Chapter 225: Selling the Water-Spitting Crocodile Skeleton, the Story of a Former Dwarf Warrior

Looking at these two special water sacs from the water-spitting crocodile, Jier immediately thought of several ways to apply them.

Simply using them as water storage containers was the easiest, but that would be a bit of a waste; after all, a wooden bucket didn't cost much, and water skins for personal use were very common for most people. What Jier was thinking of was using them for combat—perhaps as a fire weapon, filled with flammable oil to set things ablaze during a fight?

Or, if this material wasn't afraid of corrosion, they could be filled with corrosive acid or some other liquid with special properties. If these water sacs were mounted on something similar to the toy water guns from his past life, pulling a trigger would allow one to spray special liquids over a range of several dozen meters, just like the water-spitting crocodile.

Glancing out of the corner of his eye at the Priest who was performing a Divine Art to pause the decay of the corpses nearby, Jier thought that if he filled the water sacs with the foul-smelling liquid containing the corrosive Death Aura from the living corpses, it would probably be quite effective at corroding the armor and weapons of enemies in battle.

But for now, he was just thinking about it; he carefully handed the two items to Mr. Zuojigela, asking him to use his Herbalist techniques to preserve and process the water sacs so they could be used for a long time after treatment.

"Keep them safe after you're done; I have other uses for these in the future," Jier instructed.

The Herbalist nodded: "I understand. I learned similar processing methods when I was studying, and I will handle them with care."

Afterward, Jier continued to process the carcass of the water-spitting crocodile, from which most of the monster meat had already been cut away. In reality, by now, most of the monster's body was nothing but bone and scattered bits of meat that were deeply adhered to the skeleton.

Jier had already cut and stored most of the edible monster meat into clean wooden buckets. As for the remaining scraps, he didn't intend to carefully pick them off the bones for consumption; there was no need.

Monster meat itself, beyond providing an abundance of Life Energy, was also very filling—one bite would keep a person from feeling hungry for a whole day. The meat harvested from this water-spitting crocodile would likely be enough to last Jier for a year or two.

"That's enough. I'll stop taking meat from the monster, but this entire skeleton of the water-spitting crocodile..."

Jier looked at the huge monster skeleton, which was still quite bulky and heavy after the meat was removed, and felt troubled. He didn't know if anyone would pay for the entire skeleton, or if these things, with their sturdy bones and bone plates, could be used to craft something.

Jier examined the skull of the water-spitting crocodile. Aside from the center of the forehead where he had smashed it, the rest was extremely sturdy, seemingly harder than ordinary steel, and significantly lighter than steel of the same volume.

"Could it be used to make a Shield? Or large components for armor?" he muttered to himself, guessing. However, the crocodile bones were still very fresh; not only was the surface covered in bits of adhering meat, but the interior of the bones was also filled with fresh Bone Marrow and blood.

Naturally, this thing couldn't be used directly without processing, and when it came to processing these bone materials, the Herbalist Mr. Zuojigela indicated he was unable to help.

It was impossible for Jier to put the crocodile bones into a pot to boil and then sit there sucking out the Bone Marrow; that would be far too undignified.

Therefore, he called out to Captain Ke'er, who was still talking to the Dwarf Lao Tiequan in the backyard: "Captain Ke'er of the Sweet Fruit Merchant Guild, do you have any interest in purchasing the full set of bones from this water-spitting crocodile? I can sell them to you cheaply, er, or to your Merchant Guild? Or perhaps your family?"

Suddenly hearing this suggestion from Jier, Captain Ke'er lifted the brim of his wide-brimmed hat with his hand, whispered a word to the old Dwarf he was talking to, and then walked over with a smile.

He stood at the edge of the black cloth on the ground, curiously and carefully examining the water-spitting crocodile's torso skeleton, which, even as just a skeleton, was enough to make one's breath hitch when viewed up close.

The spine of the water-spitting crocodile was as thick as a tree trunk, and at first glance, anyone who didn't know better would probably mistake the entire skull for a specimen of some powerful and rare Dragon-kin.

Needless to say, this thing had high ornamental value!

Thinking that this could be placed in the center of his own Merchant Guild's lobby to give every outsider who entered a little shock, he laughed.

"Interesting, Knight Jier. The bones of this water-spitting crocodile look quite good, but if it's only this part of the torso, missing the limbs and the important tail, then I won't pay much for it."

