Footprints

The area near where the wolf-race beastmen stood was indeed wasteland, but not far off, orderly ridges and neat crops came into view, silently proclaiming that this land was not ownerless.

The excited pack of wolves felt as if a basin of cold water had been dumped over their heads. Their tails drooped one by one, their eyes fixed blankly on the farmland before them.

Lang San was even more stunned. After realizing the truth, his face flushed with embarrassment, and his lips twitched for a long while before he finally explained: "When I came here for the first time, it was pitch black, and I could only see the wasteland..." and that shadow.

A shadow?

Lang San looked up, only then realizing that the massive shadow he had mistaken for a monster was just a towering building.

He did not need to explain further; this was the situation from earlier, and the other wolf-race beastmen knew it in their hearts as well.

But...

With such a great hope falling through, no beastman felt good inside.

For a time, the wolves were extremely quiet, with only the crackling of the torches remaining, as if they were silently digesting this disappointment.

The little granddaughter who had come with her grandfather was still young and did not understand what had happened, so she asked in confusion: "What is wrong, Grandpa? Can we not move here after all?"

Her voice was thin, carrying the tender innocence unique to a child.

But in this situation, it sounded rather pitiful.

Among the beastmen who had come, there were some rash ones. Hearing this, they could not help themselves. They sniffed hard, frowned in thought for a moment, and shouted: "There is no scent of other beastmen! It is not those herbivores, it must be some monster with nowhere to live that occupied this place! Such a good place, such a large area, so many fields..."

The more he spoke, the redder his eyes became, clearly consumed by jealousy.

The few wolf-race beastmen standing beside him were infected by this emotion, and their eyes turned red one by one.

Life for the wolf-race was not easy.

This was an undeniable fact!

The disadvantage of the wolf-race had been decided from the very beginning when the territory was allocated.

Barren land could not grow enough food, and if even eating was a problem, how could other things be resolved?

The greatness of the first Wolf King was unquestionable, and he had indeed established a substantial foundation for the wolf-race.

However, the subsequent Wolf Kings who succeeded him were worse than the last. Poverty caused the reputation of the wolf-race to deteriorate, and even the ones wandering in the black market, sold in those unspeakable places, were wolf cubs.

Until now, a new King had taken office.

The new King was not a wolf-race beastman and had not even been to the wolf-race territory, but he was fair enough.

For the wolf-race beastmen who had been oppressed for so long, fairness was the greatest gift.

This was someone else's territory. Regardless of the race, once they committed a rude act, it would signal the start of a war.

Life would get better. They could not cause trouble for the new King.

The lead wolf following Lang San spoke: "Retreat to our territory. This place has an owner."

This meant they would not take it.

The young wolf cubs had never even seen such fertile land, but the wolf-race had strict discipline, and no wolf dared to disobey the lead wolf's words.

Thus, this anger was naturally transferred, and pairs of blood-red eyes looked toward Lang San, who stood at the very front of the formation.

He was already aged, his body hunched, unable to withstand any turmoil.

Plus, with the facts before all the wolf-race beastmen, Lang San had not intended to...

Except for the wolf-race beastman who had spoken up, the others withdrew their gazes. That fellow was young and still somewhat unwilling, looking at the lead wolf with red eyes again, only to be glared back at by the lead wolf's even bloodier eyes.

The young wolf-race beastman, who had been defiant just a moment ago, immediately tucked his tail between his legs, lowered his head sullenly, and lost all his temper.

The group of wolves took one last longing look at the fertile land and, led by the lead wolf, returned to the wolf-race territory.

A golden nest or a silver nest is not as good as one's own dog nest.

They could only comfort themselves this way.

Early Sunday morning, Cheng Shuili opened her eyes.

Having spent so long in this godforsaken place, her biological clock had stabilized.

Even if she stayed up late, she could still wake up on time without delaying anything.

Cheng Shuili stood up to stretch, and as usual, opened the regional channel to check for any noteworthy news.

After a moment, she raised an eyebrow slightly and closed the regional channel.

There was no noteworthy news, but there were plenty of people urging the Black Feather safe zone to open.

They were all people who knew there were too many people on the first day and disliked the crowding, so they waited until today to visit.

Cheng Shuili knew clearly that their curiosity about the safe zone was actually minimal; more likely, they wanted to visit the Black Feather territory.

After all... this was the number one ranked territory in the Dragon Country grand region.

