BOOM!
Another clap of thunder came from the other side of the Spatial Gate.
This was already Ethan's ninety-ninth experiment.
At first, he had only sent a single Ghost Hand through to grab the treasure.
Now, he was sending more than a dozen Ghost Hands through the Spatial Gate at once.
And it still wasn't working.
Another thunderclap sounded.
Nearly all of the Water Ghost Hair connecting the dozen Ghost Hands had been severed, leaving only two strands still strong.
'As expected, increasing the number at least improves the survival rate a little.'
Feeling that two strands of Water Ghost Hair were still intact, Ethan immediately pulled them back.
Whoosh!
BOOM!
The instant the Ghost Hands were pulled back, a bolt of lightning came through the Spatial Gate with them.
The moment Ethan realized the lightning had followed, he immediately closed the Spatial Gate.
Even so, he couldn't avoid being hit by the residual current.
"Ugh... ah... aaah..."
The remaining electricity made his whole body tremble uncontrollably.
The spot where he had been shocked hurt terribly. Looking closely, he found a scorched patch on the back of his hand.
It felt like being burned by something extremely hot.
'No wonder it hurt so much!'
Still, he was glad he hadn't recklessly reached his own hand through the Spatial Gate to steal the treasure.
Otherwise, it would have been his hand that got roasted.
Clack!
Something landed crisply on the ground.
Ethan quickly looked down and discovered that there was now, 'A chess piece?'
It was a black horse.
It felt cool to the touch, as though it were made of metal.
The horse itself was a lifelike sculpture in a running pose. Although the piece wasn't large, every detail, the mane, the head, the hooves, had been carved with remarkable realism.
At first glance, it looked like a real horse in full gallop.
This horse piece had been brought back by one of the Ghost Hands.
But that Ghost Hand had been completely charred by the lightning.
When Ethan pulled it back, it naturally couldn't keep hold of the chess piece, and it dropped.
The other Ghost Hand was in better shape.
Most of it had been burned black, but not all of it.
Ethan vaguely noticed that it seemed to be holding something.
He quickly pried its fingers open and found another chess piece inside.
The half-charred Ghost Hand had brought back... an ancient white cannon.
Chinese chess?
At first, he had thought it was Go.
When he first saw the horse, he had assumed it was from Western chess.
It wasn't until he saw the ancient cannon that he realized the board was actually Chinese chess.
'Interesting.'
He just didn't know what was special about these pieces.
[Black Piece, Horse: A horse capable of traveling through space, but it only obeys the commands of the "General."]
[White Piece, Cannon: A cannon that fires by consuming spirit energy. Each shot requires a minimum of 100 spirit stones and a maximum of 10,000 spirit stones. The more spirit stones used, the greater the power. At its highest level, it can even fire across space and bombard targets in other dimensions.]
"Huh?"
Ethan had been a little disappointed that the horse could only be used under the General's command.
Then he saw the cannon, which could be used as long as you paid for it.
The only problem was that each shot was a little expensive.
He wondered how powerful it was.
He'd have to try it when he got the chance.
"Let's do it again. Maybe I can steal their 'General' this time."
Ethan took another twenty Ghost Hands out of his Storage Tail Ring.
These things weren't very useful anyway.
It didn't matter if he lost them.
But if he could steal a few more chess pieces with them, it would be well worth it.
However, just as Ethan tied together the twenty Ghost Hands and was about to open another Spatial Gate to fish for treasure...
BOOM!
A bolt of lightning immediately shot through the Spatial Gate toward him.
"Holy crap!"
Ethan jumped in fright.
Fortunately, the bolt wasn't especially powerful.
And because he closed the Spatial Gate in time, only the tail end of the lightning struck his Triumph Armor, blasting him back three steps and leaving his chest numb.
Thanks to the Triumph Armor forged from Golden Dragon Scales, however, he wasn't injured.
"Sigh!"
After closing the Spatial Gate, Ethan let out a sigh.
Sure enough, once the chance to fish was gone, it was gone.
That chessboard had to be intelligent.
Otherwise, it wouldn't have targeted him so specifically after he stole two of its pieces.
But...
Things like this were usually incredibly powerful.
If only he could get the entire chessboard.
"Charlie, help me predict how I can get that chessboard."
Since he couldn't obtain it on his own, Ethan immediately decided to ask for outside help.
Bzzz!
Charlie the radio crackled with static.
A moment later, he suddenly spoke.
"Lord Ethan, someone's approaching from the nine o'clock direction! They're giving off intense killing intent!"
"What?"
Hearing that, Ethan immediately looked toward the nine o'clock direction.
Sure enough, he saw a gigantic hammerhead shark swimming toward him.
Standing on its back were two strangely shaped, 'Aliens?'
One had a head shaped like an American football.
The other was even more outrageous. It looked like a... well, no, it was a mushroom head.
"Can you tell what level they're at?"
The moment Ethan saw the two of them, he was overcome with an intense sense of danger.
It forced him to become cautious.
Bzzz~
Charlie quickly replied, "They should be stronger than the Blue-Capped Goblin, perhaps even approaching the Goblin King's level. They all possess special abilities, like... genetically mutated monsters."
"Genetically mutated monsters? You mean these things used to be... human?"
Ethan looked at the creatures before him.
Other than having bodies that vaguely resembled humans, did the rest of them have anything to do with humans at all?
'Even Xenomorphs look more human than these guys!'
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