Chapter 215: The mosquitoes

Ethan and Julian’s gazes fell on the round, hard fruits hanging from the branches, curiosity filling their eyes.

"How is that a fruit? Its texture looks too hard to chew." Ethan couldn’t see how those fruits could possibly be edible and wondered if Eva had gotten it wrong.

"It’s like other fruits, but with a harder outer shell... The inside is also hard, but it’s still chewable," Eva explained, only confusing Ethan and Julian further.

The fruits they had eaten over the past few months had always had smooth, soft textures, causing them to form the perception that all fruits were supposed to be like that.

Noticing their confusion, Eva decided it would be better for them to eat one and experience its unique flavor for themselves.

"Once you eat it, you’ll understand. We just have to pluck—"

Eva trailed off when her gaze fell on the fruits high up in the trees.

’How are we going to pluck them?’

The same question seemed to fill their minds.

Then Julian and Eva’s gazes slowly fell on Ethan.

Feeling their gazes, he turned to meet Eva’s sparkling eyes.

"What...?"

As soon as the word left his lips, Eva quickly made her request.

"Please, can you shapeshift into a bird and pluck some coconuts for us?"

Her eyes sparkled with hope, and Ethan found himself agreeing in a daze.

Eva jumped for joy and pecked him on the cheek before pushing him forward to go get the fruits.

Ethan sighed, feeling helpless and as though he were being used every time she looked at him with such a trust-filled gaze, as if he were the only person she could rely on.

"Hopeless," Julian snorted from the side, as though he had somehow forgotten how he usually let her have her way too.

Ethan ignored him and strode toward the trees.

As soon as he stepped onto the shore, all the crabs turned toward him.

Before they could start pursuing him, he quickly shifted halfway. Only wings sprouted from his shoulder blades while the rest of his body remained normal.

Eva watched in awe and envy as he flew through the air.

’If I had a flying beast, I would have realized my dream of soaring through the sky, but sigh...’

Then she realized she could pester Ethan whenever she wanted to fly.

With that thought, her envy vanished.

Meanwhile, Ethan suddenly felt a cold chill wash over him.

The feeling was fleeting, and his attention was quickly captured by the sight of the fruits ahead.

Reaching the tree, he hovered around it as he plucked the coconuts and tossed them into his space ring.

He didn’t know what ripe coconuts were supposed to look like, so he simply picked the bigger ones.

After tossing the last coconut into his ring, he decided he had gathered enough and turned to leave.

However, one of his wings accidentally knocked a coconut loose from its stem.

It fell straight toward the ground.

Ethan couldn’t react in time. He watched the coconut fall, expecting it to shatter when it hit the ground.

Instead, he witnessed a scene that froze him in place.

Eva’s jaw dropped open in shock as a hidden clam-like creature buried in the ground suddenly caught the coconut between its hard shells.

It snapped its shell shut.

The coconut shattered instantly, its pieces flying through the air before falling onto the sandy ground.

The sound was horrifyingly similar to a human bone being crushed.

Eva swallowed hard, thankful that Ethan hadn’t decided to walk toward the trees before flying.

’If his legs or body had been caught in one of those...’

She closed her eyes, unwilling to imagine the outcome.

Her heart was filled with lingering fear.

’I shouldn’t have sent him to get those fruits. What if something had happened to him?’

Julian’s gaze darted toward the stone bridge. When he remembered how they had run across this sandy beach only a short while ago, he broke out in a cold sweat.

His gaze toward the crawling crabs suddenly became much kinder.

If the crabs had pursued them straight into the forest, they might have casually walked across the shore without noticing the dangers buried beneath the sand.

Then he caught Eva’s guilty expression from the corner of his eye and realized she might have been shaken by what had happened.

He decided to say something to take her mind off it.

"We should thank those crabs."

Eva also noticed where his gaze had fallen, the her eyes widened in realization.

