Chapter 2555: Chapter 2555: The Shortcut

Emily and the others shook like leaves in a storm.

What the Sky Rending Rhinoceros was thinking? It could even swallow the flying ship in a single gulp. They were like ants that were floating on a leaf in a vast ocean. In the blink of an eye, they could all die.

Just as everyone else fell silent, at a loss for what to do, Zen suddenly spoke. “I'm going to talk to it.”

The Other Shore Realm warriors gaped in shock when they heard what Zen said. Emily's hands twitched as if she were going to shake him out of this decision.

“Zen, are you crazy?” she asked with disbelief in her voice. Her eyes were wide in fear like she was already seeing all the things that could go wrong.

“Zen...” Yan whispered, concern apparent in her voice.

“I have to do this. It's here for me,” Zen insisted before they could say anything more.

“For you? Why would it come for you?” Leopold frowned at Zen in doubt.

Not much was known about the Sky Rending Rhinoceros even in the Source World. How could it possibly have anything to do with Zen, a warrior from the divine land?

Zen didn't know how to explain to Leopold, so he chose to ignore him instead. He turned to Yan and gently patted her head in reassurance.

“Stay here. Believe me, everything will be fine,” he assured Yan. He nodded at everybody, then leaped lightly off the ship. His tiptoes made a quiet tapping sound on the side of the Trumpet Flying Ship, as he flew into the dark space.

By this time, Emily and the others didn't try to stop him anymore. They knew that it would be useless, especially when Zen looked so determined. Perhaps, he was really capable of talking to the beast.

At first glance, it looked like the Sky Rending Rhinoceros was extremely close to the Trumpet Flying Ship. That was because the Sky Rending Rhinoceros was gigantic, so it appeared like it was very close. Actually, there were at least three hundred miles between the beast and the Trumpet Flying Ship.

Even so, Zen needed only a few seconds to travel this distance. He quickly reduced the distance between them to merely hundreds of feet.

At such a close range, the pressure from the Sky Rending Rhinoceros disappeared.

Due to the beast's size, Zen couldn't see the entire body of the animal. He could only see the rhinoceros' two huge eyes, which hung over his head like two suns. Its wrinkled skin looked very rough and rugged, making the beast look like a mountain from where Zen was.

As soon as Zen stopped, the Sky Rending Rhinoceros opened its big mouth.

The mouth was so wide that Zen couldn't even see where it ended. It was like a black hole, an endless pit that he definitely didn't want to fall into. On both sides of its mouth were rows of thin thorns, and each of the thorns was about sixty thousand miles tall.

“Shhh...shhh...”

Once again, the Sky Rending Rhinoceros made strange noises. It sounded rhythmic and unique, almost as if it was singing. Zen figured that the beast was trying to communicate in its own special language.

As he inhaled, he also smelled a unique fragrance that seemed to be coming from the enormous mouth.

Usually, such a fierce and terrifying beast would be highly poisonous, and a disgusting smell would escape once they opened their mouths. The smell from this beast piqued Zen's curiosity. 𝙧ÄΝŐＢĘ𝙎

In the Trumpet Flying Ship, Emily, Leopold, and Yan watched the scene nervously.

None of them would be able to save Zen if the beast decided to eat him. With its size, it could even kill him accidentally. Just a little sneeze, or if it decided to close its mouth, it could easily crush him.

“Is it talking? How can I communicate with it?” Zen asked No. 9527.

No. 9527 pondered for a short while, then said, “It seems that I need to borrow your body. I'm too tiny.”

Strictly speaking, No. 9527 could not be counted as a part of Gerald's soul. Although its soul force came from Gerald, it was extremely weak. It would be difficult for it to communicate with the beast. And with such a gigantic creature, it would be like an ant that was trying to talk to an elephant.

As soon as it received Zen's consent, No. 9527 entered his mind.

Zen closed his eyes, and a green light flashed through when he opened them again. At the same time, he began to activate the internal momentum of the Spiritual Wind Godly Way within his inner world.

