This Heroine's Friend Has the Power of Botany

Chapter 42

Hiding

Aman glanced at Ellie’s face, which rested on his shoulder. He himself did not know where this girl would lead them all. Therefore, he chose to remain silent and just kept running.

Steven had no time to pay attention to these conversations. To save as many lives as possible in the family, this middle-aged man could only hold the rear and trust his son. When someone was injured, Steven would help carry them, ensuring that those who had a chance to survive did not die along the way. At the same time, he would intermittently send out his own magic powers to fend off the monster’s attacks, although they were not very effective, it was still the best action he could take.

"M-My lord, leave me here and flee," one of the family members said after seeing that the family head had to help him.

"Do not speak like that. As the Lord of the House, it is my duty to protect you all."

"No, it’s okay, my lord. In a situation like this, I don’t blame you. But we don’t know where Lord Aman is leading us. I don’t want everyone to die." Upon hearing this, Steven wanted to say that even if he led the way, he would be running aimlessly as well. Given the strength of the giant tortoise, escape seemed impossible!

Shouldn’t he then trust his son and the young woman beside him?

"Do you not trust Aman?" Steven asked this, causing the injured person to hesitate.

It’s not that he didn’t trust Aman. He knew how exceptional Lord Aman was. However...Lord Aman was much younger and not the actual family head yet, meaning if he had to choose whom to trust, he would trust the family head more.

"You don’t have to answer now. After this, you will find out for yourself whether you should trust him or not." Upon hearing what the family head said, the eyes of the injured flickered.

The family head now seemed different from the person he knew. The other was very decisive, always considering losses as normal. He himself had been a comrade in arms for many years. If anyone resembled Aman in ruthlessness, it had to be the family head in his younger days. Until his son Owen was seriously ill, everyone began to see the vulnerability in Steven’s eyes, even now...

Steven didn’t abandon anyone. Maybe he felt that as long as there was a hope of survival, that opportunity should not be missed. He had tried it before with his important son, and who would have thought miracles could really happen!

“Hoom!!” The giant tortoise roared again in anger. However, as it was about to unleash its power once more, Aman at the forefront shouted immediately,

“Over there! Lure it that way!” His happy tone surprised everyone before many in the Setter family also spotted something ahead.

“There?!”

“My God! God really is helping us!”

“Lure it there, to its real enemy!”

“Follow Lord Aman’s orders!” The enthusiastic voices of everyone astonished the man who thought he was meant to die. He looked at Steven’s smile, which seemed like he had anticipated this, with surprise.

Ahead of them was the silhouette of King Kong they had seen before. Even though it was now only a small King Kong remained, it was unmistakable!

Perhaps its mother had gone to find food or something, assuming that the great enemy had left. This complacency had made it leave its baby behind, which it had carried all along the way. Who would have known that they would stumble upon it while fleeing so desperately!

“My lord, will we...survive?”

“Let’s go,” Steven tightened his grip before carrying the injured ahead. The others seemed to grow wings on their backs; they were no longer afraid of the tortoise’s explosive dirt. Seeing what was ahead, they felt like they had seen a chance to survive.

The young giant ape looked at its invaders and growled. It stood up to its full height and thumped its chest to intimidate and ward off the smaller enemy. However, its sounds made the tortoise halt.

“Hoom...” It seemed deeply satisfied; the giant tortoise roared almost immediately upon spotting its target.

This unruly young ape dared enough to harm it. It saw this as an enemy that must be killed. Seeing the mother and child ape disappearing from sight had made it rampage, but after spotting its target again, it no longer paid attention to the foolish humans running around.

The young ape trembled, calling out for its mother. In the distance, the mother ape’s roar echoed as if to say, do not harm my child. But the tortoise cared little.

It paced around like a mad dog before encountering a steep path that was not far off, which the mother ape used to descend in search of food.

The giant tortoise wasn’t very slow, especially with the young ape wanting to run to its mother, so they ended up meeting right there.

The people of the Setter family moved quietly. They did not want to catch the eyes of the two ferocious monsters anymore, so everyone switched to hand signals for communication.

Steven decided to have them stay around this area for now. Regardless of which monster won or lost, they would no longer care about the people of the Setter family. They also found a cave on the cliff, which had been cleared of any hiding creatures by the giant tortoise’s earth magic. To treat the numerous injured, they needed to rest first.

Aman led Ellie and the others to a cave. This place seemed to have been inhabited by moles or some furry creatures, as there was still plenty of fur scattered around while the original inhabitants had fled, nearly a thousand members of the Setter family gradually organized the area and proceeded with inspections. Over 100 injured people needed to drink healing potions, and dozens were missing, or they could be presumed dead.

The calamity made everyone feel utterly hopeless. It seemed they were truly not ready for the 6th floor; perhaps they should have settled for the 5th floor, which was the highest they should have aimed to control. Everyone thought so, but no one said it out loud. Claiming the city on the 6th floor had cost many lives. Admitting it was a mistake would also dishonor those who had sacrificed themselves.

