Chapter 89: Dead Tree Revives in Spring 08

“Buzz—”

The sound of the helicopter's propellers spinning echoed in the silent mountains. Inside the small cabin, everyone was silent.

The Mafia employee operating the helicopter pursed his lips tightly and dared not breathe, for fear of making any unnecessary noise and angering Ryunosuke Akutagawa, who was known for being "strict" and "inhumane" behind him.

But Akutagawa Ryunosuke had no time to care about his feelings.

On the surface, he was resting his eyes, but in fact, he was observing Nashida's situation.

After entering the helicopter, the girl first observed curiously for a while, and then quietly leaned against the side near the door, looking at the lush forest in the distance.

She seemed to be thinking, and her fingers stroked the flowers on Lanzaka's head again and again. Lanzaka leaned tightly in Nashida's arms, and his small black eyes looked at Akutagawa Ryunosuke across from him warily - unfortunately, because Lanaro's appearance was too "fairy-tale", it looked like it was deliberately being cute.

Ryunosuke Akutagawa: "..."

...Okay, it's pretty cute... Wait, what is he thinking?!

Akutagawa Ryunosuke frowned and continued to carry out Mori Ogai's special order - before leaving the Port Mafia, Mori Ogai had a private conversation with him.

"Akutagawa-kun, pay attention to Nasita."

"Yes, Chief. I will keep an eye on her health at all times."

"Well, that's certainly worth noting, but I'm talking about something more important."

"What do you mean?"

"all."

Everything. In other words, everything Narcida said and did, every detail of this mission needed to be taken into account.

Why? What on earth is there about her that is worthy of the leader's attention?

At this time, even though Mori Ogai did not reveal too much to him, Akutagawa Ryunosuke also noticed that Nashida was unusual.

Is she so weak because she has the support of an unusual force behind her, or does she know a secret that no one knows about...

"Bang!"

"Who?!" Akutagawa Ryunosuke turned his head suddenly.

Enemy attack?!

"It hurts," Nashida rubbed her head, looked at the alert Akutagawa Ryunosuke with doubt, and said hesitantly, "Did I scare you?"

"……no."

"That's good, you can sleep a little longer."

"No."

There was no enemy attack, it was just that Narcida's head accidentally hit the cabin door.

Akutagawa Ryunosuke released his supernatural power and thought that he was worrying too much.

Such a fragile glass doll would be unable to protect itself unless it possessed divine power.

The helicopter continued to fly deep into the mountains.

Ten minutes later, Nashida suddenly said, "Akutagawa-kun, did you see that? There is something wrong there."

Ryunosuke Akutagawa: "What?"

Narcida pointed somewhere.

The lush trees clustered together to form a deep green lake. Akutagawa Ryunosuke looked at it for a long time and felt that his eyes were much more comfortable.

After all, green protects the eyes.

"Alas." Nashida let out a very light sigh, like a teacher who is disappointed with her child.

Akutagawa Ryunosuke frowned, as if he was not going to admit defeat: "It's too far now. When you get closer, I will definitely be able to see the problem."

Narcida smiled and nodded.

The Mafia subordinates flew along. A few hundred meters, a few dozen meters... until the helicopter was suspended directly above. Akutagawa Ryunosuke leaned on the door frame and watched for ten minutes, but he couldn't see what was wrong with the forest.

Nashida couldn't help but chuckle.

"Click." The door frame made a sound as if it could not bear the weight.

Akutagawa Ryunosuke had a dark face, and Nashida quickly stopped laughing and said soothingly, "Okay, don't be angry, I'm not making fun of you."

"I'm not angry. And don't talk to me in that childish tone."

"Yeah, I know."

Akutagawa Ryunosuke crushed the door panel under his hands with an expressionless face.

Narcida: "Lansaka, help me."

Lanzaka flew into the forest and brought back a pile of dead branches and leaves.

Ryunosuke Akutagawa: "..."

He suspected Narcida was playing a trick on him.

"It's not the season for trees to wither, and," Narcida said, picking up a dead leaf in one hand and a green leaf in the other, "these two leaves are from the same tree, even the same branch, and they are only ten centimeters apart. This is unusual."

Akutagawa Ryunosuke frowned: "So what?"

He understood what Nashida meant. An unknown force was affecting the forest, causing the branches and leaves to wither. But if that was all, it would not pose any threat to him at all.

"This tree was only slightly affected, and its vitality has been drained away like water. The place we are going to is a hundred times more dangerous than here. Therefore, we must fight quickly and decisively."

"Where are we going?" Akutagawa Ryunosuke couldn't help but ask.

"Dead zone."

*

Entering the dead zone is like entering another world.

The sky was dim, as if covered by yellow sand, and there was not a single bit of green on the ground. Anyone who came to see it would say with certainty that this was an irredeemable place of death.

The Dead Zone, as its name suggests, is filled with the stench of death.

"Akutagawa-kun, stay with me and don't get separated." Nashida reminded.

Akutagawa Ryunosuke nodded, but unfortunately, they eventually got separated.

It wasn't that he was careless, but the moment they stepped into this dead forest, it seemed to come alive again and gain its own consciousness.

Unknowingly, the mist and branches led them to two different paths.

"rustle--"

Akutagawa Ryunosuke suddenly stopped, and [Rashomon] was about to be triggered. He said coldly: "Who? Get out!"

Just as he finished speaking, a creature half a man's height suddenly broke through the dead wood and rushed forward!

Akutagawa Ryunosuke raised his hand to block, and after relieving the impact, he immediately jumped back, and only then could he see the attacker's appearance clearly.

