Chapter 102: The Avengers Assemble

Hearing the metallic clang, Ye Da finally breathed a slight sigh of relief. Fortunately, he had blocked it—he hadn’t expected the queen bee’s final counterattack to be so fierce.

Ye Da lowered his arm and glanced at it, noticing a black stinger embedded in his petrified arm. At the base of the stinger was a small stone fin, resembling the tail wing of a dart. No wonder this species was called the Poison Dart Bee—it was named for their venomous stingers shaped like darts.

[Beast Taming Successful!]

After Ye Da blocked the queen bee’s last strike, she immediately seemed to lose all strength and went limp, ceasing her resistance. At the very moment the “Beast Taming Successful” notification appeared, Ye Da suddenly felt a connection, as if their minds were linked. This sensation was hard to describe—like the insect could understand his words and intentions.

So…

Ye Da issued her a command.

“Fly up and take a look!”

“Buzz, buzz!”

The queen bee flapped her wings, and Ye Da’s mind automatically received some information.

“Master, I’m dying.”

“Uh…”

Ye Da was speechless upon receiving this message. What the hell? After risking his life nearly getting stung by the Poison Dart Bee, this was the result? The queen bee was about to die.

Yet, somehow, since their mental connection formed, hearing the queen bee say she was dying made Ye Da feel a faint sadness—as though a dear friend or beloved pet was about to perish. He even felt an urge to heal her.

“This is Bloodflower, an essential ingredient for making life potions. Would some honey made from Bloodflower nectar help you?” Ye Da pulled out an herb he had picked from the territory of the Rotwolf. He had hastily gathered it before digging the beehive and hadn’t yet made it into a life potion. He didn’t know if it would work on the queen bee, but at this point, he had to try whatever he could.

“Master… this flower does nothing for me. Most of the honey the hive collects is from this flower,” the queen bee’s voice grew weaker. “What I need now… is an antidote.”

“Antidote?”

“The flower liquid of the Venus flytrap can remove the poison in my body.”

“Venus flytrap?” Ye Da quickly asked. “Where is it?”

“To the east… east.”

After saying this, the queen bee fell silent and motionless. Ye Da was relieved that their faint spiritual link allowed him to detect that she was only unconscious, not dead, preventing him from treating her like a lifeless bee.

However, the queen bee only told him to find the Venus flytrap’s flower liquid to cure the poison, without specifying its exact location. That made things difficult.

“Wait, I have a monster distribution map. The Venus flytrap should count as a monster, right?” Ye Da placed the queen bee into his pocket. To avoid accidentally crushing her, he conjured a hollow stone sphere using stone elements. Inside the sphere, he stuffed some dried grass to serve as a small protective nest.

After settling the queen bee, Ye Da took out the monster distribution map and flipped it open. Sure enough, it was there.

[Devouring Venus Flytrap: A giant carnivorous plant capable of swallowing small animals whole. Non-venomous, its flower liquid possesses strong corrosive properties and can be used to make antidotes.]

[PS: The flower sacs of the Devouring Venus Flytrap, once cleaned and combined with its tough cages, can be used to craft water bombs!]

The Devouring Venus Flytrap had quite a few uses.

Just as Ye Da was about to close the map, he noticed a small note next to the entry.

[The Devouring Venus Flytrap is the nemesis of the Sandworm.]

Nemesis of the Sandworm? What did that mean? Ye Da quickly searched the map for the Sandworm. However, the map was densely packed with monster icons, making it difficult to find.

“Sandworm… sand and worm.” Ye Da muttered as he searched.

Usually, monster names reflected their habits or appearances. For example, the Poison Dart Bee was named for its dart-shaped venomous sting, and the Rotwolf was named because it was essentially a decaying wolf carcass.

So, the Sandworm was likely a creature associated with sand and worms, probably related to its way of life.

“Found it!” Ye Da quickly located the desert region on the map, then searched within it until he spotted the Sandworm’s location.

[Sandworm: Juveniles resemble giant pythons, while adults grow to enormous sizes. They have a lifespan of over a hundred years. Their skin possesses unique spatial properties and is a crucial material for crafting and upgrading magical storage backpacks.]

[PS: Sandworms prefer dry environments and fear water. Contact with water hardens their skin, and full immersion causes instant death. Their only source of water is by preying on creatures passing through the desert, supplementing their hydration.]

“Huh? It’s a key material for upgrading storage backpacks!” Ye Da’s eyes lit up upon reading this. Though his basic magic storage backpack had already been upgraded once, it still lacked capacity. If he could catch some Sandworms using the Devouring Venus Flytrap, that would be perfect.

But the smallest Sandworms were as large as giant pythons. Were the Devouring Venus Flytraps big enough to catch them?

Still puzzled, Ye Da headed toward the Devouring Venus Flytrap’s marked location on the map.

Yet, not far into his walk, he faintly heard noisy footsteps coming from the west.

What was going on?

Ye Da paused. The footsteps didn’t sound like an animal’s, but rather those of a bipedal beast.

Humans? Players?

No, those players were supposed to come from the north. Why were they suddenly in the west?

Ye Da peered behind a stone hill, and his analysis glasses quickly gave an answer.

[Cannibals: A group of second to fourth-tier cannibals is approaching. They are skilled hunters seeking revenge for their fallen chieftain!]

The Avengers?! Ye Da was stunned by this message.

Who would have thought that killing a few cannibals would bring their vengeance upon him? He clearly remembered leaving no trace or witnesses at the scene; how did these cannibals know it was him?

As expected…

Having a base always carried the risk of being raided.

But…

With cannibals to the west and players to the east, perhaps…

Ye Da’s lips curled into a slight smile as a brilliant idea formed.

Maybe…

He could do nothing at all and reap the benefits of others’ struggles!