Show Me the Money

Chapter 147 - Royal Winged Ant

In the middle of the main street, Liu Lan directly summoned a Fire Cloud Panther and climbed on it, rendering Fatty dumbstruck.

"Where's your mount?" Liu Lan asked him from astride her beast.

Fatty shrugged, indicating he had no words for this either.

"Hmph! You don't even have a mount for yourself, yet you used a good mount to spoil someone else," Liu Lan snorted, her tone laced with jealousy.

Fatty acted as if he'd heard nothing.

"Get on," Liu Lan patted behind her, and Fatty leaped onto the Fire Cloud Panther.

The animal abruptly felt its limbs go jelly as the sudden weight almost rammed it flat.

"That's why I told you to lose weight. See, you almost crushed my Little Cloud," Liu Lan reproached Fatty, and she gently patted the Fire Cloud Panther's head.

"Fire Cloud Panther? Aren't these specially from Azure Dragon City? How'd you get it?" Fatty caressed the panther's soft fur, feeling the smooth sensation.

"Bought it." Liu Lan patted the Fire Cloud Panther once more and directed it toward the city gates. "Haah, poor little ol' me. Since no one gifted me a mount, I could only buy one myself."

"Tch, we can actually co-ride it; not bad," said Fatty as he hurried to change the topic.

"Of course! But there's still limits." Liu Lan stroked her long hair. "The system only allows a girl and a guy to co-ride. It doesn't work for guy/guy or girl/girl."

"Discrimination, this is discrimination!" Fatty rallied for justice. "We must strongly object."

"Whatever, Mr. Busybody," Liu Lan chided. "Hold on tight, I'm speeding up."

Fatty cried out, "Whoa ouch!" When the Fire Cloud Panther abruptly sped up, he was almost thrown from its back.

"Can't you just hold onto me?!" Liu Lan fumed.

Fatty had no choice but to hug her waist. Hey, it actually feels pretty good! The sensation is just right!

"How does it feel?" Liu Lan suddenly asked.

"Real good," Fatty replied without thinking. Then, he immediately regained his wits and chuckled awkwardly, trying to play the fool.

"Damn brat," replied Liu Lan with a smug smile on her face.

"The Royal Winged Ants' levels shouldn't be very high, just between 40 and 50," explained Liu Lan. "But with so many of them, no one comes here to grind because it's too troublesome."

While the two rode the Fire Cloud Panther to their destination, they studied the information they'd gleaned from the forum. A Royal Winged Ant was shaped like an ordinary ant, but much bigger. Its head was the size of an adult's fist. Two pairs of yellow wings on the insect's back allowed it to fly extremely fast; and, the body was tough, solid and durable.

The ant had two main attacks: Bite and Poison. Once upon a time, a player was paralyzed by the Royal Winged Ant's poison. The victim was immediately gnawed to bones by the swarm. From then on, the ants' territory became an unspoken forbidden ground among players. No one dared provoke the insects without reason.

Although the Fire Cloud Panther carried two people on its back, its speed wasn't affected at all. The beast sped like it had lightning at its paws from Black Tortoise City to the Thousand Cave Ridge in the south.

The Ridge was composed of countless caverns. At about half a meter high, the small caves could only let one person enter while crouching. However, as rumor had it, the big ones where huge dragons lurked could reach over a hundred meters. A dearth of normal plants in this area made room for a type of fiery red bush to grow. The Royal Winged Ants fed on this bush.

Arriving at their destination, Fatty praised the Fire Cloud Panther as he jumped off. "Not bad, not bad! I should get a mount after this."

"Shhhh, an ant's here!" Liu Lan shushed him.

Slowly gnawing away with all its might, an ant was burying into a nearby bush. The insect was the size of a fist with two pairs of yellow wings on its back; so, it was definitely their target.

Appraisal.

Royal Winged Ant

Level: 43

……

Notes: A mutated ant that inhabits the Thousand Cave Ridge of the Black Tortoise City region. Because the wings are yellow, a color that symbolizes royalty, the insect was given the name "Royal Winged Ant." While it feeds on a type of red bush, it still fancies flesh and blood more.

"Well dang! Some omnivore!" Fatty pulled out his dagger and carefully crept forward.

Whoosh! A -230 rose up from the ant with a cold flash.

This works! thought the rogue triumphantly. A normal attack can wipe out a tenth of its health!

"Screech!" the Royal Winged Ant screamed upon being attacked. It flew up and shot toward Fatty. In response, he quickly raised his dagger.

Clang! The Royal Winged Ant violently hit the dagger with a loud clatter. Although the ant's head looked small, the force from the collision was enough to numb Fatty's hand and push him a step back. Yet, the ant didn't fare too well either: it was dizzied from the headbutt and hovered in circles.

Great chance! Fatty instantly pounced. First, he used a Combo Attack that continuously shaved away at the insect's health. Then, Coil bound the unfortunate ant and left it hanging motionlessly in the air, wrapped in the folds of a silver python.

"Hah! Lucky!" Fatty couldn't help but appreciate his current fortune when he saw Coil take effect.

"My turn!" Seeing the Royal Winged Ant restrained, Liu Lan couldn't resist the urge to attack. She drew a long spear and urged the Fire Cloud Panther to charge at the ant.

Pfff! The spear deeply pierced the ant. The result of investing all her points into strength was astonishing: Liu Lan's Charge wiped out a third of the Royal Winged Ant's health and even stunned it to boot.

"This… this is too pitiful!" Even Fatty couldn't bear the sight.

