Chapter 1 The Beginning

After realizing that one of their companions had been killed, the remaining Dubaians began shouting. Their shouts were strange, a series of deep "ooo-ooo-ooo" sounds rising and falling. They grabbed their simple wooden shields and spears, aiming them as they advanced. Fortunately, the corridors in the houses were quite narrow, so they wouldn't be overwhelmed in a massive melee.

The dry torch heads were soaked in animal fat. When lit, they emitted an unpleasant burning smell, but provided excellent illumination. Even if dropped into the water, they could be quickly retrieved and continue to be used.

By the flickering torchlight, Fang Senyan and his group noticed a strange red color in the Dubaians' eyes. Their canines protruded slightly. More terrifyingly, their skin was covered in hard, pea-sized warts, a sign of mutated and evolved sweat glands. The fluids and odors emitted by these warts allowed them to avoid viruses in the swamp and repel some blood-sucking insects and wetland creatures.

After the initial engagement, Fang Senyan and his team discovered that the Dubaians' wooden shields, though seemingly simple, were surprisingly durable. This was likely due to a layer of gelatinous substance applied to the surface. Even Black Bro's bullets couldn't penetrate these shields. When he fired a burst, the bullets didn't even ricochet, but seemed to embed themselves deep into the wood, like bees burrowing into a hive.

Fang Senyan examined the shields closely and noticed dry, pale green and red traces in the gelatinous substance. It seemed to be a mixture of ground algae and blood that had been applied and dried. This was likely the secret to the shields' toughness.

Fortunately, Reef's "Heart-Rending Roar" (撕心裂肺) proved immensely effective. His roar seemed to stir up the very wind and clouds. Even Fang Senyan felt its power. The thatch on the surrounding rooftops was blown away. The Dubaians who were close by stumbled and retreated, the deceleration effect being quite obvious, and the damage surprisingly high.

Fang Senyan suddenly sensed the power of the Colonizers!

Although Fang Senyan had fought Colonizers before, he hadn't witnessed their growth from ordinary contractors. Therefore, he couldn't make a vertical comparison. Now, he felt that Reef's every move represented a qualitative breakthrough from before. This was partly due to Reef's accumulated potential, but it also reflected the Colonizers' strength and fearsomeness!

Suddenly, Fang Senyan was grazed by a Dubaian's spear. He stumbled slightly. Although it didn't break his defense, his Nightmare Imprint warned him: "You have been infected with the disease: Mild Hemorrhagic Fever."

"Your body temperature has risen to 39 degrees Celsius. Your internal organs, subcutaneous tissue, and conjunctiva have bleeding spots and other signs of bleeding. Purplish-red maculopapular rashes have appeared on your torso and shoulders."

"All your attributes are reduced by 5.5% (defense damage reduction and talent ability barrier damage reduction already calculated). When you are in combat, all attributes will be further reduced by 1% every fifteen seconds, with a maximum reduction of 15% of all attributes. You must remain out of combat for 38 minutes (defense damage reduction and talent ability barrier damage reduction already calculated) to clear this disease with your immune system."

"It's here." Fang Senyan immediately felt a headache coming on. The Dubaians were clearly adept at dealing with ranged attacks. Their wooden shields, painted with dull brown patterns and oil paint, could easily intercept incoming hot bullets. Fortunately, they weren't very strong, and it wasn't difficult to parry their shields in close combat. Creating opportunities for ranged attackers, or teaching the Dubaians a lesson himself, was a matter of choice.

But that was the problem. To fight these numerous Dubaians in close combat, it was impossible not to be attacked, but that would bring a great chance of being infected with diseases!

After killing another five Dubaians, Fang Senyan felt like he wanted to vomit blood. He had been infected with another disease!

"You have been infected with the disease: Dengue Fever."

"Your body temperature continues to rise. Your brain is dizzy, your liver is swollen, and your joints are aching."

"Your chance of hitting enemies is reduced by 31.7% (defense damage reduction and talent ability barrier damage reduction already calculated). When you are in combat, your chance of being hit by enemies will increase by 1% every fifteen seconds. You must remain out of combat for 38 minutes (defense damage reduction and talent ability barrier damage reduction already calculated) to clear this disease with your immune system."

