Hiding A Logistics Center In The Apocalypse - Chapter 73
Chapter 73: The Green Indians and the Short-Legged Blue-Collar Workers (1)
TL/ED – Miso
Tudududu!
It wasn’t a long distance.
A flight of just about 20 minutes by helicopter.
However, in the end, we had no choice but to stop the helicopter at the edge of the forest.
“……So things like this can happen too, huh?”
Lee Yong-su added, sounding dumbfounded.
We had already heard that it was impossible to approach by plane.
We flew at a low altitude, prepared for a crash landing, but the dense forest refused to allow our intrusion.
Suddenly, gravity struck.
That force violently dragged down the helicopter we were in…
Tududududu!
Thanks to Lee Yong-su’s near-supernatural piloting skills, we barely managed to land.
Chirp, chirp.
Gurgle.
Thus, we were greeted by the lush, dense forest.
The only way forward was by land.
“……We have plenty of transport options.”
Clatter.
A motorcycle was immediately shipped out.
It was something I had stored away from a recently demolished motorcycle exhibition.
Just as I was about to set off on the bike…
“Jeong-gyeom ssi! Over there…!”
Piuuuung!
Something flew in from the sky.
Kang! Kaang!
A silver gas canister bounced off the ground.
And from it…
Fushiiiiii!
A thick, white smoke began to billow out violently.
“Yong-su ssi, catch this!”
Ziiing!
[K-5 Gas Mask, Price Not Set.]
Swiftly!
Holding my breath, I quickly put on the gas mask.
I hadn’t inhaled the smoke, but the entire forest was soon filled with the hazy white mist.
It felt almost like a mystical fog.
“Jeong-gyeom ssi, could this be…”
I nodded.
A gas canister that flew in like a cannonball, and an unidentified smoke…
It wasn’t hard to guess what it was.
“……This must be that poison gas.”
Piuung!
Piuuuung!
Fushiiiiii…….
Gas canisters kept dropping one after another.
It meant that the Southern Army had already reached this part of the forest.
“We need to move.”
We had to hurry.
If we weren’t careful, the Priest might be captured by them first.
Tak!
Buuuuung!
Jumping onto the motorcycle, we sped through the dense forest path.
Facing the red hologram that floated above us.
.
.
.
Buuuuuuung!
About 30 minutes into our ride.
Sitting on the backseat, I tapped Lee Yong-su on the shoulder.
“Yong-su ssi, it’s the other way.”
“Again? Seriously….”
Kiiiik!
He immediately turned the handlebars in the opposite direction.
By now, this had happened dozens of times.
We would follow a perfectly straight road, only to suddenly have to change direction.
“What kind of place is this…?”
We had no choice.
If we kept heading straight, the hologram marking our destination would somehow end up behind us.
I didn’t understand how it worked, but the entire forest path was completely distorted.
As proof of that…
[Compass, Mixed Colors, Price: 22,790 KRW.]
Whirrrrrr!
The needle of the compass in my hand spun wildly in circles.
And that wasn’t all.
Kugugugugu…….
Trees moving as if they were living creatures.
The forest, which had just erased one path before our eyes, now created a new one to the left.
“Well, no wonder they couldn’t find the way…”
This was why the search team from Chicago had gotten lost.
A space that shifted like an ever-changing maze.
That was the hidden truth of the Indiana Rainforest.
Of course…
‘Change all you want…’
It didn’t matter to us.
Whether the direction was flipped or not, we simply followed the hologram from the Chamber of Commerce to guide our way.
Perhaps because of that?
The surrounding scenery gradually changed as well.
It became darker, and the trees grew denser.
A sign that we were heading into the depths of the rainforest.
Just as we continued cutting through the forest for a while
“……?”
Someone blocked our path.
Screeeech!
Lee Yong-su hurriedly slammed on the brakes.
A tense atmosphere arose, but the figure before us showed no intention of fighting.
Instead, he simply raised his palm.
A large deer antler protruding above their forehead.
A feathered headband wrapped around his head, with long, black hair cascading down his back.
Despite his bronzed skin, his eyes were painted bright red.
And most notably…
“……Is he okay?”
Even though the entire forest was filled with poison gas, he didn’t seem to be struggling in the slightest.
He merely chewed on something and spoke to us.
“Lost souls possess only ignorance and arrogance, anger and jealousy, and desire. However…”
“……You already know the way.”
In short, he was saying that we were remarkably good at navigating.
The deer-antlered man spoke as if he were impressed, but…
“……We just followed the hologram.”
“Looks like they don’t have GPS or anything.”
It wasn’t exactly something to be praised for.
Perhaps due to our lukewarm response?
He cleared his throat and introduced himself.
And then…
His identity made me doubt my own ears.
“……A druid?”
“Yes, I am Obstin, a druid of Serenity.”
I remembered clearly.
The conditions for reviving the Knights of Camelot.
That required a fully grown World Tree and a skilled druid.
Obstin bowed his head to me.
“Our chieftain wishes to meet you. I’m sure you already know the way, but…”
Kwaaaang!
Craaack!
With just a few gestures, he made the trees shift, creating a passage.
However, I hesitated.
‘…….’
This was the druid I had been searching for.
It was true that I welcomed his invitation, but…
‘……I need to find the Priest.’
There was a more urgent task at hand.
Northern leader Glen Ford.
Finding him and reclaiming the Southern Dwarven Factory.
I was trying to determine which was more pressing, finding the Priest or reviving the skeletal knights, when the druid solved my dilemma.
“If you’re looking for the Priest… he is with us.”
“Ah…?”
Sure enough, the hologram in the sky pointed directly toward the path Obstin had just created.
“In that case.”
There was no need to hesitate.
The druid had appeared out of nowhere
And he had just given us a shortcut.
