Chapter 84: Advanced Weapons

As Lily Rhodes pondered this, a sudden flash of inspiration struck her. "Wait, is there something buried under this seabed? As the saying goes, the antidote is always found within three steps of the poison."

She immediately sent a message to Shelly, ordering the turtle to dig up whatever bones lay beneath the sand.

Upon receiving the command, Shelly sprang into action. Despite her massive size, the turtle’s front flippers were surprisingly nimble. The surrounding water quickly clouded with kicked-up sediment, but Shelly did not stop.

Lily had initially assumed that with Shelly’s speed, this would be a simple task completed in no time. To her surprise, the excavation dragged on for several hours. Even the pet egg in her arms hatched, yet Shelly showed no signs of stopping.

"Just how big is the thing buried down there?" Lily wondered, looking down at the freshly hatched bird in her arms.

Despite just breaking out of its shell, the little creature already boasted a full coat of brilliant golden feathers. This was the pet from the egg. Because Lily had carried it around constantly, the bird seemed to view her as its mother, clinging to her affectionately. She finally understood why the System had insisted she keep it close.

The little creature was an Osprey, an avian apex predator that specialized in hunting fish.

"Since you’re sparkling gold all over, I’ll call you Goldwing from now on," she said.

At her words, the Roc chirped twice, clearly loving the new name.

Since it was still a nestling, Lily fed Goldwing pieces of processed fish meat. At first, she carefully tore the meat into tiny shreds, but she quickly realized the bird’s appetite far exceeded her expectations. Those little scraps weren’t even enough to fill the gaps between its teeth.

Soon, Lily resorted to feeding it half a fish at a time. Yet Goldwing’s digestion was staggeringly fast. Just ten minutes after a full meal, it would be starving again. Its growth rate was equally astonishing; in less than an hour since hatching, Goldwing had visibly grown a full size larger, its plumage turning even richer.

Seeing this, Lily quickly lost the desire to hand-feed it. It had been fun at first, but the novelty wore off—especially since she couldn’t even prepare the food as fast as Goldwing devoured it. Giving up, she dragged out a massive basin of fish meat and dumped it in front of the bird, letting it gorge itself.

Goldwing didn’t hold back. At the sight of the meat mountain, the bird completely forgot about its "mother" and dove headfirst into the pile. It didn’t stop until its belly was completely round, finally letting out a satisfied burp.

A few hours later, Shelly finally finished her task.

The fish skeleton buried beneath the mud had been completely unearthed, and it was far more colossal than Lily had imagined. Next to these remains, Shelly’s massive frame looked positively tiny. One could only imagine how gargantuan this fish had been when it was alive.

Before Lily could marvel at the sight any longer, her ears twitched. Her expression darkened.

She could hear countless Sea Beasts surging toward their location. Was it because of the fish bones?

Realizing she had no time to study the skeleton, Lily climbed onto Shelly’s head. The turtle lowered her neck slightly, allowing Lily to touch the exposed bones below.

[Obsidian Fish: A gargantuan creature that feeds on Wujin. Boasts an incredibly tough body and a ferocious temperament. An adult Obsidian Fish can exceed ten thousand meters in length.]

It really was an Obsidian Fish!

Lily’s eyes lit up. With this skeleton, the two weapon blueprints she had obtained earlier wouldn’t go to waste. The System stated that an adult could surpass ten thousand meters. She didn’t know exactly how long this particular, low-profile fish was, but even if it fell short of ten thousand, it had to be close.

Sensing the encroaching Sea Beasts drawing nearer, she didn’t waste another second. Regardless of why those monsters were coming, she needed to consume the entire skeleton before they arrived.

With a thought, Lily continuously crafted Wujin Bone Armor and Black Gold Bone Knives. As soon as the items were fabricated, they were deposited directly into a nearby Treasure Chest.

Given the sheer mass of the skeleton, Lily figured that completely consuming it would yield tens of thousands of armor sets—maybe even over a hundred thousand. Yet, after drawing on the materials, production halted at exactly 1,238 sets.

On the surface, the fish skeleton hadn’t changed much, but that was merely an illusion. The once-indestructible bones had become incredibly brittle, their dense interiors entirely hollowed out.

She had only managed to craft a little over a thousand sets of Wujin Bone Armor, and even fewer Black Gold Bone Knives—a mere 342 blades.

By the time she stowed the gear away, the horde of Sea Beasts was practically on top of them.

"Let’s go, Shelly. We’re leaving."

At her command, the giant turtle swiftly retreated from the area.

Once safely back on the surface, Lily couldn’t wait to inspect her loot. She pulled out a set of Wujin Bone Armor. The black plating gleamed with a metallic luster. Devoid of any flashy, superfluous decorations, it possessed a stark, functional beauty that exuded an immense sense of security and weight.

With a mere thought, the Wujin Bone Armor materialized onto her body.

"The user experience is decent. It doesn’t feel uncomfortable or stuffy at all," Lily evaluated.

After all, this was a full-body suit complete with a face mask. The only things left exposed were her eyes, and even those were shielded by a protective visor. Normally, an armor design like this would be incredibly safe but unbearably hot. To her surprise, it wasn’t stifling in the slightest.

"Now, let’s test its other specs."

Just as Lily prepared to move around and gauge its performance, she froze.

"Wait, why can’t I move?"

After several strained attempts, Lily realized the problem wasn’t that she was paralyzed—the armor was just overwhelmingly heavy. With her current physical strength, she simply couldn’t budge while wearing it.

She had finally acquired a top-tier set of armor, only to find out she couldn’t even use it.

Thoroughly depressed, Lily stripped off the armor and picked up a Black Gold Bone Knife instead.

It presented the exact same issue: it was way too heavy.

While not as paralyzing as the armor, swinging the blade was a massive struggle. She had to grip it with both hands, and even then, she couldn’t control its momentum. Given her current fitness level, just a few practice swings left her completely winded.

If she were to equip both the armor and the knife simultaneously, she couldn’t even fathom the monstrous strength required to move freely.

It seemed this gear was far too advanced for her current stage. Successfully crafting it had likely been a total fluke.

As this realization set in, Lily’s eyes suddenly lit up. A wicked, mischievous smile spread across her face.

Opening the world chat channel, she quickly drafted a message.

Lily Rhodes: "Wujin Bone Armor paired with a Black Gold Bone Knife. Weapons meant only for the strong."