Chapter 285 - Three Gates (2/2)
”That's all?” Laz asked, knowing the death rate would be high, but not that high.
”This is the third realm I've visited. In the first one that we found and Kennedy lead, it was an abandoned ship on a desert island. The island wasn't big and there was strangely no life on it either. Just some strange plants that weren't dangerous. Despite that, in the wooden, ship like structure, we found dozens of skeletons strewn around like they had all gone crazy and attacked each other. And although they were roughly the size of a human, that's were the similarities ended. I have no idea what went on, but it looks like very few of them had a peaceful death. In that place, we found a bunch of these storage items and other goods that still seemed to be in tact. Honestly, it was a good harvest. But when we tried venturing into the ocean to see what it was about, we were attack by giant sea monsters that ate up a dozen of our people in one bite. That sent us running. It was only after careful consideration that we discovered that they didn't care anything about the island itself as their entire world was contained under the ocean. And there was no way to probe the area down there.”
”What about the second realm?' Laz asked, curious.
”There were large open plains as far as the eye could see. And rings of mushrooms were everywhere, especially on hill tops.”
”That seems... uh...?”
”When we checked out the the closest ring of mushrooms, we found this strange fairy like creature just sitting there on one of the largest mushrooms. The mushrooms themselves didn't look special, but the moment a group of us walked into the perimeter of the ring, the mushrooms seemed to shake and let off a whole bunch of spores into the air. They then quickly stuck to the team, growing all over them and paralyzing them in seconds. Then, before we could do anything, that strange, fairy type creature jumped up from where it was sitting and attacked our team members, draining their blood before discarding the bodies. As we watched on in horror, it drained each and every one of them before jumping back to it's mushroom and sitting down. It then looked at us with blood still dripping from it's lips and smiled while the now bloodless bodies decomposed at a rate visible to the eye. Before long, the bodies had become soil that the mushrooms then stuck their roots into and s.u.c.k.e.d on. It was a nightmare.”
”F.u.c.k...”
”The island was mostly safe, minus the water. But the other gate? After that incident, we put off exploring any more until our people got stronger since there was no way to tell just how strong that strange fairy was.”
”You're not giving it up altogether?” Laz asked, amazed.
”Each gate represents a world with resources and things that can't be found here. They are a basically the only way to grow stronger in a short period of time... You like video games right? Well, both of those worlds represent a higher level area than what we are capable of dealing with now. Therefore they will be helpful in the future. Imagine if we are able to find just one weapon within a world like that? Considering the strength of the creatures in it, how powerful would the weapon be? And what if a body of one of the sea creatures washed up on the island? Imagine what kinds of things we could use it for? Every gate and every realm is a strategic resource that can't be allowed into someone else's hands.”
Laz understood what she was saying. Even if all they found were leftovers from some other adventurers, those leftovers could be the most amazing items when brought to this world. They would be worth almost any risk in the end. But what if those things used the gate to come over into this world? At present, who could stop them?
”Don't worry so much baby. Kennedy is much smarter than you could imagine. No matter what the situation or how weird things get, she comes up with a plan that everyone can agree on. That's why everyone follows her whole heartedly, including me,” Ruby said, snuggling into Laz's arms.
”I thought you were a part of Black Rose?” Laz asked, thinking back to what he used to know.
”Time's changed. People changed and Kennedy offers us far more than just a few jobs here and there,” Ruby responded, not really explaining. She wasn't the leader of Black Rose like Kennedy was the leader of the Blood Moon group, or what was globally know as the Hearn Group. Instead, this was all her bosses choice. Sure, Ruby pushed for it. But in the end, it was the Mistresses' choice.
”Anyway, what do we do now?” Ruby asked. She was going to follow Laz no matter where he went. It was going to be the first time they operated together since taking out the gang in the factory and she was looking forward to it.
After hearing her, Laz was going to say they would just stumble around until they found something of note, but right before he did so, he had a funny feeling. To him, it felt like his stomach was sinking like he was going down a huge hill at high speed. After that feeling left him, he body's jolted as though he had been electrified, before that passed as well. Then, all he was left with was a haunting sense of yearning. The sense was so powerful, he felt himself move without even wanting to.
Without even communicating with Ruby, he started to slowly make his way forward, half in a trance and half awake. He just barely managed to urge his arm enough to grab the sleeve of her military jacket before pulling her with him.
Laz didn't know what was happening, his body didn't seem to want to listen to him. The feeling of being dragged was uncomfortable, but not painful.
Something wanted to find Laz, but it didn't want to hurt him.