Chapter 135 - 131: Cross-species Cooperation

Chapter 135: Chapter 131: Cross-species Cooperation

The Flame, flickering in midair, completely dispelled the darkness and laid the scene within the cave bare before the five of them.

Time seemed to freeze.

Urzha, his huge body leaning forward to charge, suddenly froze. A look of utter confusion spread across his gruff face.

"What in the world is going on?"

"..."

No one answered.

Because not even Marcus, the most well-traveled of them all, had ever seen anything like it.

Sure, survival was an instinct for all living things...

But a War Lizardman in clothes and a top hat, squatting on the ground and saying "I surrender"? What in the hell was that about???

"This..."

Staring wide-eyed, he swallowed instinctively and couldn’t help but wonder if he was hallucinating.

Mirana and Furen were equally dumbfounded.

Only Lu Wei recovered quickly, his expression returning to normal after a few seconds.

Perhaps it was because he was a Transmigrator, but he had a uniquely high tolerance for absurd situations.

’So what if a War Lizardman can talk?’

’The short-form videos from my past life were far more surreal than this.’

’Especially after AI applications became widespread.’

’You could even see Einstein doing anime dances.’

’No wonder this guy didn’t come out earlier.’

’So, after all that, turns out we’ve got a lizard inventor on our hands.’

Lu Wei sized up the nearby War Lizardman with great interest, thinking to himself, ’No wonder the path was lined with traps.’

The latter was still squatting on the ground, claws clutching the brim of its top hat, begging for its life in a shrill voice:

"Hiss, don’t kill me!"

"I surrender! I surrender!"

’Hmm, it speaks the human tongue quite well.’

Lu Wei pursed his lips, about to step into the cave.

But a second later, something occurred to him, and he said coldly:

"I can spare you, but get rid of all the traps first!"

"Th-there are no traps in the cave..."

The War Lizardman looked up and said weakly, "This is Nick’s workshop. You already burned the trap on the door."

"Hm? Nick? Where is he?!"

Lu Wei frowned, his eyes cautiously scanning the area.

But the War Lizardman replied—

"I... I am Nick."

"..."

???

’It even has a damn name??’

’Oh, right.’

’Since it can talk, it’s only natural for it to have a name.’

"I hope you’re not lying to me."

After a moment’s hesitation, Lu Wei stepped over the charred remains of the door and walked into the cave.

Hess hadn’t given a warning, and nothing seemed out of place, so this Nick character was probably telling the truth.

"So you’re the leader?"

Stopping a few steps away from Nick, Lu Wei kept his right hand resting on the hilt of Confession, ready for any potential sneak attack.

But Nick seemed to lack the courage for such a thing. Still clutching its top hat, it answered with a tremble:

"Y-yes..."

"So those snares, pit traps, and Crossbow Arrow traps outside were all your work?"

"Yes, Nick likes making them..."

"Where did you get the tools and materials?"

"Most of them Nick made himself. A small portion... was stolen."

"Hmph, I knew it!"

Lu Wei sneered, done wasting words. "You know what we want. Now hand it over!"

"I-is it the human coins and Weapons?"

Nick lifted its head slightly, its pupils shrinking into thin slits from Fear. It asked, trembling:

"I’ve hidden it. I can take you to it, but will you spare me?"

’Look at that, asking such a foolish question.’

Lu Wei flashed a brilliant smile.

"No problem. Of course!"

...

...

"It’s all in here..."

A few minutes later, Nick led the group to a small side cavern.

It seemed to be a storeroom. Inside, apart from some neatly arranged tools, there was a large Wooden Box.

According to Nick, all the loot inside had been found in goblin and Kobold nests.

That included the Weapons and Equipment it used to forge its tools.

It claimed to have never killed a single Adventurer... though that only applied to itself. It had no idea if its kin had done the same.

"I don’t like eating the meat of Sub-human Creatures."

Huddled in a corner, Nick explained in a small voice, "So human Adventurers hold no temptation for me. I only set up so many traps to defend against intruders."

"Uh-huh, we completely believe you."

Lu Wei smiled and nodded repeatedly, his gaze glued to the opened Wooden Box.