This was also one reason why there were so many more people from the Dragon Country than from other grand regions.

Cheng Shuili did not continue reading. These people did nothing but talk nonsense, wasting time; she, however, was very busy.

After washing up, the breakfast prepared by Wanyi was delivered on time.

During this period, their food quality had improved quite a bit. The communal canteen brought more than just the convenience of preparing multiple meals; because of the perfect facilities here, some ingredients that could not be prepared previously due to a lack of equipment or conditions could finally be made.

Thus, the menu for the Black Feather group naturally gained an expansion.

Today's breakfast was considered eight-treasure porridge. Although there were many varieties, with several types of rice and beans mixed together, Cheng Shuili still ate with great relish.

Life could be said to be getting better and better; it would be great if the next disaster was not a plague.

On previous Sundays, the system would issue supplies corresponding to the next disaster, but ever since the team dungeon began, there had been no reminders at all.

Cheng Shuili sighed while holding her rice bowl, then scooped another spoonful of the thick, cooked porridge into her mouth.

The hot porridge was not only delicious but also comforting to the heart and lungs.

After drinking the last few mouthfuls, Cheng Shuili stood up and went to the bathroom to wash the bowl.

She still remembered when she first got this rice bowl; at the time, there was no dish soap or anything to scrub the bowl with, so she had just barely rinsed it clean with water.

Now, everything was available.

Various miscellaneous items and daily necessities filled the vehicle, stuffing it just like that rental apartment from her previous life.

It could be considered having a sense of home.

Cheng Shuili looked at the supplies placed inside the vehicle and shook her head. It was time to move.

The territory was so large, and there was such a good house; it would be strange not to live in it.

Thinking of this, she stretched again, greeted Su Rui, and said to call her if she passed by the special area, before staying in the territory.

That group from Dragon Soul had been quite efficient in their work; they had brought out the plan early this morning for what was requested last night.

Cheng Shuili wanted to choose the most suitable plan and had to start construction, so she simply went to the territory to discuss it with these people.

By the time the sun was high in the sky, the group had yet to reach a conclusion.

They kept saying this was Black Feather's first safe zone, the first safe zone for humans, and the hope of the entire world, so they had to be extremely cautious and produce a few of the best plans before letting the boss make the decision.

Cheng Shuili had agreed at first, but having stayed with these few people here for so long and listened to their nagging all morning, she was truly annoyed.

Just as she wanted to leave again, Yu Bing suddenly knocked on the door and whispered at the entrance: "Boss!"

Cheng Shuili's eyes lit up. She had arrived just in time; she had been looking for an excuse to leave openly!

She stood up, and the gazes of the middle-aged men discussing things with their heads lowered immediately turned toward her. Seeing they were about to spout some twisted logic again, Cheng Shuili immediately raised her hand to signal them to shut up.

This was serious business; no one was going to keep her here again.

Cheng Shuili walked to Yu Bing's side happily, pulled the confused Yu Bing halfway down the corridor, and then asked in a low voice: "What do you need me for?"

Yu Bing was still a bit dazed and only reacted after hearing the question, "Oh, oh! Boss, Zhuxing called me to come and get you, saying she saw footprints near our home and wants you to go take a look."

"Footprints?" Cheng Shuili was also confused. "What is wrong with footprints?"

People were coming and going in the safe zone; it would be strange if there were no footprints, right?

She thought this and asked it out loud as well.

Yu Bing slapped her thigh excitedly: "Right! I said the same thing at the time! But Zhuxing said that place is not open to players, and she patrols the fields every day; so many days have passed, and no one else has gone there except her, so she felt it was strange and asked me to call you, Boss, to go take a look."

Since she had said so, Cheng Shuili naturally had to go take a look.

Moreover, for Cheng Shuili, going to see Zhou Zhuxing was much more comfortable than listening to that group of middle-aged men with barely any hair left.

Although the territory was large, the two moved fast enough, and only a dozen minutes had passed when they met Zhou Zhuxing.

Zhou Zhuxing was staring at a plant in the field, observing it carefully. Hearing footsteps, she looked up. Upon seeing the visitors, she stood straight, politely called out "Boss," and then led the two to see the strange footprints she spoke of.

Cheng Shuili initially thought it was nothing. There were so many Black Feather members; perhaps one of them had been in a bad mood in the middle of the night and come out for a stroll.