The limbs and the huge tail of the water-spitting crocodile were on the ground nearby. Jier nodded: "Of course, if I am to sell its skeleton, it would naturally be the full set; the limbs and tail will not be missing. However, I will not include its teeth and the sharp claws on its limbs; I hope you understand this point."

After being reminded by Jier, Captain Ke'er realized that he had only seen the shock brought by the huge skeleton and had overlooked the fact that the crocodile's upper and lower jaws were missing the important, massive teeth.

"This..."

Captain Ke'er hesitated. The thought that the huge, shocking water-spitting crocodile skeleton specimen would be missing the very things that best displayed its power—the full mouth of giant teeth and the sharp claws on the limbs—made him feel a great sense of regret.

"If that's the case, its collection value is reduced by far too much. Knight Jier, a monster without its sharp teeth is no longer a monster!" Captain Ke'er said with much regret.

Jier saw that this deal might fall through, especially since he didn't want to spend any more time and energy processing the scraps of meat and internal Bone Marrow on the entire skeleton; it was too exhausting. If he wanted to eat the Bone Marrow, he would definitely have to smash the entire skeleton, and smashed bones wouldn't sell for any price.

To sell the entire skeleton of this monster, he had to solve the problem of the missing teeth and claws. Honestly, Jier didn't want to bundle the sharp teeth of the water-spitting crocodile with the entire skeleton to sell to Captain Ke'er; after all, no matter how you looked at it, selling the giant teeth separately or finding another use for them was a way to get higher value.

"May I ask first, how much do you intend to spend on the entire set of bones of this water-spitting crocodile? I mean the entire skeleton, potentially including its sharp teeth and claws."

Jier pointed to the sharp claws on the monster's limbs that hadn't been processed yet. They were quite large, but unlike the giant teeth of the water-spitting crocodile, the monster's claws showed clear signs of wear because they were used frequently during movement.

"This, let me consider it."

Captain Ke'er summoned his attendant, asked a few questions in a low voice, and then replied to Jier: "How about I offer fifteen Gold Coins? After all, Knight Jier, you have already removed the most valuable monster skin from this crocodile monster, and a large amount of monster meat has also been taken away. For the value of it being used as a specimen collection, I can only offer a price of fifteen Gold Coins. Any more, and I feel it wouldn't be worth it, as it's not the disposal and ownership of the entire complete carcass."

Captain Ke'er added: "If you were to sell the entire fresh carcass of the water-spitting crocodile directly, the price would naturally go up much higher. Um, if you are willing to hunt another water-spitting crocodile for our Ke'er Shan Jun, or even spend some time clearing out the entire group of water-spitting crocodiles entrenched in the river, I would even be willing to represent the Ke'er family and grant you an extremely generous reward! As well as extremely high courtesy and respect in Ke'er Shan Jun."

He raised his hand, waving his wide-brimmed hat with its fiery red feathers, and said temptingly: "I can guarantee, Knight Jier, that you will become a hero of Ke'er Shan Jun and even the surrounding counties. People will sing of your deeds, taverns will recount your experiences, and you and your people will be honored guests welcomed by everyone wherever you go!"

Although the Captain spoke eloquently and passionately, Jier still smiled and refused.

"Sorry, I have come from a distant place in the Northwest Province to participate in the war against the southern neighboring country. I don't have the time right now to engage in heroics like pacifying monster infestations in a region."

"That is truly a pity. Let's return to our previous topic; my price remains the same. For the entire water-spitting crocodile monster skeleton including the sharp teeth and claws, I am willing to pay fifteen Gold Coins. If it lacks the important sharp teeth and claws, the price will drop again."

"Drop by how much?" Jier asked tentatively.

"Then I can only offer ten Gold Coins."

Captain Ke'er glanced at the huge water-spitting crocodile skeleton, feeling slightly guilty when he said ten Gold Coins. After all, wanting to buy such a large set of monster bones—a monster that no one locally could hunt—for ten Gold Coins was indeed a bit low.

But this Captain of the Sweet Fruit Merchant Guild didn't expect that as soon as he finished speaking, Jier snapped his fingers: "Fine, I'll sell it to you for ten Gold Coins. Wait until tonight when I finish processing the crocodile's limbs and tail; I'll sell you the remaining full skeleton for ten Gold Coins!"

"Ah?"

By midnight, the Warriors had all dispersed to return to the inn to rest. They were still discussing the rituals and Prayers performed by the Priests when handling the corpses earlier. That strange atmosphere and feeling made the Warriors wonder what would happen if they accidentally died?

