Chapter 1752 The Bioluminescent Jungle Floor.
1752 The Bioluminescent Jungle Floor.
As Eris ignored Ura.n.u.s' insults and waited patiently for both the entrance and the exits to be restored naturally by the tower, Felix and Apollo had already taken their first step on the next floor.
The moment they went in, they were greeted by a sight that momentarily took their breath away.
A Bioluminescent Floor unfurled before them, a ma.s.sive jungle aglow with vivacious colors that painted a surreal scene for everyone's enjoyment.
The floor itself was alive with bioluminescent flora and fauna, creating a luminous world that seemed almost dreamlike.
The atmosphere was heavy with the scent of exotic plants while towering trees pulsed with a rhythmic blue that illuminated their path forward.
"It's like walking through a constellation," Candace murmured in wonder.
"A deadly constellation," Felix replied as he focused his eyes around him.
While the bioluminescent jungle resembled a dreamland, he knew that it was packed with the deadliest and most bizarre creatures in the quantum realm.
Creatures that would make the Nullvoiders seem normal!
"Let's move quickly, I don't feel comfortable with the notion of having a couple of days as a buffer," Apollo uttered while gazing behind him, feeling like he was being separated from his hunters by a paper wall.
While the entrances and exits could be restored in up to months, it could also happen in a few days...It was better to a.s.sume that their luck would screw them up.
"Let's group up with Bia." Felix agreed.
Felix sought out Commander Bia telepathically and found out that she had already joined her squad and was awaiting them underground.
While the squads had to fear for their lives of beams coming from the heavens, on this floor, everyone avoided moving on the surface level as much as possible.
At the moment, all the squads who had made it inside the floor were moving underground towards the exit through digging a tunnel.
...
Sometime later...
Felix and Apollo joined Commander Bia and the rest of the squad. The first thing they noticed was that more than seven members of the mercenaries and three other royal guards were missing...Even Syla was gone.
"I can't believe you two survived." Dankin sneered.
Felix ignored him and asked Commander Bia with an indifferent expression, "What happened here?"
"The Jungle Predator happened." Commander Bia shared with a deep frown, "After I arrived, I found out that it had taken the lives of almost 50% of the survivors...Our squad was no different."
"How come?" Felix asked, "The map states that it rarely leaves its territory and the entrance is far off from it."
"Map? How do you know the details of the map?" Dankin narrowed his eyes coldly.
"Dankin, shut it." Commander Bia gave him a cold stare, having no interest in entertaining his ego at the moment.
Dankin wasn't pleased to be told off, but he refrained from speaking again, not wanting to challenge her authority.
"I don't know if the floor's environment has changed and caused the monster's territory to become closer to the entrance or if it started acting out on a whim." Commander Bia stated with a solemn tone, "Whatever it is, the monster is on the loose and everyone is hiding underground to avoid meeting it."
"We can't be wasting time moving underground, it will take forever to reach the exit."
Felix switched to a private telepathic conversation and updated Commander Bia on what occurred on the hundredth floor.
When she realized they had only a couple of days at minimum before their hunters stepped on the same floor, she also got a bit anxious.
"What do we do then? The Jungle Predator is an invincible ent.i.ty on this floor. It is completely immune to any type of attack and has powerful detection and hunting skills. It's nearly unattainable to escape it without having someone else getting caught before you."
The fear in Commander Bia's eyes was unmistakable, hinting at the gravity of the situation. Her reaction was still mild since she was describing the monster from the details of the map and had never seen it in action like the rest of the squad.
"I have seen it with my own eyes slicing Syla into two halves and feasting on her corpse in less than a second," Chronos uttered, his eyes showing the reflection of the horrific scene he mentioned.
In the reflection, a slender creature with silver skin, standing five meters tall, held Syla's corpse above its head.
Holding was the wrong description as it had long gleaming blades as arms and both were piercing Syla's severed corpse, allowing it to munch on her body akin to eating a kabab stick.
Yet, the weirder part was its legs...They were made out of bioluminescent roots, which were deeply inserted into the ground.
Its head was thick from the back and thin from the front, causing its mouth to be nearly invisible.
"The Jungle Predator can use its roots to connect to the jungle's network and locate foreigners by sensing their existence near any kind of flora or fauna. It also has extreme sense to quantum law-based disturbances." Felix touched his chin thoughtfully, "So, it's near impossible to travel through the forest without alerting it. This, without mentioning the rest of the dangerous creatures roaming about. Traveling underground is the smartest option as long as we avoid touching the tree roots or using our abilities."
"You think so, genius?" Dankin couldn't help but throw another mocking remark.
With one glare from Commander Bia, he lowered his head in silence and allowed Felix to continue speaking his mind.
"That's what you guys will be doing," Felix said calmly, "I will call you up once the coast is clear."
"What do you mean?"
Plix and the rest were left bewildered as he made it seem like he planned on going to the surface and deal with the Jungle Predator.
"Bia, I leave it to you." Felix added telepathically, 'Make sure not to lose more members. We can't afford to enter the seventieth floor without them.'
'I understand.' Commander Bia nodded with a tint of guilt, realizing that after Felix had read the details of each floor, he discovered about the true purpose of the mercenaries...One thing was for sure, It wasn't for providing a.s.sistance at all.
'Let's go, we have a beast to catch.' Felix made a gesture with his head for Apollo to follow him as he took off towards the surface.
The moment he returned to the jungle, he spread out his senses far and wide. Apollo did the same and both of them discovered that their current area was relatively safe with a minimum number of creatures.
'The Jungle Predator hasn't made a move against us while we were on the move before.' Felix disclosed, 'It might have taken a rest in its territory to digest all the victims it has eaten.'
'Probably.' Apollo queried with a serious tone, 'Are you sure about attempting to demonize it though? Its invincibility might stretch to even evil energy...Nothing is unattainable in the tower.'
Felix didn't need to tell Apollo about his plans as it was pretty obvious what his next step would be. Demonizing the strongest being in this tower would a.s.sist them facilitate their journey to the next floor and also slow down their enemies.
'It's too soon for a Tower's creature to have such reality-bending abilities.' Felix swayed his head, 'It should have immunity to only laws.'
'Aight, let's see how it goes.' Apollo shrugged his shoulders and chased after Felix, who was heading directly toward the Jungle Predator's territory.