Chapter 137: Tiger

"This bead contains my dragon breath, when you encounter danger, throw it, and my breath will clear the way for you, use it wisely — there is only one."

’Dragon breath.’ He tucked it carefully into his deepest pocket, where it wouldn’t fall out.

"You wish to find the Tree of Water to help Liora grow?"

"Yes."

"I wish you good luck." The dragon patted his shoulder once more, then stood and left without looking back.

...

Early the next morning, Ethan began loading luggage onto the carriage, he had no idea how long the journey to the sea would take, but the west was crawling with monsters, they had to be ready for anything that came at them.

Zharok raised an eyebrow as Ethan loaded sack after sack.

"Why are you bringing so many seeds?"

"If we run out of food on the road, I can plant them on the spot."

"What about honey?"

"If we find mana crystals, I’ll try candying them with honey."

"Did you bring bread?"

"I brought flour and yeast, we can bake it fresh on the road."

That put everyone at ease.

Once everything was packed, Walter came to the front of the cabin to see them off. "Have a safe journey."

"Sorry to trouble you, I’ve already made the Moonlight Tomato juice — it’s in the refrigerator, help yourself."

"Haha, I know, don’t worry about things here, go with peace of mind."

Ethan and the others waved goodbye, climbed onto the carriage, and Zharok grabbed the reins, he took a deep breath and set off.

"So fast."

"I’ve never seen Zharok run at full speed before."

This was Liora’s first ride in a carriage pulled by Zharok, the wind whipped past.

Ethan caught Liora’s tousled hair and tied it into a ponytail, she touched her hair, looking a bit shy, and hugged Pearl tighter.

"By the way, what kind of creatures are merfolk?" Ethan asked.

"They have the upper body of a human and the lower half of a fish."

"Fish-people?"

"That’s right, meow, I’ve only seen them in Lady Witch’s books, meow, apparently, their singing is incredibly beautiful."

"Beautiful singing?"

"Yes, meow, they say a mermaid’s song can make a person feel immense happiness, meow, some travelers have even claimed it cured their homesickness."

"I’d like to hear it with my own ears."

"We should have a chance this time, speaking of mermaids’ songs..."

"What is it, meow?"

"Where I used to live, there are legends about mermaids too... but those aren’t pleasant stories." Ethan told them Earth’s tales of sirens using their songs to lure sailors to their doom.

Liora spoke up. "Merfolk live in the deep sea, how are we going to meet them?"

"We’ll take a boat, meow~"

"..."

From the front, Zharok shouted over his shoulder, "No need to worry about a boat, rhe Turtle Tribe lives over there, we can ask them for help."

"You know people from the Turtle Tribe, meow?"

"I’ve met them a few times, they should be willing to help, even if they aren’t around..."

Didn’t Ethan have candied sweet potatoes? What was there to worry about? Zharok said this without missing a stride, then looked around and bellowed, "I’m speeding up! Hold on tight!!"

The carriage shot forward, it tore across the plains, kicking up a massive cloud of dust.

Liora stood up, reaching out as if trying to touch the dust.

Then Ethan frowned. "There are monsters ahead."

At this speed, a collision would be catastrophic, ge raised the Scythe of Gaia and whispered, "Wrath of the Earth."

BOOM——!!

Countless stone spears erupted from the ground, sending the monsters in their path flying, some shattered on impact; others were flung sideways into their own kind, Zharok nimbly threaded the carriage through the cleared gaps, swerving left and right without breaking stride.

"Waaaahhh——!"

"It’s so bumpy, meow!"

"Hold on tight!"

Rumble, rumble, rumble——!!

A few monsters slipped through the barrage and gave chase, their claws tearing up the earth behind the carriage, Ethan drew the Holy Sword and cut them down one by one, barely shifting his footing in the rocking cart.

Pearl hugged Liora tight, seeing that the pursuers just kept coming, she shouted, "Thunder Strike, meow!!"

BOOM, BOOM, BOOM——!!

Dozens of lightning bolts crashed from the sky and swallowed the monsters whole, the smell of scorched earth filled the air.

But the sheer number of them was staggering, for every wave they destroyed, another seemed to rise from the treeline.

"We don’t have time to get tangled up! Break through!"

"Got it!! I’m accelerating!!" Zharok dug in and pushed even harder, the carriage lurched forward, rattling so hard the bolts squealed.

They cut through one wave after another, speeding westward without stopping, it wasn’t until the sun sank below the treeline that the carriage finally rolled to a halt in a clearing.

Along the way, they had fought off five separate attacks, the rumors about the west were clearly not exaggerated.

"I’m exhausted..." Zharok collapsed flat on his back, chest heaving, after running and pulling the carriage the entire day, even his legendary stamina had given out.

Liora walked over and poked him gently in the shoulder, he didn’t even twitch — just let out a long, shuddering breath.

"I’m hungry..."

"Just wait." Ethan pulled out ingredients and set up a cooking fire, he chose dishes specifically designed to restore stamina — grilled meat seasoned with Mana Grass, steamed vegetables, and a thick, rich stew.

Zharok struggled upright, grabbed a piece of meat, and crammed it into his mouth, color returned to his face almost immediately. "We absolutely cannot travel like this again tomorrow."

After eating his fill, he recovered enough to sit up straight and chew on a chicken leg while thinking clearly, Pearl asked, "At this speed, when will we reach the coast, meow?"

"Hard to say. If we run flat out... maybe seven days."

"Where is the Temple of Chaos?"

"We won’t be going there." Zharok picked up a twig and scratched a rough map into the dirt, according to his route, they were still a good distance from the Temple, but if the monsters were this thick out here, venturing deeper would be another thing entirely.

"We’ll take a detour around it—"

"I object to that route." A deep voice cut in from the darkness.

Every head snapped toward the sound. ’When did he get here?’

A tall figure stood at the edge of the firelight, by the faint glow, they could make out a tiger beastman — golden fur striped with black, powerfully built, standing with his arms crossed.

"The monsters’ movements have been abnormal lately, that route is too dangerou, I suggest you change course and avoid them as much as possible."

"You are...?"

"Apologies — I forgot to introduce myself." He uncrossed his arms and grinned, revealing a row of white teeth.

"My name is Rhazak, tiger beastman." He walked over to Zharok’s dirt map, dropped into an easy crouch, and drew a new route with the tip of one claw, his lines were quick and precise — this wasn’t his first time mapping escape routes through monster territory.

Zharok studied the new route, brow furrowed. "If we detour this far, it’ll add at least two extra days."