chsdbacks Page 431
Page 431
Jennifer walked over to Latis, peeked out curiously on tiptoe, and then smiled:
"It's rare to find such a great environment. I'm already looking forward to exploring this place."
“Indeed, after being in a dark place for so long, I really miss this kind of sunshine.” Latis nodded, couldn’t help but stretch and laugh, watching the girls run lightly to his side.
These little ones have worked so hard following me all this way. When I was their age, I was still calling 4399 every day.
"Ah, sunshine—"
Leafa jumped onto the platform, looked at the bright scenery outside, and a relaxed expression suddenly appeared on her face. She picked up her small snail shell, which she used as a bag, and ran off with everyone else towards the outside of the platform.
However, as soon as I stepped onto the soft ground, the lush plants seemed to have triggered some kind of switch and began to sway.
She looked around in surprise and saw that among the vegetation on the rocks on both sides, there were several plants with flower buds that looked like seashells, which were emitting clusters of lava-like light towards her.
At the same time, she seemed to hear a squeaking sound. Looking towards the source of the sound, she saw several indistinguishable, gray shrimp-like creatures covered in lichen shaking their pincers at her in a panic, as if they were shouting something.
Leafa's brow furrowed as she looked again at the slowly descending ball of light. As if sensing some danger, she flicked her right hand, throwing out her round shield and whispering:
"Shield of Reflection!"
A powerful divine spell was applied to the round shield, which brushed past the ball of light that was floating in the air. The ball of light exploded with a bang, splashing out countless liquid molten lava.
Lava dripped onto the ground, and Leafa caught the spinning shield as it flew back. She glanced at the plants on the rock that had been shattered by the reflected damage, put her hands on her hips, and gave a soft snort.
She is no longer the clumsy and inexperienced apprentice knight she was when she first left Lundia!
Hearing the explosion, Latis rushed to Leafa's side. Seeing that Leafa was unharmed, he breathed a sigh of relief, glanced around at the scenery outside the platform, then turned his gaze to the few lichen-covered monsters not far away, raised an eyebrow, and muttered:
"Mantis shrimp?"
……
"...That's how it is, and we're quite troubled right now."
The gray shrimp-like monsters led the way for the group. They were about one meter long and only about half a meter tall, so they were quite small compared to humans.
Fortunately, although their paths were winding and narrow, Latis and the others were still able to pass through them with difficulty. So, in the complex forks in the road, they were able to follow these shrimp-like monsters to find a safe path.
"Are you saying that a long, long time ago, your place was also blessed by the will of light, but because you live in symbiosis with moss, that will of light was unexpectedly absorbed by the plants?"
Latis repeated the shrimp-like monster's somewhat incoherent words, which were translated using the "Language Proficiency" spell, and couldn't help but marvel at it.
According to these mantis shrimps, their settlement is not actually called a moss tribe, but a large communal settlement, somewhat like a meeting place in the human world.
They are not called moss tribe, but a species called "moss mantis".
Of course, their habitat isn't limited to just the mantis shrimp species; there are also a bunch of other species like the "mossy crab" and the "mossy lizard," but Latis couldn't remember them all at once, so he simply ignored their objections and called them the Mossy Clan.
In short, the mantis shrimp told Latis that although they had undergone the baptism of the will of light—which, according to the short-lived mantis shrimp, was something from ancient times—the life of the moss tribe had not been greatly affected overall.
Apart from the strange plants that Latis and the others encountered when they first left the platform.
"It's a gurgling sound, it's a gurgling sound..."
Mantis shrimp crawled swiftly with their short legs, like a ghillie suited for a slithering through the grass.
It extended its pincers and cut off the thorns growing from the branches on both sides of the narrow path, then leaped onto a ledge and said:
"Besides the 'Baby Flower' that spits out bombs, there are many other plants... like the 'Man-Eating Flower' that ambushes, and the 'Snake-Sting Grass' that suddenly launches flying spikes... In short, mossy mantis shrimps often get injured by these plants."
"That really is a place fraught with danger..."
Latis shook his head, looking at the mantis shrimp that was less than half a person tall. He guessed that they didn't have much ability to deal with plants; they were just a species that had lived here for generations as a symbiotic species with lichens.
"Yes, yes, so it's been a long time since any outsiders have come to visit."
The mantis shrimp stroked its antennae, shook its head, and said:
"However, the mantis shrimp doesn't like to go to other places. Other places are dark and cold, and the environment is also very bad. So you see, the bells on the platform are all tangled up with grass."
"Speaking of this..."
Latis swung his Dream Nail, cleaving through the vines blocking their path. He casually picked up one and, using the power of the Forest Dragon, analyzed it while asking:
"By the way, where does all the light here come from? Is this place connected to the surface of the earth?"
The mantis shrimp turned its head to look at Latis, their mouthparts moving as they whispered something to each other before saying:
"The mantis shrimp's 'gu' is uncertain. In any case, the 'gu' has been present here since before the shrimp are born. Sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't. The big shrimps call this 'daily gu'."
They rolled up their bodies before reaching a downhill slope, tumbling down with a clatter, then looked at Latis and the others who were sliding down, and continued their introduction:
"The prawns said that the water pool in the tribe comes from the rainwater falling from above, and there are some other strange things that also fell from above and were picked up by us."
"I see, then that makes sense."
Latis dusted off his backside, stood up, and crouched slightly as he walked around a small lake with the mantis shrimp.