’Gold Coins, Silver Coins, various trinkets, and several pieces of impressive-looking Weapons and Equipment... This is much more packed than the chest we found in the Goblin Nest!’

"Let’s move it outside first."

Now was clearly not the time to inventory the loot. At Lu Wei’s command, Urzha and Furen immediately carried the box back to the main cavern.

Nick scrambled to follow, timidly asking for confirmation:

"So you won’t kill me now, right?"

"Well, about that..."

Lu Wei plopped down behind the workbench, picked up a book titled *Detailed Explanation of Artisan Techniques*, glanced at it, and casually tossed it back onto the table.

"Let me teach you something. People only get to negotiate when they have Value. The same goes for War Lizardmen."

"Huh?"

Nick froze, not comprehending for a moment.

It just felt that the human’s smile had suddenly turned cunning.

’So... I was tricked?’

"No, no, no! Nick still has Value! Nick still has Value!"

Realizing this, it immediately began to plead desperately. "Don’t kill me! I can help you collect more loot!"

"Oh? What do you mean?"

Lu Wei’s eyes lit up. "Explain."

Nick gestured frantically. "I can have my kin find more goblin and Kobold nests and bring all the loot back!"

"But we’ve already killed all your kin," Lu Wei reminded it calmly.

"What?"

Nick’s eyes widened. "All ten of them were killed?"

"Ten?"

Lu Wei exchanged a look with Marcus. "Where did ten come from? There were only five."

Nick looked shocked. "How can that be? There were definitely ten of them."

’It doesn’t even know how many kin it has?’

Lu Wei thought for a moment. "How long has it been since you left this cave?"

"I don’t know. Maybe a month."

Nick scratched its head with a claw. Its top hat had been snatched by Urzha.

"I’ve been busy making an automaton clock lately..."

"..."

’Good grief. Its clan is nearly wiped out, and it’s in here tinkering with inventions?’

’And this thing is supposed to be the leader?’

The corner of Lu Wei’s mouth twitched. "Regardless of the number, the point is, not a single one of your kin is left. So I don’t see how you can bring us a steady supply of loot."

"No, no, I can do it myself!"

Nick’s will to survive was incredibly strong. "Nick just needs to find any male War Lizardman, and I can hatch new kin in no time!"

Hm?

Hearing this, all five of them looked astonished. Only then did they realize that Nick was actually female.

It was no wonder they’d misjudged. "Nick" was clearly a male name, and since she was wearing clothes, it was an easy mistake to make.

And if Nick was a female War Lizardman, then there really was a chance to rebuild her clan...

"That’s right!"

Suddenly, Marcus remembered something and quickly called out, "Lu Wei, the eggs!"

"Oh, right. I almost forgot."

Lu Wei remembered as well and turned to Nick. "That’s right. Your kin left behind seven or eight unhatched eggs."

"Then there’s no problem!"

Nick was instantly ecstatic, her claws waving frantically.

"I can hatch those eggs! A War Lizard needs only a month to become combat-ready, more than enough to handle goblins! Then I can go on collecting loot for you!"

"That may be, but it’s still hard to trust you."

Lu Wei pretended to mull it over. "How do we know you won’t go back on your word and run off later?"

"Nick wouldn’t!"

Nick promised hastily, "If you don’t believe me, you can stay here!"

’Yeah, right. Who the hell would want to stay here and watch you hatch eggs.’

’Besides, from the looks of it, you’d probably go right back to working on your automaton clock the second we left.’

Huh?

Wait a minute...

As he thought, Lu Wei’s eyes suddenly lit up, and an amiable smile immediately returned to his face.

"My friend, how could we not trust you?"

"We just feel that would be too unfair to you."

"In fact, we have no intention of making you work yourself to death for us. Rest assured, we won’t kill you. We can even leave right now."

"Huh... huh?"

Her swishing lizard tail suddenly stopped. The abrupt turn of events left Nick completely baffled.

Marcus, Furen, and Mirana had no idea what Lu Wei was up to either.

Only Urzha crossed his arms and nodded slightly, a look of "I see" on his face.

’Hmph, hmph. Changed his tune the moment he heard it was a female War Lizard.’

’It’s obvious.’

’Lu Wei wants to mate!’