The group of eight shuttled through the silent jungle. Because it was too dense, there was almost no sunlight in the depths of the jungle. A damp and rotten smell hit them in the face and the moist water vapor stained their bodies, making them feel damp.
Moreover, because the jungle was too dense, it was almost difficult to move forward. They needed to take turns using wooden sticks and other tools to open up the path in front. Fisher held Jennifer's hand and followed behind silently. Along the way, there was only the rustling of their bodies passing through the leaves and the silent and suppressed breathing of the group.
Moreover, from time to time, they would lose their direction and need someone to climb higher to find the goal at the top of the mountain again.
"Will someone really sacrifice themselves to light up those signal towers?"
Just as the fatigue of the team was getting stronger and their progress was getting slower and slower, one of the blonde women suddenly whispered, "There are two hundred signal towers on the entire island, so we need two hundred people to sacrifice themselves... Will there really be that many people who are willing to sacrifice themselves to save us?"
Hearing this, everyone in the team was stunned and their footsteps unconsciously slowed down.
Out of more than five hundred people, they had to sacrifice two hundred people, not even one less. No matter how they looked at it, this was a difficult task, even an impossible challenge...
"In any case, our first step must be to enter the safe zone."
Fisher frowned and lowered his voice to a volume that only a few people around him could hear. "Although I don't understand what the 'curse' that Gantz mentioned is, in any case, that's something that needs to be considered later. What we need to do now is to rush into the safe zone and put ourselves in safety first. The rest can be discussed later..."
"You're right!"
Another blonde woman, Jennifer, also lowered her voice. "In any case, only in the safe zone will we be truly safe. Otherwise, that monster will target us at any time, and once it does, there's almost no hope of escape..."
Everyone's heart suddenly tightened when they heard this. Although they did not see the full appearance of the monster, the giant pale hand from before had deeply crushed most of their resistance and left a deep impression in their minds.
"The 'curse' that Gantz mentioned, could it be a special kind of poisonous gas that will be released as soon as our communication device lights up the signal tower?"
Just when everyone was silent, a question suddenly came from the side.
Fisher looked to his side and saw that it was a thin young man who had followed him not long ago. The young man's name was John. Originally, he was not Fisher's bodyguard but a hacker. He was prepared by Fisher to deal with Blackwatch's pervasive network surveillance.
At this moment, the young man named John was fiddling with the communication device in his hand, seemingly trying to decipher some clues.
"It could also be some kind of virus."
Fisher thought for a moment and said in a deep voice, "Don't forget, Blackwatch is a biotechnology company. They're even the first in the world to develop a vaccine for the Blacklight virus. Whether the Blacklight virus was deliberately spread by their company or not, it shows that this company is at the top of the Federation in the field of biotechnology. If they really developed a virus that will cause the whole body to turn into ashes as soon as one comes into contact with it, I wouldn't be surprised at all..."
"So the more it is like this, the more we have to overthrow them!"
Jennifer murmured in a low voice. Her face was pale but her expression was determined. She exuded the radiance of a Virgin Mary. "If there's no other way, let me light up the signal tower. I only hope that you can leave safely and then completely destroy this evil company!"
"There's no need to do that now."
Fisher frowned. "I don't want any of you to die here. If possible, I hope to learn from others the experience of activating the signal tower and analyze the pattern from it. Maybe we can find a way to avoid the signal tower and escape from here, so as to avoid unnecessary sacrifices..."
Everyone fell silent when they heard this, but they seemed to have gained a little motivation and their pace seemed to quicken.
If this was any other time, Fisher would definitely be secretly pleased with himself when he said this, but today, he did not feel any excitement because of this wave of winning over the morale of the team. Instead, his heart felt even heavier.
This was because everyone seemed to have overlooked one thing, and that was — even if all the signal towers were lit, would the other party really keep their promise and let them go?
Fisher did not dare to voice this idea at all. First, there was no point in thinking about this now. Second, once he said it, he was afraid that the entire team would no longer have any will to survive...