But after seeing those footprints, she immediately dismissed that thought.

There were too many footprints, and they extended from their territory all the way to the border.

Cheng Shuili was very certain that it had been impossible to pass here before, but the footprints had undeniably disappeared right here.

"Boss... this..."

Cheng Shuili raised her hand to press down, gripped Night Hunt tightly, and showed a smile to the two people with furrowed brows: "Let's go, let's take a look."

"Go take a look?" Yu Bing's tone was surprised.

"Are we both going too?" Zhou Zhuxing was more practical.

Cheng Shuili nodded; she had her own considerations.

These two people had been issued territory servant cards and could not leave the territory.

If these two could enter this unknown area ahead, it meant that this place was also her territory and was likely safe.

If they could not enter, she would have to be extra careful.

Cheng Shuili gripped Night Hunt and took the first step.

As she crossed the invisible boundary, she felt a faint resistance, as if passing through a layer of cold water film, which then disappeared.

She immediately turned back and looked at Yu Bing and Zhou Zhuxing: "You two try."

Yu Bing looked at Zhou Zhuxing, signaled that she would go first, and then stepped forward. Taking a deep breath, she imitated Cheng Shuili and took a step forward, only to be blocked at the boundary by a soft but firm force, unable to move an inch further.

Zhou Zhuxing was the same.

"It seems this side does not belong to the territory range."

Cheng Shuili understood and said to the two: "You two go busy yourselves; I will go ahead to scout the situation."

Zhou Zhuxing was a bit worried: "Boss, should I go call Ailin or Su Rui to accompany you?"

Cheng Shuili waved her hand, "No need, it is more convenient for me to act alone. You two go do whatever you need to do."

The rocket launcher was still lying inside the Abyss Ring; whoever came would not be as useful as that.

And... Cheng Shuili looked up at the road stretching forward. She always felt that this suddenly appeared new area would not have any danger.

Although those footprints were messy, they had not moved a single step forward, nor had they caused any destruction; it was highly likely that they were friendly.

She gripped Night Hunt, took a deep breath, and stepped into that unknown area.

The ground beneath her feet was soft and moist, completely different from the planned land within the territory.

The air was filled with a faint, unfamiliar scent, like the smell of soil, yet also like the complex smell of a household that kept a dog.

Cheng Shuili lightened her steps and carefully moved forward along those messy footprints.

Rounding a corner, the view before her suddenly opened up.

Low, short houses were scattered about, mostly built from mud and rough timber, appearing simple and barren.

Several wolf-race beastmen were busy in the open space. Their figures were thin, their fur lacked luster, completely different from the robust beastmen Cheng Shuili had seen in the beastman town.

The first to notice her was a beastman child. The lollipop in her hand fell to the ground, and she pointed at Cheng Shuili and shouted: "Human! A human!"

This tender cry of alarm was like a stone thrown into a calm lake, instantly breaking the tranquility of the village.

All the wolf-race beastmen's movements stalled.

The tool in the hand of the wolf-race beastman repairing the roof dropped to the ground; the beastman drying animal hides froze in place; the little wolf cubs playing in the open space also shrunk behind their elders in unison.

Pairs of wolf eyes of various colors—amber, ghostly green, deep brown... all focused on Cheng Shuili, the uninvited guest.

The air was filled with tension and alertness; one could even hear a few suppressed low growls.

Cheng Shuili's mood was extremely complicated.

She already understood what was going on; this was likely the territory of the wolf-race beastmen.

She first put away Night Hunt, then scanned this simple village again.

To be honest, this was completely different from what she had imagined.

She had originally thought that even if the wolf-race were barren, it should be modern architecture like the beastman town.

This was simply a primitive tribe!

Cheng Shuili truly had a bit of a headache. Not to mention the infrastructure, looking at these beastmen, most of them were thin and weak. Facing her, the "invader," there was not much cruelty in their eyes, but rather more vigilance and unease.

Clearly, they did not have much combat power left.

The combat power should all be in the guard team.

Cheng Shuili felt a bit emotional and was just about to reveal the wolf tooth token when she heard an aged voice come from the crowd: "Human, you are not welcome here."

Because the distance was too far, or perhaps to show some momentum, he shouted this sentence.

Another stronger young beastman stood out right after, baring his teeth and threatening: "The guard team is already on its way! Human, you had better leave right now!"