Chapter Sixty: Gradually New Signs of the Saddle

When Qin Fei’s roast was finally done, the Paleoelephant seemed to have caught the scent, woke up, and stood nearby. It stared intently at the roasted dragon leg in Qin Fei’s hand, drool dripping from its mouth.

Was it craving meat? Seeing its greedy look, Qin Fei tore off a chunk of meat from the roasted leg and offered it to the Paleoelephant’s mouth. The creature didn’t hesitate, swallowing the piece in one gulp.

Smack, smack, smack.

The Paleoelephant seemed to enjoy the salted, garlic-seasoned roast immensely, eating with relish and barely chewing before swallowing. After devouring the meat, it nudged Qin Fei with its head, eyes showing a look of ingratiation—it clearly wanted more.

Qin Fei was surprised. He hadn’t expected the Paleoelephant to be omnivorous; it could eat roasted meat. Not only that, its behavior in begging for meat showed remarkable intelligence, almost human-like. It seemed to understand spoken words, too. Qin Fei issued a few simple commands, and it responded, interacting with him.

Given this, Qin Fei decided to let it follow him. For convenience, he named it “Big Nose,” inspired by its appearance.

The dead velociraptor was nearly a meter tall, with a large body. The meat would last Qin Fei four or five days. To preserve it, he spent the morning at the cave entrance, roasting it into jerky.

Big Nose stayed faithfully behind him all the while. Perhaps due to its intelligence, it was very obedient. It never stole meat roasting by the fire, only eating what Qin Fei handed over.

Big Nose not only ate meat but also dug up and consumed the roots of certain tuber plants growing nearby. Seeing this, Qin Fei felt relieved. If Big Nose only ate meat and berries, no matter how much food Qin Fei gathered, it would never be enough. After all, the “fat pig” required almost as much food in a single meal as Qin Fei consumed in two days.

Once the jerky was ready, Qin Fei decided to explore deeper into the cave. In the game, this cave harbored many dangerous snakes and insects, but also abundant metal ore. Most importantly, there might be a treasure chest hidden deep inside.

After donning his military armor, Qin Fei strapped a flashlight onto his helmet.

He rode Big Nose into the mine. The Paleoelephant’s weight was comparable to a grizzly bear; carrying Qin Fei was easy. Most crucially, with a height of over a meter, Big Nose elevated Qin Fei above most of the cave’s poisonous creatures, which seldom reached that height. Riding atop, he could avoid their ambushes perfectly.

Along the way, Qin Fei saw many types of metal ores—copper, iron, lead, silver—all common minerals scattered on the cave floor. The quantity was substantial. Even with his backpack expanded to carry over forty kilograms, he couldn’t take all the metal. He collected a sample of each, thinking they might be useful later.

Continuing deeper, the cave widened. They entered a clearing thick with weeds. On one side flowed an underground river, while at the center stood a slowly spinning, conical treasure chest, its surface glowing green.

So there truly was a treasure chest in the cave! Qin Fei’s heart leapt with joy. Like the supply drops in pillars of light, cave chests held abundant resources. Their quality varied by color: green was lowest, red was best.

Qin Fei patted Big Nose’s rump, signaling it to approach the green chest. Big Nose’s front hooves bent slightly, and it grunted—unwilling to move forward.

Was there danger ahead?

Highly alert, Qin Fei drew his shotgun from his space backpack. Animals sense danger far better than humans, and Big Nose’s reaction confirmed the presence of hidden threats around the chest.

After seeing Qin Fei brandish the shotgun, Big Nose nudged its trunk toward the chest. Qin Fei frowned. Was Big Nose warning him about danger near the chest?

He stared at the area for a moment, then aimed and fired beneath the chest.

A shrill spider screech echoed nearby as two soccer-ball-sized spiders emerged from beneath the chest.

From their fangs, they instantly shot webs at Qin Fei. The webs flew fast, entangling both Qin Fei and Big Nose. Though he could still move, his actions became sluggish. Worse, the web carried a nauseating stench that made him want to vomit.

Suppressing the urge, Qin Fei fired several shots at the spiders. Besides ambush and web-spraying, the spiders had little else. Hit repeatedly, they shrieked louder, then collapsed lifeless.

Only after the spiders died did Big Nose approach the chest, grunting softly. Qin Fei had dispatched the spiders easily, but without Big Nose’s warning, he might have been killed by their ambush.

Touching the chest, Qin Fei opened it.

[Supplies acquired: Paleoelephant Saddle Blueprint, Simple Handgun Blueprint, Life Elixir Formula, LS Road Stew Recipe]

Inside, he found only these four blueprints. After storing them in his backpack, he examined them carefully.

[Paleoelephant Saddle Blueprint: Requires 2kg wood, 1kg carapace, 100g plant fiber. Place materials on blueprint to craft.]

[Simple Handgun Blueprint: Requires 500g wood, 500g wrought iron, 500g copper. Place materials on blueprint to craft.]

[Life Elixir Formula: Requires 10g rotten meat, 10g red berries, 5g black berries, water. Place materials on blueprint to craft.]

[LS Road Stew: 20g each of potato and corn, 10g each of cooked meat and purple berries, one bag of water. Place materials on blueprint to craft.]

Place materials on the blueprint? Qin Fei didn’t understand this instruction, but happened to have the materials for the Paleoelephant saddle in his backpack. He decided to follow the blueprint’s method.

He spread the blueprint on the ground, took out carapace and wood, and set them atop. For plant fiber, he grabbed some grass and tossed it onto the materials.

Once everything was in place, the blueprint flashed white, accompanied by the sound of a saw cutting wood.

The next moment, a Paleoelephant saddle appeared atop the blueprint.

Qin Fei’s eyes widened. He picked up the saddle.

This… this was basically 3D printing technology!

[Paleoelephant Saddle (Excellent): Armor for the Paleoelephant’s body, provides significant protection.]