Farming Games are All About Grinding-Chapter 281 - 273: Explosive Snowball

After setting aside the Snowball Egg, the Snowball Incubator was finally ready.

This contraption resembled a mooncake press mold, with two stone slabs, one on top and one on the bottom, enclosing a circular groove in the middle, just the right size to hold a Snowball Egg.

"What kind of bizarre hatching method is this?" Han Qiwu muttered as he stuffed the Snowball Egg into the slot, all the while complaining.

[Hatching Snowball... Estimated time: 6 hours]

"Six hours isn’t too bad for hatching," Han Qiwu nodded and put the incubator away casually.

Next, he took out the Snowman Miner doll, opened the search interface, and typed in the words "Flash Ice."

Since Flash Ice ores were found on the previous level, there might be some here too, right?

"Da-da-da-da-da-da-da."

Upon receiving the command, the Snowman Miner whirled around on the spot, swinging its tiny pickaxe in a frenzy, doing seven or eight dizzying circles in place.

It didn’t move anywhere else.

[Search failed. No Flash Ice ores detected on this mining level.]

Alright then.

Han Qiwu put the Snowman Miner away and headed toward a mine tunnel where three massive snowballs were clustered together.

After taking a few steps, Han Qiwu stumbled upon an area of regular iron deposits.

No complaints here.

I’ve come this far anyway.

Let’s dig it!

"Xiao Dian, go scout ahead. If you run into any snowballs, lead them in circles to round up a group. Once there’s enough, we’ll take them all out at once," Han Qiwu said as he tossed Xiao Dian out while giving instructions.

"Zha zha."

Having learned its lesson from previous encounters, Xiao Dian obediently flapped its wings and soared into the air.

Given how cold it was, Xiao Dian even used a bit of electric current to heat its wings, staying warm while flying around the area.

Having a built-in electric blanket really is arrogant!

Half an hour later.

As Han Qiwu was digging, he accidentally unearthed a stairwell leading to the next level.

"Xiao Dian!!!"

Han Qiwu shouted into the depths of the mine tunnel, his voice echoing layer upon layer into the darkness.

"Zha zha!"

Soon, Xiao Dian’s response echoed back.

Accompanying the reply was a rumbling, rolling sound that grew louder and louder.

Han Qiwu grabbed Xiao Lai and slapped it against the icy wall, instructing, "In a moment, look for an opportunity to slow them down."

Xiao Lai nodded its understanding, its cheeks puffing up gradually.

Moments later, Xiao Dian flew back, looking a bit disheveled, white liquid spattered all over its body. It seemed rather indignant.

If it weren’t for my master’s orders to lure you guys here, I’d have zapped every last one of you by now!

Trailing behind Xiao Dian, a dozen or so snowballs of varying sizes rolled in, rumbling toward them. The largest was as tall as an adult, while the smallest was no bigger than a basketball.

"Did you poke a snowball hive?" Han Qiwu chuckled. It seemed using Xiao Dian’s flight agility to kite was a pretty effective tactic after all.

As the dozen or so snowballs entered range, Xiao Lai spat out a mouthful of venom it had been preparing for a while. frёeweɓηovel_coɱ

The venom splattered over the snowballs, quickly transforming them into what looked like matcha-flavored snowballs.

Honestly, they didn’t look half bad.

The attacked snowballs suddenly slowed to a crawl, as if someone had pressed the 0.5x slow-motion button.

Angry, the snowballs opened their tiny mouths and spat streams of white snow sludge toward Han Qiwu’s direction.

"Xiao Dian, time to put them in the oven!" Han Qiwu exclaimed as he dodged the snow sludge with a series of rolling maneuvers. He raised his mysterious light crossbow and unleashed a long-charged shot.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!"

The mysterious crossbow arrow hit its mark, skewering seven or eight snowballs in a straight line like a string of candied hawthorns.

Seizing the moment, Xiao Dian hovered mid-air, flapping its wings repeatedly to scatter a glowing golden bolt of lightning over the group.

