Perhaps still unable to shake off the suspicion that he might have been deceived, Sal nodded blankly, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down: "The part I remember... that, that person always seemed to be wearing a long black outfit, not like this one here. It was very long and large at the bottom, and looked very beautiful, like a blooming flower, with many pretty, sparkling things strung on it."
"And, and... right, that person's fingers are very thin and long, with very prominent knuckles, and he likes to point at people with his index finger when he talks... I always subconsciously feel a little scared when he does that."
They sound like members of the Star Cult, no, they should be called Doomsday Cultists. I don't know what their purpose is in coming here and causing this incident, but they're definitely not good people.
They had been plotting to sacrifice people before, and it's unclear whether there was only one person or a group of them here.
What should we do to deal with that kind of thing? Should we bomb it en masse after confirming its location? That could easily injure innocent people. But we can't just let it escape. If that powerful cursed bomb we summoned last time detonated in such a densely populated area, it would be disastrous. Not only would it cause a large number of innocent casualties, but the debris could also cause pollution. Furthermore, we don't have the confidence that we can completely withstand that kind of suicide attack again.
Then I suddenly noticed that Sword Demon and Sheng had both furrowed their brows at the same time.
"Do you have any further questions?" I asked the boy quietly, leaning closer to him.
Sheng shook his head, then nodded, glancing clearly at the black man who had snapped out of his quick thinking and turned to leave: "As for the incident itself, there's no problem. But there's still something off about it."
"What?"
"Because there were no messy guys interfering in this place before, we are considering where things went wrong."
It seems that the sudden appearance of the Doomsday Cult disrupted his thought process in analyzing the mission, and he got angry, which is rare for him.
But how come those guys got here faster than us? We were clearly taking the shortcuts several times over.
There must be some undisclosed escape routes here, right? Although it's an isolated area, it obviously couldn't have maintained this state with just one entrance and exit. It would be terrible if something happened requiring an emergency escape. Even a cunning rabbit has three burrows.
That makes sense. On the way here, we saw the burrows left behind by the pikas after they had finished hunting. Although these burrows were abandoned after only being used once because they were too far away, and were even filled in by accumulated mud and sand, they still illustrate the necessity of leaving multiple entrances and exits.
I confirmed this with Sheng, who then gestured to Thrall with his eyes. The young elf, eager for approval, readily spilled a lot of information that might be classified to outsiders.
"There are at least five..."
I stroked my chin: "There's one main entrance on each of the four sides, but only a fifth one. It's located at the back of the ruins, too far away, so few people check or use it, right? There's even a dog hole that you kids accidentally crawled through when you were playing games, just big enough for a small child to squeeze through..."
Even I find it hard to respond correctly in a situation like this. I can't help but want to sigh and slap the disobedient and sensible child from the past... This is someone else's child, and I can't just lay a hand on my forehead in case the person I'm monitoring misunderstands as being unfriendly.
I eventually found other things to be aware of: "But is the outer wall here really that fragile, something that even a small child could easily punch through?"
If that's the case, then does the outermost barrier of this settlement truly provide effective protection? I began to worry about whether there would come a day when we would have to fight against a large number of giant monsters.
Fighting ordinary wild beasts and normal magical beasts is troublesome enough. Going any further is no longer just troublesome; it's about figuring out the fastest and most efficient way to escape and how to maximize the chances of success.
I lack the necessary confidence in this. The sheer number of monsters on the edge of the gray area, not yet fully awakened, is terrifying enough. Unless they are weakened in combat while increasing in size, but at least the recent performance of the feathered serpent in its death throes easily refutes this idea.
Fortunately, Thrall's subsequent words, along with my assessment of the surrounding giant leaf walls when entering the settlement, offered me some comfort: "No, to tear a gap in the outer wall, you actually need a special tool. At the time, one of my close friends and I happened to know my brother who possessed that tool, so we sneaked out while he was asleep."
"As a result, it was discovered not long afterward, and he was severely criticized in front of everyone in the settlement. After that, he never dared to do it again."
That definitely deserves to be criticized.
It can easily create a safety hazard.
"Besides the dog hole, what other achievements have you made?" Sheng asked with interest. "After all, now that you have the tools, you're bound to want to try them out, right?"
Sal scratched his face, which had regained some color, with lingering fear: "I did try to use it. But, because I didn't know the specific usage, it only left a shallow dent on the inside of the outer wall, and someone almost injured their hand because of it... The only one that succeeded by chance was the one that got blocked afterward."
Sheng shrugged and spread his hands: "Luckily, nothing serious happened."
"Yes, otherwise it wouldn't just be a scolding that would end up..."
After confirming the exact location of the person who possessed the relevant tools and confirming that there were no further questions, we thanked him for his help and turned to leave.
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