That night, a vigorous campfire blazed by the rippling round lake, while in the center of the lake, a crescent moon shifted shape with the current.
The ox-horned insect Rick had found now slept like a small mountain beside the fire, its injuries treated. Lav had first cleaned the wounds with soapwort, whose antibacterial properties prevented infection, then used wisteria to stop the bleeding, and finally applied earth potatoes to bind the wounds for faster healing. Though her first time treating an adult insect, Lav's unique talent made the process look professional—though she seemed in a foul mood, applying so much force that even the huge insect rolled its eyes in pain.
The fire popped and crackled, sending sparks flying. On a wooden rack above, flatbreads toasted golden, releasing an enticing aroma. Only Lav and Rick sat by the fire, but Lav still seemed angry, pointedly ignoring him.
"Um... cough Want some water? Be careful not to choke." Rick observed Lav's expression, cautiously offering her a water skin.
"I can get water myself. Don't trouble yourself." Lav's tone dripped with sarcasm. Internally, she grumbled: Why should I care if they hug? Why am I even angry! So he saw me once— I saw him too. Right! We have no relationship. She tried to define their bond, but at the sight of Rick, images of him and Anna naked together kept flashing, fueling her irritation.
Across the fire, Rick noticed Lav's mood souring, hurriedly lowering his head to gnaw his flatbread, fearing her wrath.
"Want fish?" Anna emerged from the bushes in a bikini-like leather undergarment, holding two plump fish.
"You went fishing?" Rick noticed she was drenched.
"Yep. You said you wanted meat. The lake fish looked good, so I caught these to grill." Anna sat beside Rick, draping his jacket over her shoulders with a sweet smile.
"You sure care about him!～～" Lav's eyes practically shot fire at Anna.
"Good men are rare these days. I have to be nice to someone like Rick." Anna snuggled closer, making Lav grind her teeth. Unable to vent, Lav grabbed a stick and stabbed the fire, sending sparks everywhere.
"trying to start a fire? This is the only oasis around. Burn it down, and you'll be Tanzan Desert's sinner." Anna jabbed.
"You..." Lav choked, unwilling to lose to a country girl. She defiantly grabbed Rick's hand. "Come, accompany me to check on the ox-horned insect."
"Ox-horned insect?" Rick turned back blankly. "Isn't it sleeping soundly?"
"Are you going or not?" Lav planted her hands on her hips, thrusting out her small chest.
"Ah... well... I'll go with you..." Rick stole a glance at Anna, carefully stood up and accompanied Lav toward the ox-horned insect. Behind them, Anna, busy preparing the fish, merely smiled mischievously at their backs. "Rick... I won't let you get away."
After a night's rest by the lake, the trio replenished their water and energy, all looking refreshed. But when two beautiful women are in high spirits, the man between them might as well be in hell. Rick now felt exactly that—these two girls seemed possessed, bickering wildly and dragging him into the crossfire, leaving him torn.
Overnight, the battle for Rick's attention erupted fully. Initially constrained by noble decorum, Lav had held back, but after being enraged by Anna cuddling Rick's arm at midnight, she too threw caution to the wind. In short, it all boiled down to one word: rivalry.
Ordinarily, being fought over by beauties should flatter a man, but only by walking in Rick's shoes does one realize too much female attention isn't a blessing.
"Ugh... this is ridiculous..." Endless bickering left Rick's ears ringing. Seizing a chance, he fled the aggressive beauties for peace by the distant lakeside.
Reclining comfortably in a tree fork, a grass stem between his teeth, he lazily watched the rippling blue water. "I wonder how Moya and the others are... They should be okay. The kid's smart—Shust and Rant must be with him."
Rick frowned slightly. All along, he'd avoided thinking about them, fearing the truth of losing a friend. He kept busy to drown out the heartache, but now, the long-hidden worry surfaced, deepening the worried look on his face. "He'll be fine—his life's as tough as a cockroach." As he comforted himself, his grip on the branch tightened unconsciously. Crack. The branch snapped, nearly sending him plummeting. After swaying dangerously, he steadied himself, but from a certain angle, he thought he saw something strange beneath the water.
"Huh, was that a hallucination?" Rick rubbed his eyes, staring intently at the surface, but saw nothing. He tilted his body again...
After a dozen such attempts, when he tilted to the point of imbalance, his eyes finally caught what he'd glimpsed earlier.
A long, narrow black shadow, shaped somewhat like a serrated crescent moon.
"A crustal fissure? Is this where the groundwater incessantly emerges from?" Rick felt curious. He leaped down from the tree fork to the shallows and quickly shed his clothes.
In truth, Rick was incredibly bold and naturally drawn to adventure. Though he longed for a stable, peaceful life, his innate curiosity kept him restless. Even though he knew it was likely just a crustal fissure, he couldn't resist diving in to explore.
With a fish-like leap, Rick plunged into the water. He was an excellent swimmer, and with the enhanced physique from his insect egg, he moved nimbly underwater. A few strokes carried him from the shallows to the depths of the lake's center.
Near the shore, the water was sky-blue, clear enough to see pebbles on the bottom. Swimming deeper, the color darkened. Before reaching the crescent-shaped fissure, the water turned deep blue, and the temperature grew bleak. This convinced Rick the fissure led to the earth's depths.
The lake bottom was over ten meters deep, where light dimmed, allowing only blurred visions. Holding his breath, Rick sank to the bottom, clinging to rocks as he inched toward where he remembered the fissure. Just as his breath ran out, he found the deeply hidden fissure. A large, flake-like rock protruded above it, blocking the view from above—only at a certain angle could one see the gaping maw of the fissure.
Confirming the fissure's location, Rick surfaced for air, then dove again, clambering onto the tilted stone slab. The fissure's current was chaotic, both surging out and sucking in.
"Should I go down?" A flicker of hesitation crossed Rick's mind. Adventure carried risks—what if he encountered danger underwater? What would happen to Lav and Anna?
"I'll just take a look. It should be fine." His curiosity soon overcame hesitation. He kicked off, throwing himself into the turbulent current. After violent swaying, he caught a suction current and followed it deep into the fissure.
This experience resembled entering the Infernal Corridor when he first met Moya, though the current here was less fierce, lacking the bizarre hot-cold shifts. Within two or three minutes, Rick found two exits in the narrowing fissure: one drew water inward, the other expelled it outward. He didn't hesitate to enter the inward-flowing one.