usatvline Chapter 311 Rome Stories February 26 New Share
Chapter 311 Rome Stories February 26 New Share
The sand dragon’s remains were far larger than Leon had imagined. The entire hillside was almost entirely taken up by its colossal skeleton. Most of the body was still buried beneath the sand and rock, and even what was exposed was incomplete—only the ribcage and skull remained visible, with no trace of the rear half.
Even so, Leon was awestruck. The rib-like bones jutted out of the sandy slope like petrified pillars, each over five meters tall above ground and so thick that an adult might not be able to wrap their arms around one.
The most striking part was the skull. Around ten meters long and four meters high, it had a flattened shape and was completely fossilized. The teeth were damaged—none fully intact—and the skull tilted slightly upward.
It looked as if the dragon had been raising its head to gaze at the sky. By chance or design, Leon found that if he looked through the hollow sockets, his eyes would line up perfectly with the sun above.
That reminded him of the in-game prompt when touching the sand dragon’s remains:
“It opens its mouth toward the desert sun. Even in death, it is greedy.”
A hint—and a statement. The hint implied the sand dragon’s final meal was meant to be the sun itself, and thus the Solar Essence was the most fitting offering. The statement described a creature so powerful it dared to try to swallow the sun.
Yet this proud sand dragon now lay in silent ruin, scattered bones half-buried in sand, head lifted toward the sky in a final, longing gaze at the sun it could never reach.
Who could have killed such a being? And why?
Judging by the remains, this was no mere monster. Leon suspected it was either a Child of the Wilds or some ancient beast from a bygone age. What kind of person would hunt such a creature, and for what purpose?Puzzled, Leon searched the remains carefully, hoping for the Skull Key. But after combing through every exposed bone and hollow, he found nothing.
A pity. If he’d brought Solar Essence with him, he would have tried offering one to see if it had any effect.
Since there was nothing more to gain from the sand dragon’s skeleton, Leon moved on to search for the entrance to Skull Cavern. That, at least, was easy enough—just circle the mountain wall and it would eventually turn up.
Sure enough, not far from the remains, he found it: a dull yellow stone door embedded in the cliff, starkly out of place against the natural rock. A carved skull, its mouth agape, was set into the center. Beneath the open jaws was a conspicuous keyhole.
He pushed at the door experimentally, but it didn’t budge. Memorizing the location, he turned back toward the bus stop.
On the way, he decided not to leave empty-handed and began collecting desert specialties—coconuts and cactus fruit. Unfortunately, unlike in the game, they didn’t just lie around waiting to be picked up. The coconuts had to be cut down from tall palms, and the cactus fruit grew on spiny tops that were hard to reach without injury.
Fortunately, Leon had the Galaxy Watermelon Knife. Its extending blade sliced through coconut stems with ease and lopped cactus fruit from their thorny crowns without him needing to get too close.
If the knife had a spirit, it would probably lodge a complaint about being used as a glorified harvesting tool. But since it didn’t, Leon had no qualms and found it worked perfectly for the job.
While harvesting, Leon spotted the telltale markings of an Ancient Spot in the sandy soil. This time, no hand-digging—he simply swung his hoe, turning over the earth to reveal what lay beneath.
“Stones?” he muttered darkly, staring at the two smooth rocks in the pit.
He had assumed Ancient Spots would always yield ancient artifacts. After all, both Gunther’s explanations and the system’s notes about the “Ancient Mystery” had led him to believe they were guaranteed to hide relics. But apparently, reality worked just like the game—sometimes you found treasure, sometimes just stone or clay.
And honestly, who could say that stone and clay weren’t ancient artifacts? They had probably been in the earth for countless years. The only problem was they had no value.
Pocketing the stones, Leon pressed on, reaching the bus just before 1:00 PM.
He boarded, dropped 10 gold into the fare box, then pulled a handful of desert dates from his pocket and handed them to Pam.
“Try these. A friend I just met gave them to me—pretty good.”
“Desert dates, huh? Thanks.” Pam smiled, taking them but tucking them away instead of eating right away. She kept her focus on waiting for other passengers.
Leon didn’t say more and found a seat.
He was actually satisfied with Pam as a driver. He had seen her twice today—once in the morning, once now—and hadn’t smelled a hint of alcohol either time. Her complexion was normal, her mood steady. At least while on the job, she seemed able to restrain her drinking, and that was worth acknowledging.
Lewis had made the right choice putting her behind the wheel. The ride that morning had been smooth, with no sudden stops or jolts. The bus was steady as a train, thanks not only to the flat road but also to Pam’s driving skills.
If she could keep it up, Leon had no objections to leaving the Calico Desert bus in her hands.
This time, he didn’t bother watching the scenery on the ride back. The dunes and yellow sand had lost their novelty. Once you got used to it, a desert view was about as exciting as the greenery outside your apartment window.
When the bus finally pulled into the Stardew Valley stop, Leon was the last passenger off. After a quick farewell to Pam, he grabbed his bike and pedaled straight toward Pelican Town.
He had a conversation to have with Lewis—about the Calico Desert bus shares.
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