Can a Frankenstein's monster be an adventurer?

Chapter 5 An Unexpected Joy

"Tap tap tap..."

In the crumbling walls and rubble of the underground palace corridor, eight slender, sturdy limbs rose and fell alternately on the rocks. Luo Lan was manipulating this newly pieced-together carapace body, moving it back and forth near the rubble.

With all eight segments pushing outwards at the same time, Luo Lan almost flipped his carapace upside down.

He quickly stopped, taking two steps forward from the left front and one from the right rear, alternating between them. After two steps, his rhythm became disordered, and his entire carapace tilted to the left. One of his limbs couldn't find a foothold and crushed the dry moss on the ground.

[So many legs, it takes some getting used to.]

While muttering to himself, Luo Lan tried to divide his attention into eight parts and distribute them to each appendage, but his mind was completely stuck in a mess.

The only solution was to change the approach, grouping the limbs into left and right groups, four on the left and four on the right, and using them as if manipulating the left and right legs to drive forward, move sideways, and turn, crawling like a crab, returning to the starting point after completing a circle.

[Well, there's not much to be picky about. I'll just get used to it.]

Gradually, a vague sense of comparison emerged in Luo Lan's mind: when he played with multi-legged mecha models on Earth, the remote control logic was roughly the same, except now the remote control had been replaced by his own nerves.

By continuously practicing in circles, the second circle became smoother, and by the third circle, one limb could be lifted without affecting the position of the other seven.

By the fifth lap, Luo Lan had the energy to start doing other things as well.

"despair."

The left forelimb bent and tapped its carapace with the tip. The echo was dry, short, with a slight hollow resonance and a short tail.

"Click."

Switch to the right limb and tap the edge of the plastron once with the blunt side of the joint. This sound is duller, but the tail note is longer, with a subtle hum.

Luo Lan compared the two voices in her mind twice.

[Hmm, judging from the sound of its shell, it seems to be a rather brittle type; its defensive capabilities might not be as good as I expected.]

Luo Lan was distracted by the question of the material of the young armored spider's shell when she suddenly stopped.

[etc!]

[How can I hear sounds?!]

Only after a moment's realization did Luo Lan realize a crucial issue. From the time he transmigrated into the Bone Claw until now, he had always lived in an extremely quiet world, and he had even regained his sight through his own efforts.

But now, he heard the sound of himself tapping on the shell!

[Calm down, and knock again.]

"despair……"

This time, Luo Lan carefully sensed it. The vibration started from the ends of the limbs, quickly traveled upwards along the appendages of the exoskeleton, and spread all the way to the carapace.

The vibrations converged and amplified at the small pores on the ventral segment at the bottom of the carapace, and were ultimately transformed into a clearly audible "sound" signal in Luo Lan's mind through the nerve bundles connected to the bone claws.

[Is this the juvenile beetle spider, with organs on its exoskeleton similar to an insect's tympanic membrane?]

Back on Earth, Luo Lan's biology knowledge was barely enough to pass the college entrance exam, and he knew absolutely nothing about arthropod anatomy.

Not to mention that the structure of these monsters is not necessarily the same as that of the creatures on Earth. Luo Lan was completely baffled as to how his hearing had inexplicably returned.

However, regardless of the underlying principle, this unique "shell resonance" hearing undoubtedly greatly benefited his survival in the underground palace.

[A pleasant surprise! You can never have too many.]

After regaining his hearing, Luo Lan became excited and spurred his carapace to run around the rocky beach, picking up stones of various shapes and textures and knocking them over.

"Thump!"

Large, square rocks, deep and full, with a lingering resonance.

"Snap."

The gravel covered with dried lichen sounded dry and harsh.

"Ning—"

The hollow, broken stalactite is crisp, and the lingering sound can echo in your mind for three or four seconds.

[Stereo. It's actually stereo!]

Luo Lan could even roughly determine the location of the striking point by the difference in the intensity of sound transmission.

As Luo Lan circled back and forth among the rocks, she became increasingly adept at controlling her new "body," and the heavy fatigue brought on by forcibly activating [Terror Lv.2] twice in a row was greatly relieved.

Controlling the rhythm of his limbs as he walked, Luo Lan returned to the edge of the stone bridge. He lowered his head and glanced with his single eye towards the stone bridge on the opposite side of the corridor.

He had originally wanted to find the young armored spider that had been paralyzed by [Fear Level 2] to see how it was doing. But the insect had long since vanished.

[I need to find a chance to see exactly how long this skill lasts...]

Since the main competitors and "materials library" in the dungeon are these gregarious insects, Luo Lan must thoroughly understand how effective his only hard control skill is against them.

Knowing yourself and your enemy is the key to victory. This is crucial for planning his next, larger-scale hunting operation.

So, Luo Lan climbed back into the shadows of the crevice between the rocks.

Another long period of infiltration and waiting has begun.

But it wasn't just a simple wait; Luo Lan didn't waste a single moment, constantly working on getting used to her "new body."

Finally, the dense rustling sound came again.

This time, a total of five grayish-brown young spiderlings crossed the gap in the underground palace and lined up to walk onto the slippery, narrow natural stone bridge.

Patiently, Luo Lan huddled in the crevice of the rock, watching the first four insects pass by smoothly.

Only when the last young armored spider, clearly lagging behind the main group, slowly crawled past the hiding spot where Luo Lan was, did they take action.

With her new body, Luo Lan no longer needed to struggle to ambush others from the crevices in the rock wall, as she did when she only had one bone hand.

Directly controlling his increasingly skilled carapace body, Luo Lan emerged from the shadows, his eight arthropod legs moving with exceptional steadiness on the wet bridge surface, following the stone bridge at a leisurely pace.

Following directly behind the last insect, Luo Lan raised the foremost segmented limb and poked the back of the young armored spider with its hard tip.

"despair."

The young spiderling, touched by the foreign object, sluggishly stopped in its tracks.

It was still wondering when another "of the same kind" had appeared at the back of the line.

So, it clumsily turned around, turning its head, which had four pairs of compound eyes, towards the center.

But just as it turned halfway around, a scarlet single eye, bigger than its head and covered with purplish-black fleshy whiskers, filled its vision!

【Terrification lv.2】!

His vertical pupils contracted sharply, and waves of psychological intimidation spread outwards with a roar.

The young spider remained looking back, its cloudy compound eyes instantly losing focus under Luo Lan's mental shock, and its eight limbs, which had been moving just moments before, were firmly nailed to the stone bridge.

A sense of fatigue welled up in Luo Lan's eyes again, but it was less intense than before.

[Is it because my body is stronger now?]

[No, we'll think about that later. Let's start timing first.]

[One second, ten seconds...one minute, three minutes...]

With no other reference points, Luo Lan could only count the time in her mind.

Time passed slowly, until about five minutes had elapsed.

Finally, one of the young spider's appendages twitched very slowly, as if it were a sign that it was regaining its ability to move.

Five minutes? That's enough!

Before the insect could even detach itself from its endless fear and death, not even a single thought could escape its grasp.

Luo Lan's pale, skeletal hand, hidden within the hollow shell, stretched out like lightning!

The young spider's head is tucked inwards with the knuckles, and the wrist exerts force.

The insect's body was attacked, and its senses returned from the shock. Just as it tried to fight back, its head was crushed to pieces!