put that aside for now; retrieving his Strike Dragon Gun and hunting the Queen Mantis were his top priorities!
Following the golden silk thread, Jié Jié began tracking the Queen Mantis.
The silk soon broke, and as a nimble beetle-type monster, the Queen Mantis left almost no footprints on its jointed legs. Its scent had also dissipated over several days.
Though unable to discover further traces of the Queen Mantis, knowing that one had been active nearby was enough!
The Queen Mantis selects what it deems the best materials to construct Ruin Cities. No matter how good natural materials in the wild are, they can’t compare to the fruits of human ingenuity.
Human ruins are the Queen Mantis’ first choice for collecting parts, so its activity should be near those ruined fortresses.
Jié Jié flapped his wings and began searching among the broken fortresses in the mountains.
In the northern mountain ranges of Dongduoluma, there were plenty of ruins from different eras, but most had met their destruction after failing to stop Ultra-Large Monsters and being trampled.
Over long ages, many ruins were likely trampled multiple times by numerous Ultra-Large Monsters!
Since he couldn’t determine when the Queen Mantis had passed or stolen the item, he mainly hovered in this area, gradually expanding his search range toward the edges.
Until Jié Jié saw a piece of construction material floating in mid-air, like a world-generation bug.
Descending from the air toward the ground, he realized the principle behind the floating material as he became entangled in “spider silk.”
Silk.
Fine silk covered the entire broken fortress like a net, and Jié Jié, descending from the sky, was ensnared just like an insect caught in a spider’s web, his body wrapped in silk.
He’d found the Queen Mantis!
Jié Jié began struggling, intending to alert whoever set the trap, but didn’t exert enough force to break the net.
When he first arrived in this world, he operated in a spider-like form, well-aware that the ends of such webs were always in the weaver’s hands, allowing them to judge the strength of captured prey through touch even out of sight.
Not breaking the net immediately was also to avoid scaring off the Queen Mantis.
While continuing to struggle, he quietly waited, sensing the energy sources nearby.
As he did, he couldn’t help but freeze.
Amethyst-like compound eyes began peeking out from the ruins, and there were far more than just one pair.
“So many Queen Mantises.”
These orchid mantis-like monsters varied in size, but most were golden, with only a few having dull colors.
He hadn’t stumbled upon a lone queen controlling a Ruin City, but an entire society of Queen Mantises!
Though aware that the true power of the Queen Mantis lay in the queen’s intelligence, seeing these previously “rare” powerful monsters appear en masse still created a significant sense of disparity.
Even if he managed to hunt down the Queen Mantis, would he really be able to pilot a Ruin City like the Queen Mantis?
No problem, he could learn!
But these Queen Mantises merely poked their heads out from hiding; the true owner of this vast web was only one.
The largest-bodied, most golden Queen Mantis stepped cautiously closer to the fire dragon trapped in the web, treading on silk.
Jié Jié assumed the posture of resigned prey, sizing up the approaching Queen Mantis.
A crown-like protrusion adorned the back of her head, her golden body interlaced with black patterns resembling Egyptian aesthetics, and amethyst-like compound eyes rested regally atop the crown.
Her six limbs all pulled silk threads, and as she drew nearer, one pair of foreclaws opened and lifted, revealing a threatening stance.
And on her raised abdomen, claw-like structures held a massive metal wheel.
It was unmistakable — the Queen Mantis wielding the Napoleon Wheel!
Jié Jié quieted down, waiting for the Queen Mantis to approach. The time it would take her to break through his shell would give him ample opportunity to counterattack and swallow her whole — the most efficient method.
After all, the queen’s size was only larger than other Queen Mantises; compared to a fire dragon, she remained delicate, her slender build clearly unable to withstand a bite.
The clash between lizard and mantis, between dragon-type monsters and Queen Mantises.
Yet he hoped the Queen Mantis wouldn’t die at his first bite.
And she didn’t disappoint. After advancing to a certain distance, she stopped, retreating quickly as if sensing danger.
“Some kind of perception?”
Jié Jié muttered. Many insects indeed possessed special danger-sensing abilities.
Next, he saw the Queen Mantis wave her foreclaws, and the floating construction material he first noticed hurtled toward him at great speed.
It was like telekinesis.
But he glimpsed the golden silk flashing momentarily in the light.
Breaking free from the silk binding his body would have been challenging, but dodging wasn’t difficult.
However, the construction material, just as it was about to pass by, suddenly changed direction under force and still struck his body.
An ordinary fire dragon might have been knocked flat, but Jié Jié flapped his wings and sent the material flying away.
Silk, silk, and more silk.
The Queen Mantis’ silk threads were everywhere within the broken fortress.
So…
“Hmph!”
A Dragon Roll erupted from the Flame King Dragon’s mouth, rampaging through the mountain hollow, tearing apart every visible silk thread.
Adding flames to the storm, the silk threads torn by the storm were utterly consumed.
The onlooking Queen Mantises cowered in fear, their flames embedding themselves into the ground fissures, while the Queen Mantis let out an angry hiss.
Behind her, the massive metal wheel was yanked by thick silk threads and hurled heavily toward the storm-engulfed monster.
The giant wheel unexpectedly crushed the storm, knocking the Flame King Dragon out of the air.
That impact left Jié Jié somewhat dazed.
And the fallen metal wheel, under the Queen Mantis’ pull, swept horizontally toward his lower body.
This move was easy to dodge — simply jump rope.
Realizing this, Jié Jié leapt from the ground, passing through the remnants of the fire waves, wrapping his body in a fiery armor, and diving toward the Queen Mantis.
The rear wheel, pulled by the queen, pursued him, but his flame-wrapped claws slashed through the silk pulling the wheel first.
Like a fiery blade cutting through butter, the thick silk snapped.
Losing its pulling force, the wheel flew a short distance before crashing into the dirt.
—
Chapter 301
