Chapter 69: Dimensional Stomach

Chapter 69: Dimensional Stomach

"You want to tame a battle pet?"

As soon as Ji Xinghuo spoke, Ren Mian guessed his intention. She searched his body with her eyes but found nothing.

Seeing her reaction, Ji Xinghuo felt curious.

Most people wouldn't think to look on their own body when battle pets were mentioned, would they?

"Could it be…" Ji Xinghuo wondered if Ren Jie, like him, had a tiny battle pet hidden on her person. Yet, her magnetic field seemed normal, with no signs of another life form. Perhaps her battle pet wasn't with her at the moment.

These thoughts flashed through his mind as he nodded, "Yes, I plan to."

"Not many are worth using symbiosis with an exotic battle pet. Their potential must be great enough, or it's a waste of an exotic species." Ren Mian asked, "Have you already chosen a taming target?"

Ji Xinghuo smiled and gently patted the pocket on his chest.

There was no way he could hide Little Green Snake from his teammates; they would find out sooner or later, so he might as well show them.

A tiny head poked out, spotted the two people in front, and quickly withdrew.

"Come out," Ji Xinghuo said as he took Little Green Snake out of his pocket and placed it on his palm to show his teammates.

"A snake?" Chi Zhonglin was surprised. "How can something so small have any combat power?"

Little Green Snake seemed to understand his words. It coiled itself in a circle on Ji Xinghuo's palm, raised its head, and hissed at Chi Zhonglin, making a soft, sizzling sound.

Ren Mian, who had been observing Little Green Snake closely, lit up at its reaction.

"This snake is a spirit beast!" she exclaimed.

"What?" Chi Zhonglin exclaimed, his eyes widening. He leaned in for a closer look, well aware of the rarity of spirit beasts. He had seen a few in the past, and each one possessed abilities far beyond those of regular monsters, making them invaluable aides to their owners. Chi Zhonglin himself didn't keep a battle pet because he only wanted the best, and regular monsters didn't interest him. But spirit beasts were a rare find.

"Is this an Iron Arrow Green?" Chi Zhonglin asked, recognizing the species. "Can such a common type of snake become a spirit beast?"

"Any creature from the Starry World has the potential to evolve into a spirit beast," Ren Mian explained.

She, too, was intrigued and seemed to have a lot of experience with taming small battle pets. She got up and went to the kitchen, returning with a piece of cake, which she held out to Little Green Snake.

Little Green Snake sniffed it a couple of times before cautiously extending its tongue to lick it. Its eyes lit up, and it began to eat the cake in small bites.

"Interesting!" Ren Mian laughed. "Xinghuo, this isn't its original form, is it? Let me guess—it can shrink?"

Now it was Ji Xinghuo's turn to be surprised. "Ren Jie, you have a sharp eye!"

"What's its true size?" Ren Mian asked.

Ji Xinghuo gently patted Little Green Snake, and it immediately understood. Its body expanded a hundredfold, turning into a two-and-a-half-meter-long Iron Arrow Green. Its sleek, emerald-green body coiled on the dining table, and it swallowed the cake in one gulp before looking expectantly at Ren Mian.

Chi Zhonglin was startled at first but then marveled, "It really is an Iron Arrow Green!"

He shook his head soon after. "Even if it returns to its original form, it doesn't seem that impressive. I could crush it with one foot." He had easily killed hundreds of Iron Arrow Greens during his outdoor excursions.

The large snake turned its head to stare at him, its golden eyes cold and unblinking, its tongue flicking in and out.

"This snake understands human speech!" Chi Zhonglin took a step back, unnerved by the snake's intense gaze, so close to his face, and its seemingly human-like expression.

Ji Xinghuo laughed, "It only understands a little, but it can guess when you're bad-mouthing it."

"Spirit beasts are naturally intelligent," Ren Mian said, captivated by the Iron Arrow Green. It was clearly different from a typical Iron Arrow Green—its scales were a richer shade of green and smoother. She reached out tentatively to touch its body and found the scales remarkably hard. The color of its underside had changed from green to gold.

Iron Arrow Greens that evolved into monsters possessed the 'Iron Scales' ability, making their scales as hard as steel.

She turned to ask, "What other abilities does it have?"

"It has a powerful sense of smell, so it should have 'Spirit Scent.' " Ji Xinghuo replied, "It also has another ability that I don't know the name of."

