Chapter 1 The Quietness Here

This place was too quiet, like being in a tomb. A thick, deathly stillness ruled this area. There were no birds singing, no insects, no traces of wild animals. Even the rustling of their footsteps on the pine needles on the ground was exceptionally clear!

All that could be seen were the same pine trees and snow, seemingly stretching out forever. Under such a tense atmosphere, physical exertion increased exponentially, as if some invisible weight was pressing down on their chests. Before long, the two had to sit down to rest.

Reef leaned against a pine tree, gasping for breath.

"Jesus, what kind of damn place is this! A forest without even one wild animal. Look at these pine cones, eaten completely clean! But where are the birds and squirrels that ate them? Where are they?"

Fang Senyan gently set down Wuge and sat down silently. He grabbed a handful of snow beside him and stuffed it into his mouth, then stared at the treetop for a while.

"Most likely, there are no wild animals, nor birds or squirrels."

Reef sat up straight, surprised.

"How is that possible? What ate these pine cones then?"

A thoughtful look appeared in Fang Senyan's eyes. He wasn't in a hurry to answer Reef's question. Instead, he picked up a dead branch from the ground and began drawing on the ground. Reef quickly realized that Fang Senyan was sketching a map of their route, so he immediately joined in.

Reef was older than Fang Senyan and had much more experience in the wild. The two quickly determined their current location and pessimistically discovered that they weren't actually too far from the Orc camp. In a straight line, it was only about twenty kilometers at most.

The two looked at each other, smiled wryly, and shook their heads.

But Fang Senyan's eyes quickly turned firm, with a ferocity that Reef found unusually familiar. Whenever Fang Senyan faced great danger, he would reveal his beast-like madness and strength.

"Let's go." Fang Senyan stood up, covering his chest and coughing twice. Although the chest wound from the tentacle monster had healed, the abnormal status curse attached to it was like a maggot clinging to bone, a vicious and persistent spirit. Almost two hours had passed, and there was no sign of it fading.

Fortunately, Wuge, who was leaning weakly on his shoulder, barely opened her eyes. With a pale face, she pressed her palm against his chest. As green light flickered, wisps of black gas could be seen drifting out. The gas formed shapes of centipedes and scorpions in the air, lifelike, before finally dissipating completely into the air.

Fang Senyan felt a wave of coolness infuse his entire body, as if his entire body, including his internal organs, had been washed by clear, pure spring water. He immediately felt refreshed, and a hazy green light faintly appeared on the surface of his skin.

The Nightmare Imprint also sent a notification:

"You have received the blessing of the Dawn Elf: All negative statuses on you have been dispelled, all your resistances have been increased, and all beneficial abilities related to chance have been improved (including but not limited to hit rate, critical hit rate, synthesis success rate, etc.)."

After casting the Blessing of the Dawn Elf, the elven maiden once again fell into a semi-comatose state very simply, but she didn't seem to be seriously injured. Not only did that refreshing fragrance remain, but both her hair color and the luster of her skin showed a strong sense of vitality, like the new green buds on the branches in spring.

Without a doubt, her condition at this time could only be explained in one way: she was in a stage of transformation and advancement that required rest and accumulation. Only when she fully recovered could she be called a true Dawn Elf... a leader who could lead the elves of Middle-earth back to the kingdom of God!

……．．……

About half an hour later, the three surviving Uruk-hai slowly walked over from a distance. The leading Uruk-hai's nostrils twitched non-stop, then he looked at the pine tree next to him coldly.

"They stopped here."

The face of an Uruk-hai beside him was quite ugly, and he said in a hoarse voice:

"It's past noon now. If we chase them any further, even if we return in time, we probably won't be able to avoid that thing!"

The Uruk-hai leader suddenly turned his head. His eyes were bloodshot, full of fierce warning. It could be clearly seen that a cyan-colored fleshy tumor was growing on his throat. The tumor was covered in blood vessels and was still throbbing, feeling as if it was synchronized with the beating of his heart.

This tumor was an additional piece of biotechnology researched by Saruman, and it was still in the experimental stage. It was only used on some Uruk-hai with greater utilization value. This tumor was called a "Heterogeneous Black Body Tumor." The process of its creation was quite bizarre and evil. It was discovered during Saruman's research on the tentacle monster.

