“People?”
The first thing Chen Bugu thought of was a “pig-rearing team” like Ding Wenli.
But a closer look revealed something strange.
Wei Lai was already very clear about the “pig-rearing team’s” methods and should not have fallen for it again.
Moreover, the biggest characteristic of a “pig-rearing team” is that the pig-rearers’ levels are significantly lower than the average, making it basically impossible for them to survive independently later on.
Therefore, in a “pig-rearing team,” most of the pig-rearers do not have the courage or strength to leave the team later, which does not quite align with Wei Lai’s description of a large number of people fleeing.
It has been more than a month since Chen Bugu and Wei Lai parted ways. Wei Lai has not yet left the Starting Forest and has become like this, indicating that he has been in his current predicament for quite some time.
Even if it were a “pig-rearing team,” after such a long time, the “pigs” should have already left this forest.
Before Chen Bugu could ask further, the small team was suddenly stopped by a group of Goblins, including several Goblin Berserkers.
The leaders of the team acted decisively, instantly dealing with this Goblin squad, then continued to flee without stopping.
Chen Bugu did not make a move in the previous battle because he noticed that the speed displayed by the people at the front of the team when dealing with the Goblins had already reached the strength of a Black Iron Five-Star.
With such strength, as long as their luck wasn’t too bad and they were a bit more cautious, they should generally be able to leave this forest.
If the pig-rearers all had Black Iron Five-Star strength, then how strong would the “pigs” have to be?
Most importantly, high-level Black Iron magical beasts are not common in the Starting Forest; it is already rare for an Awakened to break through to Six-Star in the Starting Forest.
Could it be people who make even Black Iron Five-Stars flee in panic?
Chen Bugu suddenly thought of Xu Lu.
Xu Lu had said that their team had encountered two Awakeneds in Black Robes, and they had killed more than a dozen of their soldiers.
At that time, Xu Lu and her team had used their Energy Monitoring equipment to assess that those two “natives” were both Black Iron Eight-Star…
“The people chasing you, are they wearing black hooded cloaks?”
As soon as Chen Bugu finished speaking, he saw Wei Lai’s surprised expression; he knew he had guessed correctly.
“Mr. Chen, have you also encountered them?”
“No, I just heard about them from other teams.”
Following that, Chen Bugu recounted what happened after he separated from Wei Lai and his group, and how he coincidentally met Xu Lu and others by the stream.
“Soldiers? Was that female doctor wearing silver-rimmed glasses and a long-sleeved shirt with trousers?”
Wei Lai suddenly spoke as he listened to Chen Bugu’s description.
“Hmm? That should be her attire. You’ve seen her?”
Chen Bugu was a bit surprised, but then he thought that the place where he first met Xu Lu was not far from where Wei Lai and his group were, so it wasn't surprising that they met later.
“Yes, I’ve seen her, but she died quite a while ago.”
“Died?”
Chen Bugu didn’t expect such an answer.
“Yes, two days after she was captured, two more Black-robed men came and said she had something they wanted. In the end, they found what looked like a few beautiful stones, but the woman refused to hand them over no matter what, so she was killed.”
After Wei Lai finished speaking, Chen Bugu was momentarily stunned.
Valuable beautiful stones in Xu Lu’s possession?
Wasn't that a starfall crystal?
Were those people targeting starfall crystals?
Although starfall crystals are precious, Zero Realm also produces them. It doesn’t seem reasonable to specifically make a trip to the Starting Forest and capture so many people just for that.
Seeing Chen Bugu’s confusion, Wei Lai simply gave a detailed account of their experiences after separating from Chen Bugu.
On the morning they parted ways with Chen Bugu and the others, two people from Guan Zhou’s team went missing.
They waited for a long time at the original spot but never saw the two return. Finally, left with no choice, Wei Lai and his group had to continue their journey.
At that time, some people in the team even speculated that the two had been targeted for revenge that night because they had spoken ill of Chen Bugu.
However, this speculation did not last even a day before it fell apart.
Because from that day on, people from Guan Zhou’s team disappeared every night.
At first, only the two people on night watch would go missing.
Later, Wei Lai increased the number of night watchmen to four, but all four disappeared.
After two consecutive nights of anomalies, when the third night arrived, no one dared to sleep peacefully.
But only then did they realize that even if they didn’t sleep, it was still impossible to prevent their teammates from disappearing.
Because the culprits causing their team’s numbers to constantly dwindle had no qualms about appearing openly before them.
In the face of an absolute disparity in strength, it made no difference whether Guan Zhou’s team stayed awake or not.
When Wei Lai was knocked unconscious, he didn't even get a clear look at what the two Black-robed men looked like.
When he woke up again, he was already imprisoned in a dungeon.
Besides the previously captured members of Guan Zhou, there were also some unfamiliar faces around him.
Most surprisingly, Han Fuyu, who had gone missing earlier, was also there.
It turned out that Han Fuyu had not chosen to leave because he felt guilty towards Ba Dou; his disappearance was also the work of these Black-robed men.
It was through Han Fuyu’s introduction that Wei Lai learned there were several other cells like theirs, and everyone, like him, had been captured and thrown in there during those few days.
Some had tried to resist, but the Black-robed men displayed absolute strength, casually killing the strongest person in the cell at that time.
After that, the people in the stone cell also understood that escaping and resisting would only hasten the arrival of death.
In that dark dungeon, Wei Lai gradually lost track of time.
He only knew that new people were thrown in every day, and people died every day.
The only thing that gave everyone hope to live was the food provided daily by the Black-robed men.
It was a barrel of dark, jelly-like, viscous substance. Although it didn’t taste good and there wasn't much of it, the food contained energy.
Many people, after eating that food for a few days, actually found themselves breaking through.
Without having to fight magical beasts to the death, just by eating, they could upgrade. Many people saw hope in this.
Although they didn't expect to break through to the point of defeating the Black-robed men just by eating this food, it was already good enough to be stronger than others.
Food was provided only once a day, and the quantity was very limited, so not everyone could get a bite.
In this situation, whoever had the biggest fist got to eat their fill.
Those who could get food, as their strength grew, became more capable of controlling the food distribution in their respective cells.
Wei Lai was very lucky because Han Fuyu was among the first group of people captured and thrown into that cell.
Before others realized the importance of that food, Han Fuyu had already eaten for several days and successfully became the first person to break through in the cell.
Under Han Fuyu’s care, Wei Lai was able to get some food every day. Although it wasn’t enough to fill him up, it was enough to keep him alive.
As for the others who couldn’t get food, they could only gradually starve to death.
When someone died in the cell, whether from starvation or killed by the Black-robed men like Xu Lu, as soon as the body was discovered, it would be dragged out.
Until one day, when the Black-robed men came to distribute food, they found that the number of people in the cell had decreased, but there were no bodies.
It was also on that day that Wei Lai saw the face hidden beneath the Black Robe, and it seemed to reveal a smile.
At that moment, Wei Lai felt as if he had fallen into an ice cellar.
The Black-robed man’s smile was deeply imprinted in his eyes.
Because that smile appeared precisely on the day the hungry people gnawed on corpses…