[156] Hell Hole of a Maze

Chapter 156: Hell Hole of a Maze

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"This is so boring and endless," Mikita let out a growl as she munched on an apple. 

"Real," I yawned back.

It's been a few days since we've entered the Emerald City. Well, not exactly the real thing. As it happens, we have to get past this hallway-turned-maze to really get inside.

Spiraling walls rose to the ceiling to block us from flying up and finding a way out, forcing us to walk on our feet and navigate through the multiple paths we found ahead of us.

Everyone was eating apples, I grew them on my palms and tossed them at the girls. I am our only food source since we couldn't bring any rations inside.

Things would have been seriously bad if I wasn't who I am. Still, I hope we'll find the exit soon; I wasn't self-sustainable for that long without the sun.

"Would you make me a bowl of ramen?" Vivi slipped beside and asked with a cute flutter of her eyelids.

"Buddy I am not a restaurant," I said even as I created a wooden bowl out of my palm and poured Ramen into it. I handed it over to her and she accepted with a happy grin.

The journey to the Boin Archipelago was a real lifesaver. The amount of food I could make from the DNA of the trees I've copied from there is insane.

"Shira," Tsunade approached my side and ruffled my head. "It's alright to do it in moderation. It'll be bad if your chakra runs out. How much do you have left?"

"About 54%," I told her. "It's a lot. don't worry, we'll surely find the exit before it reaches 50."

My chakra was running really low after I regenerated my hands, and I had only a few days to regenerate my reserves with the help of the sun. That's why from the time we were in here, my reserves were already running low. 

"Hopefully," our Navigator, Nami, sounded less than enthusiastic. The others looked at her with slight worry, and amongst them, Robin looked the most worried. Perhaps she had an ominous feeling about this, as someone who was well-versed in this field of exploration of historical places.

"Haah," Tsunade sighed, looking at the walls around us. "At this point, can't I just try breaking them?"

"It's not a good idea. What if we shake its foundation and it crashes down on us?" said Marianne, trying to stop my impulsive sister.

"Plus, I doubt you can," I mocked her with a shrug. "You couldn't even break the glass dome of this place, how can you break solid stone walls? They look tough."

She gave me a deep, pissed frown but didn't say anything. She turned around and walked ahead of us, while I choked on air with a laugh. We continued wandering.

Later, as much as I'd have loved to say all the worries were for naught and we found the exit in no time, that wasn't the case.

…We didn't find any exit whatsoever for two months straight.

* * *

"H-hold on, this much is enough," Robin insisted, her voice laced with concern as I handed her an avocado and banana. I gave her a look, how can that be enough? But she didn't allow me to argue. The weight of her gaze told me it wasn't just about the food. She, like the others, was worried about the constant drain on my chakra. 

My reserves were vast, but even the mightiest river could run dry. Especially when I had to make tasty, sustainable food for a crew of seven people and one duck, all of whose meal quota is many times that of an average person.

Naturally, my chakra was decreasing slowly, and I was in no position to recover any of it. The best way to regenerate chakra for others is to eat good food, and while the same applies to me as well, I couldn't eat the things I created myself and gain any additional chakra. I'll only regain the amount I've used to create the food. 

Although it might sound weird, the best way for me to recharge chakra was a natural photosynthesis-like passive power that works under both the sun and the moon.

But within this dark maze, neither was present. Slowly, my chakra was running out.

"About 23% is remaining," I murmured to myself after a quick internal check. The stark reality of our situation was slowly sinking in for me. 

Still, some might wonder, a 31% drop in chakra just because of two month's food? That didn't exactly add up. Well, that is because it's a lot of food, filled with a lot of nutrition, but more importantly, food's not the only place where I used my chakra.

So where else did I use it?

"Careful, it's another Robot!" As if fate wanted to reply in my stead, Tsunade let out a cry. 

From the turn of the path ahead of us, a wolf made out of steel leaped out. It wasn't alone, there were two more beside it. Because, of course, ancient, mysterious cities need robotic guard dogs.

The three robotic monsters leaped at us, and I tried to step in out of instinct, but Tsunade pulled me by my shoulders and stepped ahead herself. Her fist sparkled with false black lightning and she punched the air, sending a force ahead that flattened the enemies against the wall.

Having easily defeated the enemies, she now turned to me with a sharp frown, "I told you multiple times to let us handle it, why were you trying to step in?! You spent so much of your chakra fighting those big monsters, do not waste any further!"

"Alright, alright, geez…" I raised my hands at her and said. She huffed in anger for a minute before scoffing and walking away. She truly was angry at me.

Well, I did look a lot paler than normal, as if a patch of grass that hasn't seen the sunlight for too long. So she couldn't help but be worried. Even if I felt healthy due to still having a lot of chakra, I didn't look the part. 

But she should understand my point too. How could I stay on the sidelines when my crew is being attacked by stupid dungeon monsters?

That's right, Dungeon Monsters. This was not a normal maze, it was like a dungeon from the novels and mangas I used to read. Although not filled with out-of-place monsters like goblins and orcs since this was still the One Piece world, it ran on mechanical monsters. Robots.

