Why it never ends

Chapter 931 Dry Forest

The plane took off smoothly, and Hesta leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes.

Qiqi and Eleven sat facing each other at the window seat, both of them almost had their faces pressed against the window.

"Ms. Ximoya..." Yujiali raised his hand, "Can I ask you a question?"

Ximoya glanced in the direction of Eucalyptus and handed over a vomit bag.

"Please say."

Eucalyptus took it awkwardly and asked in a low voice: "How long will we fly?"

"More than three hours."

"So long?" Eucalyptus was extremely surprised. "Didn't they say that Saint Rom is only 70 kilometers away from Emmanlia..."

"I've just explained that there are safety risks along the straight-line route, so we need to take a detour."

Eucalyptus hesitated to speak—she felt that Ximoya seemed a little impatient, so she had to suppress her curiosity.

"Then you've gone around in a big circle." Hesta said as he adjusted his seat belt. "What exactly do you mean by 'safety hazard'?"

"Simply put, there are some armed groups that will take the initiative to attack aerial targets."

"…What do you mean?" Yugali felt his heart rise again, "Does it mean that someone will shoot at us from the ground?"

"That's nothing to be afraid of. When the plane is flying, ordinary guns and cannons cannot reach our flying altitude. Recently, there have been two helicopter accidents in District 12. Both were caused by the planes not turning fast enough during takeoff and rising very fast, resulting in crashes... But considering the various accidents that may occur during the flight, we still marked out some risk areas."

Rico frowned and listened for a while: "Why did those two planes fly at high speed when their speed was not high enough?"

"Be mindful of the ground fire when taking off." Hesta whispered.

"In short, yes," Ximoya replied, "We will go through the Almi Forest."

"...You're not making it simple at all." Rico muttered, turning to look at Hesta, "I'll show you something fun later."

"what?"

"I'll show it to you when we pass the Almi Forest."

Hesta was half puzzled and half amused. She put on an eye mask and said, "Okay, I'll get some sleep first."

Yujiali held the armrest of the seat with one hand and tightly held the vomit bag with the other. Forty minutes after the plane took off, she finally couldn't help vomiting. But even though she vomited all the bread and ham she had eaten for breakfast, the urge to vomit did not end. She couldn't say a word and had to keep dry heaving, as if she wanted to vomit out her internal organs.

"Are you that airsick?" Simosson asked.

"…It was fine on the way to District 12," Yugali said in a low voice, "Maybe… I'm still a little uncomfortable."

"Then you have to get used to it," Ximoya retracted her gaze, "When traffic is controlled or forced to be interrupted, we usually have to travel by air."

Eucalyptus could only laugh dryly: "...I'll try my best."

"There is another way." Rico suddenly said, "It can quickly solve the problem of airsickness..."

Eucalyptus looked over with some anticipation.

"...It's just that you fly the plane yourself." Rico continued, "The principle is the same as 'people who drive never get carsick.'" Yugali held his forehead and leaned back in his chair.

Suddenly, Qiqi sighed: "What is that?"

Several people on the plane turned their heads at the same time, and then Rico stretched out his foot and gently kicked Hesta's leg.

"…What's wrong?" Hesta took off his eye mask and looked like he had just woken up from sleep.

"Look out the window."

Hesta was a little confused at first, but she soon understood what Rico was asking her to look at - to her left, in a vast expanse of green jungle that seemed to have no end, there was a huge light brown round spot, like a colony of bacteria on a petri dish.

When the plane flew closer, Hesta could see clearly that it was a large dead forest.

"…What happened?" Hesta whispered. "Insect disease? Or was there a fire?"

"Neither." Rico laughed, "We are now flying over the largest creature on our planet."

Hesta's expression became even more confused. "What?"

"Fungus." Rico knocked on the window. "This forest was infected and died by the same Armillaria solidus. This fungus covers an area of ​​nearly 17 square kilometers and is at least years old. It is the largest organism in the world to date."

Hesta stared intently at the withered jungle below: "...Can I go down and take a look?"

"No." Ximoya refused sternly, "This is a forest, Ms. Hesta!"

"What's wrong with the forest? If you want to see it, I'll bring you here someday. But if you get too close, there's nothing to see," Rico said. "This fungus will extend many black root-like cords in the soil and attach to all dead and healthy tree roots. You can't see it on the ground at ordinary times. Only in autumn can you see the mushrooms it grows."

Although Eucalyptus, who was standing by, looked a little listless, he still roughly relayed Rico's words to the two children.

"Can I eat it?" Eleven asked.

Eucalyptus couldn't help but smile bitterly: "Why do you care about this..."

"Can you help me ask? Didn't they say it was mushrooms?"

Eucalyptus had no choice but to turn to Rico for questioning.

"Yes, it is edible. Not only is it edible, but it is also delicious." Rico replied, "It is only fatal to trees, but it is very delicious. I know several restaurants that cook mushrooms very well. When we get to Emanlia, I will take you to taste them."

Qiqi held her breath, holding on to the window with both hands, looking at the round spot of dead wood color that was gradually disappearing from her sight, and her heart seemed to be touched by something.

In the afternoon, the outline of the city finally appeared in the distance.

Everyone looked at the blurry shadow in silence for a moment, until Rico reminded everyone to pack up, and then everyone began to prepare to get off the plane.

Just like when they took off, the helicopter landed on the roof of a tall building in the city. As soon as they landed, Hesta saw a group of well-dressed people looking at them. A man in formal clothes stood in front of everyone. His belly was bulging, and a leather belt barely tied his belly into two sections. When the man waved his right hand, the tassel ribbon on his body also swayed.

The man's eyes jumped between Hesta and Eucalyptus for a while, and finally strode towards Eucalyptus. Although in his impression, the two big men with black and silver hair looked more like mercury needles, but Eucalyptus's red hair was obviously more in line with the characteristics of Hesta people.

"Finally, I meet you, Ms. Hesta!" The man extended his hand enthusiastically. "I've heard of your great name for a long time. You are completely different from the warrior I imagined—"