A green mushroom with legs and a tail???

Akutagawa Ryunosuke began to reflect on whether he had been overworked during this period and had hallucinations.

Before he could finish reflecting, five or six more floating mushrooms appeared along with the long-legged mushroom and attacked him together.

[Rashomon] quickly dispersed the attacks from all directions and prepared to counterattack, but this group of mushrooms were so light and nimble that they dodged it one after another.

Akutagawa Ryunosuke growled "Rashomon", and just as the hem of his clothes became sharp and hard, a fishy and sweet taste gushed out of his throat. He covered his lips and coughed violently.

Damn... there's something wrong with the air here...

Sporadic black spots appeared in front of his eyes, and the long-legged mushroom took this opportunity to slam him into a nearby puddle, splashing up a cloud of mud.

In a blink of an eye, several green grass cores floated on the water, surrounding Akutagawa Ryunosuke. He remained motionless, watching these sudden appearances with caution.

What is this? A seed?

He didn't dare to act rashly, and used his supernatural power to tentatively touch the grass seeds, but the seeds did not change.

After confirming that there was no danger, Akutagawa Ryunosuke ignored them and concentrated on dealing with the large group of mushroom monsters in front of him.

He raised his foot, exerted force with his right leg, and jumped up——

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

The grass seeds exploded one after another, and the green dust splashed was inhaled into the nasal cavity. Akutagawa Ryunosuke, who was already weak, fell into a coma after this series of combination techniques.

"Bang." He fell into the water.

The surrounding mushroom beasts looked at each other, and after making sure that their prey had lost the ability to resist, they slowly moved forward.

It was this relaxation that gave Nashida, who was in the center of the dead zone, time.

[Host, all nearby mushroom beasts have been destroyed. ]

Nashida nodded and stopped in front of a plant that emitted an unknown red light.

"Lansaka," she picked up the tired Lanaro, "I'm sorry to bother you."

Lanzaca shook the flower on her head and said, "No problem. I am happy to help the Grass King and save the forest."

"Well, Lanzaca is the best."

Fresh green light overflowed from Lansaka's fingertips, gradually enveloping the core emitting red light. The two completely opposite energies collided in the narrow space. In the end, Lannaro's power prevailed and swallowed up the dead zone.

A miracle happened.

With Nashida at the center, green grass sprouted from the soil, branches no longer became dry, green leaves stretched out their bodies, and the forest was reborn.

【Crossing the dead zone, the exorcism was successful. 】

[Congratulations to the host for preventing this disaster before the dead zone completely erupted. ]

Nashida breathed a sigh of relief, her brows relaxed, but her eyes were still solemn.

The unformed dead zones are so difficult to deal with. If other dead zones mature before being discovered, the consequences will be disastrous.

and……

"Lansaka, let's go find Akutagawa."

"Well... OK, Lord Little Grass King... I'm so sleepy, can Lansaka take a nap first?"

"Good night, hard-working child." Nashida kissed Lansaka.

Also, Lanzaca is visibly weakened.

However, there was no time to be sad, she needed to quickly confirm the safety of Akutagawa Ryunosuke.

System: [Detection and identification, success.]

Soon, Nashida found the gray-faced Akutagawa.

"Oh, what a wolf," Narcida shook her head. "When he wakes up, he will probably be sulking again."

She couldn't move an adult, so she treated his wounds first. Fortunately, his injuries were not serious, and after a simple treatment, Nashida heard a strange rustling sound.

Strange, is anyone there?

Nashida: [System, conduct detection and identification.]

【Detection and identification failed.】

[You were quick to notice something was wrong and stood up to check, but you tripped over a branch and hit your head against a rock, causing you to pass out.]

If doubts could be materialized, Nashida would definitely put a big question mark.

In her last glance before she fell into coma, she saw a familiar tall figure.

Is it Dazai? Why is he here? Did he follow the helicopter? But why is he carrying a sack?

A series of questions sank as consciousness disappeared.

"Wow, this is so lucky."

"I picked up two elves, and they want to go home with me~"

*

Yokohama, Armed Detective Agency.

Dazai Osamu jumped to the door lightly and pushed it open: "Everyone, I'm back - what? Why is Kunikida the only one left? What a bummer."

"Even if you deliberately lowered your voice and increased your speed, I still heard it," Kunikida Dopo pushed up his glasses, veins popping out on his forehead, "Dazai the bastard! Where have you been slacking off again!"

It was because Dazai Osamu suddenly quit his shift that others were forced to work overtime and leave the detective agency.

"I can't pretend I didn't see it this time. You guys must..."

"I'm not being lazy. I'm going to the forest to catch elves."

"Huh?" Kunikida Dopo was stunned for a moment, his eyes slowly shifted to the sack behind Dazai Osamu, "You went to the mountains to pick poisonous mushrooms again? It looks like you picked the real thing this time."

"I'm so sad that Kunikida-kun doesn't believe what I say," Dazai said sadly. "In that case, I'll have to let you see it with your own eyes."

Inside the sack, the silver-haired girl curled up into a small ball with her eyes closed, holding a strangely shaped doll in her arms.

"Isn't it amazing? Oh, actually I didn't expect things to go so smoothly. It's worth my careful planning." Dazai Osamu was quite proud.

Kunikida Dopo took out his cell phone.

Dazai Osamu: "Should we notify everyone to celebrate now? Okay, I want to eat crabs."

Kunikida Dopo yelled, "Go to jail! You child trafficker!"