Dragon Monarch System

Chapter 948: Chapter 948:- Pine Zone

"If we want to reach the other side, then we need to run or fly. Walking is not an option. Walking will literally take us days." The height of the Tunnel was enough for three of them to fly without needing to squeeze close to each other while flying.

Shortly after they started flying, it became very obvious that Laura could not keep up with them.

Lahm did not move at his full speed. He limited his agility to Peak 5th-Order so that both of them could keep up. For Aditya, it was not a problem, but for Laura, she was struggling and even sweating just to stay behind.

Aditya noticed this and stopped for her. 20 meters ahead, Lahm also stopped for them.

He wrapped his left arm around her waist and pulled her close to his body.

"Hold onto me."

Swooosh!!!!

He left behind a trail of dust. Even Lahm was left behind.

Seeing this, Lahm smiled before chasing after them with more agility than before.

Around 10 seconds later, he caught up to them.

"Can you maintain this speed until we reach the exit?" For Aditya, this was not a problem. His agility was his speciality. But he wasn’t sure if Lahm, who is a dwarf and would have the majority of his stats focused on Strength, would have enough stamina and Mana to keep this agility.

"I can manage for an hour."

"I heard there are flying ships in the Istarin Empire. Is it true?" As a blacksmith, Lahm was fascinated by the concept of Flying Ships when the news spread that an Empire from the Six Continents, which is considered a backward, barren land from the perspective of the people from the Tunnel World and the Main Continent, had created Flying Ships. Everyone from their tribe was impressed.

"Yes! Right now, Percy is working on the 7th or 8th Generation of the Flying Ships. We have produced Flying ships of all kinds."

"There are Ships especially built to keep prisoners. There are Shealth Air bases that we are building and hoping to place in every major City of my Empire." There were also plans to have health air bases constantly patrol hostile borders.

"Awesome!" Aditya felt he could see literal stars glowing in Lahm’s eyes. He wasn’t faking his enthusiasm. He was genuinely fascinated by the concept of Flying Ships.

"If you want, you can visit the Istarin Empire whenever you want. Just let me know when you are coming. I will take care of everything and will ensure that you get a proper tour of the Istarin Empire and the other Continents." He was grateful to the Father and Son for everything. He wanted to express his gratitude.

"How do you guys even keep this pathway safe from those Komodo Crawlers?" Aditya was very curious.

"From my observation, the walls didn’t look that strong. Any ancient, powerful Komodo Crawler can break the walls and enter inside." And from the beginning, he felt that building such a strong, durable wall for such a big tunnel that runs across the whole desert was simply not possible. The whole project itself would be one of the most expensive infrastructure projects in the history of the world. As a Ruler, he felt that building something as expensive as this wouldn’t really be worth it.

"Actually, the reason is very simple." Since his father did not view Aditya as an outsider, there was no need to hide anything. They had trusted them with their secrets; it was natural for them to do the same.

"We have a secret recipe that the Elves helped us make long, long ago. These Komodo Crawlers can’t even stand the smell of this solution. They avoid this smell like their life depend on it."

"Every few years, we just spray that solution everywhere. The task itself is very time-consuming, but it’s worth it."

The interior of the Tunnel was dark. But they could easily see through the darkness.

The tunnel floor was covered with a foot of thick white sand. The walls and even the ceiling seem to be of stone.

Overall, the pathway was 2.5 meters wide and 4 meters tall. The pathway did not run straight. Sometimes, it zig-zagged or moved towards the surface, or sometimes the pathway took them deeper into the ground.

The Trio continued their small talk as they travelled.

By the beginning of the 3rd hour, they had reached the end of the Tunnel.

The exit appeared to be the dead end of the Tunnel. But in reality, it needed a key which Lahm had.

The Key was in the shape of a golden Cylinder made from the skeleton of Komodo Crawlers. Just inserting his Mana into the Key was enough for the normal door to reveal itself at the centre.

Click.....!!!!

Aditya looked outside the door.

He saw trees. The area was still dry and sandy, but there was at least some kind of plant life.

Coming out of the door, they looked at the door. From someone standing on the other side, it would look like the door opened from the trunk of a really tall tree.

"Our Ancestor planted this tree. Later, he turned it into a living artefact. By heavily modifying its body with Runes, he was able to significantly extend the life force of the tree."

"Also, this tree gathers a huge amount of vitality a few years before it’s about to die. It will select one of its children and pour all of its vitality, including the ones that it had saved for years, so that its children can grow as tall as the parent and stand in the same place as the parent. So even if the parent tree died, the children would take its place, and the exit of the pathway would remain forever or until destroyed by anyone."

"That’s amazing."

"Once again, thank you for helping us." Aditya knew that without the Dwarf Tribe, this journey would have been much harder.

Perphaps by now, those people might have found Laura while Aditya was inside the trial. By the time he would have come out, Laura would have been long gone. In this vast Tunnel World and the Main Continent, where was he supposed to look for her?

"We are friends. I will stand up for you, and I believe you will do the same for me." Lahm was an honest man with a strong moral compass.

Aditya liked people like Lahm. Despite their short time being together, both of them considered each other friends. Even without their background that naturally made them allies, they are still friends. If anything, their backgrounds only helped in elevating their friendship and making them feel closer.

Aditya nodded his head. "I will gladly bleed for my friends." After shaking hands, Lahm turned around and re-entered the Tunnel. Slowly, the door within the tree trunk closed.

When it closed, they could not see any sign of there being a literal door on the trunk of the tree.

"So where are we?" Laura saw him looking at the map. She used this time to flex her muscles. Being held by him for hours made her body stiff.

"We are in a place far from any city. The nearest city is Westhollow City, approximately 107 km (66.48 miles) south-southwest (SSW) of here."

"But the Good thing is we are only around 95 km (59 miles) away from the Pine Zone." The Pine Zone is the centre-point or the halfway line of the Tunnel World. Reaching this part means that they have officially covered 50% of their journey towards the Main Continent.

"That’s good news."

"Before nightfall, we should be able to reach Pine Zone." Laura sounded excited.

"But there is a problem."

The Pine Zone is a very dangerous place. Some could argue that this place was even more dangerous than the Sand Mirage Desert.

The Pine Zone runs across the entire Tunnel world from West to East in almost a straight line. This almost straight keep is what kept the North and South sides of the Tunnel world separate.

The Pine Zone was so dangerous that there were only three safe paths to cross this nearly straight, horizontally running zone. Even these three safe paths weren’t entirely safe, mainly because sometimes Mist Beasts living inside the Pine Zone manage to cross into the safe side and attack travellers.

"With the Organisation having info on our disguises, I am pretty sure they will set some kind of trap for us in those safe paths." Before Aditya could defeat and push the Organisation back to the Main Continent, mainly because the Cultivation level in the Six Continent was restricted. But here this rule did not exist, which meant this World and the main continent were essentially their playground where they set the rules, and Aditya had no choice but to play by them.

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