Chapter 222: Opening a Treasure Chest

“Clean up the battlefield.”

Gu Su stood on the wall, looking down at the now-quiet wilderness below, and calmly spoke a few words.

The city gates slowly swung open. The two large doors, welded from sheets of iron, let out a low groan as another layer of rust was ground from their hinges.

The ramp at the entrance was lowered by vines. The wooden planks, reinforced with guardrails on both sides, slotted securely into grooves in the ground, forming a stable path from the gate to the battlefield.

Ordinary Skeletons that hadn’t been promoted to Warriors poured out of the gates. They wore no armor and carried no swords, only cloth sacks and coarse hemp ropes they had received from Bone Ash.

These Skeletons weren’t for fighting, only for hauling.

They crossed the ramp and fanned out across the battlefield, squatting down to pick up the scattered rabbit corpses piece by piece and stuff them into their sacks.

Some corpses were too large for one Skeleton to drag, so two would carry them together. Others had been blasted to pieces and were shoveled into baskets.

Below the wall, the thick vines began to stir.

They emerged from cracks at the base of the wall, some as thick as arms, others as thin as fingers. One by one, they stretched to the edge of the battlefield and unfurled their leaves.

The leaves were as large as washbasins, with serrated edges and a covering of fine, frost-like white hairs.

The leaves curled around the scattered bits of flesh, Broken Bones, and bloody fur on the ground. This was all the debris the rabbits hadn’t had time to absorb while devouring each other, as well as the remnants left after the Soul Summoning Technique had exploded.

As the leaves rolled up, the contents were enveloped and, with a SIZZLE, dissolved into a viscous slurry that flowed back down the vines’ veins to the base of the wall.

That was the Graveyard Demon reclaiming nutrients, unwilling to waste even a single scrap.

The Skeletons spread out over the battlefield with a clear division of labor. One squad specialized in collecting bones—whether from rabbits or from their own fallen comrades—gathering them all and packing them into hemp sacks.

Another squad specialized in collecting pelts, carefully peeling off the tattered rabbit hides, shaking off the dirt and bits of flesh, and stacking them neatly.

Those rabbit pelts were the most valuable spoils of this battle.

By the end of the fight, the rabbits had been devouring each other—the big eating the small, the living eating the dead—layering who knows how many hides onto their bodies.

Some pelts showed three or four layers of different colored fur: a gray layer on the bottom, covered by a brown one, with a reddish layer on the very top. The hides were unbelievably thick; you couldn’t even dig a fingernail into them.

The ordinary rabbit pelts were good enough on their own, but among them, the Skeletons had sorted out three that glowed with a green light.

[Deceitful Song Rabbit Hide (Green): The hide of a fused Deceitful Song Rabbit. Can be used to craft Leather Armor or repair damaged sails.]

But this wasn’t Gu Su’s biggest prize. This time, the Skeletons had found a green rabbit head.

Although the rabbit head was only the size of his palm, and its grayish-white fur was matted with blood and mud, none of that could hide the green light emanating from within.

The light wasn’t shining onto it, but seeping out from inside, as if something was glowing within the head.

The rabbit’s mouth was half-open, revealing two rows of fine teeth with bits of flesh still stuck between them.

Its eye sockets were empty, but as Gu Su stared into them, he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was staring back.

This was a Treasure Chest.

Just like the gas pump that appeared after the battle at the gas station, or the egg that coalesced after the Lizardman’s death, it was a rule of this world: when an enemy died, the dissipating energy would sometimes automatically form a Treasure Chest.

So, the appearance of this rabbit head didn’t surprise Gu Su in the slightest.

He held the rabbit head in both hands, placed his thumbs on the upper jaw and his other fingers on the lower jaw, and pulled—

SNAP.

The rabbit head split open at the mouth. It didn’t shatter but separated cleanly along the jaw’s suture line, as if cut by a knife.

A ball of green light surged from the crack, carrying several items. It somersaulted in mid-air before landing in front of Gu Su.

[You have opened the Deceitful Song Treasure Chest (Green). You have received 765 Gold Coins and 4 Gemstones.]

Gu Su looked down, and his eyes immediately lit up.

The first item was a thin booklet with a yellowed paper cover and curled corners. A few words were scrawled across the top in a crooked hand.

[Mysterious Handwritten Manuscript (White): Influenced by a strange aura. Can be used to record the names, origins, and weaknesses of three strange beings from certain stories (the quality of the strange beings cannot exceed White).]

The second item was a glob of viscous stuff in a transparent bag. It was a murky, reddish-black color, thick like unrefined oil.

When the bag was tilted, the contents oozed slowly downward, even more sluggishly than honey.

[Fused Contaminated Blood (White): Blood that has undergone multiple fusions. It contains too much strange Power and cannot be used without processing (equivalent to heavy oil).]

The third item was a tooth, twice as long as a normal rabbit’s incisor. It was curved and sharp, with a dark red sheen on its surface. When he held it, he could feel something squirming inside, as if it were alive, but not completely.

[Deceitful Fang (White): A fang concentrated with strange Power. Can be used to defend against the Attacks of other strange Powers.]

Gu Su set these items aside. When he picked up the last one, he was visibly stunned for a moment.

It was a rabbit’s foot. Not a real one, but a charm of some sort, palm-sized and furry. Its four toes were curled together, and a faded red string was tied around the heel. 𝔣𝖗ⅇℯ

The entire foot glowed green.

[Lucky Rabbit’s Paw (Green, Mobile City Equipment)]

[When Equipped: Movement speed increased by 20%.]

[Equipment Requirements: Must be installed on a mobile track or movement system.]

[Special 1: Leap. Allows the Mobile City to perform a massive jump, reaching a height of about three meters and covering a distance of one thousand meters (can only be used once per day).]

[Special 2: Full-Throttle Acceleration. Consumes triple energy to double movement speed for one hour (can only be used once per day).]

[Explanation: You can never catch a rabbit.]

Gu Su stared at the lines of text, his fingers gripping the rabbit’s paw so tightly his knuckles turned white.

A twenty percent increase in movement speed. That was a solid upgrade.

The Graveyard Demon’s current speed was three kilometers per hour. With this twenty percent increase, that would become three point six kilometers per hour. It wasn’t fast, but it was a noticeable improvement.

The one-thousand-meter leap was even more astounding. A three-meter-high jump covering a full kilometer—it could cross ravines, rivers, and other impassable terrain in a single bound.

Even though it could only be used once a day, once was enough.

He took a deep breath, fighting the urge to install the part right away.

But Gu Su didn’t rush. His gaze fell first on the other items.

Gu Su could tell their uses at a glance. The Mysterious Handwritten Manuscript could be used to copy information about strange beings from various sources.

Conveniently, Gu Su had the Koba District Bedtime Story Collection. Judging by how the rabbits had appeared, it was highly likely that the strange creatures in this area all originated from this book of bedtime stories.

If he could transcribe information about three strange beings from it, it would be a win no matter what.

And if, by some chance, he could copy information about Wisconsin, that would be a massive score.

As for the remaining items, Gu Su could deal with them easily enough; they didn’t require much thought.