“Shhh...”

Amazingly, as Zen opened his mouth, the same sound that the Sky Rending Rhinoceros made came out of him!

With the help of the Spiritual Wind Godly Way, Zen's voice was amplified. It sounded a hundred times louder.

Although it was still too low compared with the sound made by the beast, it spread far away in the quiet darkness.

Leopold gaped when he heard the noise Zen made. To him, it sounded almost identical, as if he was hearing another beast. “Can that guy really communicate with the Sky Rending Rhinoceros, or is he just making ridiculous noises?”

Emily made a surprised noise as well. She stared at Zen's back, several hundred miles away, and replied, “I don't think so. Zen wouldn't joke with this, not when his life is also at risk. He knows the consequences if he makes the Sky Rending Rhinoceros angry.”

“But how could he possibly master the language of the ferocious beast?” Leopold wondered loudly. He pursed his lips and frowned, as he observed further what Zen was planning to do.

Every race in the chaos had their own language, and the most common one was the human language. Intelligent beasts had mastered it, but it was very difficult for humans to grasp the languages of other races. It was possible, but only after special training.

As far as Leopold and Emily knew, Zen had no special training that would enable him to talk to beasts. Thus, they were at their wits' end. They had no clue how Zen was capable of this feat.

“Shhh...” the Sky Rending Rhinoceros responded to Zen again.

Zen also let out another “shhh” sound. They spoke almost at the same time, but it didn't seem to affect their communication.

Zen quietly listened to the conversations between No. 9527 and the Sky Rending Rhinoceros. Although he didn't understand what they were talking about, he could understand some context clues. He noticed that the beast's language was very characteristic, the 'shhh' sound was made relative to its emotions. The stronger the emotions, the louder the 'shhh' sound.

No. 9527's responses were calm as if it was trying to explain something to the Sky Rending Rhinoceros. Meanwhile, the beast seemed to be getting more and more anxious; the rhythm of its voice was full of confusion and grievance.

The communication lasted for an hour.

Just as Zen's ears began to feel numb, the Sky Rending Rhinoceros suddenly let out a sharp roar. The beast wriggled its huge body gently like it was shaking off invisible dust, and it finally turned its huge head away.

In the dark space, the gigantic creature wriggled further away. It stopped a short distance away and looked back at Zen intensely before it eventually disappeared into the distance.

When they saw this, Emily, Leopold, and the other people finally breathed a sigh of relief. However, they still couldn't believe how Zen managed to talk to the beast.

“I can't believe Zen really persuaded the Sky Rending Rhinoceros to leave!” Leopold exclaimed with a grin.

Emily was silent beside him. Her lips were pressed together thoughtfully, as she thought how Zen could have possibly done that. Although she could feel that Zen was extraordinary since their first meeting, she hadn't expected him to be able to persuade the Sky Rending Rhinoceros to leave at their first encounter.

After all, in Emily's eyes, it was a disaster to encounter a ferocious beast like the Sky Rending Rhinoceros. If it were any other beast, she might have resisted, but she did not have the courage to resist the Sky Rending Rhinoceros.

Meanwhile, as No. 9527 returned to Zen's chest, Zen asked, “What did you say to him?”

“I asked him to go away and open a space cave for us that leads to the Source World,” No. 9527 said indifferently.

Zen was astounded.

Emily had spoken of the Sky Rending Rhinoceros' ability. The beast could connect any two places in the chaos. This skill was unparalleled and was the most powerful talent of the Sky Rending Rhinoceros.

He wondered how No. 9527 managed to make the beast obey it.

Originally, it would take several years for them to travel to the Source World by the Trumpet Flying Ship. If they were to cross the space cave, they would be able to reach the Source World much faster.

“You two talked for so long. You must have talked about something else,” Zen pried again.

No. 9527 just chuckled. It acted like an adult who was talking to a child, and it had no plans to tell Zen about the rest of the conversation.