Although the monsters had been repelled.
The little girl Podenco was still shaken. From beginning to end, none of the surrounding villagers dared to step out of their homes. If they hadn't seen these villagers hastily running back home at dusk with their own eyes, they might have thought these houses were all empty.
To praise Ceobe.
Franka directly took out the last of the jerky from her bag for Ceobe to eat. Amidst the sounds of munching, the group sat around in the wooden house that had been smashed by the monsters, asking about the origin of these creatures.
Podenco looked around at her home, now missing a wall, with a bit of heartache. After all, this house had been with her for a long time, and renovating it would probably cost a lot of money...
However, heartache aside.
Surviving was the greatest joy, and being able to witness these monsters being annihilated by a group of 'heroes' from a foreign country was like releasing a long-held breath.
"These monsters... we don't really know either...."
"As for when they appeared, I remember... it was about two months ago."
"Our village life used to be quite happy. Although it was simple and poor, we were isolated from the world. Every household had some fields to grow their own vegetables and fruits for daily consumption, and the village's greenhouse farms also had large areas for staple crops and poultry. We were self-sufficient, which was pretty good."
"But one day, two months ago, a villager discovered that their vegetables were turning yellow on a large scale."
"At first, some thought it was a weather or fertilizer problem, but the yellowing was too fast... In just two days, some vegetables had rotted away. Some thought other villagers were using pesticides, and then... the first monster appeared out of thin air in the middle of the night... We resisted at first... but... killing one wasn't hard, but there were just too many of them..."
"These monsters don't seem to have intelligence and won't actively seek out people, so as long as we hide in our houses, we'll be fine. However, their senses are extremely keen. Even if you peek at them through a crack from the side, they can detect it, which is why the windows need to be sealed."
Podenco's words reminded Magallan of the scene when she was controlling the drone and made eye contact with that monster. She bluntly told them what she had just done.
"Well now, Miss da Vinci, so you were the one who led these monsters here?"
Franka gently patted Magallan on the head.
The penguin girl's bobbed hair bounced up and down softly, looking very cute.
She was teasing.
But no one would blame Magallan.
After all, no one could have known this would happen, and... the footage Magallan's drone captured was very useful.
Podenco sat on the bed, her fair legs curled up, her arms hugging her knees, balled into a small bundle.
"And... these monsters seem to absorb the souls of the life around them... wherever they pass, the grass and trees wither. And many of the villagers have gradually weakened because of this. The young people are fine, but many middle-aged or elderly people are already showing clear signs of discomfort."
This was all Podenco knew.
The origin of these monsters was a mystery. Even as a victim, she didn't have specific information.
Lucas Reeve asked a question.
"Miss Podenco, since it's so dangerous here, why doesn't your village leave?"
Podenco gave a bitter smile: "Miss Jessica, you may not know, but our village specifically chose this place to escape the wars and chaos of Bolívar. We are surrounded by forests on all sides, and the temperature in these forests is very strange. It can be thirty degrees at noon, but minus thirty degrees at night. With such a temperature difference, young people with warm clothes might be able to get out of the forest if they don't get lost, but the older ones... they can't make it out at all..."
"To think that we chose this paradise to escape the ravages of war, only for it to become our prison..."
Podenco couldn't help but feel dejected.
Although these 'explorers' had repelled today's monsters, these creatures were endless. They repelled them today, but what about tomorrow? The day after? Unless they find the source... there's simply no way to solve this.
Magallan and the others had no solution either. They were just outsiders, not Bolívar officials. They couldn't be stationed here for a long time to investigate.
"I heard our village chief say... this might be related to the [River of Death]. Of course, it's just a guess..."
"River of Death?"
Magallan was taken aback. It was a river name she had never heard before.
Before heading to Bolívar, she had looked up a lot of related information, but she had never heard of this river.
"This river is only famous in northern Bolívar. Although it's called the [River of Death], it's not some terrifying place. It's more like a mother river. Because of the rugged terrain in northern Bolívar, there are no cities, so there are many tribal communities like ours. And the [River of Death] flows through the entire north of Bolívar. Legend has it... that after we die, the souls of us Bolívar people will return to the source of the [River of Death]. And our village is the closest to the source of the [River of Death]...."
"Wait a moment..."
Magallan interrupted Podenco.
She quickly asked.
"Miss Podenco, the [River of Death] you're talking about, it wouldn't happen to be the Blackflow Sea of Trees, would it?"
The Blackflow Sea of Trees?!
Franka and the others all looked at Magallan at the same time. Only Ceobe had her head resting on 'Jessica's' lap, munching on extremely hard jerky, as if nothing concerned her.
Wasn't the purpose of this trip the Blackflow Sea of Trees?
"Blackflow Sea of Trees?"
Podenco thought for a moment and nodded.
"It seems outsiders like to call the [River of Death] the Blackflow Sea of Trees.."
To get news of their destination so quickly was a pleasant surprise for Magallan. This way, she might have more time for exploration. Moreover, the Blackflow Sea of Trees seemed to be even more extraordinary than she had imagined. Magallan's explorer's spirit was already burning fiercely.
"Excuse me, where is its location?"
"Over there.."
Podenco pointed north.
"Go straight north through the northern forest. In the deepest part, there's a cave. It's rumored to be the origin of the [River of Death], but no one dares to go in. They say it leads directly to the underworld, and once you go in, you can't come out."
Perhaps because she was a local.
When speaking of the [River of Death], Podenco was clearly a bit scared. As a Perro, the fluffy tail behind her was motionless, and the ears on her head drooped down.
Now that they knew the location of the Blackflow Sea of Trees, the group prepared to set off after daybreak.
After chatting with Podenco about various interesting things to help ease her fears until dawn, the group got up to bid Podenco farewell.
However.
Before leaving.
At Jessica's prompting, Lucas Reeve quietly left a stack of Lungmen Dollars in Podenco's pocket without telling anyone. On one hand, this little girl seemed pitiful living alone. Although she was isolated from the world and money wasn't very useful, she was still young and might choose to leave the village for a big city in the future. This money would be enough for her to spend for a long time in a big city. After all... this was Jessica's allowance... just a tiny fraction of it was enough for an ordinary person to live on for several years.
The sky had completely brightened.
The four people, one soul, and the newly added Ceobe had disappeared from sight.
Podenco watched them go from afar and sighed, but then seemed to have made a decision... she wanted to see the outside world.
She casually put her hand in her pocket...
In her two pockets, there were three stacks of money...