The fire burned hotter and hotter.
And the Scare-Box jumped more and more violently, the whole box almost sprung up at a 45-degree angle, then switched to another corner, struggled nonstop.
The fire kept burning, and the Scare-Box kept jumping.
Until that ring of resin sealing the Scare-Box gradually softened again from the heat.
BANG!
Just like a cooked clam, the top shell blew open.
But after being burned for so long, the Scare-Box had long since been cooked through.
Right then the lid was blasted open.
Only now did the Scare-Box finally reveal the two rows of long and razor-sharp fangs attached to the lid, and its long red tongue could no longer hold back, flopping straight out of the box and drooping onto the ground.
A look that was barely clinging to life.
But just to be safe, Ethan still drew his bow and aimed at the inside of the Scare-Box.
He fired an arrow.
Swoosh!
Right on target.
Honestly, once the Scare-Box opened, aside from the box being full of tongue, Ethan couldn't see any other body parts in this thing.
It was like the entire Scare-Box was made up of a bronze box, two rows of teeth, and one giant tongue.
A bizarre thing.
[Scare-Box is dead. Decompose?]
'Finally dead! Phew!'
"Decompose!"
[Bronze +10]
[Scare-Box Meat +10]
[Scare-Box Blood Clots +20]
[Scare-Box Poison Fangs +20]
[Beast Tendon +1]
"What the hell?"
Ethan looked at that bright red tongue meat, and with all that tongue-coating and taste buds on it, he didn't have the slightest desire to eat it.
But those Scare-Box blood clots, who knew if they had some special effect.
"Inspect!"
[Scare-Box Blood Clots: The blood is cooked, texture is bad. But can be fed to pets, increases stamina.]
[Scare-Box Meat: Mostly tongue meat, plus a little meat from the box walls. Tender and smooth. Once cooked it should taste about like pork tongue, a pretty good dish.]
[Scare-Box Poison Fangs: Great for crafting poison arrows. Don't waste them.]
Forget the blood and meat, better leave them for the White Eagle.
Ethan definitely couldn't eat that, but the poison fangs and bronze were great materials for crafting arrows. This haul wasn't a loss at all.
After dealing with the Scare-Box.
Ethan opened another bronze chest not far from it.
Anyone else who hadn't been bitten to death by the Scare-Box would probably be traumatized by now.
No one would dare casually open another chest like Ethan.
[Bronze +10]
[Cola +1]
[Instant Noodles +2]
[Spirit Stone +5]
[Kerosene Lamp Blueprint +1]
[You discovered the Kerosene Lamp Blueprint. Learn it?]
"Learn!"
[Kerosene Lamp: You've progressed from the Stone Age to the Bronze Age. A kerosene lamp is an amazing invention. It can burn for up to 10 hours, saves tons of torch-making materials, and its illumination reaches 10 meters. Crafting Requirements: Glass 14/2, Bronze 520/2, Cotton 0/1, Kerosene 0/1]
He didn't have cotton or kerosene for now.
Tonight he'd go to the trading channel and gather some.
"With the fog never lifting these days, everyone probably hates wasting wood and resin on torches. Kerosene lamps should sell well."
"This thing is honestly pretty great."
Ethan planned to stock up later tonight and see if cotton and kerosene were easy to get. If they were, this business could make him another nice profit.
"Not bad at all."
———
Back in the stone house, Ethan tossed everything in his backpack into the storage.
Then he took out the weapons tempered with Lightning Leopard blood, and used the remaining blood to temper all eight of his remaining arrows. The eight arrowheads instantly gleamed with a sharp glow.
[Explosive Bronze Arrow: Deadly once it draws blood. A truly fine arrow. Special Effect: Explosion +100%]
"Tsk! Tsk! This Lightning Leopard blood was seriously good stuff."
Just tempering the bronze arrows boosted their explosive effect by 100%. Combined with his accuracy skill, he didn't believe any monster's health bar could withstand it.
One hit and it was basically dead.
Ethan was thrilled.
"With these eight treasures, dealing with the Nightmare Rats and Catwoman should be a breeze."
There was about 200 ml of Lightning Leopard blood left. Ethan realized that whenever he used it to temper a weapon, big or small, it consumed almost 100 ml each time.
With the remaining 200 ml, he planned to temper his last two weapons.
Once finished, the blades of his two weapons shimmered with blue light, looking incredibly sharp.
[Fine Dagger: Even the toughest beast hide can't withstand a single strike. This dagger doesn't need to prove its sharpness to anyone, because it is sharpness itself! Special Effect: Damage +100%.]
[Fine Axe: Even the peak masterpiece of a dwarven master would be no better! It is electricity, it is light, it is the king of chopping! Special Effects: Critical +100%, Combo +3.]
Both weapons upgraded from [Sharp] to [Fine] quality. A full transformation.
And both the descriptions and special effects had improved significantly.
The dagger's damage went up by 80%, and the axe gained a combo effect.
"Time to go test them outside."
After packing up, Ethan lit a new torch and walked south.
[South: After the acid rain, many trees died. You can easily chop tons of wood. One tree trunk hides a silver chest. Think you can find it?]
The south happened to have a patch of dead trees, perfect for testing his new axe.
Ethan held up his torch and walked into the forest.
He casually picked a huge dead tree.
The trunk was at least five meters thick, with only a few withered yellow leaves hanging sparsely. It looked like it had only recently died, so testing the axe on it wouldn't be a waste.
Thud!
Ethan swung the axe into the dead tree.
At first, the tree didn't move at all, and Ethan thought maybe it had something special about it, since it wouldn't budge.
But one second later—
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Ethan saw several flashes of silver light shoot through the trunks of the surrounding dead trees.
And then, Five or six trees, including the giant one in front of him, all their trunks split cleanly across the middle and began sliding down at an angle, falling to the ground and turning into wood.
[Wood +10]
[Vines +3]
[Resin +10]
"Holy crap!"
"This axe upgrade is insane!"
He chopped down five or six trees in one swing, and some of them were the 3-wood big trees.
His old sharp metal axe, even after being honed with a whetstone, could only chop one large tree at best. Now, with combo and crit, he could get 10 wood in one go.
"Awesome!"
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