197 Elder Tree (2/2)

”Don't tell me, these roots caused it!?” Zorbek became shocked. The tree roots have been very still. In fact, they had never moved at all. He never expected that these tree roots might be capable of movements, let alone digging holes. Why would the tree roots dig so many holes into an ant colony?

”Most likely.” Leon nodded without giving a definite answer. Until he saw it with his own eyes, it was all mere speculations. ”Ever since we entered the second floor, I have always pondered a question. What do these ants eat down here now that the spiders are gone? But after seeing these roots, it became clear to me. Just as these tree roots can be eaten by the ants, the tree roots can get its nutrients from the ants in order to survive. Therefore, I dared to proceed forward despite the danger.”

”No wonder we haven't encountered any ants since we entered this area…” A palace guard commented.

”No, no, no. Something is seriously wrong with that reasoning!” Zorbek exclaimed. ”If the ants and plants eat each other to survive, then the reason we haven't encountered any ants is that it's not feeding time yet!”

”Doesn't that also mean that when it's feeding time, this place will become a hotspot and also a battlefield between the ants and tree roots?” The palace guards were shocked and nearly fainted. Wasn't this like avoiding the tiger's claws by jumping into the lion's den?

Leon turned around and simply smiled at their terrified faces, revealing the whiteness of his teeth.

The palace guards became even more horrified after seeing the prince's smile. It was like seeing the devil's smile as the devil drag them into hell.

Madman! The prince is a madman! Even if the prince was tired of living, there was no need to drag them down with him, right!?

No, wait… if the prince dies, the queen would definitely kill them all and have them accompany the prince! But if they knew beforehand, they would have objected against entering this deep!

There was a difference between a dangerous endeavor and jumping into the jaws of death! One was bravery and the other was plain suicide!

Lilith felt dubious, seeing Leon's expression. There's no way he was that stupid, right? He didn't look like someone who was tired of living.

”Hold on… these are tree roots?” Lilith asked as a glimmer of understanding flittered across her beautiful black eyes. If they are tree roots, then…

The palace guards glance back and forth between Lilith and Leon, not understanding what Lilith figured out.

Leon ignored the palace guards confused looks and nodded to Lilith, before walking ahead with a carefree attitude. It seems that Lilith was aware of some things, which brought her here.

Naturally, he wasn't tired of living. In fact, he valued his life very much. He had only mentioned that the tree roots can get nutrients from ants to survive. For something to grow to the size of an elder tree, it would need to rely on something else than just mere nutrients for survival.

Leon's first thought was the power source for the floating city. Arden's diary mentioned that artificial spirit energy was able to revitalize the world and allow plants to grow to unprecedented sizes.

If the elder tree had something like the artificial spirit energy to depend on, it would be no wonder why it was able to grow underground, where no sunlight and water exists. It wouldn't even care about the nutrients gained from the ants. The elder tree probably only retaliated when it was annoyed by the ants nibbling on its roots.

At some point, Leon had stopped walking.

Lilith, who was following Leon subconsciously while lost in thought bumped into his back. ”Why did you stop walking?”

”Well… I want to, but…”

Lilith followed Leon's line of sight and glanced ahead. She was taken aback when she saw nothing but an earthen wall. ”A dead end?”

”Yeah...”

”What to do...” Leon scrunched his brows together in thought, before activating his [Spirit Eyes] to scan the earthen wall. At the corner of his eyes, he noticed a crevice glowing with weak reddish light. ”This way.”

Leon led the group over to the crevice in the wall, before readily entering without hesitation. It appeared that what he was searching for was just on the other side.

He was not disappointed. On the other side was a much vaster open space that seemed to connect the first and second underground floors, and possibly the third.