At that moment, the rooster in his arms let out an excited crow, the echo blasting through the well walls, and countless greasy swarms of insects surged like waves!

Big Charles was suddenly startled—am I not even as good as a chicken? It’s just a psychological barrier caused by how disgusting this is. If I really start... using my feet, I could stomp countless of them to death, there’s nothing to be afraid of!

Suddenly, a bright red spot appeared in the swarm—a general’s talisman prompt: Warning! You have encountered a demon-beast level poisonous insect, the general’s talisman is about to enter battle!

What the hell!?

The next moment, the general’s talisman flared with blazing light, and Big Charles felt a surge of power drawn from his whole body. Then, his head and shoulders were suddenly weighed down—two feet landed on him!

Has it taken human form?

Big Charles wanted to look up and see the face, but his shoulders and neck were pinned so hard he couldn’t move—so heavy!

Obviously, the well shaft was too narrow, so even after taking human form, she could only stand on his head. Big Charles had no choice but to cling tightly to the rope.

Suddenly, there was a bang above his head, and a ball of flaming oil almost grazed Big Charles’s face as it shot down—boom!

Flames erupted at the bottom of the well, the insect waves turned into waves of fire, and in the firelight, that bright red spot was fully revealed—it was a huge red-headed centipede as thick as an arm, writhing and struggling!

Is this a demon beast?

Big Charles was instantly dumbfounded—if he’d encountered this under normal circumstances, he wouldn’t even dare to imagine it!

Another ball of flaming oil crashed down, and in the soaring fire, a sparkling star fragment floated before his eyes!

—System prompt: Congratulations! You have slain a demon-beast level poisonous insect. You have gained combat experience. You have obtained 1 general star fragment. General’s talisman upgrade progress (1/20)!

Only then did Big Charles snap out of it—so this is the legendary fragment? It was killed in just two shots? Is it that Samuel Grant is too strong, or is the festival’s demon beast too weak?

But anyway, to kill one before even landing—this is way too easy!

Chapter 5: Challenging High Difficulty

The flaming oil spread into a ring of fire, and Big Charles descended to the bottom of the well.

The bottom suddenly opened up into a spacious, dry karst cave typical of Yunnan-Guizhou, with stone pillars everywhere and countless oily insects churning restlessly outside the ring of fire.

The weight on Big Charles’s head lifted, and the masked “Samuel Grant” in a black robe and bamboo hat jumped down, holding two bamboo tubes that looked like hookah pipes.

Compared to her real self, she clearly had a faint, blurry aura effect around her. So what about her intelligence?

Big Charles greeted her, “Please guide me!”

Samuel Grant pulled a copper pot, a shovel, and something that looked like a clay stove from her basket, then spoke in a mechanical, AI-like voice: “Begin refining insect oil to replenish ammunition! Step one, shovel the insect corpses into the copper pot...”

No emotion at all?!

Big Charles asked in surprise, “I shovel?”

Samuel Grant retorted, “I shovel?”

Alright, I love it!

Big Charles quickly took the shovel, which was full of sieve holes—basically a slotted spoon. The handle could extend like a modern umbrella, very clever!

But he felt that all these shovels and copper pots looked a bit hazy and blurry. Big Charles asked in shock, “Are these magic tools?”

While pouring oil from the bamboo tube into a gourd, Samuel Grant mechanically replied, “Yes! As my star level increases, my equipment will also improve. You can also forge magic tools for me to quickly strengthen my power.”

Just as expected—only magic tools can grow and evolve with the general’s talisman; ordinary weapons and spatulas can’t change.

Equipping team heroes is classic online game style, but it’s bound to be a huge expense. And the expense—

The rooster in Big Charles’s arms started struggling excitedly again, clearly eyeing the charred giant centipede. As soon as Big Charles let go, the rooster pounced on the centipede’s burnt red head and pecked at it furiously.

Big Charles was struck by a thought—could it become a fighting cock? Even if it can’t become a spirit beast, it should at least make a good fighting cock, right? Alright, I’ll count on it!

Feeling pleased, Big Charles also started shoveling insect corpses with all his might.

At this moment, Samuel Grant finished reloading the bamboo tube, and with another bang, this time it wasn’t fire but thick oily smoke. Then she waved a banana-leaf fan, sending the smoke billowing into the cave ahead. The swarms of insects erupted in a deafening roar!

—System prompt: You have slain a large number of insect swarms and gained combat experience!

Big Charles was thrilled—this is simply the nemesis of poisonous insects, way too powerful! No, even people would be knocked out by this!

Samuel Grant spoke: “Follow the smoke, you carry the fire stove and keep up.”

Big Charles asked, “Why follow the smoke?”

“Ammunition is limited. We must maximize the effect of each smoke bomb. The main purpose of the smoke bomb is to drive the insects together, so the fire bomb can wipe out more of them at once.”

So that’s how it works.

So Samuel Grant led the way, fanning the smoke, while Big Charles followed, carrying the stove in one hand and the rooster in the other, stomping over insect corpses. The swarms retreated like a tide into a large cave, where a muffled roar echoed!

Big Charles’s heart skipped a beat!

—System prompt: Warning! Demon-beast level poisonous insect detected!

Another one so soon!

Samuel Grant immediately raised the bamboo tube and fired a ball of flaming oil into the cave with a bang!

The explosion echoed through the entire underground cavern, making Big Charles’s eardrums ring and his hair stand on end—what an exhilarating feeling~~

After a fierce commotion, a star fragment and two small glowing specks floated through the fire and smoke to Big Charles’s eyes.