Chapter 48 - Chapter 48: Island Exploration
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Chapter 48: Island Exploration
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The car that cooled its motor with water managed to carry the cargo. However, its speed was as slow as walking.
Worrying that a horse-drawn carriage would be better so wanting to do something about it, Emilia returned from the seventh layer of the Abandoned House Labyrinth.
"Big Brother, I learned Ice Sphere!"
"Congratulations, Emilia."
"So I can explore the island labyrinth now, right!"
Responding with a glum "Yeah, I guess so," Emilia asked what was wrong.
Rodney complained that the car's development wasn't going well.
"What, is that all?"
"'Is that all'? We're pretty stuck, you know."
"If one of those motors isn't enough, can't you just use two or three?"
"...Emilia, you're a genius!"
When Rodney tried putting two motors in the car, the top speed increased considerably. It was probably about twice as fast as a horse-drawn carriage.
This was fine for now. If it was twice as fast as a horse-drawn carriage, he had no complaints.
"Double motor. It works, doesn't it!"
With the double-motor car completed, cargo transport would get on track. After that, just teach someone how to operate it and leave the operation to them.
Here, it was decided to formally call the cars running on rails "trains."
With the car development reaching a certain resolution, Rodney decided to explore the island labyrinth.
The young territorial soldiers had also grown considerably, so he took thirty soldiers and crossed to the island. Since there were many reefs around the island, he had a fisherman provide a small boat.
They landed on a sandy beach, set up tents there, and made it a base camp.
"Hortus, secure the camp. Rodmel and Roxwell, you'll enter the forest with me."
"Hah!"
"Hah!"
"Hah!"
Rodney, Emilia, Yulin, Rodmel, Roxwell, and twenty territorial soldiers headed into the depths of the island.
"Hey, Big Brother. Isn't this island hot?"
As Emilia said as soon as they entered the forest, the island's temperature was quite high.
Since it was summer, even the northernmost Dedel Territory was fairly hot. Despite this island being right in front of Dedel Territory, the temperature felt about five degrees higher.
"This heat is hindering the exploration."
The temperature was quite high, around 30 degrees. But the problem was the humidity more than the temperature. There was a muggy heat like a tropical rainforest, and sweat poured out.
The territorial soldiers, unaccustomed to this heat, wore exasperated expressions.
In heat that seemed to drain stamina with every step, Rodney and the others advanced through the forest in two horizontal rows.
Roxwell, at the center of the front row, seemed to have found something and stopped the unit.
"What's wrong, Roxwell?"
Rodmel called out to Roxwell, who was crouching and looking at something.
When the two stood side by side, their thicknesses differed like a twig and a large tree. Roxwell was slender and tall, while Rodmel was large both horizontally and vertically.
"Please look at this plant."
The plant Roxwell was looking at seemed to be a medicinal herb.
The retainers each had their own specialties, and Roxwell was knowledgeable about medicinal herbs. Rodney also had knowledge of herbs, but he was no match for Roxwell. It was decided to bring back that plant, which Roxwell said was a rare medicinal herb.
The medicinal herbs were spread over a wide area, showing that this island had abundant vegetation. Additionally, fruits were plentiful, so they ate a peach-like fruit to replenish fluids.
Another stop. But this time, Roxwell's eyes were stern.
"It's a Selbanui."
When he informed them in a low voice, the soldiers lowered their hips and braced themselves to react quickly.
Most of the soldiers couldn't sense the Selbanui's presence. But Rodney, with his 'Acute Senses', could sense it.
It was a giant snake Selbanui with beautiful emerald green scales. Approaching without a sound, it was a massive body about 12 lom (24 meters) long and perhaps 0.5 lom thick.
"It's a giant snake. Battle formation!"
When Rodmel gave the order, the soldiers quickly transitioned to a battle formation. Their movements showed they were well-trained.
The giant snake slithered its body as it approached. Its presence was so imposing that even the battle-hardened Rodmel broke into a cold sweat.
The soldiers entered combat with the giant snake. They struck the massive body with their swords, but the swords were repelled.
"I'd heard about it, but it really repelled the red genuine steel swords."
It wasn't that the soldiers were weak. Rather, they were quite skilled. Even so, their swords were blocked by the hard scales, and the impact was absorbed by the elastic flesh, unable to inflict wounds.
"I shall join the battle as well."
"Wait, Rodmel. I have an idea."
Stopping Rodmel, who had a battle axe in hand, Rodney pulled back the soldiers.