He nodded at the large snake, "Spit something out."

Little Green Snake opened its mouth and vomited out a backpack—Ji Xinghuo's own. The bag contained spare arrows, supplies, and tools.

"Holy crap!" Chi Zhonglin exclaimed, nearly jumping out of his seat.

Ren Mian's expression froze, and she furrowed her brows in thought for a few seconds. The look she gave Little Green Snake was no longer as casual as before.

"Does Ren Jie know what this ability is?" Ji Xinghuo asked.

"If I'm not mistaken, it should be 'Dimensional Stomach.' " Ren Mian said softly, then added with emphasis, "Dimensional Stomach is a Starfall ability, and it's extremely rare, even among Starfall abilities. You're quite lucky."

"That's insane!" Chi Zhonglin's face was filled with envy. "With this Iron Arrow Green, you can carry a lot of things with you wherever you go. How convenient!"

But Ren Mian shook her head, "The Dimensional Stomach is more than just a storage space; it's incredibly powerful in combat, too."

"The Dimensional Stomach is an ability related to space. Its stomach is a separate dimensional space where time is static. Anything that enters the stomach remains in the same state it was in when it entered—nothing changes."

Hearing this, Ji Xinghuo understood.

In fact, he had already guessed as much from his first encounter with Little Green Snake, when it had swallowed and then regurgitated his arrow.

The arrow's kinetic energy and speed were completely unchanged, and its lethality hadn't diminished in the slightest.

This characteristic could be developed into countless strategies.

For example, he could prepare several capacitive arrows in advance, shoot them at near overload, and have Little Green Snake swallow them into its dimensional stomach. Then, he could have the snake hide them on his body.

In battle, Little Green Snake would suddenly open its mouth and release the capacitive arrows, and almost no one would be able to defend against them.

If one arrow wasn't enough, it could spit out multiple arrows, or even hundreds! A rain of arrows with just one open mouth!

Besides arrows, could it also swallow bullets? Or metal rounds from an electromagnetic rifle? If the dimensional stomach's space was large enough, could it even swallow a missile about to explode?

Since explosives from Earth didn't work in the Starry World, they could use pure kinetic energy weapons instead.

For example, tungsten rods falling from space, or even meteorites! Of course, the prerequisite for swallowing these things was that the dimensional stomach had to be huge, which Little Green Snake currently couldn't achieve. Moreover, the more powerful the thing it swallowed, the more dangerous the operation, and one mistake could result in Little Green Snake's death.

"The potential of Starfall abilities is indeed terrifying; it all depends on how well you can harness them." Ren Mian sighed, "However, the Dimensional Stomach can only be accessed in the Starry World. Once you return to Earth or any other part of the Milky Way, the ability becomes inactive. Items within the stomach remain intact, but you can't put anything in or take anything out."

Ji Xinghuo was taken aback, "Why is that?"

"Scientists have found that the spatial fabric of the Starry World is much looser and less 'solid' compared to the Milky Way, making it easier to manipulate and navigate through," Ren Mian explained, then added, "Let me give you an analogy."

"Imagine the space in the Starry World is like water. With just a bit of swimming technique, you can move through it freely."

"On the other hand, the space in the Milky Way is like solid rock, or even steel. Everything within it is trapped and forever confined."

"This is just a rough analogy, of course."

"In reality, the difference between the spaces of the Starry World and the Milky Way is far greater than that between water and rock or steel. The actual disparity may be upwards of nine orders of magnitude!"

"It's not just the Dimensional Stomach; any ability related to spatial manipulation is ineffective in the Milky Way."

This was the first time Ji Xinghuo had heard about this aspect of the two worlds.

Nine orders of magnitude!

That's a difference of one hundred million times!

Chi Zhonglin's eyes widened in realization as he listened, his face reflecting his newfound understanding.

He suddenly shook his head and said, "No wonder! I've heard that some people in the Starry World obtain treasures that can store items, allowing them to carry storage spaces with them. I always wondered, if such a treasure fell into the hands of an enemy country and they hid nuclear weapons in it, transported it to Chang'an, and then took the weapons out and detonated them there, wouldn't that spell disaster?"

Ji Xinghuo also felt a shiver run down his spine as he recalled his own thoughts along similar lines.

In fact, ever since obtaining Little Green Snake, he had entertained such ideas.