"I wouldn’t eat crab meat for a week. These guys deserve my thanks," Eva muttered with genuine gratitude.

Her words made Julian’s lips twitch.

Feeling his pointed stare on her back, she turned toward him with a raised brow.

"What? I’m grateful to them."

Eva averted her gaze, feeling his stare was too scorching.

Her conscience was pricked with guilt, but when she remembered the taste of crab meat, she quickly shrugged the feeling away.

Julian shook his head and turned toward Ethan.

He was flying toward them, clearly indicating that he had no intention of letting his legs touch the sandy shore again.

"Here, I plucked ten coconuts."

He took two coconuts from his space ring and handed them to Eva, completely ignoring the fact that he had nearly suffered a crushed bone.

"Thank God you’re safe."

Eva’s voice was filled with relief. She wouldn’t have forgiven herself if something had happened to him because of her.

She thought she had hidden her fear well, but Ethan simply tousled her hair without a word before bringing her attention back to the coconuts in her hands.

"So, how are we supposed to eat it?"

Upon hearing his question, Eva became excited to show them what was inside the hard outer shell.

She first brought a coconut to her ear and shook it to check if there was water inside.

Hearing the faint sound of liquid sloshing around, her eyes lit up.

She handed the coconut to Julian.

"Help me break the top open. Be careful not to waste the water," Eva warned lightly as she moved aside to give him space.

Julian didn’t use his sword. Instead, he took out a sharp dagger from his space ring.

He positioned it at the top of the coconut and gave it a small swipe to the right.

Like magic, the top was cut open without any effort, showing just how sharp the dagger’s edge was.

Eva had expected him to put more effort into opening the shell, but she was happy nonetheless.

She quickly reached for the opened coconut and handed it to Ethan to take the first sip. After all, he was the one who had put in the effort to pluck them.

Ethan took it and looked inside.

He saw clear, slightly cloudy liquid encased within the hard white shell.

He brought it to his lips and took a tentative sip.

Feeling the light, slightly sweet, and refreshing taste on his tongue, he took a much deeper gulp.

Once he finished drinking, he moved to toss the empty coconut aside, assuming the water was the only edible part.

"Don’t throw it!"

Eva quickly snatched it from his hands and explained,

"We still need to remove that white flesh you see inside. That’s the fruit."

She passed it to Julian to remove while instructing him from the side.

As soon as the flesh was removed, Eva took a bite before handing Ethan the other half. She then fed Julian a piece as well.

The sweet and nutty flavor of the coconut received everyone’s approval, and Julian quickly opened another one.

"You see? It’s edible. And we can use it to make cake, food, and so many other delicious things. (⁠´⁠﹃⁠`)"

Eva practically drooled as she rambled on about all the delicacies they could make with coconut flour and coconut milk.

Her words made the others anticipate all the food she listed, and Ethan couldn’t help but feel that he hadn’t brought back nearly enough.

"We’ll give it to the chef to experiment with. Maybe he can make the flour and milk you talked about," Julian chimed in, suddenly feeling hungry from listening to her talk about food.

"Hmm. I’ll go pluck more fruits."

Ethan made the decision after handing over the remaining coconuts he had brought back once they finished eating.

Eva placed them in her space before going in to find the chef to discuss the general idea of producing coconut flour and milk.

While Ethan went to gather more coconuts, Julian was left behind to wait for everyone to return.

Unknown to them, deep within the forest, there was an area filled with swarms of insects.

A buzzing sound could be heard as finger-sized mosquitoes flew through the air.

The sheer number of them was enough to send anyone with entomophobia into immediate shock.

Rotten beast bones and decaying flesh littered the ground beneath them.

They flew around aimlessly until an intruder entered the swarm.

The mosquitoes immediately rushed forward and surrounded the beast, their dense mass covering its entire body until it was no longer visible.

Within a few minutes, they dispersed.

The beast collapsed onto the ground.

Every last drop of blood had been drained from its body.

It was already dead.