After a long silence, watching the last group of people walk towards the exit greet us, Sheng turned his gaze away, his gentle smile masking a hint of nervousness, and nodded earnestly to me: "Big brother, you're right, I've thought it through."
"Regardless, the present should always be the most important thing. The tone of the mission description has changed, but the content, timeline, and difficulty haven't changed much, which is good news for us. Let's prepare according to what I know for now. However, just in case, I need to make some additional preparations..."
After muttering a few more words, I nodded and turned to join him at the back of the slowly moving line.
Although the underground space we were in was a decent temporary safe zone, it doesn't mean it will be absolutely safe in the upcoming fifth main mission.
According to the information provided by Sheng, although the rewards are distributed to the temporary safe zones established as strongholds at the start of the mission, the area mentioned in the rewards that will greatly increase the stability is divided in another way: it is based on the strength of the material itself, multiplied by a certain coefficient ratio.
Currently, without extensive use of magical bombardment and sword saint's aura, and without additional calculations for the dungeon's outer walls, the most solid material is undoubtedly the building materials that construct the structure, followed by various iron doors, wooden doors, and other things that can be opened by human hands.
Although the thin sheet metal roller shutter door could withstand the giant rat's repeated headbutts, it was still too flimsy to withstand multiple attacks from larger monsters.
Not to mention the railway tracks that were barely blocked by simply piling up miscellaneous items.
Choosing a suitable defensive location is also a challenge in order to better survive in subsequent missions. It needs to be large enough to accommodate so many people, provide enough food, and have a clean water source nearby—although the latter can be solved with magic, it is still not a long-term solution.
Excessive dependence can have disastrous consequences.
I tried to go up to a higher place to confirm that after suffering from the [deep green disaster] caused by the lush trees, the few remaining buildings became our targets.
Among them, the largest building closest to us became the best and most suitable location that Sheng and I jointly determined.
"Although it's the closest, it still takes some time to get there."
He glanced at his feet every now and then, watching his surroundings warily, gripping the wooden stick tightly in his hand—his crowbar had all melted into the black water of the hidden dungeon, and he hadn't yet completed his job selection. In addition, most of the Molotov cocktails he had made had been used up, leaving only a few in his bag. For now, he could use the wooden stick he got from the mountain to barely hold on.
Pushing aside the enormous leaves that were obscuring my view, I couldn't help but agree: "These plants are just too big. Leaving aside whether they can accurately find their way forward, just figuring out the right path in the dim forest is a problem."
Even in the spruce forests of the Abyss Mountains and in the areas on the edge of the gray zone, I have never experienced such a dark and damp environment.
The green and brownish-yellow hues almost blended into one in the field of vision, with only a few rays of sunlight occasionally filtering through the sparse leaves, making it almost impossible to tell whether one was stepping on a hard road or sturdy tree roots.
I couldn't bear to watch any longer, so I summoned condensed fireballs to hover on both sides of the line for illumination. Even if they were seen as bait by the beings hidden deep in the woods, it was still much better than having to deal with the trouble of people falling down from time to time.
At least the latter moves faster.
Then, there are even more troublesome things hidden in the woods.
Those are insects.
After the fire was lit, fire-chasing insects began to emerge from the forest.
At first, it was just an ordinary little insect.
From tiny flying insects no bigger than a grain of rice to beetles the size of gold coins.
Then, as we moved forward, more attackers appeared.
A palm-sized moth with a human face, a washbasin-sized mantis with a sickle-like shape, a wriggling, centipede-like dragon, or a burrowing worm that moves freely through the soil...
Several wolfhounds, attracted by the firelight, unexpectedly noticed the moving group and rushed over.
Even with my assistance in defense from the front and back, the survivors, following the formation and mutual protection instructions passed down by [Balance] and Sheng's explanation, still suffered serious injuries due to their lack of experience in coordination and their sudden fear in the face of battle. They could only be treated and bandaged after being detoxified before being moved to the middle of the group for more careful care.
As the team moved forward, the significant loss of personnel made their movements even more difficult, to the point where they could barely move.
This is before the mission has even begun.
If the fifth task had already begun, the casualties would likely be far more than just injuries; they would be massive losses.
The fluctuations in morale are a strange problem.
Just like water in a container, it can be easily added to rise, or it can be easily knocked over and spilled, leaving not a single drop.
An inspiring speech can boost morale, but facing real, bloody death can instantly extinguish the fighting spirit of any ordinary life that has never experienced it.
Fortunately, none of this has happened yet.
Because we only traveled along the shortest possible straight line, the seemingly long walk through the forest finally came to an end after nearly forty-five minutes.
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