If Little Green Snake's dimensional stomach were large enough, he could store a nuclear warhead with a yield of thousands of megatons inside, then sneak into the capital of the United States Federation, St. Louis, and drop it from the sky...

Boom!

The world would be nuked.

"People have tried that already." Ren Mian's words startled the two men, causing them to jump. She laughed softly, "Don't let your imaginations run wild. It's impossible."

"That's a relief!" Chi Zhonglin exhaled in relief.

However, Ji Xinghuo noticed a strange expression on Ren Mian's face, as if there was more to the story.

At that moment, Little Green Snake shrank back to its miniature form. Ren Mian continued to feed it cake, and in this reduced state, the Iron Arrow Green appeared minuscule and adorable, devoid of any hint of a serpent's ferocity. It seemed more like a harmless little pet.

As she played with the snake, she said, "This Iron Arrow Green is full of spirit and has great potential. Your choice to use Symbiotic Fusion and share an ability with it is indeed a wise one."

"However, Symbiotic Fusion is quite rare and not easy to come by."

Seeing the expectant look on Ji Xinghuo's face, she smiled and said, "Tonight, I'll take you out for a walk. We might just get lucky."

"Thank you, Ren Jie." Ji Xinghuo was overjoyed.

Ren Mian nodded and left the living room to continue tending to the garden.

"Xinghuo, Zhonglin, your noodles are here!" Kang N Caiyi arrived with two bowls of beef noodles. She had been in the kitchen listening to their conversation and, seeing the little green snake on the table, tried to feed it some cake as well. But after having already been fed several pieces by Ren Mian, the snake seemed a bit tired of it.

Ji Xinghuo ate his noodles heartily and advised, "Caiyi, it prefers grilled meat, especially chicken."

"I'll make it grilled chicken for dinner," she replied.

Little Green Snake seemed to understand her words and immediately warmed up to her.

Ji Xinghuo asked, "Chi, didn't you say you were going back to Earth to participate in the Master Ranking Tournament? How did it go?"

Chi Zhonglin looked glum, "Don't mention it. This year's tournament had 16 spots, and I ended up in 17th place. Just one spot away! It almost drove me crazy."

The Master Ranking Tournament was held annually, with the Global Martial Arts Association deciding the number of promotion spots for each year, allocated among the various countries of Earth.

"Better luck next year," Ji Xinghuo could only offer consolation.

"I don't have time to participate in the Martial Arts Tournament," Chi Zhonglin shook his head, stirring his noodles with his chopsticks.

Ji Xinghuo snickered.

Winning a national-level martial arts competition or placing second to fourth in a global martial arts tournament would grant one instant promotion to Master.

However, this was even more difficult than the Master Ranking Tournament, as many Masters and even Grandmasters participated in these tournaments.

With Chi Zhonglin's current abilities, it was nearly impossible for him to place.

"Oh, that's right,"

Chi Zhonglin remembered something, "I met your second brother in Chang'an and conveyed your message. He asked me to tell you that everything is fine at home and that you should take care of yourself and be safe."

"Thanks," Ji Xinghuo felt relieved.

The two men ate their noodles and chatted casually.

"There hasn't been any major news on Earth lately, but the fighting never stops," Chi Zhonglin knew that Ji Xinghuo might not be able to return to Earth, so he shared some of the recent happenings. "If there's any hot topic, it would be Zhao Manying. She led the Emperor Star Team to win the domestic Super League championship, and a few days ago, they swept through their opponents in Avalon and won the Global Invitational Championship!"

At this point, Chi Zhonglin's eyes shone with admiration, "Sword Immortal is truly my idol! Damn, when will I ever be so glorious?"

Ji Xinghuo also sighed with emotion.

Zhao Manying's promotion to Superhuman half a year ago and her subsequent win of the domestic Super League championship were not surprising.

But he never expected her to also win the Global Invitational!

The Global Invitational was held twice a year, with each edition taking place in a different city around the globe. The organizers invited the top teams from various countries to participate, and the champion took home a prize of over 2 billion Asian Dollars. The competition was intense, and the title held more value than a national league championship, second only to the Super World Cup held once every four years.

Competitive leagues were all about results.

With two championships under her belt, Zhao Manying was poised to win even more in the coming years, and her popularity would surge once more, solidifying her status as a global idol.

No wonder Chi Zhonglin was envious, Ji Xinghuo himself yearned for such a dazzling life!

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end