"Ross, you need to see this" a few meters away from Michael, Marcella called out for Ross. Underneath her feet, there was a body of a blue-robed youngster. Marcella's face had an unusual frown. Ross causality walked towards Marcella while constantly staring at the surroundings for any surprise attack.
Michael closely stared at Ross's face for any expression. Just when he got close to Marcella, dark lines appeared on his forehead.
"It's Rowan" From the distance, Michael's lip read Ross. Soon, he saw the others walking towards Marcella and having the same disturbed looks on their faces as Ross.
"It must be his team then," said Logan, his eyes squinting at the broken ship parts floating on the river. One by one, the team members began to look gloomy.
"Even with the ship, reaching the center would be a pain. What're we gonna do now?" Brownie's voice already showed his reluctance to continue the mission.
"Then we go with the plan b, go through the forest" H immediately opened his mouth before anyone could ask Ross to back off from the mission. It seemed to Michael that H was more desperate to complete the mission than Ross himself.
"It's suicide" Ross however shook his head. They could reach the center through the forest far more quickly than traveling on the river but it was the powerful undead army living in the forest that made them go with the river.
"I agree with Ross. A single panther almost killed us and the deep forest will have hundreds of them"
Except for Jonah and H, everyone nodded their heads. Michael on the other hand, although he knew going into the forest might even threaten his life, he wasn't going to abandon the mission like the rest of them.
[The host should build a raft]
"Long time no hear, system" Despite him sitting in the middle of dead bodies, the system's voice put a smile on his face.
"I was already thinking that," he thought, looking at the wooden planks, bamboo trees in the forest as well as the ropes around the area. The team who killed Rowan's team was thorough. They not only killed them all but also destroyed the ship they built. Building a ship from scratch was far beyond what Michael could do at his current Inventor trait. Even if he had the required level, he needed a blacksmith to complete the ship.
Therefore, the best thing he could do was a raft, using the materials around him. While making a blueprint to build the raft in his mind, he controlled the drone to fly ahead, following the river.
"Shit" his mind played him the visuals being captured by the drone. The smile foxy smile from his face vanished instantly. It was replaced by a stern look. Crocodiles, undead, and alive crocodiles. He could count at least fifty full-grown crocodiles swarming the river ahead of them. What made him sweat a cold drop was some of the undead crocodiles were swimming against the river's current, in other words, they were comings towards them.
"Guys, we can build a raft" Michael almost shouted. He had no time to waste anymore. The other team hunting for the artifact was rushing enough and now he had to deal with these crocs. Using Arch energy to fight them might seem like a solution but he had a feeling the stronger foes are at the temple where the artifact is.
Besides, building two rafts would not take much time considering his Inventor skills.
All of their gazes instantly turned towards Michael. Of course, doubt and disbelief of what he just said were written all over their faces.
"We have all the necessary materials to build two of them. It won't be as comfy as a ship, but it will take us to the center. That of course, if you still want to get the job done"
"You think you can build them?" Jonah's voice contained a doubt yet also a glimmer of hope just like those brown eyes behind his glasses.
"If you guys quit skulking around and help me, I can get the rafts on the water in an hour" Yet again, Michael peeked at the corner of his mind to see the crocks.
"They're the deadliest predators in the world for a reason" Michael couldn't help praising the crocodiles after seeing their speed. The river's current was pretty strong yet they moved so fast and swiftly against the current.
"We're in too deep to back off Ross"
"I won't turn my back on Johnny"
H and Maria tried to convince Ross to move forward with the mission as Michael expected. If it wasn't for the fact that the flying time to the center is almost four hours, he might have shown his true face. To save the precious three hours of cultivation power, Michael decided to stick with them. The more people he surrounds himself with, the less chance he would end up undead chow.
"David, what do you need from us?"
After taking a few long moments, Ross finally asked Michael. Anyone with two eyes or one eye could tell how reluctant Ross is. No one knew what's at stake other than Ross himself. Getting the artifact was the only way to save Gisel kingdom's lead senator who's the one holding the kingdom together. If he died, the whole kingdom would be thrown into chaos, the enemy kingdoms would wage war to take a piece of Gisel, thousands of people would die while many would become slaves.
The desperation to save his motherland forced Ross to go with this suicide plan.
"Maria, plea-"
"Not gonna happen father!"
Yet again Maria stomped the ground, refusing to listen to Ross.
"she's stupid and stubborn as fuck" Her stubbornness truly surprised Michael. He had never seen such a stubborn and stupid girl before in his two lives. After looking at the number of crocodiles rushing towards them, it wouldn't surprise Michael if half the team lost their lives. Since Logan could prove to be a good subordinate, he might save him if the push comes to shove.
"The rafts won't protect us as a ship would. This is a suicide plan, we should go back" Marcella sounded extremely serious. Michael clenched his jaws as black lines appeared on his forehead.
"Go back and get nothing or follow me and get thrice the payment you've agreed"
The moment H uttered these words, many in the team let out a surprising burst of chuckle. Their frowny faces showed a slight smile, a greedy smile except for Marcella. Even Marcella rubbed her chin, thinking about the coins.
Logan's reaction was obvious as his eyes sparkled. Although Michael smiled to pretend like he was intrigued by H's offer, somewhat he couldn't completely believe H's words.
"You sly fox, you don't believe everyone will survive" Michael snickered inside. He didn't loathe or get mad at H though. It was a logical move considering the risk of moving forward. If most of them died, H wouldn't have to pay them.
What made Michael wonder was whether H would double-cross the survivors or not.
"I don't know about you guys but the payday is worth the risk. I'm following H ' Logan was the first to step towards Michael to help. While Ross was trying to convince Maria to back off, the others agreed with H one by one.
"Whatcha need me to do?" Logan asked,
"Get me as many bamboos as you can"
Logan picked up a scimitar from one of the dead bodies before going into the forest.
"What about us?" Brownie asked while Marcella and Jonah stood behind him. H was discussing something with Ross. Maria surprised Michael by digging graves for the dead bodies.
"Get the wooden planks floating on the river. Do it fast, who knows what lingers around this forest?" Michael started to collect things such as ropes to start building the rafts.
****************************
After almost fifty minutes of hard work, Michael finally finished building the two rafts.
"It's not a ship but they will get the job done"
The two bamboo rafts didn't exactly look like a typical raft. Each raft contained three layers of green bamboo. Michael also tied wooden barrels with the raft to make them float better. Since he knew about the upcoming threat, he used the wooden planks as the walls to somewhat provide protection against the crocks. In simple words, each one was a raft with three walls.
He knew the walls would be destroyed by the crocks in a few moments after meeting them but those few moments could save a life. He knew that the more people he had to fight the undead, the better his chance to obtain the artifact.
"H, Logan, Jonah, Marcella on one raft. The rest of us will get on the other one"
This meant Michael, Ross, Maria, and Brownie would be on the same raft. He kinda wished Logan to be on the same raft as he is but he doubted the raft could take the big guy and his sledgehammer along with him and the Doombringer.
"I'll go first" Michael walked towards the raft floating behind H's raft.
"Whoo," When he jumped on the raft, it wobbled for a moment until he balanced himself.
"They're close" When he peeked at the visuals being captured by the drone, he noticed the crocks getting closer and closer. Although he still looked calm, he was pretty serious about the upcoming battle.
Soon, one by one, the team jumped onto the raft.
"Sigh" only after he saw everyone standing on the rafts without drowning in the river, he breathed a sigh of relief.