Ball of Nothing

Chapter 434 Silver Scarab King 1

Happy with his huge haul and the relatively low fuss of defeating the scorpions, Zero took his time to explore, map out the dungeon and make his way down to the lower floors. The dungeon didn’t seem to move much and Zero was not convinced that it wasn’t anything like Sleepy Cave that could alter its interior on will. If anything, the most this dungeon could do was repair itself when it was damaged and retain the souls within its domain for birthing new monsters to harvest mana from unsuspecting visitors looking to take shelter from the sweltering heat or sandstorm outside.

Yes, Zero found the actual entrance while exploring and conveyed that to Bob and Truen. It might be safer to set up camp closer to the entrance of the dungeon instead because the structure might collapse entirely once Zero defeated the final boss. Without monsters to birth new monsters, this dungeon was doomed forever if it couldn’t replenish its mana on time.

"I’m heading down to the lower floors, please be ready to evacuate. I don’t know what’s going to happen after I defeat the final boss waiting in the dungeon. I may or may not return with the desert poppy but let’s hope I do."

With that last message transmitted to his frustrated party, Zero hummed a merry tune and walked towards the uncertain depths and new level of the dungeon.

The final dungeon general was waiting and ready. He had his minions all in place at strategic points to alert him of their guest’s arrival. Information was key in warfare and unlike the other two generals, the Silver Scarab King had the highest intelligence. If he fails, the dungeon’s owner will appear.

Zero heard and saw some enemy scouts as he walked in the relatively quiet tunnels. These tunnels came in all kinds of sizes but the one thing that stuck out most to Zero was the strange smell. This was a smell he found extremely familiar, almost as if he had come across it before somewhere. It certainly didn’t belong to the desert. What was this final dungeon boss? He couldn’t wait to find out.

Mii and Wii did a search of the area after they unlocked the entire floor. Unlike the Scorpion King, this boss didn’t move from his spot. It wasn’t because he was afraid of engaging in combat but because this monster was waiting for Zero to make the first move.

Unlike the floors above this, the last boss didn’t have any weak spots that Zero could make use off. The entire floor was this monster’s territory and it was well-planned. There was always an escape route and an ambush lying in wait for Zero if he was careless. The moving of scouts relaying his movements back to this boss was proving to be more intelligent than the spider minions.

"This could be the most intelligent monster of the dungeon," Mii warned Zero. "You might be powerful but do not be careless. I don’t see any obvious traps or corpses."

Zero nodded and agreed with her. It was still too far away for him to use the appraisal skill and dark vision was extremely limited here. Without knowing anything about the enemy, Zero could only proceed with caution.

For some reason, the routes that they approached were closed off by some wall that smelled funny and Zero had to take a different route just to get to the boss. Not wanting to physically exhaust himself by breaking down walls, Zero opted for a detour.

"It feels like this monster boss is leading us in circles," Zero told Mii who disagreed.

"He is leading us somewhere but it isn’t in circles. I’ve been monitoring the places that were blocked off. He’s bringing us to a certain place but I don’t like it. This monster has higher intelligence than Penelope. If there is any sign of danger, we’re not going to sit back and twiddle thumbs. You’re going to have to absorb it if you can and if you cannot, Lily will teleport you to a safe location. No compromising."

Reluctantly, Zero agreed.

As Mii suspected, the monster was indeed leading them to a place in its territory but Zero was puzzled at what he was looking at when they arrived.

"What is this?" he asked and lit a small light to have a better look.

Mii used the appraisal skill but all that appeared was a strange description that neither Zero nor Mii could understand.

"Dung ball?"

Suddenly, laughter could be heard echoing throughout the cave.

"You are correct! How do you like that? My food store. Instead of killing and eating adventurers straight, we dung beetles like to preserve them in waste collected from all over the desert. The taste of dead adventurers is better when rolled into lovely dung balls and you’re going to be next! I can already imagine it, the flavour of a young elven mage."

Needless to mention, Mii was disgusted. Zero can only conclude that this new boss wasn’t just intelligent, he was completely off his rockers. For a monster to be able to speak in common language, it meant that he had an extremely high intelligence but Zero questioned his logic after the tasteless speech like any overrated third-class villain in a bad story.

Wordlessly, Zero didn’t even bother taking his weapon out. These dung balls were too dirty for that. No wonder he thought the smell was familiar... This was exactly what Cleo and Chowkah dealt with to make plant fertiliser!

Without mercy, Zero Activated his Tenth Secret Combat Move: Regulus Punch.

"I knew the day would come when this would be useful, Ruth doesn’t have the right to laugh anymore once I tell him about it."

Mii chuckled. Regulus Punch was a high speed, high power impact punch with qi condensed in the fist area to create a strong impact with the wind pressure to blow away objects instead of breaking them. Zero took inspiration for this move from his shifu who told him stories about the ancient world where they had 18 Dragon Palm strikes, Nine-Bone Claw Techniques and Iron Sand Fists. Zero decided that ancient martial arts were very cool because of their massive area effect said to be able to last for seven days and seven nights, splitting mountains and seas with their might. To replicate that, Zero invented this ’useless’ technique just to see the special effects. Who knew that the day would come when this special mega-wind generator without mana would come in handy?

"Regulus Punch!" Zero got into a horse stance and condensed qi into his right fist before unleashing it in the direction of the disgusting dung balls.

The power of the windblast rocked the dungeon’s foundation dangerously but Zero didn’t care. He was very satisfied with the splatter of remains all over the ruined storage area. Inside the destroyed dung balls, Zero found some human skeletons who were still equipped with their adventuring gear. He felt sorry for them and made a quick prayer for the lives lost in such a horrible final burial ground.

When the Silver Scarab witnessed how Zero single-handedly ruined his proud collection of food for years, he howled in rage.

"How dare you! That took me decades to collect! You shall pay this debt in blood."

Zero snorted. "Bring it on, dung lord. I’m going to end you and your filthy home. Someone has to teach you about hygiene and if your mother isn’t going to teach you that, I will."

Mii had to applaud Zero for being true to his doctor’s code of conduct. As much as Zero disliked bathing, he still upheld the importance of cleanliness to prevent the spread of germs and diseases. Hua Tuo would be proud if he heard this.