Chapter 210: Deathtrap

Ethan leaned against a tree, the warm rays of the sun washing over his pale face.

"Finally, we are out of that nightmare," he muttered harshly, his body completely weak as his stomach growled with hunger.

"Stop being dramatic. It’s just some plant slide. It took only three days to leave the area."

Julian’s mocking tone came from the side.

He had walked over and looked down at Ethan’s pale figure.

Ethan glared at him weakly, knowing Julian didn’t understand his suffering.

"You’ve mocked me up long enough... I’ll remember this."

Ethan’s voice held a clear promise of payback.

Julian ignored his words and walked over to a dry log beside the tree Ethan was leaning against.

"Now that we’re out, we should speed through the exploration of this island. From the places we’ve seen, there aren’t many dangerous beasts around. It’s just their numbers that are troublesome."

He paused, gazing at the forest behind him before continuing after gathering his thoughts.

"We shouldn’t engage any beasts for too long. We only need to gauge their powers, then continue on our way."

He suggested this, feeling it was a waste of time to fight the beasts when they could simply go around them.

Ethan remained silent for a moment before humming in agreement. There was nothing wrong with the idea.

They would do the same on the last island if they wanted to return to the first island quickly.

"We’ll start tomorrow. I need to rest," Ethan muttered.

He took out his already-set tent from his ring and crawled inside without waiting for a response.

Julian was left alone in the clearing.

Eva was inside the space, hounding the chef for dessert.

The breeze rustled the leaves, and bird calls could be heard above the forest.

Julian looked up and caught sight of a huge bird flying past, with three others following behind it.

"Are there no animals that humans are bigger than? They’re always big enough to dwarf us or the same size as us," Julian mused aloud.

He had never been conscious of his height until they came to the surface, where everything seemed enormous.

He relaxed his back against the tree and reminisced about the past in the underground city.

Time passed peacefully without any suspense. The breeze and rustling leaves eventually lulled Julian to sleep.

...

The next day, they explored the island, following Julian’s idea.

They avoided fully engaging the beasts after checking their powers.

A week flew by, and they were able to cover more ground until the weather suddenly changed.

Eva lay on her beast’s back as they rode through the forest.

The weather had grown colder, and the clouds were gray, with no sunlight in sight, indicating that snow would fall soon.

Ethan handed everyone coats made from wolf fur, frowning at the gloomy sky.

"Should we stop somewhere to rest, or should we keep going until it starts falling?" Eva shouted from the back of her beast.

Her body was completely covered in fur, with only her hair and face visible.

The wind had already picked up, and flakes of snow had begun falling from the sky.

"Let’s continue. If it gets worse, we’ll stay in your space for the night!" Ethan responded as his wolf ran alongside hers.

Julian covered himself with his coat and remained silent, but he was still paying attention to their discussion.

Only Ethan wasn’t fully covered in fur yet. He didn’t feel cold, and his powers made him less affected by the freezing weather.

They ran ahead for another hour.

The falling snow began to intensify, rapidly blanketing the ground and trees.

Every breath that left their lips carried white vapor.

Ethan heard Eva sneeze for the second time and immediately called for them to stop.

"We should stop here and rest in the space."

Eva didn’t need to be told twice.

She quickly took everyone inside.

Another month flew by.

They encountered various beasts and unique flowers. Some seemed friendly, while others were man-eating creatures.

Eva was almost grabbed by a huge bird but ended up roasting and braising it for lunch instead.

They encountered funny moments and frustrating ones.

Finally, they reached the edge of the island.

Their eyes fell on a naturally formed rocky bridge leading toward the last island.

"We’ll rest here for today. Tomorrow, we’ll cross over to the other island," Ethan announced.

Everyone agreed.

No one was in a rush to enter the next island anymore.

"Haaa... finally!"

Eva yelled in relief and fell backward onto her beast’s back.

Julian climbed down from his snake’s back and stretched his numb limbs while walking toward the rocky bridge.

