Chapter 260: Chapter 248: A Little Puppy
After Lex Cross led Flora Bloom out of the cave, he started back the way they came.
The primeval forest was vast, and they had only traversed a small part of it. The three lakes and one swamp they passed on the way here were the most dangerous spots along the route. If the two of them had to pass through these four places again, the danger would be even higher than when they first came.
The creatures in these lakes and swamps were not only ancient or species they had never seen before, but each one also possessed human-like intelligence.
But if they tried to take a different route, the dense foliage all looked the same. It was entirely possible they would get lost.
"Captain Cross, how are we going to get back? I wonder if The Crown Prince and Tanuki have found their targets yet!"
Lex Cross calmly led Flora Bloom to the edge of a swamp they had just passed. "Don’t worry, I’ll get you back to the base safely. You just need to hold on tight to me and not let go."
Flora Bloom felt like she had been clinging to Lex Cross’s back this whole time, making her feel almost useless. But she could sense that the creatures in both the swamp and the lakes were not beings she could fight on her own.
Although Lex Cross hadn’t reached the Middle Level yet, his current strength and speed far surpassed hers, a Middle Level superpower user. The root cause was simple: this alien was originally incredibly powerful. So even though his superpower level was lower than hers, his true strength was far more formidable.
And that was the truth.
Although Lex Cross and his group had their strength suppressed to less than a tenth of its original power after arriving on Earth, it was a blessing in disguise, as they gained new elemental superpowers.
Back in their Star Nation, everyone was born with only the most Original Superpower. Obtaining a second Original Superpower was incredibly difficult. At least, no one in their generation had managed it.
But on Earth, not only did they retain their Original Superpower, they also easily awakened a second superpower on their own.
And this time, at the Eye of Earthly Fire they had encountered, he felt that most of his suppressed power had returned, though he wasn’t sure if it was because of the spatial rift here or for some other reason.
Black energy enveloped him and Flora Bloom, instantly concealing them in darkness.
The ancient trees of the primeval forest blotted out the sun, casting continuous shadows on the ground and the lake’s surface. Flora Bloom only felt herself suddenly slip into a silent, still place. When her senses cleared again, she and Lex Cross were already on the other side of the swamp.
"Wow, what kind of move is that? It can hide me in the shadows too? That’s amazing! I’ve never seen you use it before!"
Pleased by her praise, Lex Cross replied, "You’ll see even more amazing things in the future."
He could feel his power rapidly returning in this area. From the moment he entered until now, and especially when he pulled Flora Bloom into the darkness with him, the rate at which his power returned had accelerated.
"There’s a spatial rift here, and my power is still continuously recovering. If this keeps up, this place won’t be dangerous for us at all."
Flora Bloom listened to Lex Cross, a little bewildered. "Your original power? Just how strong was it? You’ve never told me about your home. For instance, how are your powers ranked? What was your job in the Star Nation? What about your family? Do you have any brothers or sisters?"
"I’ll tell you when we get out of here. And don’t worry, you’ll be coming home with me one day."
Flora Bloom’s face suddenly burned. "What are you talking about!"
"A new bride always has to meet the in-laws. Don’t worry, my parents are very easy to get along with."
"Just hurry up and go. The Crown Prince and Tanuki must be getting anxious."
"Okay."
The black energy enveloped the two of them all the way back to the lake they had first visited. After an unknown amount of time, the lake’s surface had calmed down again, and another diverse group of creatures had gathered by the shore.
AWOOOOO...
There was a flock of strange sheep with spiraling horns that reached for the sky. There were graceful, feline beasts with pointed ears and two giant fangs protruding from their upper jaws. The herd of unicorns had returned as well. However, this time, there was a leader among them that was more than twice the size of the others, its single horn glinting with a colorless, metallic sheen.
Then there was the pack of direwolves. Without their alpha, the pack seemed much more disorganized, lapping up water from the lake in scattered groups of two and three to quench their thirst.
Enveloped in black energy, Lex Cross was about to cross the lake easily with Flora Bloom. But suddenly, the giant serpent once again poked its head out of the water. This time, its target still seemed to be the direwolves.
’Is wolf meat that tasty? It always goes for the wolves.’
Having witnessed their leader being devoured, the direwolves were all extremely vigilant. At the slightest disturbance on the lake’s surface, they would warily retreat, quickly moving away from the water.
But just then, "WHIMPER WHIMPER WHIMPER..."
A tiny thing that looked like a little puppy staggered out from a nearby clump of grass.
It looked like it had just been born. Its fur wasn’t even dry yet, and its eyes were still closed. It was currently twitching its nose, inching closer to the lake.
All the other creatures had fled in a panic at the serpent’s appearance. Now, by the lakeshore, besides the crocodiles hidden in the water, there was only a little white-furred puppy whimpering, as if it were hungry and looking for its mother.
"Lex, look, that little dog."
Hearing how Flora Bloom addressed him, Lex Cross suddenly flashed a roguish smile. "What did you just call me?"
"Lex Cross!"
"Don’t change it. I liked it when you called me that."
"Hey, look at the puppy! It’s about to be eaten by the giant serpent!" Flora Bloom watched the little puppy by the shore anxiously. Sure enough, the giant serpent had a special taste for canines. The moment it spotted the puppy, it opened its mouth to snap at it.
"This puppy must have just been born and can’t find its mother. This giant serpent... can you handle it?"
In this primeval forest, according to the law of the jungle where the strong prey on the weak, it was natural for the powerful to kill the weak.
With Flora Bloom’s power, she was at the very bottom of the food chain in front of these ferocious creatures. So if she wanted to save it, she could only rely on Lex Cross. But Flora Bloom had no idea how strong the giant serpent was, nor was she sure if Lex Cross was powerful enough.
"You want to save it?"
Flora Bloom nodded. "I do. But if it’s a threat to you, then we won’t."
Lex Cross leaned over and gave Flora Bloom a quick kiss on the lips. "If you say save it, we save it."
And so, just as the giant serpent was about to snap up the little puppy in one bite, the two of them, still wrapped in black energy, shot forward.
The giant serpent’s massive head struck the muddy shore where the puppy was, its jaws snapping shut. It had expected to swallow a delicious morsel, but instead, it found its mouth full of nothing but mud.
It raised its head high in confusion and carefully scanned the ground.
’Gone? How could it be gone? It had laid in wait for so many days and had finally caught this little mutant wolf prince out in the open. How could it just be gone?’
The giant serpent’s foul, yellow eyes turned cold and murderous. It shot a pale yellow mist directly from its mouth.
Seeing the yellow mist about to touch them, Lex Cross accelerated, carrying the one person and one pup away from the lakeshore and back towards the place they had first arrived.
The two of them stopped in the bushes where they had first entered. The giant serpent thrashed about at the lakeshore for a while, churning the water and mud together, but it couldn’t find its target. Furious, it slithered towards the forest on the opposite side.
Seeing the giant serpent leave the lake and head for the opposite forest, Flora Bloom and Lex Cross let out a sigh of relief.
"Little one, I just saved your life. Shouldn’t you thank me?" Flora Bloom said as she climbed off Lex Cross’s back, holding the little puppy. "Of course, you have to thank this big brother here, too. If it weren’t for him, that serpent would have eaten you."
The little puppy, with its eyes still closed, whimpered twice. As if it understood Flora Bloom’s words, it stuck out its tiny pink tongue and licked her outstretched hand.