***
A space surrounded by lush trees.
We had arrived at the druid village, Serenity.
“Whew…”
The fresh air filled my lungs.
A mysterious energy, impossible to describe, was shielding Serenity from the outside world.
Thanks to it blocking the Southern Army’s poison gas, we were finally able to take off our suffocating gas masks.
Scattered throughout the village were conical huts.
Wooden animal carvings stood around the area, and vibrantly painted banners hung in various places.
Druids wearing feathered headbands, with red markings around their eyes.
Passing by them one by one
“……Found him.”
We spotted a man lying diagonally on an animal hide.
The unconscious leader of the Northern Army, Glen.
Obstin explained Glen’s condition.
“His entire body was broken. We’ve finished most of the treatment, so you don’t need to worry. He may look like this now, but he should regain consciousness within a day or two.”
Full-body fractures.
The Priest had survived an ordeal far worse than expected.
Even for the healers of PAX FC, treating broken bones was difficult.
Healing abilities didn’t work well on bones.
Yet, watching the druids heal him so effortlessly made the idea of reviving the skeletion knights feel much more tangible.
Moreover, the druids’ abilities weren’t limited to just that.
I turned to Lee Yong-su.
“They were completely fine despite the poison gas, right?”
“Now that I think about it, yeah. We had to wear gas masks…”
It was a simple conclusion.
If the druids had the ability to purify poison gas, the battle against the Southern Army would become significantly easier.
Just as I was pondering this…
The druid chieftain finally appeared and greeted me.
“You must be tired from your long journey. I am Findrick, Chief of Serenity.”
He didn’t offer a long introduction.
There wasn’t much time to spare.
Findrick began explaining at length why he had summoned me, but…
“…I heard a prophecy. That you were given ‘the most paths’. That you are the only one who can help us lost Druids find our ‘path’ again…”
I cut to the chase.
“…Get to the point.”
“We ask that you open the way back to our original dimension. We can sense the power of dimensional travel within you…”
Though he spoke of strange things like fate…they were perceptive.
They had vaguely sensed my ability.
They had been unwillingly thrown onto Earth by the Chamber of Commerce.
But unfortunately, I had no way to send them back home.
“I don’t have that kind of ability. Maybe someday in the far future, but…”
“Just the possibility is enough. A path only exists if you take the first step.”
He was satisfied with simply leaving it for the future.
Even though I couldn’t grant their request, Findrick kindly asked me in return
“That aside… I heard you have a request for us.”
There were two major requests.
Reviving the skeletion knights, and more urgently
Overcoming the Southern Army’s poison gas.
Since the immediate issue needed to be addressed first, I asked Findrick
“It seems druids are completely unaffected by the poison gas. I want to know how. And if possible, I’d like to learn how to cure it.”
“That’s quite simple. However…”
Understanding my intent, Findrick took out a small item.
It was…
“A leaf…?”
A single leaf, stiff and dried.
And at that moment
Thump thump thump!
The druids who had been wandering nearby.
The moment they saw the leaf, their expressions drastically changed.
Then, all at once, they rushed toward the chieftain.
Ta-at!
Tak!
Swish!
They reached out for the leaf, but…
Whoosh!
Swish!
With skilled movements, Findrick swiftly protected the leaf from their grasping hands.
Then, as if scolding them, he added
“This is the mast. The final leaf that will guide our tribe.”
“Aah! Chief…!”
Foaming at the mouth, the tribespeople collapsed in agony.
Until now, I had been too focused on other matters to notice, but…
Now that I looked again, there was something peculiar about the druids in this village.
Most notably
Shiver, shiver, shiver.
Their hands and legs trembled violently.
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
And they were anxiously biting their nails nonstop.
And that…
‘No matter how I look at it, that’s withdrawal symptoms…?’
Druids lurking around the chieftain like hyenas.
“Shoo! Shoo!”
After firmly driving them away, the chieftain finally revealed the identity of the leaf.
“This is a World Tree leaf, processed with druidic techniques. Just chewing on it is enough to purify most external contaminants. I even gave one to Obstin before sending him to meet you.”
“Ah…”
The poison gas that had seemed like an insurmountable obstacle.
Ironically, the solution had been with me all along.
More precisely, inside my subspace.
Meanwhile…
The druid who had guided me, Obstin, was also going through a tough time.
Dududududu!
Druids were charging at full speed through the village.
Every single one of them was chasing after Obstin.
Their eyes were bloodshot red as they shouted at him.
“Spit it out already, you bastard?!”
“Is your mouth the only mouth that matters?! Huh?!”
Munch, munch.
Obstin kept chewing on the World Tree leaf while making a desperate run for it.
He leaped over village sculptures like they were vaulting horses.
Their obsession and desperation for the World Tree were palpable.
Watching this pitiful sight, the chieftain sighed and continued.
“The World Tree is essential to us druids. But when we fell into this Earth dimension, we became separated from it. That means we have no proper way to counteract the poison gas.”
The World Tree leaf.
It could solve all these problems, yet they no longer had access to the World Tree.
When I asked if the World Tree was really that useful, the chieftain nodded enthusiastically.
“Of course! We dry it and eat it, mix it in dishes… We grind it into powder and burn it as incense… We even float a leaf in our baths…”
An endless list.
To them, the World Tree was like kimchi or soybean paste, an absolute staple.
One with a considerable amount of addiction, too.
“Oh dear, I see… So, you’ve run out of it, huh? That’s really heartbreaking…”
I couldn’t help but deeply empathize with their pain.
As I nodded along with sympathy, the chieftain gave me a strange look and asked
“……But why are you smiling?”
“Oh, it’s nothing… just…”
I trailed off with a smirk.
“……The World Tree is quite the top-tier product, isn’t it?”
****
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