"Haiya!" Followed by a comical shout, Compass Carburettor threw the pouch he had, watching it land far away in the cave.
The insects indeed moved away from it, but they continued to scuttle around only a centimetre away from it. So, the contents of the pouch only repelled them away for a centimetre.
"…" Compass Carburettor stared at it, controlling his urge to facepalm.
Neena patted his shoulder this time, saying, "Your grandma's recipe works, but is just not potent enough. She must have given it to you to ward off mosquitoes and not a sea of insects."
"But, this still gives me an idea." Compass Carburettor quickly recovered as he tugged the string tied to the pouch, pulling it back as he said, "if we make a boundary using the powder from this pouch…"
"No, that won't be effective enough." Rhizen said, pointing at some centipedes among the crowd of insects, "They'll simply act as the bridge for the rest of the insects to climb over. And even if they don't do it voluntarily, the other insects might kill them and use their carcasses for this."
'Of course, I know that. I want Neena to continue expending her Mental Energy. Her bag is just a regular piece of cloth.' Compass Carburettor subtly frowned, trying his best to not look at the sea of insects.
Currently, they had reached one end of the cave. And, forming a boundary three metres behind them was a sea of insects.
The moment Neena retracts her ability would be when this sea of insects drowns them.
But, there was another reason he didn't wish to look at them. Rather, even if he didn't look at them, he was able to sense them. After all, trailing from a significant portion of them were Mental Energy streams.
Since they were generating Mental Energy streams, it meant that they were capable of conscious thoughts. And, the denser the Mental Energy stream they generated, the more intelligent they were and similarly powerful their brainpower was.
Most of the Mental Energy streams were so thin that he barely felt them. But, since he felt them, it meant that the insects were able to think beyond their thoughts that were spurred through instinct and genetic bias.
Moreover, a couple of Mental Energy streams from the sea of insects were pretty thick, at least ten times the regular insects. And they were what alarmed him.
It meant some insects were calmly watching their actions while plotting to kill them, of their free will.
Even though he wished to remain in the same place longer to waste as much Mental Energy reserves of Neena as possible, he still had to find the truth of this world's power structure that would emerge sooner or later.
And, Rhizen was the key to achieving that. Since two Systems had arrived to hinder/kill him, it confirmed his suspicions that Rhizen would indeed obtain some power here.
So, only by knowing the method to obtain the power would he be able to plan his subsequent schemes.
Thinking as such, he looked at the rope in Neena's hands, saying, "I'll try to head to the other side first. We'll keep the bag behind me in such a distance that the radius of its effectiveness still envelopes me."
"And, once I ensure the other side is safe enough for us to get down and travel for an escape path, the both of you would simultaneously get into the tunnel so that…" He continued speaking about the plan.
"And, if suppose I sense any urgency, pull me back." Compass Carburettor said, showing the rope, "I'll be tying this to my leg. So, it'll be easy for you to pull me back quickly."
"Be careful," Neena said in worry while Rhizen nodded in seriousness, showing how he would bet his life on his responsibility.
Nodding, Compass Carburettor didn't waste any time and climbed into the tunnel, beginning to slowly crawl forward. He failed to see any insects before him and so began to move forward.
A bit later, Rhizen pushed Neena's bag into the tunnel. There was a rope on both its ends. One end was attached to the leg of Compass Carburettor so that he would be pulling it along with him while crawling forward. Moreover, the length of the rope ensured he was always under the influence of the bag's insect repellent effect.
The other side of the bag's rope trailed towards the duo waiting beyond the tunnel. Neena was in charge of holding the rope. In case Compass Carburettor signalled an emergency, she would pull the bag to avoid it hindering his return while Rhizen pulled him back.
"It's fine, this side is pretty safe indeed." Compass Carburettor said after some time, landing on the other side as he looked around, failing to find any insects. Moreover, the size of the cave had become vast, spanning a breadth of 30 metres and a height of 70 metres. As for the length, he couldn't see its end.
'This is such a huge place. Does it run throughout the Eastern Range?' Thinking as such, he watched Rhizen and Neena crawl through the tunnel. He tugged the rope they had tied to themselves, allowing them to crawl faster while spending less energy.
"This…is amazing!" Neena was surprised once she landed on the ground and looked around, noticing the massive space before her.
"Wait, something's there." Rhizen was suddenly alarmed as he whispered, telling them to quiet down. As they untied the rope around them, he continued to listen to the sounds in the surroundings, soon locking onto a source as he motioned for them to follow him.
As they tiptoed through the cave, Rhizen peeked over a stalactite that had become a pillar after touching the ground, for a moment shuddering as his eyes widened.
Neena peeked over when Compass Carburettor closed her mouth, preventing her from shrieking just when it seemed like she was about to do so.
The creature was just too big to be something from their planet. It was still a centipede, but its length was something on a whole other dimension.
Two metres!
The centipede spanned two metres in length, slithering along the cave as it soon passed over a slope. After staring at each other, the trio gulped before silently tiptoeing the centipede, soon crossing over the slope as a horrifying scene flashed before him.
All of them even forgot to breathe.
Author's Notes: January Month's Mass Release Quota
Target: Top 75 GT Ranking
Reward 1: 10 regular chapters
Reward 2: 18 Privilege chapters
Magic Castle: 2
Spacecraft: 5
Golden Gachapon: 10
[Tier 3 Privilege has 15 chaps with a 50% Discount]
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