Besides that, everyone was discussing how Lord Jier had sold the entire huge water-spitting crocodile skeleton for the low price of only ten Gold Coins. This was something they couldn't understand; after all, the Warriors followed Jier into battle and found it easy to make money, and many of them could afford ten Gold Coins.

They didn't understand why Jier sold it at such a low price? There was a feeling of impatience.

They weren't wrong; the main reason was that Jier didn't want to continue processing the fine, thin meat stuck to the monster's bones. The water-spitting crocodile's body was too sturdy; even with the Yue Shui skull and the Hunting Sword, he had to use force and be careful while cutting and processing the monster meat.

He couldn't use too much force, but if he used too little, he couldn't cut through it. It was very troublesome!

Furthermore, Jier had already harvested enough monster meat from this one water-spitting crocodile to feed himself for a long time. He really didn't have the energy to process any more of the scattered monster meat, so why not dump this trouble on the Captain of the Sweet Fruit Merchant Guild?

After all, he could still get ten Gold Coins in his hand, couldn't he? It was just that when Captain Ke'er faced the monster meat that was so tough that even ordinary people found it hard to cut with sharp blades, he wondered if this problem would give the man a headache. At that time, he hoped the man wouldn't feel that Jier had played a trick on him.

Interestingly, after the old Dwarf had a long conversation with the Merchant Guild Captain who was very interested in Dwarves, he personally gifted the other party a wooden Dwarf sculpture carved by one of his own Dwarves.

This wooden Dwarf sculpture was not only carved vividly—it was the image of a Dwarf Miner holding a Tiegao—but the carving was also painted. The bright colors covered the wooden carving patterns, making it look at first glance like a shrunken Dwarf Miner!

Captain Ke'er was very happy to receive this gift and excitedly answered several questions the old Dwarf followed up with regarding the Dwarves that appeared locally, as well as some old stories from decades ago that the old Dwarf specifically asked about.

Jier had good hearing and heard the conversation between the two in the restaurant on the first floor of the inn, guessing that this was the old Dwarf inquiring about the news of the Mine Caravan Guard Captain sent out years ago.

Although he was surprised by the inquiry into such old stories, Captain Ke'er still told some news he had heard when he was a child. After all, when that Mine Caravan Guard Captain set out, Captain Ke'er, who was in his forties, hadn't even been born yet!

Surprisingly, they actually managed to find out some information.

When Captain Ke'er was a child, he had heard from servants in his family that a powerful alien Warrior had once come to Duan Ya Cheng. Helping the newly established Ke'er Shan Jun, especially the plain area where Duan Ya Cheng was located, in exchange for payment, the Warrior had exterminated many monsters and Magic Beasts that haunted the area when it was still a Swamp and had large, undeveloped riverbank environments.

Especially the Magic Beasts; there were two Magic Beasts entrenched here at the time. One was a large snake in a section of the river downstream from Duan Ya Cheng, and the other was a giant blood-sucking leech Magic Beast in the Swamp that hadn't yet become a plain. That Dwarf Warrior who used a Long Spear had even sliced off the top of a mountain near Duan Ya Cheng during a fierce battle with the snake Magic Beast, and by lifting the huge, sliced-off rock mountain top, he smashed the snake Magic Beast into two pieces, only then defeating the opponent.

And when dealing with the blood-sucking leech Magic Beast, he had even forced several local rivers to change their course, forming the current river paths.

When Xiaoxuezi heard these stories, he was extremely excited; this was the first time he had heard of the deeds his father performed after setting out, and unlike his previous pessimistic assumptions that they had been abandoned, in the stories told by Guild Master Ke'er, that Dwarf Warrior was not only noble in character and outstanding in strength, but had also made many contributions to the Ke'er family's process of establishing Duan Ya Cheng and developing Ke'er Shan Jun.

It was just a pity that the Dwarf Warrior only stayed in the local area for a very short time before leaving, heading east. At that time, Ke'er Shan Jun did not have the wide and "easy to travel" Shanglu it has today, only a pioneering road barely cleared by logging along the mountain forests.

In fact, there was no such thing as Ke'er Shan Jun at first; it was only when the Earl of the province hired a Mage to fly and map the Southern Province that they discovered this enclosed, fairly large, flat, and river-rich good land in an area blocked and obstructed by continuous mountain peaks on all sides.

Only then did it give rise to the deeds of the first Baron Ke'er leading his clansmen and a large number of migrants to risk passing through the mountain forest obstacles to come to this area and establish Duan Ya Cheng.