"Crack-crack-crack!"

The electric current surged and danced.

"Tactical retreat!" Han Qiwu shouted, diving behind a nearby rock to take cover.

"Boom, boom, boom!"

Explosions rippled through the mine tunnel, reverberating with intense force.

A dozen seconds later, still hidden, Han Qiwu blindly poked out an arm and fired another crossbow arrow in the snowballs’ direction.

"Zzzzz."

"Boom!"

Another explosion rang out.

"Fighting snowballs is seriously hard on clothes," Han Qiwu muttered helplessly. After waiting several seconds, he emerged, gripping his ice rod, and charged forth.

Amid the snow sludge-covered ground, two basketball-sized snowballs were still bouncing toward him, attempting to attack.

"Beat it." Han Qiwu wielded the ice rod like a baseball bat, swinging it in a flawless arc and knocking one of the tiny snowballs straight toward Xiao Dian.

Smeared with snow sludge, Xiao Dian looked utterly defeated.

Can’t you see I’m barely able to stay airborne anymore, master?

Sighing to itself, it vented its frustration on the two small snowballs.

"Boom, boom!"

"Nice job!" Han Qiwu grinned, crouching down to collect the loot scattered on the ground.

[Exploding Snowball]×3

[Snowball Concentrate]×5

[Snowball Egg]×1

The snowball drops were way more interesting than those from the Snowmen or Snow Beasts.

Han Qiwu picked up a drop labeled [Exploding Snowball] and examined it closely.

[Exploding Snowball]

[Usage: Throwing]

[Effect: Upon impact with any object, causes an explosion affecting a 5×5 radius around itself. If mine creatures are within the blast zone, the Exploding Snowball will additionally slow them down.]

[Note: Snowballs also explode!]

After reading the item description, Han Qiwu’s eyes lit up.

This is a great item!

So much better than those crappy Grape Grenades!

If only I’d had this back when I was mining Flash Ice ore—just toss a couple of these and boom, done.

"If I can figure out a way to farm these regularly, that’d be amazing." Han Qiwu put the Exploding Snowball away, already making plans to hunt down more snowballs to stockpile.

Time to check out the rest of the loot.

[Snowball Concentrate]

[Concentration: 30%]

[Usage: Feed]

[Special Effect - Fusion: When multiple portions of Snowball Concentrate are combined, they will fuse to form a more concentrated solution.]

[Note: Essential substance for Snowball survival]

Looks like it’s designed specifically as food for snowballs. It somewhat resembles coconut milk, though it’s a bit thicker and tends to form puddles when spilled on the ground.

Should I let Xiao Dian have a taste?

As Han Qiwu turned to look at Xiao Dian, the latter preemptively covered its mouth with its wings and shook its head frantically.

Fine, then what about Xiao Lai?

Han Qiwu glanced around and found that Xiao Lai had somehow climbed onto Xiao Dian’s back without him noticing, its eyes and mouth tightly shut.

Alright, fair enough.

"Let’s go, time to find more snowballs!" Han Qiwu commanded energetically, leading Xiao Dian and Xiao Lai deeper into the mine.

An hour later.

A refreshed and sprightly Han Qiwu stepped onto the stairwell to the next level. The past hour had been fruitful—he had obtained [Exploding Snowball]×7, [Snowball Concentrate]×11, and [Snowball Egg]×2.

It had to be said, Xiao Dian was now the star player in snowball battles.

Much to celebrate!

[You have reached Level 64 of the Mine]

"Whoosh!"

Before his vision could even adjust, Han Qiwu heard the sound of something slicing through the air by his ear. He instinctively shifted his weight and leaped to the side.

"Swish!"

A giant, furry, ice-blue spider leg pierced the icy wall where he had just been standing.

"An Ice-Cold Spider? Why is it this huge?"

The source of this c𝓸ntent is fr(e)𝒆novelkiss