At this point, the Dubaians' combat ability wasn't strong, but fighting them while infected with diseases was truly miserable. All attributes decreased, and one in every two or three strikes would miss. Moreover, these bastards were very durable! Reef, who was fighting alongside Fang Senyan, deeply felt this. And these were just ordinary enemies encountered after entering the world! They hadn't even encountered mini-boss level bastards yet!

After a long, drawn-out battle, once all nine Dubaians were annihilated, both Fang Senyan and Reef couldn't help but collapse to the ground, leaning against the railing and panting heavily. Even Black Bro began shaking his fingers and wailing loudly, "Boss, to kill these few guys, I fired enough bullets to destroy a reinforced company!"

However, after seeing the disease effects on Reef and Fang Senyan, Black Bro could only shut up obediently. After this first battle, there was no doubt that the Dubaians living on the outskirts of the swamp had given Fang Senyan and his team a troublesome, strange, evil, and durable impression.

Fortunately, after the battle, Fang Senyan and his team finally used their bravery to successfully conquer the hearts of the natives under their command. They began to worship the three of them very piously, and then actively collected various spoils of war.

It must be admitted that although the hidden world was very risky, the rewards were quite generous.

Four of the eight Dubai tribe members dropped keys. The spoils obtained after opening them were as follows: A total of 5,300 Universal Points. Gold Sand: A heavy object. Description: Gold sand contained in a bag sewn from simple cloth.

Value: You can keep it as a gift, or exchange it for 3,000 Universal Points.

Red Saliva (赤色涎) Type: Herb Description: This is a plant that grows in the swamp. It grows in a harsh environment year after year, so it also has the ability to resist this harsh environment.

Use: After taking this red herb, you can immediately restore 5% of your health and remove one disease effect from your body.

Hint: When this herb withers, its medicinal effect will disappear, so you should take it within forty-eight hours.

Hint: Perhaps you can formulate more powerful medicines according to a certain ratio, of course, provided that you can obtain other herbs.

Although he was already in the wetland, Fang Senyan still began to try to use the Pirate Captain's ability to plunder the corpses of these Dubaians, obtaining three shields called: Moss Shields (恶藓盾) to equip his native subordinates, and also obtained two spears called "Rotten Mud Spears" (腐泥枪).

At this time, several native subordinates suddenly ran to Fang Senyan, gesticulating wildly, and then prostrated themselves on the ground and cried.

Fang Senyan knew that these guys must have discovered something, so he followed them to the largest stilt house on the water.

Here, several grayish-white pottery vessels could be seen, processed very roughly, but at least one meter and four in height. The mouths of the bottles seemed to be level with the natives' necks. These pottery vessels were distributed on both sides of the house, looking like they were guarding a stone platform in the center of the sacrifice.

Several lumps of smoked meat were placed on the stone platform. Upon closer inspection, they were actually human limbs. These limbs were tied with strange black ropes. The original color of the ropes should have been light green, but they were stained black with blood. It was said that this was a cooking method that could bind the enemy's soul inside the corpse after death, making it less prone to decay and more delicious… of course, these ropes had been cut off by Fang Senyan's native subordinates and discarded on the ground at will…

And several natives were crying at the remains that were being used as food. It was estimated that these unfortunate victims who had been processed into ham were parts of their relatives who had been captured.

And Fang Senyan's eyes stayed on a box in the center of the house.

This box looked very ordinary, merely nailed together from wooden planks, but in fact it was also inlaid with gold nuggets, gems, and other things, looking very incongruous.

The native who brought Fang Senyan here ran up to the box and shook it directly, but he couldn't open it. Then, he could only spread his hands to show his inability. Fang Senyan took it over and saw that there was a large keyhole on the box, of course, a very simple one.

Black Bro took the box and casually found a wooden strip, fiddled with it a few times, and opened it. The Dubaians' anti-theft technology didn't seem very advanced. After opening it, a large bag of gold sand was found inside the box. This thing could be sold for 10,000 Universal Points.

There was also a very unique stone slab in the box. The material of this stone slab was between metal and stone. The surface was very smooth, as if it had been rubbed many times, and the patina was quite good. It was estimated that it had been treasured for at least several generations. After obtaining this stone slab, Fang Senyan and his team received a prompt: "You have obtained a fragment of the Passage Seal (1/4). Only those who have collected the Passage Seal can obtain the qualification to enter the Dubai Tribe's hinterland!"