Chapter 259: Chapter 247: With You on My Back, How Could I Not Be Nervous?
Their plan was going perfectly. Lex Cross carried Flora Bloom on his back as he waded into the lake. He crossed the deepest part, his body mostly submerged. Flora expanded her water shield, enveloping them both completely.
The whole time, they held their breath, not daring to speak a word, even consciously slowing their breathing. But when they were less than ten meters from the opposite shore, Lex Cross suddenly stopped.
Flora Bloom was taken aback. She patted his shoulder from her perch around his neck, wanting to ask why he’d stopped. But in the next second, that familiar black energy suddenly erupted from Lex Cross’s body for no reason, wrapping them both in its embrace.
His long legs launched him into the air. When he landed, a dozen massive, black crocodile heads had risen from the lake’s surface.
Using the crocodile heads as stepping stones, Lex Cross leaped across them in a few bounds, carrying Flora Bloom safely into the dense vegetation on the other side, where they vanished from sight.
The dozen or so giant crocodiles let out a vicious roar in the direction where the two had disappeared, then sank back beneath the surface.
"Whew. Looks like there was something else in that lake. I got careless," Lex Cross said with a self-deprecating laugh. Noticing Flora Bloom stifling a giggle on his back, he hooked an arm under hers and swung her around into his arms.
Flora Bloom was already thin and frail. In Lex Cross’s hands, she was like a doll he could pose however he wished—petite and exquisite, yet delicate and fragile.
"You, woman. How dare you laugh at me."
"Hahaha! No, it’s just—did you step on a crocodile head back there and get a scare?" Flora Bloom had noticed his expression earlier—tense, trying not to show it, his forehead covered in sweat. She really couldn’t help but laugh.
"It’s just... it’s rare to see you look so nervous."
A helpless smile touched Lex Cross’s lips. "Yeah? With you on my back, how could I not be nervous?"
Flora Bloom’s laughter gradually faded after he said that. "I’m actually very capable! If something unexpected happens, I can help you too!"
"I know. My Flora is very capable. You could handle things even without me." Lex Cross was completely serious, his eyes locking onto Flora Bloom’s. "But I hope that in the future, you can rely on me more. Just like today."
"I..." Seeing Lex Cross’s face drawing closer and closer, she quickly changed her tune. "Okay, okay. Fine. I’ll try."
A triumphant smile spread across Lex Cross’s face. Before Flora Bloom could react, he unexpectedly swooped in and caught her small lips, which were slightly pouted in a look of feigned reluctance.
"Shameless! You hooligan!"
Seeing Lex Cross’s handsome face leaning in again, Flora Bloom turned away, blushing. "Hey, didn’t you just say you wanted me to get used to relying on you?"
"Mhm."
"Then... turn around!"
Lex Cross didn’t understand, and his arms, holding Flora Bloom, refused to move.
"Oh, come on! We need to find the exit! We can kiss anytime!"
Lex Cross’s lips curved. "Oh? So you mean we can... after we get out?"
Flora Bloom’s words caught in her throat. She took a deep breath. "The hell we can! Right now! We need to find the exit! Turn around!"
Faced with Flora Bloom’s flustered and shy expression, Lex Cross turned around smugly. Flora lunged forward and climbed onto his back. "Captain Cross, the rest of the way is up to you!"
An unrestrained smile lit up Lex Cross’s face. He patted Flora Bloom’s dangling legs. "Hold on tight to my neck. Don’t fall off."
The primeval forest was of an unknown size. The two of them walked cautiously toward its center for half a day, passing through the habitats of all sorts of species. Some nested in hollow trees, some lived in the branches, and some dug burrows in the ground, popping out to forage only to bump right into Lex Cross’s foot.
The closer they got to the center, the taller the ancient trees grew and the denser the vegetation became. They passed two more lakes and a swamp, where they were nearly dragged under by a strange creature, before they finally spotted an out-of-place hill in the distance.
It was less a hill and more a small mountain, with a cave on its side just big enough for one person to pass through.
"Is that it?" Flora Bloom asked from Lex Cross’s back, pointing to the cave. "Doesn’t that cave look a little familiar?"
Lex Cross started walking toward the cave with Flora Bloom on his back when a deafening moo suddenly echoed from within. It sounded like the warning cry of something that had been startled.
"That sound came from inside the cave!" Flora Bloom murmured. "Oh, right, I remember now! Do you remember the day we walked from the tunnel in the basement of Morgan Sterling’s villa to the fake mountain pass at the wetland park?"
Lex Cross raised an eyebrow, quickly grasping Flora Bloom’s meaning. "Are you saying this cave leads to that wetland park?"
"It has to be."
"Let’s go take a look." With a few long strides, Lex Cross quickly brought them to the mouth of the cave. Inside, however, there was nothing but the strong scent of fresh grass.
"But the moo definitely came from inside!"
"Don’t let your guard down. I feel like there’s something else in here."
Suddenly, a blinding white light stabbed into the dark cave, instantly illuminating it.
"That light! It’s Three-Eyes, the long-haired black gorilla!" Flora Bloom said excitedly. "This must be the exit!"
Lex Cross frowned, saying nothing until he saw a powerfully built bull not far away. It was pitch-black, with crescent-moon-shaped horns—the typical features of a water buffalo. But this bull was bathed in a radiant, multicolored glow, and a circular mark on its forehead faintly emanated with half lightning and half fire.
"Let’s go! We need to leave this place first!" Lex Cross felt an intense, oppressive aura from the bull. Although Flora Bloom felt it too, Lex was taking the brunt of it, so she only perceived a hint of its intimidating presence.
Flora Bloom knew this bull was no simple beast. She obediently stayed quiet on Lex Cross’s back, periodically conjuring a water shield behind them in case the bull suddenly charged.
However, Flora Bloom’s action triggered another confrontation between the bull inside the cave and Three-Eyes in the wetland park outside.
"Water... delicious water."
"Hungry... Baby is so hungry!"
"MOO~"
At this point, Three-Eyes, the long-haired black gorilla, not only attacked everything in the cave with its third eye open, but it had also started speaking human words. As it attacked, it patted its bulging belly, and if you looked closely, its expression was actually a bit pitiful.
Clearly, one wanted to get into the cave, and the other was defending it to the death, refusing to let it enter.
There was no day or night inside the Eye of Earthly Fire, but outside, night had fallen again. Zane Locke, along with two trusted followers, crept toward Sepherdine’s villa before dawn. The location of the basement was more or less the same in all the villas. Plus, many people had been to the basement of Sepherdine’s villa two days prior in search of water, so Zane Locke and his men found the entrance to the secret passage with ease.
"Captain, shouldn’t we wait a couple more days?"
"Idiot. If we wait any longer, what if Sepherdine uses up all the resources inside? By then, we won’t even get the scraps."
The three of them walked for a long time, finding nothing but pitch-black darkness. But the emptiness only further convinced Zane Locke that there must be treasure at the end of this passage.
So the three of them pressed on in silence. After walking for another ten-plus minutes, a faint glimmer of light suddenly appeared at the end of the upward-sloping path.