"Heh, that's because I'm lucky," said Liu Lan. She kept slashing and, with a few more strokes, killed the ant.

"Screeech…" the Royal Winged Ant let out a final shrill scream before falling to the ground. The insect's little arthropod legs furiously kicked around until, shortly, it completely died.

Harvest. Fatty made a clawing gesture toward the ant's body. A glass vial appeared in his hand, half-filled with a pure blue liquid:

Royal Winged Ant Venom

Intermediate Medical Ingredient

One of the ingredients to create poison.

Today was, indeed, a lucky day for Fatty: The first monster already dropped what he needed. Fatty cast Harvest again, and a palm-sized, light yellow wing appeared in his hand:

Royal Winged Ant Wing

Intermediate Crafting Material

One of the materials to craft flight gear.

"Woah, so pretty!" Liu Lan walked up and took the wing in her hand. Upon seeing its info, she shouted, "Ahh, Fatty! It can be used to craft flight gear! Let's make ourselves some; we won't need to ride the embarrassing panther anymore."

Embarrassing panther? The Fire Cloud Panther was displeased.

"How could it be that easy to craft flight gear?" Fatty immediately poured cold water on Liu Lan's enthusiasm. "Flight gear's all high-ranked equipment. The materials shouldn't be any less than violet level equipment.

"True dat." Liu Lan tossed the wing in her inventory. "Heheh, whatever. Let's just get more of these wings first. Uwahh! I really want to flyyy!"

Bzz bzz! All of a sudden, the sound of buzzing wings echoed in the distance. Fatty's face instantly changed.

"So many ants!" Liu Lan shouted in shock. In front of them, a swarm of several dozens of fist-sized ants furiously rocketed toward the pair.

"Wheat, attack!" Fatty released Wheat. So, it seems the Royal Winged Ant from earlier called for vengeance. Just what Lord Fatty needs! I'll kill the lot of ya' for your venom!

The first thing Wheat did when he spied so many monsters was… burrow into the ground. Then, dozens of stalagmites rumbled through the earth, stabbing several Royal Winged Ants in their bellies. The ants emitted a series of unpleasant shrieking noises. Abandoning Fatty and Liu Lan, the swarm circled above Wheat's hiding spot instead.

"Sparky, come out!" Liu Lan made a beckoning hand gesture, and the Lightning Bird that Fatty had given her appeared in the sky. Despite having gained many levels since then, the bird hadn't changed much aside from its prettier plumage. The moment Sparky emerged, the bird screeched loudly and charged directly at the swarm of ants.

Whoosh! A yellow streak of lightning whizzed through the air; and, when the Lightning Bird reappeared again, its beak held a dying Royal Winged Ant.

"Such speed!" Fatty was shocked.

"Of course! That's why it's called a Lightning Bird. How could it not be fast?" Liu Lan bragged.

"No matter how great it is, it's still from me anyway," mumbled Fatty.

Thud!

Suddenly, the Lightning Bird teetered and fell to the ground. Simultaneously, the angered ants shifted their attentions again, abandoning Wheat and heading for the Lightning Bird.

"Ahh, Sparky, are you okay?!" Liu Lan, riding the Fire Cloud Panther, rushed to the bird's side.

"Foolish master, foolish bird." Fatty shook his head. The Royal Winged Ants possessed a skill capable of paralysis; it would be strange if they didn't paralyze the Lightning Bird after being provoked like that.

"Wheat, continue!" Fatty issued the command before drawing his dagger to join the fight. While hiding underground, Wheat felt very safe; so it didn't hesitate to attack. One after another, stalagmites mixed with Howling Bullets to rip through the air and hurtle toward the Royal Winged Ants.

"Shreee!" The ants emitted ear-piercing shrieks as they flocked to the Lightning Bird and began to bite haphazardly. When Liu Lan finally managed to snatch the bird from beneath the ants' mandibles, the bird was almost on its last breath.

"Uwahhh, my poor Sparky!" Liu Lan was brokenhearted.

With the Lightning Bird out of the fight, the swarm of ants once again set its sight upon Wheat. They buzzed just above Wheat's location. Since the rodent was underground, the insects had no way to attack it and were assailed one-sidedly by the pet. However, Wheat's attacks weren't enough. The huge level gap coupled with 50% reduced damage only allowed Wheat to aggro, not kill the opponent.

"Watch my Flying Flowers, Falling Leaves!" Fatty took out a crossbow arrow and threw it using the shuriken technique. The arrow accurately nailed a Royal Winged Ant. The ant was successfully drawn, and it broke away from the ant army to ferociously shoot toward Fatty.

"Come, baby, come!" Fatty weighed his dagger and smoothly sidestepped the attack. Violently, he stabbed at the ant.

"Sparky, go! Peck it to death!" Liu Lan furiously pointed at an incoming ant. Free from its paralyzed state at last, the Lightning Bird chirped long and clear. The bird glided upward and turned into a yellow streak, disappearing into the sky. Then, blood splattered as the Lightning Bird pierced entirely through the ant's stomach, rending it into two halves. The Royal Winged Ant screeched tragically with half its remains squirming on the ground. Alerted by the ant's shriek, the rest of the swarm flocked over.

Wheat fiercely attacked once more to regain their aggro. The owner and pet carried out tacit teamwork, gradually reducing the number of ants. Meanwhile, more and more venom fell into Fatty's pocket. In the end, Fatty slaughtered several swarms of ants and acquired a hundred vials of venom.