Chapter 288: A plant beast!

Zyra and her team were already deep in the Serpent’s Heart. They were treading carefully_ very carefully because the ground was impossibly soft. One wrong step and a person would sink straight into the mud like quicksand. Even worse, certain patches were heavily acidic, though thankfully green smoke hissed upward from those spots, making them easy to spot and avoid.

Thanks to the insulated, anti-gravity boots Zyra provided, the team hovered safely an inch above the dangerous sand. So far, they had come across plenty of old-looking trees, but none were over a hundred years old. A few hit the mark, but their poison wasn’t nearly concentrated enough for what Zyra needed.

Neil paused, squinting at his map, and called out to stop Zyra. "Hey, wait a second."

Zyra stopped and glared back. "What now?"

"If my map isn’t lying to me, we’re leaving the Serpent’s Heart," Neil said, pointing to a shimmering boundary line on the map book. "We’re heading straight into the dry sector of this dungeon which people call the desert. I think the dragon snake is leading you on a round around. What I can’t figure out is why. All I can is assume that the snakes are making their dinner sweat."

The lead dragon snake hovering above Neil’s head let out an angry hiss, flicking its tail as if to say, shut your mouth, human, you don’t know anything.

Neil flinched and took a quick step back, clutching his map tightly to his chest.

The dragon snake turned to Zyra, letting out a series of low chirps. It’s true we are moving toward the place humans call the desert, boss, but the old trees survive underground there. Good things are not found on the surface of the ruins but below.

Zyra nodded. "Let us move!" She looked at Neil, "I know where I am going, you don’t need to follow me. It is not too late for you to go back, no one asked you to play knight in slimy armor"

Neil’s eyebrows knitted together in sheer confusion. "You are still on that? I cannot leave you guys here because you don’t know what you are up against. Anyway, if I didn’t know any better, I’d swear you were actually having a full conversation with that flying reptile. If it’s true, ask it if it thinks I am handsome."

Zyra sighed loudly. Even Neil’s ape sighed tiredly, wishing he could shut up.

"Can I shoot him now?" Bullet whispered to Bianca.

Bianca exhaled tiredly. "Not if you don’t want his clan coming after you." She had seen the same thing Zyra had seen: Neil came from money and power. Whatever family he came from, he was a highly valued member.

Zyra activated her Soul Sight, her eyes flashing with a faint green light as she scanned Neil and his crew once more. Their energy read completely clean_ no dark intent, no hidden malice. She still couldn’t wrap her head around why this guy was sticking to her like an unwanted pest.

"Neil," Zyra said, her voice dripping with warning. "If you’re trailing us just to steal whatever we find at the end of this, you’ve got another thing coming."

Neil pressed his lips together, looking genuinely offended. "Oh, come on! I am not a thief. I live an honest life, thank you very much. I believe in reincarnation_ I’m not trying to come back in my next life as a dung beetle." He glanced down at the high tech knife strapped to Zyra’s armor pocket, his eyes lighting up. "Speaking of honest trade, are you willing to sell me that knife-spear or spear-knife? I’ll pay whatever figure that you have in mind."

Zyra scoffed loudly. "So that’s your angle." She laughed softly.

Neil offered a warm, cheerful smile. "I’m guessing from that laugh that the trade is a no."

"A giant, resounding no." She told him in a firm voice that left no room for negotiations.

"Fair enough. I respect that," Neil chuckled, tapping his chest. "But I am not giving up. Maybe, by the end of this adventure, when we are all having a beer on my private plane, which is bigger than a standard plane that carried 300 people, you will have changed your mind."

Many people rolled their eyes, including Neil’s ape! It could not have been more obvious that he was dropping a hint about how wealthy he was.

As they pushed forward, the lush swamp trees grew fewer, shorter, and more withered, giving way to endless rolling sand dunes.

Suddenly, the dragon snakes stopped in mid-air, their scales buzzing with nervous energy. This is it, the lead snake called out. These are the oldest trees here.

All they could see were small and thin red trees which looked unhealthy. This part of the ruins smelled different, like damp stone and river run off...if the river had snails.

A cool, robotic voice chimed directly inside Zyra’s head:

[Scanning... Host, these roots fit the system requirement criteria for evolution. You may harvest them. Also the hidden dungeon is around here somewhere following the map on your hand.]

Zyra looked at her hand, the triangle was brighter and beeping like it had been charged.

The lead dragon snake pointed its snout toward a tiny, withered twig poking out of the sand. Just reach down and pull the root, Boss. They aren’t buried deep.

Zyra looked at the dragon snakes. She didn’t miss the sharp tension in their bodies or the sheer panic in their tiny slit eyes. Something felt off.

"These are the roots that we are searching for but_" Zyra announced, then winced

"System do a deeper scan."

[Yes host]

Before she could tell everyone to hold on, Milly crouched. "What are you going to use the roots for?"

She reached down, grabbed the twig, and gave it a hard yank, but it was so hard that it broke!

Immediately, there was a rumble as the ground shuddered.

"What the fuck happened?" Zyra looked back only to see Milly with a piece of the root in her hand. "YOU IDIOT!"

[Host, you have awakened a plant beast, stay in one place like a scare crow, until I figure out which plant beast this is.]

The rest of the small roots dived back into the sand as giant, black tendrils erupted from the ground!

Milly shrieked, scrambling backward onto her hands and knees. "Is that supposed to happen?!"

Bianca lost it, she raised a fist and punched her. "Fuck you!"

"Do not move, stay in one place!" Zyra shouted.

The massive tree branches that burst out of the earth twisted upward like arms, shaking off the dirt. Their knots creaked like limbs. The humans stumbled back, eyes wide with fright.

Bullet was already firing his weapon, even though he did not know where to shoot.

Then the roots surfaced. They slithered across the ground like serpents, sharpening into knife-like points aimed directly toward the humans. With a hiss, they lunged.