Shell Out(turtle litrpg)

The ant was beginning to lay eggs.

The would be queen was active very often, even when I took on a humanoid form, actively harvesting food from my fields and if not that, the grass. While it avoided Willow, it did not avoid the byproducts of her practice, and actively harvested them.

They had a high concentration of life energy, so it wasn't that surprising.

I had no problem with that, and even actively grew fruit on my four trees to ensure that she would have more to eat, and felt less worried about Willow's crazy projects.

Though I had no clue what kind of ants they were yet, what I did know was that it served me, and that it was to my benefit that she developed a nest. Even if I can't directly control them, a colony of giant ants still have their uses.

I'll admit I'm also quite curious what kind of ants they would end up being as well, as I had yet to see any clues.

I had even asked my new hammer about what kind of ant it could be, but it didn't have any idea either. But it was a hammer, so perhaps the wrong person to ask.

Speaking of the hammer, it took me a while but I haven't named it yet.

When I asked it if it had any name preferences it actually had one.

'The dinghai shen chui?'

A rather specific name.

I asked it why this name and the origin was quite surprising.

Before it was named ryu jin bang, the monkey king's staff was named Ding hai shen zhen. The iron needle that measured the sea.

According to it, it was made by the great emperor Dayu who used it to measure the depths of the great flood, and help redirect it into the four seas.

I know about those great floods too, having been recorded centuries ago in the history books. A worldwide flood that caused the continents to overflow. Some believed it to be the wrath of the Gods, while others thought it was the byproduct of a fight between high level monsters.

Some people made boats to escape that flood, and others hid in chests. For the norse, it was believed to have signaled the death of Ymir and the flood was a sea of blood.

So apparently it did have an origin before becoming the famous staff. Interesting. (author note: this is real by the way. I found this out while reading a ton of cn novels recently. Interesting stuff really. If you noticed a sudden influx of chinese myth in my writing, that's cause a lot of it has gotten into my brain and I'm currently trying to mesh it with the other mythos.)

So it changed it's name from Ding Hai shen Zhen to Ding Hai shen chui, from divine needle to divine hammer.

Yeah sure. I mean to me, a hammer is a hammer and I'm going to be using it to smack people. If it likes the name, why not.

But while talking to Shen chui, I learned a lot.

In addition to being a lot older than I thought, I discovered besides being warrior-like it's rather gossipy.

Like it knows a lot for a stick that used to beat people.

'Weren't you a weapon? How did you learn all this anyway?'

If the hammer could shrug, it probably would at this point.

(Do you think us weapons merely sit there all day waiting for our masters to use us?)

I mean, yeah...

(We weapons like to gather sometimes and gossip when the masters aren't around. Some of us like to sneak down to the lower world and have some fun in human form.Even when I was locked away in the East dragon palace my fellow weapon the mountain splitting axe would come around to reminisce.

In fact, the whole reason I ended up here was due to me sneaking out.)

'Eh? Really?' I asked, petty curious how that played out. After all, right now we were waiting for the boat to start up and leave the dock. I might as well take the time to get better acquainted with my own weapons.

(My master came to the Romana empire a few centuries ago seeking the river Styx to bathe in it and claim its invincible properties. At the time, I took the opportunity to split a clone of mine off to explore the Romana empire so I would have something to tell the other weapons back at home.

But then I accidentally bumped into this giant sky whale which was really strong and controlled lightning for some reason, as well as a lightning wyrm it was hanging out with. They didn't even attack me, but their sheer presence was enough to sever my connection to the rest of the staff.

Those two were really strong! As a result, I spent a long time being treated like a random needle until that dwarf found me and recognized my specialty. )

He also mentioned the number of dragon lairs he went through, with many dragons figuring something was special about him, but unable to determine what and ultimately losing him or tossing him elsewhere, until he finally ended up being sold by a gold dragon posing as a stall owner.

Chui also told me a ton of interesting gossip.

(The happy buddha was once the long eared rabbit immortal of the seven attendants who served under Shaqcqing Lingbo before defecting to buddhism.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

He's known for his "interest" in men.

What most people don't know is that he had a "Tryst" with Dionysus.) The hammer whispered with the clear intent of eating melons.

'Really!?' I asked, totally astonished. Lord Dionysus, the god of madness, wine and hedonism!?
That sounds weird at first glance until you realize that he himself rarely participates in the hedonism!

In stark contrast to his wandering brother Apollas Ra, known for his many trysts.

(Oh yeah, it was totally a whole thing. I think a thousand years ago? That jumpy rabbit invited Dionysus to his place for theatre and chill. But then the two of them had a huge fight that shook the mountains and a decade later, Dionysus walked out of it looking totally furious and the happy Buddha looked a total mess.

Most people thought he beat the scrap out of him.

But you know,I heard a juicy bit of info from a copper dragon while I was in his nest. Big mouth on that one. Anyway, a mere century ago, Dionysus introduced a new attendant who has rabbit ears.

And the dingguang immortal was a rabbit.) The hammer finished in a smug tone, as if to claim "See! I do know a lot!"

I mean yeah, but that's not proof. Just a coincidence right?

(Well, as I said, all weapons in the east who serve immortals know each other.

That includes the golden lotuses that buddhists travel on)

'No!'

(Yeah!That part about the attendant is merely my own speculation, but at the time we invited the pagoda of Li Jing and one of the nine tripods of Dayu before Dingguang's golden lotus wandered in looking like an absolute mess, with a jaguar bite out of it.

