The voice of the mermaid echoed from behind, and Ronald immediately complied, setting the mermaid down.
There were no obvious obstacles hindering their progress on this part of the path leading upward, and naturally, there was no need for him to continue carrying her.
The two walked side by side toward the entrance of the passage, coincidentally harboring the same thought in their minds.
—From this place upward.
—Might we see something incredible?
Exchanging glances, a human and a ’mermaid’ walked up the naturally formed passage.
The passage was narrow, and by the midway point, they could not walk side by side; instead, the mermaid led the way with Ronald following behind, both moving up the slope along the roughly forty-degree incline.
After ascending over ten meters, the previously brilliant ’gemstone’ had completely disappeared, and the passage turned back into a damp, pitch-black underground tunnel.
Then came four more turns.
When the passage narrowed down to a point where only one person could proceed while bent over, the mermaid, walking ahead, quietly reminded Ronald:
"I see the exit, be careful."
Cautiously adjusting the direction of their flashlights, both significantly slowed their pace, unsure of the specifics at the exit of the tunnel, and thus reduced noise by moving discreetly.
After a silent advance lasting just over a minute, they encountered no mishaps along the remaining stretch. Following behind the bending figure of the mermaid, Ronald squeezed through the exit of the passage.
Almost simultaneously, the mermaid, who came out first, asked Ronald:
"What is this...thing?"
Exiting the underground tunnel, their view suddenly opened up.
In an underground space large enough to accommodate a standard sports stadium, scattered quartz crystals nearly covered the entire floor, and a plant, rooted there, featured deep red petals with the size of a house.
The deep red plant had a pattern similar to blood vessels in orange-yellow, with a flowing liquid faintly visible inside. However, both the red and orange-yellow parts of the plant emitted bright luminescence reflective of their colors.
Reflected by the quartz crystals scattered all around, this place, which should have been pitch dark, turned into a dazzling kaleidoscope-like world of brilliant colors.
Faced with the breathtaking scene ahead, Ronald momentarily lost his ability to speak.
Beyond the visual impact, he could clearly sense that this plant was gathering a tremendous amount of Magic Power, and it was maintaining a very high frequency of Magic Fluctuation with the outside world.
If he wasn’t mistaken,
the cause of this hurricane’s center, or perhaps the core of this island, was this bizarre plant before Ronald’s eyes.
Faced with this scene, Ronald naturally began searching through his memories.
From his crossover to the present, his understanding of this world had been deepening gradually.
However, whether in the normal world or the mystical side’s records on certain plant-involved Spell schools, there was absolutely no mention of a flower looking .
Could this thing really belong to this world?
Amid his shock, Ronald quickly reached out to his companions through Communication Magic.
"I and the mermaid have successfully entered beneath the island; there is a very unique plant here, mainly red in color, with lots of orange-yellow..."
Ronald relayed the information in front of him in as much detail as possible.
But after a few seconds had passed, there was no response at all in the Communication Magic, and all conversation seemed to vanish into thin air.
Had Claudia’s Communication Magic been blocked?
When Ronald entered the underground tunnel from the ocean, he had communicated with his companions on the surface. Considering the situation of his companions above the island, Ronald was inclined to believe that the phenomenon was caused by the plant in front of him.
Of course, he couldn’t forget the responses from his companions.
Thus, Ronald answered seriously,
"I’m sorry, within my knowledge, I haven’t seen or heard of anything . I think it might not be a natural product."
"I knew it wouldn’t be that simple."
From a grave expression to a helpless one, Ronald finally shook his head.
"This thing contains a very powerful magic power. Shall I try to break it?"
Ronald nodded slightly and stepped back.
On the way here, he had noticed the performance of the mermaid before him.
At this moment, when she suggested testing the oddly shaped plant, Ronald naturally had no objections.
What followed was nearly identical to the time they had killed the hunter in the sea.
Helbeis held her hands across her chest, bowing her head slightly as she started to mobilize the magic power stored within her body.
This was probably because she had prepared for casting spells earlier.
The mermaid’s casting speed was much faster this time. In just over ten seconds, a sonic attack, no weaker than the one under the sea, came from her mouth and struck the plant directly.
Helbeis’s spell had definitely taken effect.
The sonic waves struck the petals and stems, causing the deep red flower to tilt sharply in the opposite direction and the orange-yellow patterns on its surface to flicker momentarily.
However, after revealing this vulnerable state.
The plant’s response to the attack was also incredibly fast.
Before the sonic waves could inflict decisive damage, it began secreting streams of magical power from its deep red surface, quickly forming a magic shell that protected the entire flower.
The mermaid’s song continued.
Yet with the magic shell protecting it, the plant completely ignored the sonic assault, retaining its upright stance as if nothing had happened.
An even more astonishing change was occurring before Ronald’s eyes.
Seemingly sensing that Helbeis’s attack would continue, the plant’s blossoming petals began to close toward the center, reverting back to the shape of a bud.
In less than a breath, the gathered bud unfolded.
Accompanied by this was the pollen originally inside the heart of the flower, as well as layers of powerful magic power wrapped around it!
It was in that instant that Ronald realized he needed to intervene.
The mermaid, still maintaining the spell, remained engulfed in the sonic magic and magic fluctuations, nearly incapacitated to respond to external changes.
If he did not assist now,
By the time the magic-infused pollen reached Helbeis’s face...
Even as a creature from the sea, it seemed she wouldn’t fare well under such conditions!