Night, silent forest.
A team numbering over a thousand spread orderly around, forming an iron-clad defense formation.
Zzt... zzt...
The walkie-talkie emitted intermittent static.
"Director Giles, Team Six has lost contact."
The communication officer reported to Giles, who was nearby.
"Presumed dead. Keep other team numbers unchanged."
Giles gazed into the dark woods in a certain direction, his tone cold, decisively declaring the missing Team Six dead without hesitation.
The communication officer's eyes trembled, 'No routine follow-up questions? Just an immediate judgment?'
'Then, even if Team Six had survivors, based on the director's judgment, the team wouldn't specially send people to search or rescue.'
'Was this a form of abandonment?'
"Understood."
The communication officer's thoughts paused only briefly before quickly adjusting his mindset, performing his duty.
Giles glanced back at the communication officer, then walked towards a nearby team.
Everyone in the team remained stationary in designated spots, no light sources lit, no whispering.
They weren't here camping and knew the forest's dangers well.
Tonight alone, they had heard no fewer than fifty screams.
But in the days since entering the Sea of Trees, over a hundred teammates had fallen behind and gone missing.
Under a giant tree, Kincaid sat cross-legged, writing briskly in a notebook.
Five capable Nen Users surrounded him, responsible for his safety.
"A rolling, sharp grass ball? Even a Nen User's combined offensive and defensive Ken can't withstand it. Due to terrain limitations, rashly using firearms might create noise attracting more troublesome presences."
"Lifeform with bat wings and butterfly features, rarely seen during daytime, appearing mostly at night… undoubtedly nocturnal. Attack method: slender tails up to three meters long, blood-sucking effect. Once stabbed, all blood is drained within five seconds."
"Strange trees that can split open their trunks, extending twenty vines covered in barbs. Peculiarly, when attacking, these vines, like carnivorous plants, use variously shaped barbed vines to form a seamless net to trap prey."
"More troublesome: these strange trees' appearances aren't uniform. Based on existing info, they likely share characteristics with hermit crabs."
"If we can't find a method to quickly identify these strange trees, we must constantly beware every big tree before traversing this Sea of Trees."
Kincaid's pen suddenly stopped… he sighed heavily.
"If not for the [Guide]'s mishap, the predetermined route wouldn't have deviated so far, maybe wouldn't have lost so many people. Intelligence is too scarce now, and each type of info collected almost comes at the cost of blood."
"Although uncomfortable, we still rely on the [Guide]'s ability for the return journey. So we don't even have the right to blame or get angry."
Beside him, five bodyguards vigilantly watched their assigned directions, long accustomed to Kincaid's low muttering while note-taking.
Just then, they noticed Director Giles approaching and focused their attention.
As Giles came near, they all saluted.
As one of the International Permit Agencies' directors, Dark Continent's survivor, this operation's overall team leader, and the strongest in the team… wherever Giles went, subordinates sincerely saluted him.
To Giles, this meaningless behavior persisted even though he'd verbally mentioned it wasn't necessary.
Giles reached Kincaid.
His tall, burly build made his footsteps somewhat heavy without deliberate restraint, also drawing Kincaid's attention.
Kincaid looked up at Giles before him and asked, "Time's up?"
Giles shook his head: "Rest time remains five minutes. You're not a Nen User, your physique and stamina are limited. So a reminder: during rare rest times, rest properly."
"Understood, I'll adjust quickly," Kincaid said seriously.
"Hope so."
Giles turned and left.
Kincaid watched Giles's back, then looked down at his notebook.
'He came specifically for such a minor matter? No, perhaps in his eyes, it's not minor.'
True, although contact time wasn't long, he could roughly discern Giles's operational style… comprehensive coverage, allowing no omissions...
'Perhaps extreme, but because of this, this team can be so comprehensive.'
Five minutes later, the Interna team continued onward.
Dangers lurked everywhere in the Sea of Trees, especially at night… arguably the most perilous period daily.
Considering this, after the route changed, the International Permit Agencies' team adopted traveling by night, resting by day.
This wasn't the coastline's outermost edge, and the International Permit Agencies' team lacked an absolutely safe resting place like the Hide-and-Seek dimension.
Originally, after landing on the coastline, the International Permit Agencies' team needed only to travel four hundred kilometers to reach their destination, the Ancient Labyrinth City.
But due to route guidance changes, their landing point differed, turning the four-hundred-kilometer journey into over a thousand kilometers.
Consequently, the team needed double the travel time.
Not only that, the route change increased dangers severalfold, explaining the severe attrition.
After twenty full days, the International Permit Agencies' team lost 150 combat personnel and 68 support members, finally reaching the Ancient Labyrinth City's outskirts.
'Finally... back here again.'
Giles looked up at the high walls surrounding the labyrinth city, a glint in his eyes.
'This time, I will definitely obtain the Herb, definitely!'
A silent shout echoed in his heart, unknown to teammates around.
Every International Permit Agencies' team member gazed gravely at the nearby mysterious metal high walls.
"Over sixty meters tall?" Someone murmured.
"Unbelievable. Are such structures truly built by ancient humans?"
Just thinking that the Ancient Labyrinth City contained tens of thousands of such high-walled buildings inspired awe.
Ancient humans… what methods did they use to construct such magnificent, grand labyrinthine cities in the dangerous Dark Continent environment?
And a 'fortress' of this scale couldn't provide shelter for human survival?