"What strange beasts and flowers are we going to find on this one?" he asked aloud, speaking to no one in particular.

Suddenly, a bird flew ahead.

It swooped down, its feathered wings skimming across the surface of the water.

The sight immediately caught their attention.

They watched as the bird glided across the water before suddenly jumping and dancing through the air, making loud calls as though calling out to its kind.

It really was calling for its companions.

Two more birds soon flew over, gliding their wings against the water and sending droplets flying into the air.

Then the playful scene quickly transformed into one of horror.

Before Eva or the others could even blink, a huge fish shot out of the water and swallowed one of the birds in a single gulp.

Its razor-sharp teeth sank into the bird’s flesh, sending a gush of blood across the surface of the water.

The two remaining birds shot into the sky in fright and flew higher.

The huge fish swam in a circle, seemingly satisfied with its meal.

But it was unaware that a massive shadow was creeping up behind it.

Before it could react, another beast swallowed it whole.

Blood once again stained the surface of the water.

The last monster didn’t fully reveal itself before disappearing into the blue sea.

The water rippled slightly, and the blood gradually faded into the natural blue of the ocean.

Eva gulped. ℴℴ𝘮

"Damn."

The word slipped from her lips.

She was completely stunned by what she had just witnessed.

"Umm... I don’t think I’m prepared to cross this bridge yet. Let’s rest here..."

She paused.

"For ever."

Eva muttered the last words with complete seriousness, her heart filled with rejection as she stared at the ocean around them.

She would never in her life want to dive into that water.

Damn, she couldn’t unsee what she had just witnessed.

"There’s no need to fear. We aren’t going into the water, so those underwater beasts can’t attack us," Ethan spoke calmly from the edge.

Despite his calm tone, he found himself edging backward slightly.

Though Julian was stunned, he wasn’t as scared.

Instead, he was curious about what kinds of beasts or monsters were hiding beneath the calm waters.

"What do you mean we’re crossing the bridge? Didn’t you freaking see that fish jump high into the sky to catch that bird?! What if it jumps at us while we’re crossing the bridge? Oh my God!"

Eva panicked as she began imagining the scene happening.

Before she could scare herself even more, Julian pinched her cheeks, drawing her attention to him.

"Aren’t we here with you? There’s no need to fear those beasts. But aren’t you curious about the world hidden beneath this ocean?"

He would have successfully calmed her down if he hadn’t said that last part.

Eva gasped and stared at him as though he were a two-headed monster.

"Why the hell do you want to know what’s inside this deathtrap?! Now I know why they say curiosity kills the cat! You haven’t even explored the dry lands, and you already want to dive into the ocean!"

Eva exploded, wishing she could open his head and shake some sense into him.

Ethan coughed behind them, trying hard to hold back his laughter.

Eva’s shocked expression was so funny and Julian was almost shaken into stupor by her.

’It seems that if I ever want to explore this ocean in the future, I’ll have to do it secretly without her knowledge.’

She seemed genuinely terrified of the ocean.

"Okay, okay! I won’t get curious about it again!" Julian pleaded helplessly, his ears ringing from her yelling.

Eva finally calmed down.

She took out a bottle of water to soothe her dry throat, her chest heaving and her face flushed from all the shouting.

"I feel that before we get curious enough to explore that place, we need to max out our power levels. We need to become far stronger than my mother and grandpa."

Her tone became serious this time.

The depths of the ocean had always been mysterious, and they couldn’t afford to treat it carelessly. Otherwise, they might not even know what killed them.

"We can explore the surface, but we shouldn’t go deeper into its depths."

Eva left them with this final warning before taking out a bowl of pastries from her space.

Ethan and Julian hummed in response, not feeling that she was exaggerating the dangers of this place.

They, too, could sense the danger lurking beneath those waters.

They still had enough time in the future to explore its depths.

For now, they settled there for the night, with Eva letting the chef out of her space to prepare dinner.