Chapter 37: D+ Rank Sea Beast, Shelly’s First Official Battle

After the past few days, Lily Rhodes thought this fourth night would pass just as peacefully. She didn’t wait outside anxiously like before, planning to simply relax until the Sea Beast Frenzy receded before heading out to scavenge the corpses.

Exhausted from the day’s labor, Lily just wanted to lie down quietly, watch the stars, and scroll through the regional chat channel.

However, after a long wait, there wasn’t a single sound from Shelly.

Well, not completely silent. The Arrow Towers placed around the perimeter had activated briefly, firing a few times before stopping entirely. Even Shelly had halted its movements.

Lily approached the edge of the fence. Sprout quickly wrapped a vine around her wrist to keep her from falling.

"Master, there is something ahead. The Sea Beasts don’t dare approach it," Shelly communicated through their mental link.

"Yeah, I see it."

Even in the dark of night, the moonlight illuminated a massive black shadow a few hundred meters ahead. Judging by its silhouette, it looked like a small island.

But why would Sea Beasts fear an island?

Lily put on her Protective Goggles, finally bringing the dark mass into clear focus. It was indeed a small island, but a behemoth lay coiled atop it—a colossal Sea Serpent covered entirely in thick purple scales.

Her first instinct upon seeing such a massive creature was to flee. On second thought, however, Shelly’s sheer bulk was actually much larger than this monster.

"Shelly, can you beat it?" she asked.

"Yes," Shelly answered confidently. "But I won’t be able to kill it instantly like the others. You need to go hide somewhere, Master, so you don’t get thrown off."

"Got it. I won’t hold you back."

Lily turned around decisively, looking for a safe place to ride out the battle until Shelly emerged victorious. Before leaving, she reminded Sprout to help out. The plant wiggled the vine around her wrist in acknowledgment.

She jogged up to the attic. It was undoubtedly the safest place on Shelly’s back. From here, she could control the entire territory and monitor both the interior and exterior through the sandbox and screens.

Once it confirmed Lily was safely tucked away, Shelly rapidly expanded to its full, gargantuan size and lunged at the massive python.

Sensing the sudden danger, the python uncoiled from the island. Its eyes shot wide open as it bared its venomous fangs at the giant turtle.

As a turtle, Shelly’s forte was defense. Thanks to Lily’s relentless upgrades, its shell had reached an entirely new level of durability. It faced the python’s deadly fangs without an ounce of fear, daring the beast to even leave a scratch.

Furthermore, Shelly wasn’t fighting alone. Sprout lashed out with its vines, binding the python to prevent it from constricting around Shelly’s body. The four Arrow Towers activated simultaneously, raining down a barrage of arrows that left the serpent riddled with wounds.

Inside the attic, the violent shaking made it impossible for Lily to stand. She stayed glued to the screen, watching the intense clash between Shelly and the python.

Shelly clearly had the upper hand. However, snakes were notoriously tenacious—even a severed head could still bite, and a decapitated body would still thrash. Because of this, the battle showed no signs of ending soon, despite Shelly’s overwhelming advantage.

"Do I not have enough Arrow Towers?" Lily muttered to herself.

Shelly had been maintaining a smaller size to conserve energy and maximize speed. For that compact form, one tower facing each direction had been perfect. But now that Shelly had returned to its true size, four towers were woefully inadequate. Their combined firepower was practically negligible in this scale of combat.

Realizing this, Lily checked her inventory for materials and Crystal Cores, then immediately went to work on the sandbox.

Outside, new Arrow Towers began materializing out of thin air, spaced exactly five hundred meters apart. With so many firing at once, they could instantly turn the python into a pincushion.

About ten minutes after the new towers were built, the commotion outside finally died down. Lily stepped out of the attic.

Despite the intense battle and the violent shaking of the ground, nothing in the courtyard had shifted out of place. A closer look revealed that Sprout had proactively secured everything with its roots and vines.

She first checked on the Moonlight Fish Mother. Once she confirmed it was safe, she walked to the edge of the fence. The surrounding ocean was completely dyed red, and a thick stench of blood hung heavy in the air.

Shelly was panting heavily, the battle lust still lingering in its eyes.

"Are you hurt?" Lily asked.

Shelly shook its head. Its gaze was fixed on the python’s corpse, eyes burning with hunger. After such a massive fight, it was starving.

Lily easily recognized that look. With Sprout’s help, she butchered the massive python, feeding half of its meat directly into Shelly’s waiting maw.

[Thundercrest Serpent: D+ Level Sea Beast. A mutated variant of the Thundercrest Python. Colossal in size with devastating destructive power. Its venom is highly toxic, capable of destroying the nervous system and killing enemies instantly.]

So the snake was called a Thundercrest Serpent.

By killing it, Lily obtained a mountain of snake meat, a Thundercrest Serpent gallbladder, a completely intact snake skin, a snake spine, a pair of snake eyes, venom glands, and a black Treasure Chest.

Because the creature was so enormous, the remaining meat was still a staggering amount even after Shelly had feasted on half of it. However, what concerned Lily more was the serpent’s Level.

The Deep Sea Merfolk they encountered during the day was a D Level Sea Beast, while this Thundercrest Serpent was a D+ Level Sea Beast. There was only a half-tier difference between them, yet the gap in their power was astronomical. She couldn’t even imagine how terrifying the higher-level Sea Beasts would be.

She was still too weak. She had to become stronger.

[D+ Level Sea Beast Meat: Long-term consumption can enhance physical constitution.]

This was far more useful than the Deep Sea Merfolk meat from before.

She then opened the Treasure Chest. It contained only one item: a blueprint.

[Building Name: City Wall

Description: Constructs a sturdy defensive wall on a vehicle.

Material Cost: 10 Crystal Cores per meter]

Lily’s face lit up with joy when she saw the building’s name, but it vanished instantly the moment she read the construction cost.

Ten Crystal Cores per meter. That would be perfectly affordable for someone with a small vehicle, but for her?

"For the first time, having a massive vehicle feels like a burden," she sighed.

She had already spent a fortune in materials just setting up the wooden fences. When Shelly leveled up and expanded, she had to pay out of pocket to extend the perimeter to match. Now she had the option for City Walls. While they offered far better defense, the price was absolutely extortionate.