Rebirth of the thief who roamed around the world (BOOK 1)

Chapter 109 - Gaia Monitor

The sound of heavy, turbid breathing travelled between the scattered stacks and entered Nie Yan's ears. As he carefully went over to investigate, an enormous, scaly body, lying flat on the ground, entered his sight.

It was a Gaia Monitor!

Nie Yan knew he would be encountering this fellow even before arriving at this location.

This five-meter long lizard hidden between the piles of rocks was covered in sharp spikes, making it almost indistinguishable from an ancient dinosaur.

As he looked elsewhere, he spotted a small cave well-hidden among some boulders. If one didn't observe carefully, it would be rather easy to overlook.

From where he stood, he was unable to see deeper inside the cave.

I'll need to get past this lizard first... Entering the cave without alerting the Gaia Monitor wasn't going to be a simple task.

By habit, Nie Yan inspected the Gaia Monitor with Transcendent Insight.

Gaia Monitor (Elite): Level ??

Although Transcendent Insight failed to gather anything significant due to the level discrepancy, Nie Yan dimly recalled the Gaia Monitor was an Elite monster that was at least level 30. Even the slightest graze from such a high-level monster would undoubtedly mean his death.

Fortunately, this Gaia Monitor wouldn't stay in this area for too long.

That being the case, Nie Yan patiently waited...

After twenty minutes, the Gaia Monitor finally began to move. It lazily rose to its feet, then stumbled over to a nearby boulder. As it perched itself at the top, its massive tail smashed into another boulder which happened to be quite close to where Nie Yan was hiding.「Boom!」A large explosion echoed out as the boulder instantly turned to rubble, sending debris flying in every direction.

「Pa! Pa! Pa!」Unfortunately, several of the fragments struck Nie Yan as well.

−23, −27. −26

Yet he didn't dare to budge an inch lest the Gaia Monitor discover his presence.

The Gaia Monitor lowered its head and scanned over the mess of rocks and boulders.

Nie Yan felt his heart skip a beat. He remained motionless as he hid behind the cover of the rock pile, praying the Gaia Monitor wouldn't notice his presence.

Only after what seemed like an eternity did the Gaia Monitor, having not found anything strange, languidly crawl off toward another area.

Once it had moved far enough away, Nie Yan at long last breathed a sigh of relief. Good... it didn't notice me. At the sight of its silhouette disappearing into the distance, he finally dared to venture out and head for the cave.

After arriving at the cave's entrance, Nie Yan felt a cold wind blowing from deep within the cave's cavity. As he went inside, he noticed a slight dampness in the air as well as the walls that were full of deep scratches, presumably left behind by the Gaia Monitor.

This cave was its nest. Every two hours it would leave the area to sunbathe near some distant cliffs for five minutes or so.

With Nie Yan's current gear and level, even if the Gaia Monitor laid motionless and allowed him to shoot at it with reckless abandon, the damage he dealt would be entirely negated by its base regeneration.

Were it not for the fact that Nie Yan knew the Gaia Monitor would leave its nest for some time, he would have never dared to come to this place.

As Nie Yan gradually explored deeper, the surroundings became increasingly dim until light no longer shined inside the cave. It was pitch black. He wasn't even able to see his own hands. Thus, he could only rely on his other senses to guide him through his search.