By this point, they had to maintain their hold on the 6th floor’s city...

"Rest here," Aman suggested. Ellie nodded. The young man went to discuss with his father the best ways to quickly treat the injured. Ellie saw that they used very expensive healing potions, but for these hunters of the Setter family, their lives were not maintained by trivial matters like measuring costs. They were a critical force that the Setter family needed to preserve.

The sounds of battle continued in the distance, and the trembling of the earth made everyone realize how terrifying it was.

Ellie closed one eye, using her spore ability to scan her surroundings to see how the battle was unfolding. What she saw was the image of the little ape being severely beaten. Even though it had powers similar to its mother, it was not strong enough to fight against the giant tortoise Fernandina.

The mother Quaternary Giant Ape, used its body, enhanced by magic power, to protect its child. However, its concern made the fight less effective. In fact, the giant ape should not have engaged the tortoise at all. It had initially fled from the larger adversary because it knew how formidable the centuries-old tortoise was.

While they were fighting fiercely, Ellie noticed some symbols set in the center. If she was not mistaken, they seemed to be symbols of city conquest. Normally, this place would have been inhabited by unintellectual creatures. They didn’t conquer the city but lived around it, thinking they would not be attacked because they were on a high cliff. If not for the two giants, who were like bosses of this floor, fighting each other like this, the peace would still be intact.

Ellie’s eyes sparkled. She felt this was too good an opportunity for the Setter family. Indeed! Ellie had no intention of conquering the city on the 6th floor herself. She had seen how cruel this world was. She did not have enough power to conquer a city, or even if she could, she wouldn’t have the strength to manage it.

Like the Sage Lucien had done, he eventually handed it over to the institution to manage, but Ellie was even less powerful than him. This meant she could not conquer under her own name and expect others to manage it for her.

Ellie pondered for a moment. She didn’t want to miss this excellent opportunity. The fierce battle had already cleared the area, meaning they wouldn’t need to expend manpower to conquer or find the resources to clean up the area and build a city. So, shouldn’t the person who directed them here receive some benefit?

"Lord of the Setter family," Ellie thought through her options for several times and finally decided not to let this benefit slip away. She approached Steven, not intending to conceal this matter.

"What do you want to say?" Steven immediately paid attention to Ellie. From beginning to end, if it weren’t for this young woman, they might have perished. This risk they took was indeed significant, and if a thousand Seter family elites had ended their lives here, it’s unthinkable how much the family would have suffered.

Additionally, Ellie had saved his son’s life. She was the Mage who could not be ignored. However, his expression of disinterest in other conversations the moment Ellie appeared surprised many in the Setter family. Branch leaders and other unit leaders all looked at the girl curiously. They really wanted to know if there was any secret between this young woman and the Setter family.

"I just wanted to ask what rights and benefits the person who pointed out the city-building site to the Setter family would receive." When hearing what Ellie asked, everyone else paused.

"Young lady, what do you mean by pointing out the city-building site?" One of the unit leaders asked.

"Are you saying you’ve found a city-controlling stone?"

"It’s not quite correct to ask that. Even if you did find a city-controlling stone and could pinpoint its location, we’d still have to see if we have enough strength to seize it. You might receive a few hundred coins as a token of appreciation, but ultimately the Setter family might not be able to do anything," others voiced their opinions eagerly.

Seeing a city-building site or a city-controlling stone wasn’t unusual, but actually conquering a city to claim it as one’s own was quite challenging. Perhaps the Setter family might indeed compensate with a small amount of money because they knew the location but didn’t have the capacity to take over the city. However, Steven had a different view.

He knew this young woman was very clever. She was the Mage capable of growing rare herbs and making them bloom, and she was the one who warned them about the impending danger and guided them to safety. Therefore, the city she mentioned must surely be one they could conquer, right?

"It depends on the city you can show us, but it also depends on the benefits we can derive from it. If we can conquer that city and it has abundant resources, then you will receive a good share," Steven said. Ellie didn’t say anything more.

She trusted the head of the Setter family. Besides, she didn’t really have many other options.

"If that’s the case, I trust you. After you conquer the city, I believe you will not cheat me of the information I have provided," Ellie smiled, though many hunters laughed mockingly. They didn’t understand Ellie’s capabilities like Steven did, so her statement seemed naive to them.

"In that case, I would like to hear your information."

"While Aman was leading us to escape, I accidentally saw the city-controlling stone, and it is not far from here."

"Hmm? If it’s around here, in the middle of the 6th floor, it’s unlikely we’d be able to fight and defeat the monster that originally own city."

"True, though having control of a city in the middle of the 6th floor would be interesting, it would require too much in resources to conquer."

"This is good information you’ve given us, young lady. This will be useful to us in the future, once we are certainly stronger."Many chose to mock, but many were thankful; at least this information could be beneficial in the future, just not now...not while they were still not strong enough.

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