Chapter 591: Pocky and the Dark Tree Ent (1/2)
”Why did you stop me?” Truen asked when the party was finally regrouped. ”Did you find anything?”
Zero nodded and passed the fragile note from the bottle to Bob and Truen to read. At the same time, he explained the ecosystem in the reclaimed swampland.
”If you defeated the dark tree ent, the rest of the dark faes would disperse and cause havoc elsewhere. It wouldn't be good for anyone.”
Bob frowned at the handwriting. ”I don't understand what it says.”
Truen didn't understand the language either, and Zero blinked. ”It's a map of where Pocky is stuck in and a plea for help. Sure, he might be slightly terrible at drawing, but surely you can tell from the signature cute otter whiskers here and the distressed expression, right?”
Both Truen and Bob deadpanned. That was a drawing? Gosh! Even Seff could do better. How was Zero able to identify the drawing so quickly? Also, where was Pocky trapped at? The map wasn't very detailed. Truen didn't know where to start the search no matter how much he stared at the old piece of paper.
”Do you know where Pocky is hiding?” Truen asked cautiously, and Zero nodded. The wood elf didn't know what to think of Zero's ability to understand bad handwriting and drawing. Bob didn't look too surprised.
”He is hiding in a cave on the side of the mountain somewhere,” the Eternal Dragon said, and Truen snapped his neck over.
”Even you can understand?”
Bob nodded and pointed to the poorly illustrated map. This is a side view of where he is. There's only one sea, one special tree with a scary face and one wall in this area. The otter is inside the wall. Clearly, he is hiding inside the mountain.”
Was this even reliable? Truen didn't know what to think about Zero and Bob's simplicity. Perhaps they were right. Maybe Pocky was residing inside the mountain wall. It was better than not having any clues. However, the location of this bottle was also strange. When they split the search territory, Bob flew to the area closest to the old coastline. Truen searched around the centre of the reclaimed forest. Zero searched close to the mountain range but not close enough for a bottle to be thrown from the top of the mountain. How did it get here?
Before they could brainstorm Pocky's possible location further, the dark tree ent howled and launched a huge area attack. Bob helped Zero find his balance as the ground shook and Truen cringed at the sheer volume of that howl. The dark tree ent was furious, and Truen was now glad that he retreated. While dealing with a tree ent wasn't something too life-threatening, Truen would still suffer heavy casualties dealing with a tree ent on a rampage. Thankfully, they were not the tree ent's target.
Before they could decide what to do, the tree ent's root struck the side of the mountain and Bob's jaw fell open. The mountain's side cracked, and part of the rock surface fell off, causing a landslide. The tree ent continued to strike the mountainside, and Truen wanted to put more distance between the tree ent and the mountain to avoid getting caught in the crossfire.
Just when Bob thought the tree ent would rip a hole in the mountainside, something unexpected made all three of them jump.
Zero recognised that sound. It might be too quick to see, but after hanging out with the lab members for long enough, Zero knew how a cannon sounded like. The tree ent howled in pain as one of its roots broke off from that shot. It was coming from the side of the mountain, and Zero frowned. The cannonball didn't look like the usual ones crafted from shiny metal. Instead, this cannonball was rough and shattered upon impact.