When it said King's Trial, it really meant a process through which it'd test all of their strength and other properties.

This was a fucking Dungeon, with literal Boss Monsters running around. We've come across three such monsters in the last two months; those things were far from weak. Tsunade alone couldn't win against them, Hashirama had to step in.

I didn't even have my Seal of Hundred, since I released all of it in a stubborn show in the fight against Tsunade. I did get all of it back from absorbing the forest, but since I had to remake the forest before leaving, all of it was spent once again.

"...Yes, just stay on the sidelines. We can take care of it. You should just… focus on feeding us. That's the most important job, anyway." It wasn't Tsunade who said that, no, we both turned to the side to find Marianne. 

When did this girl walk up to us? And what's with that shy-ass tone? It was more shy than anything I've heard from her.

"I guess," I sighed. "Since there are monsters and traps in this place, fighters like you should be ready and filled with energy to keep the crew safe. I'll focus on the food issue since I'm the only one who can anyway."

Whatever. This isn't that bad, anyway. 

We'll be fine.

* * *

A couple weeks later through the endless twists and turns of the maze, our journey felt less like an epic quest and more like wandering through a particularly sadistic theme park designed by someone with a very odd sense of humor. 

"Aaaa~ I didn't sign up for this kind of boring adventure. All the monotony, none of the thrill," Mikita complained, her voice echoing down the stone corridors as she flung the core of an apple into the abyss of the missing floor behind us. It disappeared with a dismal splash, the maze swallowing it without a trace as if to mock our dwindling supplies.

We stared at the hole in the floor where green tiles used to be just a moment ago, before walking away.

"Fuck, why can't I just skip this scene?" I retorted, barely stifling another yawn. 

Our movements through the maze had become so mechanical, a practiced routine to sidestep the endless of traps that seemed to have been placed with no other purpose than to annoy us. Either the floor would sink behind us or arrows would shoot from the side. It's so annoying, and deadly too. Dust-coated pressure plates and swinging blades that moved with unnecessary zeal, and surprise pits that appeared underfoot with irritating regularity—each were death traps made by some crazy architect.

And then, obviously, there were the wolf robots.

"Seriously, who's the brainchild behind these tin cans?" I mused aloud as another metallic creature lunged at us from the shadows, only to be promptly dispatched by Vivi's thunderous nunchucks. The clash of metal and magic echoed eerily in the dimly lit corridor. "...What are we dealing with here? Is it really just lost technology, or has the city's security defense system gone haywire?"

"Fuck this place. Shithole." Mikita cursed and Nami shook her head.

We laughed at her complaints, feeling a little light-hearted as we continued the walk. As we turned the corner, the sight before us was so startling it brought our weary procession to an abrupt halt. 

"Ah…"

"No way."

There, towering in the distance, stood a grand white gate, bathed in a display of light that fell from above. The massive white gate's majestic presence in the midst of the relentless monotony of the dark green maze infused us with a sudden rush of adrenaline. 

"Quak! Karoo!" Our duck, Karoo, made duck sounds in excitement.

"Look! Could this be it?" Mikita shouted too, her usual sarcasm replaced by a spark of optimism. 

Our collective fatigue was momentarily forgotten as we raced towards the gate, buoyed by the possibility of escape.

Reaching close, we realized it truly was not a mirage. This was really a gate.

Our little archaeologists began examining the gate's intricate design. Her thin fingers tracing the symbols etched into its surface, searching for a clue, a mechanism to open it. "Give me a bit, guys," she said. 

The rest of us hovered close, anticipating her answer any second now.

Meanwhile, Tsunade's patience wore thin. "Enough waiting around," she declared, her voice echoing off the stone walls. "Back off, I'm breaking the door."

Without warning, she launched a barrage of attacks against the unyielding gate. 

Her fists, enveloped in a crackling aura of dark red lightning, collided with the door, sending impacts resounding through the corridor like thunder. At first, the gate stood as immovable as the walls of the maze itself, steadfast in its silence.

"It won't work, Sis. You are too-"

But then, to our astonishment, mostly mine, a faint red shudder ran through the structure. 

[Will of a Supreme King Detected]

"Ah." 

The gate began to open on its own, but my sister was too angry to care. With a final, determined strike from Tsunade, the gate groaned, the sound of grinding stone filling the air as it gave way to her assault.

– Crea….kkkchh~!

Inch by inch, it fell forward, crashing to the ground with a resounding thud that echoed like a victory cry through the maze.

Our surprise didn't end there, however.

"No way."

"No fucking way."

The girls cursed, but I was more surprised than any of them. "Is that a…"

Beyond the now-toppled gate lay a room bathed in the soft glow. In the center of it laid a pulsing orb, its light casting long shadows that danced across the walls. Our initial euphoria at the gate's defeat quickly gave way to a cautious optimism. 

"Is that a fucking dungeon core or what?" I asked aloud, something that maybe I shouldn't have.

Since there was a core, there had to be a guardian guarding it. And indeed, our head turned to the side to see the core's guardian waking up with a loud, metallic groan.

[Image Here]

What in the sci-fi was that…?

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