Because the tentacle monster's mouth was very underdeveloped, it could only perform basic chewing on food. It was difficult to digest after swallowing, so their stomachs always had a symbiotic worm. This worm was good at secreting powerful digestive juices, which could effectively break down food. Therefore, if there was no such worm parasitizing, then the tentacle monster would often die from indigestion.

However, anything in the world is too much is as bad as too little. Once the tentacle monster has a fixed and abundant food source, this worm certainly will not understand the importance of family planning: if the skin is gone, what will the hair attach to? Therefore, it will also reproduce in large quantities, and the final result is that the tentacle monster's digestive system will be filled and ruptured to death. Therefore, after the tentacle monster understood this, dieting and regularly deworming to a limited extent became two major events in their lives.

Some of these worms that were killed and discharged were made into a strange parasite by Saruman using his unique formulation method. If an Uruk-hai with sufficient utilization value appeared, then the tentacle monster would cut a small opening in its throat and then bury this thing under its skin. After a period of time, a Heterogeneous Black Body Tumor would appear.

The Uruk-hai who had this "Heterogeneous Black Body Tumor" implanted was equivalent to having an extra heart. Both his strength and survivability would increase greatly. But because the worm used to refine it had lived in the tentacle monster's body for a period of time, most of this Uruk-hai's actions would be perceived by the tentacle monster that implanted the tumor. Once there was an act of betrayal, Saruman's avatar could kill the Uruk-hai remotely at any time through the corresponding tentacle monster.

Facing the Uruk-hai leader's fierce and threatening gaze, the questioning Uruk-hai immediately took a step back, not daring to say anything. Just as Saruman's avatar had the absolute right to control the life and death of the Uruk-hai leader, the Uruk-hai leader could also form absolute suppression against ordinary Uruk-hai!

"Chase, maybe die, don't chase, die!"

The Uruk-hai leader's hoarse voice had analyzed the stakes very clearly. If they chased after the enemy now and brought them back, then there was still a glimmer of hope. If they didn't chase, the tentacle monster would have a clear view of everything that happened here. Even if they successfully exited this dangerous place, they would still die!

The three Uruk-hai were as silent as cicadas in winter, not daring to say anything more. They followed the traces left by Fang Senyan and the others and strode forward to chase after them. Their figures gradually disappeared into the pine forest. The eerie and quiet atmosphere was restored to this dead pine forest, as if anything would be swallowed and erased in it.

……．．．．”

At this time, it was about three o'clock in the afternoon. After being filtered by the snow, wind, and clouds in the sky, the sunlight shone down palely and reluctantly, even with a hint of paleness. However, it also dispelled the thick fog in the valley.

At this time, under the sunlight, faint, bleak mists could be vaguely seen rising above the pine forest. If someone watched from a distance, their vision would even produce faint distortions, as if there was a stove below.

If this situation was naturally generated, it would represent that there were some valuable things below the ground, mostly jade mines.

There are two lines of poetry: "In the bright moon over the vast sea, pearls have tears; in the warm sun over Lantian, jade generates smoke." The first line of poetry describes bright pearls, and the meaning of the second line implicitly refers to the fact that under sunlight, precious purple jade will rise with faint, looming green smoke.

There is also an idiom called: "pearl light and precious air," which means that superior pearls will automatically emit light, and treasures can release their own unique mist. However, at this time, looking at the strange mist shrouded above this pine forest, one would always feel an ominous premonition for no reason.

Fang Senyan, Reef and Wuge continued to move forward. The two now knew that they should save their strength as much as possible, so they also reduced the frequency of their conversations. As they continued to move forward, they discovered that the pine forest was also becoming sparse, the bark of the pine trees was also becoming dry and cracked, and the pine needles were also showing signs of withering.

Seeing this situation, Fang Senyan's face became even more ugly. He couldn't help but turn his head to look behind him, with an uncontrollable impulse in his heart to turn back immediately, presumably due to the warning of his perception, but this impulse was immediately extinguished by his reason.

Fang Senyan raised his head to look at the sky. Because he was "in the middle of the mountain," he didn't notice the faint mist shrouded above the pine forest. He only felt that the sunlight was a little too pale. In his and Reef's jungle concepts, as long as the sunlight was still there, they would gain relative safety.

"Huff..." Reef let out a long breath: "Let's take a break now, this damn rule, why restrict the Nightmare Imprint's storage space? I can't even find a way to have a good drink of water. I estimate that if I continue to advance at full speed, my health will slowly decrease."