Chapter 59: Appreciation for Talent (Request for April Monthly Tickets)

After exploring for these two nights, Lu Mian discovered that there weren't as many monsters in the outer area of the dream ruin as he had imagined.

After getting rid of the skinless monster, the hunting rifle monster, and the monster with black marks, he circled around like this and didn't encounter any targets available for hunting anymore, only discovering a few pieces of flesh and blood that could still wriggle to a certain extent.

Their only function was probably to serve as food.

And Lu Mian had long since discovered that he didn't need to eat in the dream.

Every time he came in, he was full of energy and didn't feel hungry. After exploring or fighting for a while, with the consumption of spirituality and the deepening of fatigue, he would have a state similar to hunger, but it was quite slight and didn't need extra energy supplementation.

By the time this hunger became a bit impossible to ignore, Lu Mian's spirituality and physical strength were often exhausted, and he was very tired, needing to escape the dream.

After eating and "recuperating" in reality, he would undoubtedly be full of vitality when he entered here again, without any hunger.

During the exploration, Lu Mian observed the environment while searching through each collapsed building, digging out some coins again, but there weren't many, and they didn't exceed one gold louis in total.

And as for things with words, there were only a few little blue books.

Having no choice, Lu Mian attempted to go deep into this ruin.

He went deep slowly amidst the faint gray fog, dark environment, and walls that were either collapsed or remaining.

Suddenly, he discovered a set of shallow and strange footprints.

It was even hard to say they were footprints, because the one on the left was very normal, but the corresponding one on the right was a trace left by a palm press.

Another monster? Lu Mian followed the footprints and sneaked quietly, not forgetting to examine the surroundings along the way, imagining the most suitable battle scene for different environments.

Finally, he heard a bit of movement, so he didn't go forward anymore, circled around for half a turn, climbed to the top of a collapsed building, and used the messy and heavy stones to obscure his body.

Immediately after, Lu Mian cautiously poked out part of his head and looked toward the place where the sound came from.

It was a very clean wasteland without any debris. In the center stood a guy who didn't know if he could be called a human.

"He" looked like a human at first glance, but looking closely, he was full of various disharmonies:

Two eyes grew in the position of the nose, above was the mouth, below was a pair of ears, the nose was embedded at the edge of the temple, one leg and one arm appeared in the area corresponding to the shoulder, and below the waist was also one leg and one arm. As a whole, it was as if different parts of a human were randomly pieced together.

This made Lu Mian instantly understand why the footprints he was tracking were like that.

At this time, this monster was wearing the brown short jacket and dark blue trousers often worn by the bottom-level people of Intis, barefoot and hatless, walking back and forth on the wasteland.

Lu Mian didn't rush to hunt and waited patiently to observe.

Not long after, this monster raised its arm and assumed a posture where its body bent backward and its head touched the ground.

Very good flexibility, suitable for dancing... Lu Mian sneered in his heart.

He had just flashed such a thought when that monster really started dancing.

Its movements were sometimes powerful, sometimes beautiful and gentle, sometimes strange and outrageous, but all had a very strong sense of rhythm.

More importantly, this guy seemed to have no bones. Its arms could be folded backward, and the arm and leg below could even entangle with each other.

As the prank king of Cordu village, Lu Mian instantly thought of what kind of nickname the other party could have:

Noodle Man!

And based on the discovery just now, he had a corresponding plan for the next battle:

"Don't think that flashing behind the target can avoid the attack; the Noodle Man can completely achieve consistency from front to back...

"Be careful of snake strangulation...

"Not sure if there are vital points, but since it has a head, then cut off the head first..."

As his thoughts turned, the monster's dance became more and more intense, sometimes opening an arm and a leg, jumping upward, as if to embrace the sky.

Lu Mian was even a bit infected, wishing he could twist his body and jump around with it for a round.

He couldn't help but call up a melody that his sister often played in his mind:

Boom-cha-boom-cha, boom-cha-boom-cha...

Suddenly, Lu Mian felt a bit of heat in his left chest, and faint, almost non-existent words echoed in his ears.

This made his scalp tingle slightly, his body tremble lightly, as if he would hear those mysterious sounds that made him on the verge of losing control in the next second.

Uh... Lu Mian hurriedly used his left hand to pull open his leather jacket, unbuttoned the gray-white cotton shirt inside, and looked down at his chest.

He saw the black thorn symbol that locked his heart become prominent again, while a blue-black symbol, suspected to be composed of eyes and insects, slowly emerged and pressed down on top of the former.

Lu Mian was stunned for a moment, then a thought after another flooded in:

"I didn't meditate, let alone maintain that state for several seconds...

"Triggered by the 'Noodle Man's' dance?

"His dance involves the mystical realm and contains extraordinary power?

"Fortunately, when the thorn symbol is triggered in this way, that terrifying sound can hardly be heard, not to the point of making me on the verge of death and walking toward complete loss of control. It's just that my head will twitch with pain, the slight trembling of my body won't stop, uh, my spirit is also a bit chaotic..."

