When Chen Bugu returned from the forest, he was carrying two huge wooden stumps.
The inside of the stumps had been hollowed out, evidently forming rudimentary wooden buckets.
He threw the two wooden buckets into the water, pulled out a patient gown from Tiancheng City First Hospital from his storage ring, and continuously wiped the inside of the buckets with water to clean off any excess wood chips.
Afterward, Chen Bugu placed the two wooden buckets next to the campfire to dry, thus completing the two water-holding wooden buckets.
At this moment, only Lin Lin and Lin Xiaoxiao were by the campfire.
Han Badou had consciously activated Energy Monitoring, constantly patrolling the surroundings and acting as a sentry. His meticulousness greatly satisfied Chen Bugu, as it's always better to be safe than sorry.
Liu Shifu seemed to have discovered some fruit on a few trees to the southeast, so he called Lin Ye to go check them out. The yun ling fruit had given them a taste of success, and now they were not too far from breaking through to Black Iron Four Star.
Chen Bugu didn't stop them; although it was impossible for them to be yun ling fruit, as Han Badou would have already detected them if they were.
But if they were other fruits that could satisfy hunger, it seemed pretty good. Always eating Luo Beast meat, why not change the flavor?
Bai Ting had returned to the stream to wash his white suit jacket again. After drying it earlier, the bloodstains had faded somewhat, but he seemed dissatisfied and insisted on washing it again.
Yan Kuan and Wang Bin were also sitting by the stream for some unknown reason.
However, Chen Bugu soon understood why Yan Kuan and Wang Bin weren't staying by the campfire.
Because their bodies weren't thoroughly dried, Lin Xiaoxiao and Lin Lin's clothes clung tightly to their bodies, outlining their graceful curves, which caused Chen Bugu to unconsciously steal a few glances.
Lin Lin seemed to notice Chen Bugu's gaze, and her face unconsciously flushed.
Seeing that Lin Xiaoxiao was about to explode, Chen Bugu consciously got up and said he was going to check on Liu Shifu and Lin Ye.
When Chen Bugu found Liu Shifu and Lin Ye, Liu Shifu was throwing down some kind of green fruit.
Chen Bugu stepped closer and was quite surprised to see that it was big-orange.
big-orange is one of the few fruits in this forest that can be eaten directly. Because its entire exterior is green, but the pulp inside resembles an orange, it's called big-orange.
This fruit has a slightly sweet taste and is full of juice, and most importantly, it contains no toxins.
However, big-orange is green and generally hard to spot when hanging on trees, and big-orange trees have no unique features, making them generally difficult to identify. It must be said that Liu Shifu's eyes were quite sharp.
"Chen Bugu, you've come at just the right time. We were just thinking of picking some to ask you, do you think these things are edible?"
Liu Shifu saw Chen Bugu approaching, deactivated Floating, and landed beside Chen Bugu.
"Yes, you can eat them. These are called big-orange. After peeling them, they're quite similar to oranges. Liu Shifu, pick more!"
Chen Bugu casually peeled a big-orange, and the pulp inside was indeed segmented like an orange. Liu Shifu and Lin Ye tasted a piece and both found the flavor to be good.
The three of them spent over ten minutes stripping several big-orange trees bare, collecting nearly two hundred big-orange in total, which went into Chen Bugu's storage ring.
By this time, Lin Xiaoxiao and Lin Lin's clothes were almost dry, with only Bai Ting's re-washed white suit jacket remaining.
Chen Bugu distributed the big-orange to everyone, then prepared to call Han Badou back. Once Bai Ting's clothes were dry, they should continue their journey.
However, before Chen Bugu could even get up, he saw Han Badou rushing back in a panic.
"Chen Dage, a large number of energy signatures are rapidly approaching, 33 in total, with 5 Black Iron Three Stars and the rest all Black Iron Two Star. At their current speed, they'll reach the stream in approximately 30 seconds."
Chen Bugu's eyes narrowed upon hearing this, and he immediately asked.
"30 seconds? Is the arrangement and path of the energy signatures regular?"
"The distribution of energy signatures is very regular; rather than regular, it's more like a formation. They should be human Awakeneds, and they already show a tendency to encircle and converge, so they've probably discovered us."
"Alright, you tell everyone else too, and get ready."
Chen Bugu frowned. As they approached Soaring Sky Tree, the frequency of encountering human Awakeneds began to rise sharply.
Upon hearing that human Awakeneds were approaching, Bai Ting and the others lost their initial joy and instead became alert.
The incident with Ding Wenli had served as a reminder to everyone: this was a place without law, and human compatriots who had lost their restraints were not necessarily more reassuring than demonic beasts.
Fortunately, the opposing side only had 5 Black Iron Three Stars, so their top-tier strength wasn't strong, but the other 28 were all Black Iron Two Star, which was somewhat unexpected.
Clearly, this was not the kind of "pig-raising" team like Ding Wenli's.
Fortunately, Chen Bugu had already broken through to Black Iron Five-Star, and everyone else's strength was not bad. To take a step back, even if a fight broke out, they wouldn't be afraid.
Unfortunately, ten seconds later, everyone's confidence plummeted instantly with the appearance of that group of human Awakeneds.
On the opposite side of the stream, a group of people emerged from the bushes, dressed in unified camouflage uniforms, black training shoes, and field helmets.
The moment they spotted Chen Bugu and his group, with a "bang," dozens of guns were instantly raised, their dark muzzles aimed at everyone.
Military?
Chen Bugu's eyelids twitched as he looked at the dark muzzles of the guns; this was somewhat beyond his expectations.
Seeing the muzzles aimed at her, Lin Xiaoxiao's four Cold Steel Flying Daggers also floated in the air, spinning rapidly.
"Wait, Xiao Xiao, what are you doing? Those are our Huaguo soldiers."
Liu Shifu was actually somewhat delighted the moment he saw the soldiers. They had Huaguo national flags on their shoulders, clearly indicating they were Huaguo soldiers.
In peaceful times, soldiers were the guardians of the common people. How did that saying go? Oh, right, the military and the people are like fish and water.
After hearing this, Lin Xiaoxiao's daggers didn't stop at all. She slowly spoke.
"Liu Shifu, don't forget, that beast Ding Wenli was still a 'white-clad angel' dedicated to saving lives and helping the wounded, but look at what he did."
"Even if those are truly our Huaguo soldiers, their guns are currently pointed at their own common people."
Lin Xiaoxiao's words silenced Liu Shifu. He wanted to say something, but he had to admit that Lin Xiaoxiao was right.
"Don't move!"
The soldiers on the opposite side, seeing Lin Xiaoxiao's daggers float up, immediately shouted and then slowly approached with their guns raised.
"Don't act rashly, and we won't open fire."
They walked all the way to the stream before stopping. Two leading soldiers took out an instrument and turned it on, seemingly monitoring something.
Chen Bugu's expression was extremely grim. Because of events in his previous life, he didn't particularly like dealing with these soldiers.
However, at this moment, the opponents had guns. Even if he could use "Bullet Time" to escape the moment they reacted, the others couldn't.
Their current level of evolution wasn't enough to handle thirty-odd guns.
The two soldiers fiddling with the instrument seemed to confirm something, so they made a gesture, and the other soldiers lowered their guns.
"I apologize, Awakeneds, for startling you."
A woman's figure, accompanied by her voice, slowly emerged from behind the group of soldiers.