Chapter 15: Foodie + Fool
At the summit of Kukulu Mountain, thick black smoke drifted out from the volcanic crater, with a strong smell of sulfur permeating the air.
Su Xiao and the others stood before the crater, which was about thirty meters in diameter. Inside, it was a murky gray-black, making it impossible to see the situation below. The drifting volcanic ash carried terrifyingly high temperatures.
"Go down from here?"
Su Xiao frowned deeply. If his guess was correct, there should be a large expanse of magma below. Even if there wasn't, the temperature of the volcanic ash was far too high, and this stuff could seep into everything.
"That's right, down from here. Don't be surprised by anything you see once you're down there. Kukulu Mountain... isn't even originally from this continent."
By now, Maha had changed into a gray robe and was carrying a huge backpack.
"It seems you have a good relationship with the V5 organization."
Su Xiao had learned from Maha an hour ago that one of the main reasons the Zoldyck family lived on Kukulu Mountain was to observe and guard this special volcano. This was an agreement Maha had reached with the V5 organization, which was why the Zoldyck family could so openly operate as an assassin family.
"Zeno, begin."
At Maha's signal, Zeno's Nen surged out. He crouched low, holding his hands as if gripping something at his waist.
"Dragon Head."
Golden Nen orbs appeared in Zeno's palms. Veins bulged on his forehead as he thrust his hands toward the sky.
"Ha!"
A golden dragon, entirely formed from Nen energy, shot into the sky. This dragon was at least a hundred meters long and four to five meters thick. Zeno used almost all of his Nen energy, striving to maximize the "Dragon Head."
The golden dragon circled once in the air before, under Zeno's control, diving straight into the volcanic crater.
Boom!
Volcanic ash splattered everywhere. A 50-point strength energy shield appeared in front of Su Xiao. Beside him, the clever Killua immediately stepped behind Su Xiao.
"Please, thank you."
A clever and polite little brat.
Su Xiao ignored Killua, his gaze fixed on the inside of the crater.
Bang!
The Nen energy dragon seemed to crash into some kind of liquid. The shockwave dispersed the volcanic ash inside the crater, revealing the situation within the mountain.
The interior of Kukulu Mountain was almost hollow, like a vertical shaft. The rock walls were black, showing signs of vitrification from years of high-temperature baking.
At the bottom of the mountain was a large magma lake. Dark red magma splashed high from the dragon's impact.
"The ash has scattered, now!"
Maha grabbed Alluka beside him and jumped directly into the crater.
Su Xiao dismissed the energy shield. Killua immediately raised his arm, very cooperative. Faced with this cooperation, Su Xiao directly grabbed Killua by the back of the neck. The little boy Killua's mouth twitched.
Whoosh~
Su Xiao jumped into the crater, followed closely by Bubu Wang and Amu. Bubu Wang had experienced many derivative worlds, so there was no need to worry. Amu was thick-skinned and tough; even if it fell into the magma, it wouldn't burn to death quickly. Besides, Amu wasn't stupid enough to jump into magma.
As soon as Su Xiao jumped into the crater, a wave of heat hit him. Directly below him was a magma lake three hundred meters in diameter. Around the edge of the magma lake was a half-meter-wide stone ledge.
The material of this stone ledge was honeycombed and very brittle, likely unable to bear much weight.
The Realm Severing Thread on Su Xiao's left hand shot out, its grappling hook embedding into the rock wall. He pulled on the thread, accelerating his descent.
Killua, held by the back of the neck, was a bit nervous. He could see how brittle the landing point was. At this moment, he really wanted to say: "How about letting me jump on my own? I'm very light."
The two descended rapidly. Just as they were about to reach the honeycombed stone ledge, the Slaughter Dagger appeared in Su Xiao's hand.
Clang.
The Slaughter Dagger stabbed into the rock wall, cutting through the stone while slowing Su Xiao's descent. He finally landed steadily on the half-meter-wide stone ledge. Three meters below was the large magma lake.
Crack.
Cracks appeared on the honeycombed stone ledge, threatening to break at any moment.
Screech, screech, screech~
Scratching sounds came from above. Su Xiao looked up and, seeing the scene, almost laughed out loud.
Bubu Wang was lying flat against the inner rock wall of the crater, its front claws extended and embedded into the rock. Amu was below Bubu Wang, holding onto its two hind legs. Due to Amu's weight, Bubu Wang had scratched eight claw marks into the rock wall, descending at a slow but steady pace.
That wasn't the funniest part. The funniest part was that Bubu Wang's pristine white chest and chin fur were now completely black with soot. This made Bubu Wang very unhappy, so it used its tail to slap Amu behind it repeatedly, giving him his favorite big mouthfuls.
With stone chips and black dust trailing behind them, Bubu Wang and Amu reached the stone ledge.
Given Amu's weight, it would definitely collapse the entire stone ledge. Bubu Wang noticed this and immediately controlled Amu.
The alchemical array in Amu's eyes flickered. Its bull head leaned back before it slammed into the rock wall, embedding both horns completely.
Bang!
Amu was pinned to the rock wall, and Bubu Wang landed right on the back of Amu's head.
Fools have more fun, and foodies plus fools have even more fun.
Everyone had safely entered the crater, but that didn't mean they were safe now.
Crack, crack, crack...
Cracks gradually appeared on the honeycombed stone ledge. Even if Su Xiao or Maha fell into the magma lake, they would be severely injured, and a moment of carelessness could mean being burned to death.
"The ash is about to rise."
A dozen meters away, Maha, also standing on the stone ledge, shouted, his gaze fixed on the magma lake below.
"Keep jumping?"
Su Xiao looked at Maha, then at the magma lake below.
"That's right, keep jumping."
"..."
Su Xiao's gaze shifted to Killua. Throwing this little brat down to "test the waters" was a tempting idea.
"Heh, heh, heh..."
Cold sweat dripped from Killua's temples. He seemed to have guessed Su Xiao's thoughts.
Gurgle, gurgle...
Large bubbles appeared in the magma lake. Soon, a gray-black "volcanic ash" emerged from the magma. This wasn't volcanic ash at all.
"When the ash gathers to a certain extent, it will absorb the heat from the surface of the magma lake. Before the ash completely fills this place, we jump into the magma lake. By then, the surface temperature will only be around 200 degrees."
Maha took a metal rod from the large backpack behind him and tossed it into the magma lake. The rod quickly turned red-hot and gradually sank into the magma. Maha was testing the temperature.
"Don't go deeper than ten meters into the magma lake. The temperature there is beyond what you or I can withstand. Once inside the magma lake, there's a passage on the left rock wall. Break through the crystal layer in front of the passage, and then the mission is to run. Once the crystal layer is broken, the high-temperature ash there will become very unstable."
Maha had tried to delve deep into Kukulu Mountain many times, but had failed every time.
The gray-black ash gradually spread. Maha was right; this ash did absorb the heat from the magma. If trapped inside this ash, the consequences would definitely be worse than being submerged in magma.