Since becoming a "Hunter," Lu Mian hadn't tried meditating in the dream again to show his own specialty, because he felt the risk was much greater than before.

Before, it was just near death, and he would be fine after recovering. Now, in a near-death state, he would likely lose control, which couldn't be saved!

Moreover, he suspected that listening to those mysterious and terrifying sounds too much, even if he was lucky enough not to die or lose control and become a monster, would leave behind mental illnesses that were difficult to cure.

It wasn't that there were no other ways, so he wouldn't take risks again.

That is, two or three seconds later, Lu Mian was no longer surprised or stunned by the thorn symbol being triggered by the "Noodle Man's" dance, and an indescribable joy flooded his heart.

He could fully bear this current bad state!

"So, is there a possibility that I learn this 'Noodle Man's' dance, jump a round before hunting powerful monsters, trigger—uh, not completely trigger—the specialty I have in the dream, and then rush toward the target that has been deterred, solving it in a few moves?

"Even if relying on the dance, the 'specialty' isn't fully triggered, it should have some effect. I don't expect the target to give up resistance like the hunting rifle monster; being able to greatly weaken them is enough..." Lu Mian's thoughts surged, and the more he looked at the "Noodle Man" dancing, the more pleasing it was to his eyes.

What eyes growing in the nose position, what mouth high on the forehead, what arm acting as a leg—how could they compare to the magical dance?

In an instant, Lu Mian had a strong "appreciation for talent" and found a reason:

"Aurora said that one cannot select talents based on a unified standard, so why must it be a human and not a monster?"

He decided not to hunt the "Noodle Man" before learning that dance, and would come to observe it every night, striving to master it as soon as possible.

Of course, he intended to use the other party to do an experiment first:

He wanted to try what impact the not-fully-triggered "specialty" would have on the monster!

Lu Mian made a decision quickly, didn't button his clothes, bared his left chest, bypassed the obstruction, and jumped from the collapsed house toward that wasteland.

The "Noodle Man's" dance stopped abruptly.

It began to tremble.

It turned toward Lu Mian and crawled down, lying on the ground.

Lu Mian stopped, no longer trying to approach, and maintained a sufficiently safe distance.

That "

Lu Mian nodded imperceptibly and muttered to himself in his heart:

"Even when facing a 'special' that hasn't been fully triggered, this kind of lower-level monster will directly give up resistance and show submission...

"I don't know what would happen with those of a higher level or those with Beyonder characteristics...

"What is certain is that the effect wouldn't be this good..."

Lu Mian looked at the "Noodle Man" and revealed a smile:

"Come on, dance another one."

The "Noodle Man" didn't dare to lift its head, and it was unknown whether it understood what Lu Mian was saying.

Seeing that kind words were ineffective, Lu Mian deepened his tone:

"Hurry up, dance another one for your grandfather!"

The "Noodle Man" trembled all over, still prostrate.

Does the monster not understand human language? Then what should he use to communicate with it? Lu Mian felt a bit helpless.

He learned on the fly, using the few Hermes words he had just mastered:

"I.

"Need..."

Lu Mian didn't know how to say the rest, so he began to use physical gestures to indicate dancing.

The monster didn't even glance at him, keeping its face pressed tightly against the wasteland soil.

"Are you an idiot?" Lu Mian couldn't help but curse.

He himself felt that his cursing made no sense; after all, among the several monsters before and after, which one wasn't an idiot?

Even the hunting gun monster with the most combat intelligence was suppressed by human IQ!

Just at this moment, Lu Mian felt the slight heat in his chest disappear.

He instinctively lowered his head and saw that both the thorn symbol and the blue-black symbol had lost their traces.

Almost instantly, Lu Mian cast his gaze toward the "Noodle Man."

The "Noodle Man" happened to lift its head as well, looking at him with the eyes growing where its nose should be.

One human and one monster looked at each other, both stunned for a second.

Thump, thump, thump—Lu Mian turned his body and fled at a sprint.

The "Noodle Man" leaped up and gave fierce chase.

Lu Mian was very familiar with the surrounding environment, and his running speed was faster than the uncoordinated monster, so he easily shook it off, circled back to the wasteland, and hid in his original position.

He didn't run away because he was afraid of the opponent, but because he was worried that if they really started fighting, he wouldn't be able to hold back, and he didn't know if he could find another dancing "Noodle Man" in the dream ruins.

Before learning that mysterious dance, he didn't intend to hunt this strange monster.

After waiting for quite a while, Lu Mian saw the "Noodle Man" return to this area.

He nodded and muttered silently:

"Sure enough, monsters all have their own 'territories,' and they are accustomed to being active in a certain place or patrolling along a certain route...

"This is very similar to wild beasts..."

Next, Lu Mian patiently waited for the dance that might or might not happen.

A full two hours passed; he had consumed quite a bit of spirituality and felt a sense of hunger.

The "Noodle Man," having rested for a long time, walked to the center of the wasteland again and lifted its arms and legs.

PS: Asking for April monthly votes~

(End of chapter)