Chapter 159: Cave Bats (D)

Clack, clack!

To prevent the first possibility from happening, Lan Qingyou released every single magic puppet she had on hand.

She also reduced their speed to the lowest gear.

Whether her guess was correct or not, the most important thing was to take action first.

Being cautious might waste a bit more time, but overall, there was no harm in it.

Moving forward slowly in first gear while surrounded and protected by her magic puppets, Lan Qingyou had the purple knights riding the orange Horned Lion Beasts clear the path around her.

Although she did not have that many Magic Carriage Lanterns on hand, she had plenty of Dispel Light Spheres.

However, to prevent the phenomenon of being blind in the shadows just beneath the light, Lan Qingyou hung Magic Carriage Lanterns directly on these purple knights.

Originally, Lan Qingyou had only brought a single Magic Carriage Lantern that she scavenged from an abandoned Shelter on this expedition.

In some cases, the residents had left and taken everything with them, but in others, they had left things behind.

This allowed Lan Qingyou to pick up quite a few basic items for free, which she simply tossed over to Shang Chuan.

As for whether those people had walked away on their own two feet or departed with their lives, Lan Qingyou had no way of knowing.

Still, it was fortunate that she had acquired so many Magic Carriage Lanterns this time around; otherwise, she would not have dared to send her scouting units too far ahead.

Whir— Whir—

Just as Lan Qingyou was walking through the stalactite-filled cave under the protection of her magic puppets, the sudden roar of machinery echoed from ahead.

It was the sound of a spiral lance spinning up.

Clearly, the scouts up front had engaged the enemy.

Lan Qingyou immediately ordered her magic puppets to pick up the pace and move up to help.

Wearing her Appraisal Glasses, Lan Qingyou naturally recognized the monsters blocking her path at a single glance.

[Cave Bats (D)]

[Health Points: 300]

[Mana Points: 200]

[Skills: (Sonic Attack) (Pack Hunting)]

[Description: A small, gregarious, omnivorous monster that exclusively lives in caves. Although their sonic attacks are formidable, their most troublesome trait is their swarm tactics. They will leave you feeling utterly helpless, forcing you to flee for your life with your hands over your head.]

'Good grief, I have been flying for so long, and I am only just arriving at the cave entrance?'

After reading the description, Lan Qingyou suddenly felt that this cave exploration might be a bit more troublesome than she had imagined.

After all, this was merely the entrance, which meant there was still a very long way to go.

However, the more difficult it was, the more excited Lan Qingyou became.

'When it comes to treasure, the deeper it is buried, the better the loot, right?'

Still, looking at the sky filled with at least a few hundred cave bats gave her a slight headache.

She only had about forty magic puppets on hand in total, and trying to exterminate so many bats would be quite strenuous.

Fortunately, even though her magic puppets were also D-rank, the bats' physical attacks could not even scratch the paint on her constructs, which were forged from steel, copper, and a sprinkling of rare minerals.

As for their sonic attacks, those were entirely ineffective against inorganic objects.

The only thing she truly needed was simply more time.

With that thought in mind, and watching the bats' utterly useless attacks, Lan Qingyou decided to take a break.

She deployed her Magic Tent. Once the Magic Shield was up, Lan Qingyou stood at the very edge of its protective radius. From there, she commanded her magic puppets in battle, controlled her Funnels to launch attacks, and used Soul Siphon to harvest Soul Crystals.

These crystals were becoming increasingly important to her now.

In the past, she had only chosen this skill because it was required for Alchemy. To her surprise, after extensive testing, she discovered that even her magic puppets could utilize them.

If she wanted to build an army of magic puppets to protect herself in the future, then these crystals would be absolutely indispensable.

Whether they flew in the sky, ran on the ground, or swam in the water, she intended to collect as many as possible. It would bring nothing but benefits to her and her future.

'At the very least, they can still be used as an ingredient for brewing potions, right?'

Just like that, amidst the clattering and clanging of battle, Lan Qingyou collected over a hundred bat Soul Crystals before retreating into her tent to rest, leaving the cleanup to her magic puppets.

Of course.

Saying it was a rest was purely relative.

Not only did she have a massive haul of Soul Crystals on hand, but she had also dragged back more than a dozen cave bat corpses.

If you wanted to understand a monster, the first thing you needed to do—aside from observing their habits—was to study their anatomical structure.

Therefore, dissection was the only way she could truly comprehend her enemies right now.

After all, she could not simply lay there all day observing them like some avid bird watcher.

Besides, she was still in the middle of a battle.

She took pictures and uploaded them to her Card, then grabbed her surgical tools and began the dissection.

She paid special attention to the physiological structure that allowed them to use sound waves as a means of attack.

Although they were biological creatures, bionic machinery was incredibly common back on Blue Star.

Especially when it came to bionic Mechanical Arms and legs, Blue Star had essentially mastered the technology entirely.

"It really is a good thing to step out and explore,"

Lan Qingyou murmured, wiping a sheen of fine sweat from her forehead after washing her hands.

Whether it was the snow wolves she encountered wandering earlier or the current cave bats, only through dissection could Lan Qingyou truly grasp the nature of these monsters.

Breathing a sigh of relief, she opened a notebook bound in wolf skin and began jotting down her findings.

This particular notebook was crafted from paper she had manufactured herself.

The cutting was handled by Orff, the cover was designed by Ruan Qingyi, and the binding was managed by Shang Chuan.

They had basically achieved mass production.

Or, at the very least, the members of Tarot Manor would no longer have to worry about running out of notebooks, toilet paper, or sanitary napkins.

Crunch!

When a sudden noise echoed from outside, Lan Qingyou poked her head out, only to find that the cave bats that had previously stuffed the cavern were completely gone.

Many of them had been killed, but comparing the corpses to the massive swarm she had seen earlier, it was obvious that quite a few had simply fled.

'They are just monsters; there is no need to hunt down every last one.'

Thus, Lan Qingyou ordered her pink infantry units to gather all the corpses, package them up, and send them straight to Shang Chuan.

After all, neither her Card nor her Herb Pouch had much spare space left.

These monster corpses would ultimately have to be processed by Shang Chuan's subordinates, who would conveniently sort out the useful materials like bat teeth, fleshy wings, and Monster Crystal Cores.

Do not be mistaken into thinking that only an Alchemist like Lan Qingyou could use these materials.

In reality, they had a multitude of uses.

For example, bones and teeth could be fashioned into weapons and arrows; hides and fur could be tailored into clothing, armor, and bedding; and the meat, once properly processed, was perfectly edible, among countless other applications.

If nothing else, the bones could be ground into powder to serve as fertilizer—which was exactly what Empress Jiang Lan did.

There was absolutely no worry about a lack of buyers.

After wrapping up these loose ends, Lan Qingyou packed away her Magic Tent and continued on her journey with her two little companions, Steel Wool and Little Spoon.