Speaking of establishing Duan Ya Cheng, Guild Master Ke'er seemed to become interested and spoke endlessly about how the family elders, over the course of several decades, started from nothing and gradually relied on a pioneering spirit to build the current scenery in this wild area.

At this time, Guild Master Ke'er took the initiative to lead the old Dwarf and the others out of the inn, gesturing toward the vast fields that, although it was night, could still be seen by the moonlight. Between the wide stretches of farmland were scattered Human Villages, and even at night, many farmers were taking advantage of the darkness to tend to their own fields.

Looking at such scenery, such a scene full of vitality, Guild Master Ke'er proudly told the old Dwarf and the others about the current achievements of the Ke'er family.

The old Dwarf and the others had complex expressions; for one thing, this place had originally been Dwarf land a hundred years ago, and seeing the Kingdom's ancestral land occupied by Humans, they, as remnants also forgotten by the Kingdom, felt a mix of emotions.

Secondly, they had to sigh that Humans had indeed developed these places very well; after all, the land under their feet had been held by their Dwarves for hundreds or thousands of years, but apart from establishing a huge Cuikuang collection and smelting base in the west, the Dwarves' degree of development in this mountain-covered area of the Southern Province was truly very limited.

Jier, on the other hand, was casually processing the thick skin on the limbs of the Water-Spitting Crocodile, peeling it off, and a disdainful smile appeared on his face. Guild Master Ke'er was right to be proud of the family's development of this plain, but why didn't he mention the other parts of Ke'er Shan Jun?

Almost all other large areas of Ke'er Shan Jun were in a semi-abandoned state by the Baron Ke'er family, or even in a state of power trusteeship, having entrusted the handling of other northern and southern areas to two other forces.

Of course, the shitty terrain of this Ke'er Shan Jun also limited the development of the local area; with inconvenient transportation, plus the various Monsters and Magic Beasts lurking in the mountain forests, it was actually impossible to develop it well.

Jier shook his head, his hands becoming nimble.

Early the next morning, just as Jier's caravan was preparing to set off, the corpse-transporting carriage borrowed the previous night was finally driven over by a Town Guard of Duan Ya Cheng.

The carriage seemed to have been carefully cleaned, especially since the stench of the corpse on the carriage was gone; it was unknown how the Church Priests of the God of the Dead had managed it. In the backyard of the inn, the huge Water-Spitting Crocodile skeleton, covered in blood and minced meat, was left by Jier in the yard, unmoved.

After all, Guild Master Ke'er had paid him in full the previous night, so he naturally couldn't wait to hand over this Water-Spitting Crocodile corpse skeleton; how to deal with it later, how to remove the minced meat on it, how to remove the fresh Bone Marrow from the bones, and even how to transport it away, were no longer his problems, but Guild Master Ke'er's own problems.

After packing the wooden barrels filled with Monster meat, Jier did not eat with the others this morning; he separately and personally used the charcoal grill in the inn's kitchen to roast some fresh Monster liver chunks skewered on wooden branches until they were thoroughly cooked, and he ate at least one kilogram of the roasted liver in big mouthfuls.

Not long after finishing, Jier could feel the newly emerged Life Energy bursting forth from his stomach and intestines to all parts of his body; unlike the Water Ghost meat and Harpy meat that Knight Kela had prepared for him before, the liver of this Water-Spitting Crocodile seemed to have a stronger effect.

It was possible that Jier's perception of his own internal body had also improved a lot; his perception was poor when he first started Knight Training, and he might not have noticed the changes in his body after eating Monster meat back then.

But it was different now; Jier did not ride a horse, but lay in his own carriage letting Xueya Site drive, while he held the 【Yamila no Me】 in his hand, carefully experiencing how his body produced Life Energy after eating Monster meat, and how this fresh Life Energy strengthened and influenced his physical fitness.

The people in the caravan did not see Jier riding the Tianxuecao, but they understood; after all, Jier had been busy until the early hours of the morning the previous night to finish processing the entire Water-Spitting Crocodile corpse.

The thick skin, teeth, and claws of the Monster were the best Monster materials harvested, while that Monster meat was the source for Jier to replenish his Life Energy for a long time to come. The dirty water and minced meat produced during processing were not wasted either; they were all fed to the Shapeshifter.

Even the Water-Spitting Crocodile skeleton, which Jier didn't know how to handle, was quickly sold off by him for a small price.

Jier lay comfortably in his carriage and smiled happily.

?? There is another chapter tonight, but it might be after midnight.