Thinking of this, Fisher just kept his head down and hurried on, forcing his way through the dense jungle to carve out a narrow path leading to the top of the mountain.
Along the way, apart from stopping by the stream to replenish some water, they almost did not stop at all. In this way, they still marched for seven or eight hours, and finally, before the sun was about to set, they forcibly opened a path and arrived at the top of the mountain.
Suddenly, a vast and fertile black land appeared before everyone's eyes.
It was an empty land with a radius of a hundred meters, as if it had been flattened by an excavator. There were almost no plants in sight, only withered and rotten leaves scattered on the ground, proving that this was once a jungle.
It was just that all the trees in this area at the top of the mountain had been flattened by some unknown force...
"Is this the safe zone?"
Looking at the empty top of the mountain, Fisher felt as if his legs had lost all strength. He endured his exhaustion and dragged the two blonde women into the safe zone. He suddenly collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath.
The clothes of the five people who took turns to open the path in front of them were torn to pieces by the sharp plants. Long scratches with red bloodstains spanned across everyone's bodies. It was a ghastly sight.
"Fisher, look over there."
Ten minutes later, everyone felt that they were gradually "coming back to life", but at this moment, Jennifer suddenly spoke. She pointed to a metal-colored building in front of them and asked weakly, "What's that?"
"I don't know, but it looks like some kind of totem? Or some kind of instrument? "
Fisher narrowed his eyes and looked at the huge steeple that looked like a totem. Previously, he could not see this area at the top of the mountain from the foot of the mountain. It was only now that he noticed that the steeple was located in the middle of the open space at the top of the mountain, about ten meters high.
Although it was not very magnificent, on the bare top of the mountain, it was the most conspicuous existence.
At this time, everyone gradually realized that it was not just them. There were more than a dozen people who had stopped here in this open area at the top of the mountain. Some of these people were collecting firewood while others were picking fungi at the edge of the open space, using their own means to determine whether these fungi were poisonous.
With the arrival of Fisher and the others, many people looked at them in unison, but at this time, there was no longer any fear in the eyes of this group of people. On the contrary, when they looked at Fisher, their former leader, there was a hint of hostility in their eyes.
"Ignore them..."
Fisher took a deep breath. Of course, he understood how these people felt. As the frontmost leader of White Embers, although he also had to look at the faces of those behind the scenes, on the surface, he had always been very trusted by everyone.
As for the members of White Embers, except for some true environmentalists, most of the rest were first-class mercenaries. These people who lived a bloody life only cared about money. Other than that, environmental protection and faith had nothing to do with them.
And the problem was with this group of people.
Fisher found that the people who came to the top of the mountain at this time were all mercenaries. There were almost no real environmental volunteers, and not only did this group of people not have the slightest respect for him, but they had already grown to hate him because of this disaster.
If it were not for the fact that Fisher's background was too powerful, he would have been besieged by angry people during the five days of drifting on the sea.
Thinking of this, Fisher secretly complained, but he had to put on a calm look. He occupied an open space with the others and began to quietly repair.
"John, go collect dry firewood nearby. Joseph, go collect fungi and wild fruits. Remember not to go too far. The rest of you, clean up this open space. Be careful of poisonous insects in the soil..."
Fisher gave the order while looking around. The area at the top of the mountain was about a circular open space with a diameter of about a hundred meters. Although it was not big in reality, it was enough for everyone to make some adjustments.
And the most conspicuous thing in the entire open space was the steeple at the center of the circle.
At this time, several people were gathered in front of the steeple made of metal and seemed to be observing the details of the steeple.
For some reason, when Fisher observed the steeple, he felt as if someone was watching him. The steeple, whether it was the shape or the patterns on it, had an evil nature.
Just when Fisher was secretly on guard, several mercenaries who had arrived first looked at each other and seemed to have reached a tacit understanding. They began to walk toward this side.
Fisher stood up subconsciously and shielded the two blonde women behind him with his men. At the same time, he said, "I know what you're thinking. Obviously, Blackwatch has gone beyond common sense. I've also fallen. We can be said to be sharing weal and woe now. Even if you kill me, it's meaningless."
