The earth stinger's massive pincer, carrying a rush of wind, crashed down toward Elon's head.
In the next second, however, it was steadily caught by Elon's raised left hand. The attack seemed incredibly powerful, yet it ended without a sound.
Then, the palm Elon had placed on the earth stinger's head began to glow with a vibrant emerald light.
The light split into two streams. One traveled from Elon's right palm up through his arm and shoulder into his left hand, while the other flowed through the earth stinger's head and into the massive pincer held by Elon's left hand.
A loop formed between them, as if establishing a contract.
Everyone around them subconsciously held their breath, realizing the situation had reached a critical juncture.
A moment later, the emerald loop of light gradually dimmed, and after a few more breaths, it vanished from both of them.
Elon slowly opened his eyes, nodded gently to the earth stinger before him, and spoke a long string of syllables in a low tone that no one could understand.
The earth stinger's body shuddered slightly, and it let out a series of clicking sounds as if in response.
Only then did Elon turn to look at Ksaz, smiling as he said, “You can let go now. It won't attack you anymore.”
Hearing this, Ksaz first glanced at Shane, who nodded to confirm Elon's words.
So Ksaz took a deep breath, carefully released the earth stinger's giant pincers, and immediately backed away to a safe distance.
Just as Elon had said, after being freed from the restraint, the earth stinger did not lash out. Instead, it took a few steps back, maintaining a respectful distance from them.
“Don't worry. This is the earth stinger's own etiquette, showing that it has acknowledged our presence.”
Elon gestured to the surrounding people, then raised his other hand to summon an owl phantom.
He held the phantom close to his mouth, whispering some instructions, before releasing it to fly back toward the camp.
The earth stinger remained standing there quietly, showing no tension at Elon's actions. Shane glanced at the creature and asked curiously, “What do we do next? Is it just going to stand there and watch us?”
“No.”
Elon gave Shane a smug look, practically radiating a "see how amazing I am" vibe, though his voice remained quite steady. “I just had a brief communication with it and signed a contract. Now, it's time to fulfill our end of the bargain.”
Shane raised an eyebrow, curious to ask about the terms of the contract Elon had signed with the earth stinger.
But seeing the old man's smug expression, he kept quiet, knowing the answer would reveal itself soon enough anyway.
A few minutes later, a servant carrying two bags appeared on a camel at the crest of the sandy slope.
The servant slid down the slope, guiding the camel right up to the two men.
He dismounted and quickly handed the bags to Elon. From the look of it, the bags weren't very heavy.
“Lord Elon, Her Highness had me bring these. Everything has been prepared according to your instructions.”
Elon took the bags, untied them to peer inside, and once satisfied, stepped forward, stopping about three to five paces from the earth stinger.
He first opened the smaller bag, took out a few beans, and held them out to the earth stinger. “These are dry beans freshly harvested from our oasis. Though small in quantity, they contain extremely high life energy.”
The earth stinger leaned its body forward. After staring at the beans for a moment, its body began to sway, seemingly very pleased with the dry beans.
“It seems you like them.”
The corners of Elon's mouth curled up. He put the beans back into the bag and immediately opened the other one. “This is ordinary human food—some flatbread and dried meat. Though the life energy isn't as rich as the beans, it's perfect for filling the belly.”
“Since you have five larvae to care for, these will be a little extra on top of the beans.”
The earth stinger drew closer again, and after a moment, it let out a short click, seemingly expressing its gratitude.
Elon then chanted some strange syllables and waved his hand in two circles over the bags. The openings of both bags tightened simultaneously, a ring of emerald light appearing at the knots.
“I've bound them with magic so they'll be easy to open once you get back. Taking the contents out won't be much trouble. The rest is up to you.”
As he spoke, Elon placed the two bags near the earth stinger's giant pincers. Though the limbs looked clumsy, they were actually quite nimble, easily pinching the bags.
After doing all this, Elon conversed with the earth stinger for a little longer.
Finally, after leaning its body forward once more, the earth stinger began to retreat. Soon, dust billowed again, and its massive form disappeared beneath the sandy surface.
“Phew... it's over.”
Elon let out a long breath and turned to look at Shane, the smugness on his face impossible to hide. But Shane just stood there, looking at him skeptically. “That easily? Can you guarantee it won't come back?”
“Of course not. After all, the contract I signed with it is food in exchange for labor, not banishment.”
Elon turned toward the direction of the incoming quicksand and said, “I told it that as long as we provide food, it must not harass us, and it has to help us with a few tasks in return—such as monitoring the movement of the quicksand.”
“After all, it is far more familiar with this environment than we are, and it understands the quicksand's condition better than I do. Entrusting this task to it isn't a difficult request.”
That was actually good news. Shane's eyes lit up slightly, but then he recalled the amount of food Elon had just given out and couldn't help but ask, “If that's the case, wasn't that amount of food too little? It looked like... one portion for a single human at most.”
“You don't need to worry about that.”
Elon answered without a moment's hesitation, as if he had long anticipated this question. “Desert creatures absorb life energy many times more efficiently than we do. Therefore, that amount is more than enough to sustain their family for over ten days.”
Shane nodded. Since that was the case, the earth stinger problem was successfully resolved. He glanced at Ksaz and the other sand scalers nearby, finding them celebrating the successful resolution.
“Since you can communicate with the earth stinger, then last time...”
Following Shane's gaze to Ksaz, Elon understood what he meant. For a moment, Elon fell silent, a complex look crossing his face, but he spoke sincerely. “Because back then, I couldn't do it.”
“Hmm?”
“The animal communication I mastered in the past only allowed me to connect with gentle, highly obedient creatures, like livestock, hounds, and birds. With something like an earth stinger, it was theoretically impossible for me to establish a connection.”
Seeing the puzzled expression on Shane's face, Elon explained, “But after advancing under your influence, everything changed—not just my direction of development, but also my abilities.”
“So...”
Elon suddenly wore a warm, gentle smile, looking like an elder encouraging a junior not to lose heart. “The credit today still belongs to you. If it weren't for the beans you helped grow, even if I could communicate with the earth stinger, the problem wouldn't have been resolved so perfectly.”
Shane resisted the urge to roll his eyes, though his cheek twitched slightly.
This old guy could say things like that without batting an eye.
Perhaps to hide his internal awkwardness, Shane turned to look at the sandpit, which was already starting to take shape. He raised a hand and said, “Alright, now that the earth stinger issue is solved, it's time to focus on the quicksand.”
“Back to work!”
Rate on N.U.
