Leveling Up Alongside My Plant Legion
Chapter 102:Creatures Hiding In The Mud
A long procession stretched out from the beginner village.
Groups of able and young mana users moved along the perimeter, acting as guards, while those who had little to no experience in combat stayed in the middle of the formation.
At the front rolled a huge bulky vehicle, its bulky frame creating a menacing contrast against the people walking behind it. Behind them followed several wooden carriages that were reserved only for the high lords of the city.
The city had around a hundred guards and several mercenary teams, all tasked with protecting the people during the harrowing journey ahead.
Reigns sat atop the APC and looked down at the long trail of people. He was surprised to discover an important fact.
Leaving aside Hex and Hisen, there were only a handful of people stronger than him. They consisted of Hisen’s personal guards and a mercenary leader named Dubble.
"Woah! This thing looks so cool. So this is the modern version of those carriages."
"I can’t believe things would change this much in the future."
"Kekekke! There are far more than that, Brother Dubble... Once you enter the city, you will be finding many things more impressive than this."
Duster flashed a creepy smile. Seeing that, Dubble laughed loudly.
The two seemed to have hit it off rather well.
Once the entire squad was loaded, Hisen stepped to the front of the procession.
"My people, it is time for us to depart."
His voice carried across the gathered crowd. He then slowly turned and looked back at the city.
"It has been the place of our birth and has sheltered us from countless storms. Sadly, it is time for us to bid it farewell... I pray that the remains of the city may serve as hope and refuge for those lost in the wild, seeking shelter from the wilderness."
His eyes lingered on the city walls for a few moments.
"With that, let us depart toward the new life that awaits us."
VROOM!
The robust black behemoth sprang to life with a thunderous roar and began moving forward.
Scouts had already been sent ahead to trace any dangers along the route. Reigns had dispatched his two Dryads with them.
_____
The path they took was different from the one they had used before.
The current route was far more open compared to the previous one. The earlier road had been a narrow forest trail leading into this mountainous region, but this one stretched across a vast snowfield that seemed to have no end.
Reigns looked at the people behind them with concern.
He had been worried that the snow would affect them, but it seemed his concerns were unnecessary. However, speed seemed to be an entirely different matter.
’Just how many days would it take to cover such a huge distance...?’
The APC was moving painfully slow, advancing at barely ten kilometers per hour. The guards kept a steady pace beside it, while Reigns and his companions were lucky enough to sit on top of it without worrying about the exhausting march.
The scouts ahead reported no dangers.
Nor had they encountered any monster attacks.
Apart from the thick mist hanging in the distance, everything was proceeding smoothly.
CRAAUNGG!
A deep, wrenching sound exploded through the area.
The APC suddenly came to a halt and rolled slightly to one side.
Reigns, who had been sitting at the back, was caught completely off guard. The violent jerk threw him right off the APC.
His body flew through the air before slamming hard onto the frozen ground.
"OUCHHH!"
His face ended up plastered against the snow.
But what happened next was even worse.
A shadow suddenly sprang toward him.
"Nooo!"
"Kyaaa!"
It was Duster and Gianna.
The two lost their balance and crashed directly onto him.
Duster quickly grabbed Gianna and steadied her.
"Are you alright?"
Gianna stared at Duster’s handsome face with a slightly dazed expression. For a brief moment she seemed frozen before quickly shaking herself out of it.
She immediately jumped back to her feet, looking flustered.
"Are you good?"
"You can also ask me that bastard!"
The angry scream made Duster tremble.
He slowly turned around and met Reigns’ ominous gaze, which looked ready to devour him alive.
"Uh... Reigns... Are you fine?"
"Get off me!" Reigns shouted.
Duster immediately sprang to his feet.
Reigns slowly got up while rubbing his aching back.
’Damn... that hurts.’
The fall itself hadn’t been too bad, but having two people crash onto him was a different story altogether.
"Why did it stop?" Reigns asked curiously.
"Brother Rock, what happened?" Seon asked, knocking on the hatch.
"The ground... I am not getting any traction."
"Traction?"
Duster frowned and kicked the ground.
BAM!
The moment his foot landed, the surface beneath him broke apart. His leg slipped, and he nearly lost his footing.
Reigns noticed it and quickly crouched down and brushed away some of the white layer covering the ground.
"Huh! It’s not ice!?"
The entire march had come to a halt because of the sudden stop.
People began whispering among themselves while several guards hurried forward to check the situation. Rock stepped down from the APC and looked around with a frown.
Large chunks of dirt-laden Rock were scattered around them.
The ground seemed to be covered with a slippery layer of whitish material.
"It’s a salt lake."
"A salt lake?"
The squad behind him exclaimed in shock.
The nearby guards also exchanged worried glances.
"What should we do now?"
They inspected the stuck wheel and quickly noticed a small hole beneath it.
"Now from where did this hole appear?" Duster screamed.
"There is a hole here?" Seon asked from above.
"There is?"
Seon leaned down further and looked toward the ground.
"Is there anything down there...? Like a burrowing monster?"
"Not that we know."
Several guards had already arrived by then.
One of them saluted and asked, "Sir, what happened?"
Reigns pointed toward the ground.
"The APC got stuck. Looks like we’re standing on a salt lake, and there’s some kind of hole beneath the wheel."
The guards immediately became alert.
Reigns glanced toward the long line of civilians behind them.
"Tell everyone to fall back a little and take some rest. There’s no point in making them stand around while we deal with this."
The guards nodded and quickly moved away to relay the orders.
Soon, word spread through the marching line, and people began sitting down to rest while maintaining formation.
Reigns looked back at the wheel.
"We need to take out the front wheel from the patch first, then start digging."
"What a hassle!" Duster scoffed.
"But we have to do it anyway."
"Come on, boys... Gear up... We can’t keep the ladies waiting."
Rock smiled half-heartedly.
The men began gathering tools while some moved toward the wheel. Rock walked over and grabbed a spade.
Just then, the communicator attached to his belt started ringing.
Everyone immediately became alert.
The nearby guards rushed toward the front.
Rock picked up the communicator. "This is Rock... Please relay the message."
"Sir, we have a big problem... We are in what appeared to be the remains of a lake..."
As the conversation continued, Reigns suddenly felt a faint vibration beneath his feet.
At first it was subtle.
Then it became stronger.
His eyes widened.
He immediately leaned forward and looked down at the ground.
The vibration was spreading rapidly.
"JUMPP!"
"What!"
"JUMPP!"
The squad reacted instantly and threw themselves away.
BANGGG!
A massive claw burst out from beneath the ground.
The enormous pincer slammed directly into the APC.
The impact shook the entire vehicle violently and dragged part of it downward, making the snow and chunks of salt explode everywhere.
Reigns and the others slid across the ground and rolled several times before scrambling back to their feet.
The moment they looked ahead, their expressions changed.
A gigantic pincer claw had broken out from beneath the earth.