Chapter 26 - Tide-class Honkai Beast

"All encounters in the world are reunions after a long separation."

That saying was utter bullshit — Lu Xing, who had once firmly believed in it, now had only this reaction in his mind after seeing the information transmitted by [Appraisal].

Race: Variant Tide-class

Level: 57

Other: Unknown

"Good news! Good news!"

"The Jiangnan Leather Factory... Pfft, pfft!"

Speak of the devil, and he shall appear.

Lu Xing even suspected that when the System issued the random mission, it already knew there was such a Tide-class Honkai Beast nearby.

But!

How could Lu Xing possibly defeat a level 57 Honkai Beast!

Even if the "Tide-class" wasn't in a Honkai Beast tier equal to or higher than the Floater-class, Lu Xing wouldn't stand a chance against an ordinary level 57 Ranger-class, okay!

"..."

His agitated emotions began to slowly subside.

Lu Xing started to seriously ponder the significance of this [Tide-class]'s existence.

First.

The Tide-class, much like the Floater-class, were Honkai Beasts that lived in the deep sea. This meant the area he was in wasn't inland as he had initially imagined, but rather a coastal desert more commonly found in the Southern Hemisphere.

However, he still couldn't determine the specific location.

Second.

Lu Xing concentrated, carefully sensing the aura of the Tide-class Honkai Beast — Lu Xing had completely failed to detect it earlier.

Then he discovered that this creature's size far exceeded his imagination.

The ultra-high level of Lv.57 brought not only an oppressive sense of power but also an insane expansion in size.

Its body length exceeded that of a football field, and its height was nearly that of a five-story building.

Buried beneath Lu Xing's feet was precisely such a terrifying behemoth.

Third.

Not only was this creature asleep, but it also appeared to be heavily injured.

Lu Xing, at Lv.23, could already lock down his Honkai energy without any leakage. There was no reason a Lv.57 Tide-class couldn't do the same.

So, even without discovering any obvious signs, Lu Xing was still very certain this creature was injured.

Judging by the thickness of the soil layer at the oasis, the Tide-class should have been dormant here for a considerable time, at least measurable in "years."

Such a sleeping giant...

"Ehehe! (Popi sound)"

————

There was no way he was going to be cheeky.

Lu Xing had no intention of trying such a death-defying stunt.

Although he had poked the large "shell" underground quite a bit when he didn't know what it was, now that he knew the truth, it was better to restrain such thoughts.

It was hard to say how strong a Lv.57 was.

But just the portion of Honkai energy leaking from it was enough to rapidly restore his own depleted reserves — a creature of this caliber could probably blow Lu Xing away with a sneeze.

Considering the reward was an entertainment product like [A Salted Fish]... Lu Xing lost the urge to take the risk.

After taking another two forceful gulps of Honkai energy, topping up his internal reserves to 80%, Lu Xing quickly took to his heels and fled this dangerous place.

"Gotta dash, gotta dash."

But just as he had formulated his escape plan, an idea suddenly shot into his mind.

Based on past experience.

The stronger the opponent Lu Xing fought (the higher their level), the more experience points he would gain after the battle — this calculation method wasn't based on killing the target; in other words, as long as he fought, he would get experience.

Like in his previous encounters with humans.

Although the continuous leveling up, like popping beans, looked exaggerated, his level hadn't actually increased that much — considering each of them possessed combat power far exceeding "Little Purple's," they should have provided Lu Xing with more experience points. After all, sparring with "Little Purple" for less than a week had allowed Lu Xing to level up continuously.

In other words.

The experience points gained from defeating (killing) a target didn't account for a significantly larger portion than those gained during the combat process itself.

To put it another way.

If he could have an intense "clash" with this Tide-class... wouldn't his experience points shoot up like a geyser?

A direct confrontation was absolutely impossible, but—

"Thud."

A pale yellow sphere appeared on Lu Xing's wing.

[Ballista] projectiles, with unstable Honkai energy mixed inside and an outer shell made from fine sand, were "neatly arranged" on the ground by Lu Xing, like fruits shaken from an apricot tree.

A single [Ballista] projectile didn't consume much Honkai energy. Even with large-scale batch production, the consumed portion could quickly be replenished by the "spring" underground.

This move, ah...

This move was called "Repaying a drop of kindness with a gushing spring!"

Lu Xing didn't feel the flow of time at all.

His speed in creating [Ballista] projectiles became faster and faster, his movements more and more skillful — soon, he became so proficient that the "spring's" energy supply rate was somewhat struggling to keep up with Lu Xing's consumption.

A full two hours later.

At the location of the former oasis, Lu Xing had built a small hill composed of [Ballista] projectiles — its color, identical to the desert, made it look completely congruous with the surroundings.

"Complete!"

Lu Xing had no ability to actively control the explosion of the [Ballista] projectiles.

These small bombs had to be detonated by impact — at some point in the future, they would become the alarm clock to wake up the Tide-class: whether it rolled over and detonated them itself, or a slightly stronger sandstorm came along...

Speaking of sandstorms.

Lu Xing seemed to feel the wind picking up, becoming more urgent.

Coastal deserts, due to the significant temperature difference between the ocean and land (during the day), would mostly trigger rapid and powerful air currents during the hottest time of the day (around two in the afternoon).

The possibility of this phenomenon occurring at night was not excluded.

Sensing the subtle changes again, it was time for Lu Xing to quicken his pace, preferably a pace that would take him far beyond this big guy's detection range—

"This time, I'm really bailing."

————

Time zoomed by, and two weeks later.

Beyond the endless yellow sand, Lu Xing finally saw a different kind of scenery.

A dilapidated highway, collapsed earthen houses, and a signpost so blurry that no information could be discerned from it.

Finally.

Lu Xing had once again arrived near a place inhabited by people (or Honkai).

And by this time, his level had reached 25 — yes, the extra two levels were from that "fierce battle" where he could still faintly hear the subtle explosions from over 15 kilometers away.

The Tide-class's mood upon waking up wouldn't be too mild.

But what did that have to do with his innocent self?

Lu Xing hadn't seen any other life along this entire journey.

So...

When he saw that Ranger-class beast hovering and patrolling the edge of a city, its body swaying as it flew back and forth along a predetermined route.

He truly felt a sense of warmth, as if he were seeing "Little Purple" again.

"Hey, bro!"

————