The landing spot chosen in the crater was a rocky highland, an open area of nearly a hundred meters. Apart from a few crooked trees growing out of rock crevices, there were no other species.
Lucas looked up at the hot air balloon floating in the sky and shouted, "Throw down the ropes!"
Swish!
A rope was thrown down by Amelia and was caught by Chris and the others. They then pulled on it with all their might. Mina also stopped pumping the bellows, and the hot air balloon slowly descended.
A few minutes later, the hot air balloon landed. Mina, Amelia, and Elisa stepped out of the basket and came to Lucas's side.
"Master," Mina said, visibly relieved to see Lucas.
"How much fuel is left in the hot air balloon?" Lucas asked. Fuel was a critical issue.
"There's enough for the return trip," Mina replied immediately. She had calculated it. Plus, the current fuel was specially made and burned relatively slowly, though its production cost was also very high, at a cost of three hundred copper coins per kilogram.
"That's good," Lucas sighed in relief and turned to Tony to ask, "What's the situation around here?"
"Master, we've found a path leading down," Tony quickly replied. They were currently on the edge of the crater's mountain wall.
"Then lead the way. Let's go down and have a look," Lucas nodded and ordered, "Leave some men here to guard the hot air balloon. This place should be able to serve as a future landing point and takeoff platform."
"Yes," Tony immediately went to arrange the men.
"Chris, give me a sword," Lucas called out to Chris, who was standing guard nearby.
"Yes," Chris immediately unfastened the sword from his body and respectfully handed it to the Lord with both hands. He always carried swords, two long and one short.
"Let's go," Lucas took the sword. Before heading down, he said to Mina and Elisa, "Keep an eye on Annie and Amelia. Be careful of venomous snakes and the like."
"Understood," Mina replied with a serious face. Her jungle survival experience was very rich, and she knew the dangers that lurked in the jungle.
Elisa nodded, holding her recurve bow in her hand. The elven race lived in forests, and their understanding of them was at an expert level.
Tap, tap, tap…
The members of the War Wolf squad cleared the path in front, following a trail of scattered stones. After about ten minutes, the group finally arrived at the bottom of the crater.
"These trees have some age to them," Lucas looked at the surrounding trees. He could clearly feel the passage of time; they were tall and had many fissures.
"Master, the temperature here is a bit higher than outside," Mina could clearly feel the muggy heat.
"Indeed," Lucas nodded. He could also feel the stuffiness. The climate here was very suitable for growing some crops and medicinal herbs.
"Master, do we need to find a water source first?" Chris asked respectfully. They hadn't brought much water with them on their trip.
"Yes, let's find water first," Lucas pursed his lips and said, "Let's proceed according to the key points of survival."
In the wild, the most important things were to find a water source, shelter, and food, as well as fire. This was just their first observational exploration, so they didn't need to make it too complicated, but water was indispensable. After all, when traveling by hang glider, it was best to carry as little as possible, so they had brought very little water.
"Yes," Chris immediately arranged for men to prioritize the search for a water source.
The team advanced into the forest, moving with great caution. The forest was very lush, and there were also many insects and ants.
"The forest here is even denser than the ones outside," Annie followed closely behind Lucas, her forehead already beaded with sweat.
"Huh?" Lucas frowned. He stopped walking, placed one hand on the hilt of his sword, and turned his body...
Clang!
The sound of a sword being unsheathed. The blade cut an arc, and an arm-thick snake hanging from a branch slid down, its head split in two down the middle.
"Everyone be careful. Don't get bitten by snakes," Lucas glanced at the snake writhing on the ground. In this kind of forest, his danger sense felt like radar.
"Yes," Everyone replied in unison.
"Ugh..." Annie patted her chest in lingering fear, knowing that the snake had been coming for her. The fur on her fox tail stood on end.
"Stay close to me," Lucas flicked the blood off sword, then reached out and squeezed the fox-eared girl's ear reassuringly before continuing forward.
Annie was genuinely scared now. She was truly weak, a person who relied purely on her intellect. She quickly went forward and grabbed the corner of the Master's clothes, following him step by step.
Amelia, on the other hand, was very relaxed. She simply strode ahead of Lucas, tightly gripping her chain-whip, her green eyes scanning the surroundings. A forest like this posed no pressure for her at all.
...
They walked like this for half an hour. Along the way, they discovered several kinds of wild fruits, which made Lucas even more certain that the climate inside this crater was completely different from the outside. A water source was also found, and with it, an unexpected discovery.
Tea. Yes, Lucas had discovered tea. This couldn't help but surprise Lucas. This world also had tea trees, and quite a number of them at that.
Lucas was now standing on a small hill. Behind him was an ancient tea tree, even older than the others, probably with a tree age of a thousand years.
"I really didn't expect this," Lucas scanned the large expanse of tea trees before him. There had to be at least a thousand tea trees here, big and small, growing very densely. The discovery of the tea trees could be said to be an accident. After finding the water source, there was a tea tree by the water. The cat-eared girl said it looked very similar to the tea tree in the castle's backyard, which was what drew Lucas's attention.
He then identified the tea tree and found that it was slightly different from the tea trees on Earth. The fresh leaves were much more bitter.
Lucas immediately ordered people to pick the tea leaves. He stir-fried a batch on the spot. Although limited by tools and other factors, the resulting tea had a slightly burnt and bitter taste, but it was indeed tea.
"Have you really never seen this kind of tree anywhere else?" Lucas turned his head and asked the beast-eared girls and the elf, "You haven't seen a similar tree either?"
"No," Elisa shook her head with certainty. She could recognize over a thousand types of trees, not to mention that the tree species in the Life Forest were the most complete in the world.
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