It's spirit was in pieces, and the only reason why it was so loose lipped at the time. That, and we didn't realize how big of a deal it would become. ANd he told us the real story.)

I'm not usually the type to gossip, but this is important stuff. Like, I really have to inform lord Anubis about this.

With unintended gusto, I summoned lord Anubis.

My child, you seem... excited.

'My lord I bring important news that I received from this hammer, which contains a fragment of ryu jin bong.'

Oh? And what could it be?

'The lord Dionysus had a secret tryst with a buddhist!'

No! The lord said in disbelief, yet there was also a hint of... eagerness?

No, surely the lord wouldn't be excited about this gossip? I ignored this suspicion and continued on.

'Yes! And the new attendant he recruited a century ago with rabbit ears might be the secret child!

Nonsense! This is slander to the gods! He boomed. Tell me more about this incident so that I may verify the truth of this incident!

As he said this, I could hear rustling bags in the background, and the sound of clattering seeds.

Well!? Speak! He commanded, and this time the eagerness couldn't be hidden.

Milord... I did not think you were into this kind of stuff.

Earl did not notice his own eagerness as he shared the news to lord Anubis, as lord and follower were more similar than they cared to admit.

The new hammer wasn't done either.

(Tiamat had a secret love affair with the south sea dragon king, giving birth to the three headed dragon Erlang shan used to make his spear.)

Oh my! How could we have missed such an important piece of intel! 'Indeed! Tiamat is extending her reach into other territories! What else is there!?'

(Well this is less confirmed but I heard Dapeng under the seat of Tathagata had an affair with Garuda thanks to their shared love of scaly noodles!)

What! Truly, buddhism has no shame when it comes to making "connections" with other pantheons!

Anubis did end up sharing this info with Jorvus, yet had unknowingly revealed the truth, allowing the Ding Guang immortal to find out about his secret son, causing him to rush back from india alongside Tathagata and Guanyin.

On one hand, to support their fellow brother in pursuing love, but also to rub palms and beg for alms.

After all, the pantheon is all one large family. Then that would make buddhism and the pantheon in-laws.

For their in-laws, could the pantheon not spare some incense? For the salvation of people, buddhism can be a little shameless.

This did in fact result in a small branch of buddhism joining the pantheon. The pantheon is all encompassing. If it can absorb two religions, then sure buddhism can join!

Tiamat also found out about her secrets being revealed that day, alongside a dozen other of her affairs, causing Bahamut and Quetzalcoatl to point fingers and laugh for a bit, leaving her stewing in a helpless rage.
The Dapeng... did not care. It's reputation was already ruined by lion camel ridge. What was a little more shame? (no joke, that was gross. Reading about lion camel ridge and flesh covering the ground like grass on the lawn? Eugh)

Alas, Earl did not know that his "Reporting" of info to whom he thought was a tight lipped God was in fact, a poor choice.

They spent a day eating melons.

"All aboard!" Came the call for the time to board the boat, and I put aside the conversation I was having with the Shen Chui.

Following Lenore and Servante onto the boat, I happened to see Gilbert greeting all the boarding passengers, as well as their familiars.

When we walked by, I noticed him observing me closely.

There was scrutiny in his eyes and... sympathy? That's a weird reaction to have to seeing a turtle.

Wonder why he would have such a look.

ALthough I was a bit worried that he managed to recognize me somehow, it didn't really matter either way. After all, he and I were never on any bad terms, and any conflict of interest we could've ever had would've ended with death.

Though, that would leave me wondering why he showed a look of sympathy.

Maybe cause I died and ended up a monster? I might find this life perfectly acceptable after such a stressful few years, But for some this could be seen as a fate worse than death.

Well whatever. I've already had a exciting few hours as I got the hammer to spill all the gossip and told Lord ANubis all the fascinating intel.

It was a few hours of talking for sure. So I was looking forward to some rest.

The roms were as good as they had been the last time I'd been in one

Simple, but comfy.

There was a kotatsu in the middle of the room, imported from the Sakura shogunate, and quite popular with the nobles in recent years.

He had one in every room. They're a item often used by families at large, but have mainly become more poplar amongst the rich and well connected.

I hear the australian federation welcomes them as well, with one of the eight families being of japanese descent.

In the rooms simplicity there was luxury, with each surface designed for comfort, made out of quality materials.

There was also a quet magic circle arranged in the room, made to protect the customer in times of trouble, introduced to me by Gilbert, though kept a secret from the people who purchase tickets. These are emergency measures for when infiltrators sneak in, and in such a situation, the less people know, the better.

There was a small minifridge, powered by the central ice monster core from a white dragon, which also powered the other fridges across the whole ship as well as the air conditioning and the shower.

A monster core for the heating system as well, and it's a high level one as well. Not a dragon, if I recall it's a asura from India. Maneaters I hear. Quite vile.

The pelts, well I can't quite tell you what creatures each individual pelt is from, I know they're bare minimum B rank pelts, perfect in any aspect a customer could appreciate.

It was because of all this I wholeheartedly agreed to ride this boat, even at its steep, albeit relatively cheap, price.

The whole boat is well invested, ensuring its security. If it sounded lavish on the inside, then the hull of the ship was practically luxurious.

The hull is made out of a dense concrete mix of dragonturtle shell fragments and karkinos shell bits.

It is secure.

So, this trip should go smoothly.