He activated his origin power towards the giant snake, which had raised its head in a striking posture.
"Blizzard."
He activated the blizzard he imagined. This was possible because he had 'Ice Water Manipulation', which allowed him to freely control water and ice.
The blizzard generated a snowstorm around the giant snake, dropping the temperature all at once. The tropical rainforest-like heat suddenly seemed to become a freezing winter.
The giant snake showed signs of discomfort, and its movements gradually worsened.
I thought snakes were cold-blooded, so they'd be weak to cold. I tried it, and it seems I was right.
Not all cold-blooded animals are weak to cold, but Rodney's hunch that snakes would be hit the mark. The giant snake coiled up and stopped moving.
"Now, attack!"
"Roger!"
"Roger!"
"Roger!"
The soldiers pounced all at once. Their swords cut into the giant snake, but the snake showed no signs of moving. Even if it did move, it would likely be quite sluggish.
"It cut through!"
"We can do this!"
The giant snake's scales and skin were frozen and hard, but they no longer had the elasticity they had before. Without elasticity, the scales could be damaged by the red genuine steel swords, and they even cut through the skin underneath.
Before long, the giant snake turned to dust and disappeared. Rodmel and the others were impressed that the giant snake subjugation, which had given them so much trouble, could end so anticlimactically with Rodney's support.
"Lord Rodney. What was that just now?"
He explained to Rodmel that snakes are weak to cold.
"Big Brother, can't we weaken the snake with my 'Ice Sphere'?"
"I don't know until we try, but 'Ice Sphere' might have the same effect. And if one shot doesn't work, just fire two, three shots."
"Then it's my turn next!"
They were able to stop the next giant snake that appeared with two of Emilia's 'Ice Spheres'.
The giant snake after that was defeated by the soldiers with seven 'Fluid Explosion Bullets' and 'High-speed Rotating Scatter Bullets'.
It seemed that the giant snake's scales and body elasticity could deflect the power of 'Fluid Explosion Bullets' and 'High-speed Rotating Scatter Bullets', so they didn't deal as much damage as expected.
They reached the conclusion that ice element origin powers had good compatibility against the giant snakes.
"It's a giant snake. Its color is black!"
It wasn't the emerald green giant snake from before, but a giant snake with pitch-black scales. Its length was reduced to 7 lom, but its triangular face looked poisonous, and its huge fangs also recalled poison.
"It looks like it has poison. Attack with 'Fluid Explosion Bullets' and 'High-speed Rotating Scatter Bullets', and don't let it get close."
"Roger!"
"Roger!"
"Roger!"
The soldiers fired 'Fluid Explosion Bullets' and 'High-speed Rotating Scatter Bullets'. The black snake, which fell after four shots, didn't have as high defense as the emerald green giant snake. Considering that, it was reasonable to think it had poison. But he had no intention of receiving poison just to confirm that. Besides, Rodney had 'Swift Recovery', so poison doesn't work on him.
"Next, let's confirm if it stops moving with ice."
"Leave it to me!"
They fought the black giant snake alongside the emerald green giant snake. The black giant snake was also weak to ice, and it stopped moving and was defeated with two of Emilia's 'Ice Spheres'.
The exploration progressed smoothly, and medicinal herbs were being collected steadily.
In the midst of that, Rodney noticed something.
"This... is it a rubber tree?"
Sap was dripping from a tree damaged in the aftermath of battle. That sap resembled the rubber in Rodney's knowledge.
At this unexpected discovery, Rodney's cheeks loosened into a smile. However, since this was inside the labyrinth, he couldn't collect rubber in such a halfway spot.
"When you say rubber, is that the thing Rodney said would become tires?"
"That's right, Yulin. If this is rubber, it can be used not only for cars but also for the wheels of ordinary horse-drawn carriages."
To be honest, the car development had hit a deadlock.
The trains running on the rails connecting the Galim Syrup workshop, the beer workshop, and the port had managed to work out, but a car that didn't need rails required technical knowledge.
Today, they mainly explored the western side.
It was a labyrinth rich in medicinal herbs and fruits, and there were also trees that seemed to be rubber.
The giant snakes that appeared were the emerald green giant snake and the black giant snake. Discovering the weaknesses and ways to defeat the two types was a major development.
Giant snakes also appeared on the way back. But now that they had established a strategy, the danger was minimal as long as they noticed their presence.
By the time they returned to the sandy beach that served as the base camp, the sun was starting to set.
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