Gourmet Hunter - Chapter 303 (Patreon)

Chapter 303: Graffiti

The ground collapsed, and broken rock fragments clattered as they fell.

Luo had not anticipated that the beast harbored a bomb within, nor had he expected the explosion to collapse the ground itself.

The result was due not only to the explosion but also because the ground beneath was inherently hollow.

Caught in his thoughts, Luo hadn’t had time to adjust his stance when his back already slammed against the hard ground, making a loud thud.

"Fortunately, I used my domain to protect myself in time, and thankfully, the space below is hollow. Otherwise, even with the domain's defense, directly facing such a powerful explosion would have inevitably led to injuries."

Lying on his back, Luo listened to the incessant sound of falling rocks around him. Shadows fell from above, and higher up, remnants of trees ablaze like a meteor shower descended.

These falling rocks and the flaming remnants showered down like heavy rain, converging around Luo at the center.

Boom, boom, boom…

In moments, the area where Luo lay was submerged in rubble.

The aftershocks of the explosion did not last long, and suddenly, the surroundings fell silent.

Luo pushed aside the rocks at the edge of his domain, rose from the ground, and looked around. The ground was littered with rubble and still-flaming tree remnants, casting some light in this underground space.

With the aid of the firelight, Luo could barely make out his surroundings.

This was an underground cavern, surrounded by natural stone pillars of various thicknesses, most resembling the core of an apple after bites had been taken from it.

A quick glance around the fire-lit area revealed hundreds of pillars stretching up to the cavern’s ceiling.

Luo did not dwell on these pillars, instead looking up towards where he had fallen.

There, like the mouth of a well, it drew in the light from above.

The firelight was dim, and with few references for scale, Luo could not determine how many meters the underground cavern extended below the surface.

If the light were brighter, Luo would see that the cavern ceiling was a semi-circular structure, lower at the edges and higher towards the center.

The site of the collapse was precisely at the highest central point, where the rock layer was thinnest.

"How do I get out..."

Luo withdrew his gaze and turned to observe the stone pillars nearby. Thankfully, the burning tree remnants ensured he wasn't left completely in the dark.

He walked to a piece of burning trunk, swung his knife, and effortlessly chopped off a stick to serve as a torch.

The beast had exploded unexpectedly, clearly the work of an enemy. Normally, the enemy would come to check the site of the explosion.

So...!

Holding the knife in one hand and the torch in the other, Luo looked up at the opening above.

From this height, if a beast were to jump down directly, it wouldn’t matter; plus, with flying types among the enemy's beasts, even if all creatures descended, escaping back up wouldn't be a concern.

Then, might the enemy come down to inspect the collapsed ground? That was one possibility. Another was that the enemy might not care to confirm whether he was alive or dead.

Without much thought, Luo picked a direction and headed deeper into the cavern.

The irregularly arranged stone pillars varied in thickness. Without the light, it was easy to run into one within a few meters.

Holding the torch, Luo dodged pillar after pillar, walking about two hundred meters before stopping abruptly.

"What's this?"

The torchlight fell on a human-huggable thick pillar, casting an orange glow over it. Beneath the light was a peculiar pattern.

Looking at this pattern, surprise flickered in Luo's eyes. It seemed to be a child's graffiti, but undoubtedly, it was made by human hands.

Information about Devil's Island was scarce, but one piece of data indicated that since humans discovered the island, no remnants or traces of a settlement had been found.

Yet, the graffiti etched on the pillar was unmistakably human-made.

Devil's Island boasted a rich ecosystem, regarded as a confirmed domain of magic. Many magical beast species lived here, some of which were intelligent enough to etch patterns on rocks or cliff faces.

But Luo was sure this graffiti was human because it depicted scenes of daily human life.

The graffiti showed humans with animal skins around their waists, dancing around a bonfire, holding weapons resembling spears, and above the fire, a creature vastly larger than any human.

"Primitive graffiti? Or?"

Musing to himself, Luo moved the torch closer to other pillars, sweeping past a dozen more without finding another similar graffiti.

"Never mind."

Luo looked back at the fires two hundred meters away, near the pit's edge. He needed to keep a distance that allowed him to observe yet remain free to retreat if necessary.

At least between five hundred and a thousand meters

.

Though curious about the origin of the graffiti, he wasn’t in the mood to delve deeper now.

Continuing to navigate between the pillars, Luo walked about six hundred meters more before stopping and looking back at the distant lights.

He would stay here for now to see what the enemy would do next.

Thinking this, he snuffed out his torch. The extinguished smoke curled up and dissolved into the darkness.

The irregularly standing pillars around him, if a battle broke out here, it was highly possible that most of the pillars would be destroyed, but it was uncertain whether too many collapsing pillars would cause the entire underground cavern to collapse.

There was another worst-case scenario—among the enemy’s ranks could be a beast with night vision. If that were the case, it would be troublesome.

If things turned south, he would have to go deeper...

With this thought, he compressed air on the torch and sparked it again with a flint strike from his knife, retreating another four hundred meters before stopping again and extinguishing the torch, quietly watching the lights below the opening.

Everything depended on whether the enemy would choose to come down or give up.

Above ground, Dove and his companions, along with the remaining beasts, arrived at the explosion site.

The explosion had cleared an area the size of a football field, with trees on the edge still burning sporadically, while at the center was a collapsed hole.

Dove and his companions approached the edge of the hole, peering down to see faint, flickering lights below—remnants of trees still burning, surrounded by a pile of rubble.

Looking around, they confirmed that this blasted hole was indeed the epicenter of the explosion. So, was the knife-wielding bastard dead or alive?

At that moment, two artificial beasts arrived, each carrying a piece of unidentifiable carcass—remnants of beasts killed in the explosion.

Dove merely glanced at them before turning away.

"Should we go down and check?" Hawk asked.

"No need, he's not our target," Dove coldly replied.

Then, five flying-type beasts descended from the sky and landed beside them.

• Please take a moment to rate this novel at Novelupdate.

Table of content - Next Chapter >>>