Navigator: I Have a Legendary Exploration Log

A dense thicket of thorns loomed over them, blocking the path that Chalice and his companions had taken.

"Hey! Young man! Don't worry about me! If you can walk, then hurry up and leave!"

The one-legged captain named Finn slumped to the ground, the green flame of the short knife in his hand had dimmed considerably, and the spiritual light on the blade flickered like a candle in the wind.

His broken left leg was oozing blood, which pooled into a dark red puddle beneath him.

Chalice did not heed his advice.

He quickly scanned the grotto.

The three corpses, pierced by thorns, had stopped convulsing.

The stench of blood mingled with the sweet, putrid odor unique to the bloodthorn tree.

It's disgusting.

The path ahead was blocked by thorns, making it impossible to see the way out.

The rock face is three or four meters high, and it seems that it can be climbed.

But Chalice saw several crimson vines sprouting above, and realized that all their hard work climbing the rock wall would only result in them being blown apart by the waiting thorns!

"Rumlow! Eddie!"

Chalice's voice boomed through the cave, cutting through the rustling of thorns against the rock walls: "Phnom injectors! Prepare to burn a path through me!"

"yes!"

Rumlow and Eddie fastened the button almost simultaneously and took out the phlogiston injector, which looked like a tin can.

The two men deftly turned on the valve at the top and pressed down hard on the ignition device on the side with their thumbs.

laugh!

Two blazing white pillars of fire shot out from the mouth of the jar!

Phlogiston flames are quite different from ordinary flames.

It lacks an orange-red flame core and a flickering outer flame; instead, it is a solid, liquid-like incandescent flame, so hot that it slightly distorts the surrounding air.

The moment the flames touched the thorns, the scarlet vines convulsed and curled up as if they were alive, emitting a sharp and piercing screech!

hiss! ! !

The sound was not like burning plants, but rather like the wailing of countless insects being thrown into a fire!

The thorns, scorched by the flames, quickly carbonized and broke, filling the air with a strange odor that was a mixture of burnt and sweet, fishy smells.

"efficient!"

Eddie roared excitedly.

But Chalice's brow furrowed even more deeply.

He saw that from the broken ends of the burned thorns, dark red sap gushed out like blood.

Wherever the sap goes, new shoots emerge, grow, and harden at a speed visible to the naked eye!

In just five or six breaths, most of the burned thorns had already regenerated!

Even more frightening, the ground began to shake.

Around the rock crevice where they temporarily took refuge, even thicker and more ferocious root-like thorns broke through the soil!

They are as thick as an adult's arm in diameter, and their surfaces are covered with cracked patterns like tree bark.

"Watch out for the ground!"

Chalice suddenly turned to the side, thorns grazing his ribs and tearing a gash in his trench coat.

He drew the silver folding knife that Sartre had given him.

The blade deflected!

The blade flashed a cold light in the dim light!

bass!

Without imbuing it with any spiritual power, Chalice severed the attacking root thorns with a single stroke using only the sharpness of the folding knife itself.

The break was clean, sap splattered, and the broken branch was still wriggling after it hit the ground!

"The regeneration speed is too fast!"

Rumlow retreated while continuing to spew flames, cold sweat beading on his forehead. "Captain! Pyrotechnics won't last much longer!"

Cheryl's brain was working at lightning speed.

The gourmet's inspiration surges wildly during the crisis.

His sense of smell was heightened to its extreme.

He carefully discerned every distinctive scent in the air: the smell of blood, the stench of decay, the burnt smell... the damp earthiness, the salty tang of sweat... and that irresistibly alluring sweet fragrance that lingered from beginning to end!

Bloodthorn berries!

Chalice suddenly looked up, his gaze piercing through the layers of thorns, fixed on a certain direction.

His spiritual perception extended like tentacles, capturing the location where the fragrance was most intense, in the center of the island, about... two hundred meters away.

"We must find the true main tree!"

"Otherwise, if the phlogiston runs out, we'll all die here!" Chalice shouted sternly.

"The main tree?"

Finn collapsed to the ground, a twisted smile shrugged off his pale face. "You know where that thing is? I've been wandering around this godforsaken place for ages and still can't find it!"

"I just happened to come across a thick branch bearing fruit, and I thought that was the main tree, but now it seems to be just..."

His words came to an abrupt end.

Because Chalice closed his eyes again.

Under the cover of Rumlow and Eddie's flamethrowers, and amidst the panting of the other three sailors back to back, guns raised in readiness, Cherries immersed himself entirely in the world of smell.

The aroma of bloodthorn berries is delicate and subtle.

Surrounded by countless chaotic smells, it presents a unique trajectory.

That's right!

This thing isn't stationary; it's slowly moving!

Chalice suddenly opened his eyes.

"It's moving."

His voice held a hint of disbelief, "The main tree of this Bloodthorn Tree is not only moving,..."

Finn's eyes widened: "How could you...?"

"Shut up!"

Chalice interrupted him, his gaze sweeping across the scene outside the cave like a knife. "Rumlow! Boil the leftmost one!"

"But Captain! I remember we..."

"Do as instructed!"

"yes!"

The blazing white column of phlogiston fire turned and fiercely swept over the thorns on the far left.

Eddie, on the other hand, cleverly fired pillars of fire, barely managing to maintain pressure on the besieging Thorn!

quickly!

The leftmost thicket of thorns was burned open.

"Go! Take cover!"

Chalice was the first to rush towards the passage.

"etc!"

Finn hissed, "Take me with you! I'll tell you the secret of the Bloodthorn Tree! I know how to deal with it!"

Chalice paused in his steps.

He turned to look at the captain, who had lost a leg and looked ashen-faced.

Fenn struggled to sit up, supporting himself against the rock wall, still clutching the blood-red fruit tightly in his hand.

"Speak! You only have one sentence!"

"The Bloodthorn Tree... moves towards blood!"

Finn gritted his teeth and spoke rapidly, as if afraid that Cherries would abandon him, "The reason I was able to get this fruit is because I used a crew member's blood as bait!"

"I spilled his blood on the edge of the depression, and a vine was attracted by the smell of blood, which gave me the opportunity to cut down the branch that was bearing fruit..."

Chalice's brow furrowed slightly.

They used the crew's blood as bait.

His gaze swept over the three motionless corpses.

So, is it possible that these people's deaths were not accidental?

Instead, he was used as...bait by his own captain?

But on the surface.

Chalice's expression remained completely unchanged.

"Therefore, the main trunk will be attracted by a large amount of blood."

He calmly concluded, "There's too much blood lost here; it will gather back up much faster."

"That's right! But... the reverse!"

Finn gasped for breath, "If we can create a large enough bleeding point, lure it to a specific location, and then concentrate the burning with phlogiston...maybe we can severely damage it!"

Chalice stared at Finn for two seconds.

That look sent chills down Fenn's spine.

Without the expected anger and disdain, the young man seemed to accept the message he had just spoken instantly.

Then, with an almost indifferent scrutiny.

Examining myself...

Chalice finally spoke, "You carry him on your back."

"What?"

The sailor pointed at by the captain was somewhat stunned.

"We need his intelligence."

Chalice turned and quickened his pace.

"Execute the command!"