It was pitch-black inside the crevice. Within the water shield bubble, the two could only rely on the faint shimr of the ocean to occasionally make out their surroundings.
Shallow seawater is usually sky-blue, and it gets darker the deeper you go. But now, the water in the crevice was not only getting hotter, its color was also deepening.
They had swum less than five hundred ters in when the seawater had turned a blue similar to the color of Flora Bloom’s superpower. The deeper they went, besides the rising temperature, the two also keenly sensed an increasingly potent Fire Elent Energy.
Flora Bloom’s expression grew more and more solemn. But Lex Cross, contrary to his usual deanor, had a slight smile playing on his lips.
Seeing him smile, Flora Bloom was left speechless for a mont. "Hey, what’s so funny?" she said. "It’s too dark to see a thing down here, and the ocean is full of monsters. Who knows if so powerful creature will suddenly lunge at us? We have no idea where that octopus is even taking us. How can you possibly be smiling?"
"I’m smiling because your luck is really good."
Lex Cross’s words left Flora Bloom even more bewildered. ’My luck is good? If my luck were any good, would I have been the one dragged into the sea by that octopus monster? There were six people on the boat, and it didn’t snag a single one of them. It just dragged down, and you have the nerve to say my luck is good?’
Seeing her fuming beside him, the heaviness that had been weighing on his heart lifted slightly. "You must have fused with a Crystal Stone at so point. That’s how you unlocked your space, isn’t it?"
Flora Bloom’s eyes widened as she looked at Lex Cross. "A Crystal Stone? How do you know that?"
’Even though she would have had an independent space without that deep-blue Crystal Stone, the one she had now was definitely from it.’
Lex Cross gazed at Flora Bloom’s face—a captivating mix of pure beauty and alluring charm—and spoke earnestly. "You just need to know that your Crystal Stone is only one part of the space inside you. To make it whole, you have to find the other seven Crystal Stones and fuse all eight Crystal Cores. Only then will your internal space beco a truly complete and independent microcosm."
Lex Cross said it so casually, but his words struck Flora Bloom like a clap of thunder.
"You seem to know a lot about my space."
Lex Cross didn’t deny it. "More than you can imagine. But all you need to know is that I would never harm you."
Holding Flora Bloom’s hand, Lex Cross explained as they moved forward. "Your internal space was originally a nearly independent microcosm, ford from the seven fundantal world elents: tal, wood, water, fire, earth, wind, and lightning. Perhaps when it entered this world—Earth—it shattered into separate Crystal Stones due to a conflict of energies. This caused the seven world elents to be hidden within individual Crystal Stones. Your luck is very good; you must have obtained one of them."
"If I’m not mistaken, it was the Water Elent one, right?"
Flora Bloom gave a noncommittal nod.
"But didn’t you say there were eight Crystal Stones in total? Why are there only seven elents? What about the last Crystal Stone?"
"The last Crystal Stone is called the Life Crystal Stone." At this, Lex Cross’s expression suddenly turned exceptionally grave as he looked at Flora Bloom. "The Life Crystal Stone is very special. You’ll understand when you get the chance to find it one day."
Flora Bloom was very dissatisfied with Lex Cross’s mysterious, half-told story, but seeing that he had clamd up and wouldn’t say another word about the Life Crystal Stone, she didn’t press him further.
"So you’re saying one of the other six elental Crystal Stones might be here?"
"Not ’might be.’ It’s certain. And it’s the Fire Elent Crystal Stone, which has extrely brutal offensive power. It seems the movent of the underwater volcano here wasn’t a coincidence. It must be an anomaly caused by the mutual attraction between the Crystal Stones now that you’re close."
"So you an this Fire Elent Crystal Stone is inside the underwater volcano?"
"That should be correct."
’If what Lex Cross said was true, then her luck really was good. It was the perfect solution when she needed it most. Although her space wasn’t small, every evolved creature she took in was enormous, which was why she hadn’t been able to take in Boss Marshall and all his lackeys back in Janton.’
"Let’s go, we have to keep up!"
Flora Bloom sped up, urging the bubble ford by her water shield to keep up with the octopus monster. But the monster was simply too fast; every ti it shot forward, it would open up a huge gap between them.
"This giant octopus is just too fast! We can’t keep up!"
Just as Flora Bloom said this, a thick tentacle suddenly reached over from ahead. It carefully tapped their bubble a few tis before wrapping around it.
An excited expression spread across Flora Bloom’s face as she looked at Lex Cross. "Hold on tight."
She wrapped her arms around Lex Cross’s waist, and in the next second, the two of them were being pulled forward at high speed inside the bubble, gripped by the octopus monster’s tentacle.
The darkness around them gradually faded as they sped forward, and slowly, a scene resembling a terrestrial landscape began to appear.
First, swaying aquatic plants appeared on both sides, with the occasional purple-black flower, its center as large as a human face.
Gradually, trees that looked like they belonged on land unexpectedly appeared.
Flora Bloom was so engrossed in the passing scenery that she failed to notice the massive cave entrance appearing right before them. The entrance was peculiar; it seed to be enveloped by a mirror-like surface of water, making it look like a solid wall of mirrors at first glance.
By the ti Flora Bloom realized what was happening, they were just about to slam into the mirrored wall. She crashed into Lex Cross’s firm chest, his strong, powerful heartbeat thudding in her ear.
What was even more baffling was that although it looked like a solid wall, when they hit it, it was as if they’d crashed into a wall of water. After passing through it, they found that the inside of the cave was a completely different world from the outside.
Outside was seawater, but inside was dry land, without a single drop of water.
The octopus monster had already released its tentacle and vanished without a trace. As the two of them passed from the water into the open space, they couldn’t adapt in ti and ca crashing toward the ground together inside Flora Bloom’s water shield bubble.
With lightning-fast reflexes, Lex Cross wrapped an arm around Flora Bloom’s waist and pulled her into his embrace. His own back, cushioned only by the water shield, hit the scorching cave floor. The mont the shield touched the ground, the water on its surface evaporated with a loud SIZZLE.
Flora Bloom opened her eyes to see Lex Cross’s handso face and his faint smile. The lava cave was filled with a fiery glow that reflected on their faces, lending a hint of color to Lex Cross’s pale complexion.
"Get up?"
It was still that deep, magnetic voice. Flora Bloom felt a little embarrassed as she tried to stand up, but a pair of hands held her firmly in his arms, preventing her from moving.
"You? Weren’t you the one who told to get up? Let go already!" Flora Bloom shot him a glare. Though she ant it to be a look of exasperation, Lex Cross saw a trace of shyness in it.
"If only you were this well-behaved every ti I held you."
Flora Bloom braced her hands against Lex Cross’s chest. The firm, full, and springy sensation under her palms made her unable to resist poking it curiously with her index finger.
At this, a strange flush appeared on the pale face of Lex Cross, the man in question. The depths of his eyes swirled like a turbulent vortex. He seized Flora Bloom’s mischievous hand, then supported her waist with his other hand and sat up halfway.
"What are you doing?"
Only then did Flora Bloom snap out of it. She recalled the sensation from just now, then glanced down to compare it with her own chest, which was a little on the flat side.
’Beauty really is a curse!’
But when she tried to pull her hand back, she found her wrist was caught in Lex Cross’s palm, making her feel like she’d been caught red-handed.
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