He looked up at the top of the area, where light occasionally shone through the vines formed by countless intertwined branches. Some rays were wide, while others were small and fragmented, making it seem as if one could imagine that above those branches lay places connected to some underground caves on the ground.
Perhaps because of the dense vegetation, there were not many howls of the will of light here, only the sound of lake and river water flowing continuously along the undulating terrain.
But if that's the case, there's no reason why the Dream Nail should lead the next destination here, right?
Latis shook his head, feeling quite puzzled.
He glanced down at the Dream Nail he was carrying, and suddenly his brow furrowed.
"Almost there... Oh no!"
The mantis shrimp waded across the edge of the lake, intending to point the way to Latis and the others, when its gaze suddenly swept over a thing in the distance that looked like a balloon covered in green fur. Its expression changed drastically, and it shook its antennae, quickly reversing back, saying in terror:
"Oh no! Oh no! The path into the tribe is blocked by the 'Ball Monster'!"
"What the hell..."
Latis looked completely bewildered, bent down and peeked out from beside the mantis shrimp to take a look.
A huge green ball of fluff, more than a meter in diameter, lay quietly among the dense grass, its surface undulating slightly, as if it were breathing.
"Look, that's Ball Monster Gu."
The mantis shrimp whispered:
"The Ball Monster is super scary. It rolls down the slope like a big iron ball and crushes the mantis shrimp! And as soon as you hit it, it will burst out a big cloud of lava smoke, just like a leak. With the length of the mantis shrimp's pincers and its running speed, it has no time to escape from the lava smoke!"
"Even within the entire Moss Mantis tribe, the Ball Monster is a formidable enemy! Previously, various races formed an alliance to attack the Ball Monster's stronghold, but before they could even launch an attack, they were all scalded to death by the Ball Monster's lava smoke!"
"It's making me hungry... cough cough, there are actually creatures like this here, spherical squid with green hair?"
Latis stroked his chin and muttered, "The ecology here is indeed quite magical. Perhaps it's because these creatures live in symbiosis with moss that they are not so easily parasitized by light. So being in the lava smoke only results in them being scalded..."
He could guess that this thing's combat power was indeed overwhelming for the mantis shrimp, after all, the fear of the giant iron ball that one couldn't escape was indeed very profound.
However… he weighed the Dream Nail in his hand and revealed a slight smile.
"Let the wine warm up a bit, then I'll be right back."
After saying something that left everyone scratching their heads, Latis stepped across the tributary in front of him, took a few steps uphill, and stopped a few meters in front of the Ball Monster. He bent down slightly and pressed down on the Dream Nail.
"Oh no! He, he..."
The mantis shrimp was immediately alarmed and quickly turned to Jennifer and the others, shouting:
"How did he rush out like that! He's going to get crushed..."
Before he could finish speaking, a gentle breeze swept over him, accompanied by a "ding" sound, and then a bright light shone through.
"...Gu."
The mantis shrimp turned its head blankly, looking at the sword light that had instantly absorbed the smoke spewed out by the ball monster in a dazzling display of light. Startled, it accidentally snapped off one of its own antennae by closing its pincers.
Seeing this, everyone couldn't help but laugh and said to the mantis shrimp:
"That's how the captain is. When he sees a problem, he doesn't wait for it to arise before he takes the initiative to confront it. Isn't that amazing?"
"Li, awesome..."
The mantis shrimp slowly came to its senses, picked up its antennae with a touch of heartache, looked at Latis who was walking back with his sword, hesitated for a moment, and asked:
"Um, esteemed Captain Gu, what move did you just use? It seemed like you weren't afraid of Ball Monster Gu at all? And you could even take a bath in lava..."
"Ah, it's not really a move."
Latis hung the Dream Nail back on his waist, thought for a moment, and explained:
"This weapon was given to me by the prophet of the Moth Tribe. It was originally intended to find the traces of the divine kingdom... that is, the so-called location of the will of light. We came to the Moss Tribe by following its guidance."
"I just discovered this use of absorbing the power of light. It seems that as long as the power has the aura of a divine kingdom, it can be absorbed directly, so there is no need to go to great lengths to resist the erosion of that power."
"Gurgle...gurgle."
The mantis shrimp nodded repeatedly, completely bewildered. It couldn't understand anything about the divine kingdom, the moth tribe, or the prophet, but it did understand one thing.
"Wait, Captain, didn't you just say your weapon could absorb that lava smoke?" it asked hurriedly.
"If that's the case, could you help the mantis shrimp clear out the ball monsters near the tribe...? The mantis shrimp will try its best to give you a reward!"
"It's possible... but it would probably take a long time to find one, wouldn't it?"
Latis scratched his head, hesitated, and said:
"After all, our main goal is still to find traces of the divine kingdom... that is, the place where the will of light is strongest, but if we have to clear them one by one, it will probably take a long time."
"Sadness..."
The mantis shrimp sighed, its antennae drooping. But a few seconds later, as if it had suddenly remembered something, it perked up, paced back and forth, and muttered to itself:
"The strongest... the strongest place... could it be there?! Captain, I must introduce you to our tribe's king!"
"what?"
Latis asked, somewhat puzzled:
"Do you want me to help you usurp the throne?"
"???"
The mantis shrimp stared at Latis in utter shock and exclaimed:
"No, it's not Gu!! As expected of Captain Gu... But actually, the king once issued a recruitment notice for a hero, wanting to defeat the demon king outside the tribe! Mud Shrimp thought, if it is a demon king... then it must be the one Captain is looking for!"
Chapter 422 Moss Clan Night Market
"A hero's recruitment notice?"