Fisher spread his hands and said without waiting for the crowd to come closer, "Moreover, even if you kill me to vent your anger, if you leave this place alive in the future, you'll be hunted down by the major financial groups. After all, Oppenheimer isn't the only financial group behind White Embers..."
Hearing this, everyone's footsteps suddenly stopped.
Indeed, there were more than a few of them present. Even if they killed Fisher now, everyone would see it.
Thinking of this, among these mercenaries, one of the short black men spat on the ground and said disdainfully, "I really hope you die here."
With that said, he turned and left.
The remaining people looked at each other and seemed to be a little hesitant.
"If I can get out of this place alive, I can give each of you three million dollars for helping me. Even if you die, I can give it to your families."
Fischer continued calmly, "I hope that you'll be able to take a stroll outside. You don't have to worry that I won't be able to find your relatives. After all, all your details are in the records of the Oppenheimer family."
Hearing this, the expressions of the remaining people also changed slightly, and then two more turned and left.
Obviously, these people were not completely hot-headed.
There were only three people left. On Fisher's side, although two people went to the jungle to pick up supplies, there were still six people who stayed in the open space.
Seeing this scene, the remaining three people had to leave reluctantly.
Seeing that everyone had retreated, Fisher secretly breathed a sigh of relief. From now on, he could only take one step at a time. He really did not know how many times his identity and status could protect him, not to mention that there were still two burdens who would easily attract attention...
As he said this, Fisher stole a glance at the two blonde women, and a thoughtful look gradually filled his eyes.
As the sky gradually darkened, John and Joseph, who had left earlier, also returned one after another. They lit the collected supplies by drilling wood to make a fire. Suddenly, smoke rose from the top of the mountain.
After drying his clothes by the fire and eating the fungi, Fisher looked around again, only to see that the number of people on the top of the mountain had exceeded a hundred, and from time to time, newcomers who looked battered and exhausted would join them. Fisher immediately seized this opportunity to rally the morale of the troops, using the fire and food to gather five men on his side.
Almost all of these mercenaries fought alone, and they were very vigilant of each other. This also led to Fisher becoming the largest team on the top of the mountain once again.
At this point, Fisher's crisis was temporarily over. At this time, his heart was calm, and he ordered everyone to burn the fallen leaves on the ground. After burning the rotten leaves and damp water vapor, they could sleep more peacefully at night and avoid the harassment of poisonous insects.
Not only that, he also asked everyone to find stones and grind them into beginner-level stone tools. Then, they would use these stone tools to dig grooves and lids on the wooden blocks to create water storage containers.
On the entire island, only the river halfway up the mountain had a source of fresh water. There was no one at the top of the mountain, so without a water storage container, they would not have the ability to replenish themselves.
And Fisher's orders were not only carried out by his subordinates, but the others also followed suit. Suddenly, the entire top of the mountain became lively.
Just as everyone on the top of the mountain was in a frenzy, Fisher finally found some free time. He walked to the steeple alone and looked up with the afterglow of the setting sun.
Under the setting sun, the entire steeple seemed to be dyed a special blood-red color. Fisher walked up to it, touched the patterns on it, and then tapped it lightly. Suddenly, the entire steeple let out a low buzzing sound.
This steeple was actually made of solid metal?
"Is it iron or aluminum? Or lead … "
Fisher picked up a stone and directly scratched it, only to find that the steeple was extremely hard. The sharp edges of the stone could not even leave a trace on it.
Just as Fisher was trying to identify what kind of metal it was, he did not know if it was an illusion, but he suddenly saw a flash of red light in front of him. The red color overflowed the patterns on the steeple, but when Fisher wanted to confirm it, there was nothing.
"Is it an illusion caused by the sunset? Or … "
Fisher looked a little confused, and the feeling of being watched became even stronger.
At this moment, a low roar suddenly came from the dark jungle, and at the same time, a shrill scream followed. Everyone looked toward the darkness, and fear of the unknown appeared in their eyes.
It was obvious that someone had encountered those tyrant like monsters again …
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