Chapter 117: Explosive Scales!

Gervas observed the wound for a moment, then used his dagger to pry off a piece of blue scale from its edge.

The scale was hard in texture and extremely heavy, with the feel of iron.

"Lei Meng, try slicing it with your sword!"

Gervas placed the scale on the edge of the raft.

Lei Meng nodded and drew his longsword.

Ding! The blade struck the scale precisely, leaving only a scratch about one centimeter long on its surface.

"Try using Battle Qi!"

Lei Meng immediately channeled Battle Qi and slashed at the scale again.

Crack!

The Starblade, wrapped in glowing Battle Qi, flashed past.

This time, the scale broke cleanly in two.

Still, Gervas was satisfied with its defensive power.

"With this level of defense, if processed into scale armor or iron plates, it's not inferior to forged iron…"

As he spoke halfway through, Gervas's expression suddenly changed, and he hurled the scale into the sea.

Boom—! Boom—!

Two explosions roared, spraying up massive waves of water!

"This…"

Lei Meng and several knight retainers stared in shock.

They had no idea what had just happened!

The explosion was powerful, blasting a large spray of seawater that soaked everyone on the raft to the bone.

Only then did Gervas regain his composure, silently exclaiming, "Damn!"

Fortunately, he reacted quickly enough to throw the severed scale away—otherwise, even as a Bronze Knight, he might have lost both hands.

This power was comparable to a tactical grenade.

Just now, as Gervas was speaking, he suddenly felt intense heat burning his palm, accompanied by the scale swelling.

Without hesitation, he tossed it away—and narrowly escaped disaster.

At that moment, he recalled the system's warning.

This Flameburst Blue Scale Beast was unusual—its magic wasn't in its flesh, but concentrated entirely in its scales.

"System, please be clearer next time!"

Now, Gervas looked at the sea beast's scales not with delight, but with deep reverence.

One scale was equivalent to a tactical grenade; this giant beast had tens of thousands of them.

If they all exploded at once, how terrifying would that be?

Fortunately, the scales only exploded after being completely destroyed.

So simple movement posed no risk.

To be safe, he tested it twice more—and confirmed his hypothesis.

Only a direct cut cleaving it cleanly in two would trigger an explosion; even deep gouges wouldn't set it off.

Thus, Gervas notified the other rafts: do not damage the scales.

Though they likely couldn't manage it without Battle Qi anyway.

But better safe than sorry.

Soon, they drove massive wooden stakes into the sea beast's wound and tied them fast with hemp ropes.

Thus, the colossal creature was dragged by the Stormbringer away from the reef zone toward the shore.

An hour and more later, Stormbringer Coast.

When the giant sea beast appeared, everyone on shore froze—some timid serfs even pissed themselves on the spot.

Fortunately, Thomas spotted the Stormbringer and managed to regroup the serfs.

"Good heavens, what a massive sea beast! Is… is this what our lord hunted?"

"Of course! Didn't you see the ropes? It's tied to the Stormbringer—unless the sea beast tied itself on, who else could've killed it?"

"Our lord is mighty!"

Once the serfs understood the situation, they calmed down, once again attributing the feat to their lord's prowess.

Since it had been hunted by their lord, it was no different from the swamp giants and demons of before—completely harmless.

Thus, one by one, the serfs excitedly ran toward the shore, eager to see the giant sea beast up close!

"Congratulations, my lord! Your might is unmatched!"

Thomas arrived at the makeshift dock at once, his eyes filled with awe and reverence for his lord.

Like the serfs, he too believed their lord had slain the giant sea beast.

But Gervas clearly had no interest in such false glory—it was too much of a lie.

Other nobles might not care, but he still had some dignity to preserve.

"Thomas, I didn't kill this. I can't do that yet. I found this sea beast."

But Gervas didn't realize that to Thomas and the others, his explanation only made things stranger: "Found… found it?"

Could you just find a sea beast this big out at sea?

Thomas and the serfs were stunned!

But Gervas was pressed for time and couldn't afford delays.

"Thomas, send men back to Stormbringer immediately and summon a thousand serfs—we must process this sea beast as fast as possible!"

"Its flesh is like sea fish; it can become the finest cured meat."

"By the way, remember to summon Witch Isabella and inform her that if the sea beast's scaled armor is damaged, it will explode...!"

Gervas emphasized the matter of the magic scaled armor.

Although Isabella is not an alchemist, witches certainly conduct research on these magical biological materials.

Therefore, having her come to assist is the most suitable choice!

Easter Island.

This is the name the villagers gave the island themselves.

It signifies their escape from noble oppression and their rebirth.

Inside the village's spacious meeting hall, the village head and several village representatives were deliberating.

"My lord, I think we could attempt to make contact with the lord of Storm Domain; after all, given a noble's pride, he would never use schemes to deceive us."

"If he truly wanted to kill us, he would only need to send soldiers to the island, and we would be unable to resist!"

"What about you? Do you share the same thoughts as Bernard?"

After hearing Bernard's words, the village head did not answer immediately but looked at the other village representatives.

Facing the village head's sharp gaze, all the other representatives lowered their heads.

Only then did the village head nod in satisfaction and say coldly to Bernard, "Bernard, do you see? On this Easter Island, you are the only one who still thinks of returning to serve the nobles!"

"Have you forgotten who we are? We are refugees; if caught by the nobles, we are doomed to die!"

"Moreover, over ten years ago, if the nobles had not wanted to kill us, how could I have led you all to flee to the sea?"

"My lord, it is not that I wish to serve the nobles, but since a sea ship has appeared on the sea surface again just now, it proves that the nobles will absolutely not allow us to continue living on Easter Island."

"To avoid the nobles, in a fit of rage, launching a direct attack, communicating with them in advance to test their intentions is the most correct course of action."

"Otherwise, when the lord of Storm Domain sends a massive army to land, relying on our hundred-plus people, we simply cannot resist!"

"Who says we cannot resist? This is the sea, not the land; as long as we unite, even if the nobles send more people, we can drive them away!"

The village head's tone was firm.

This made Bernard even more strange; the village head of old was very rational and intelligent and should have known his proposal was correct.

How could he now, upon hearing the suggestion to contact the nobles, become so irritable?

Could it be as I suspected, that when we fled back then, the village head concealed something from us?