The two walked together through the forest toward their destination, and finally they arrived at a bustling camp under construction.
There were already many players in the camp working on various tasks. Some were felling trees while others gathered stones, and still more were building houses in what had become a scene of productive activity.
The entire camp covered a large area and was built along the river for easy water access, with its perimeter already enclosed by a fence of sharpened wooden stakes to prevent sneak attacks from small carnivorous dinosaurs.
"Alright, this is as far as I go."
Nautia looked at Clara with finality.
"Aren't you staying with us?"
Clara was confused by her sudden urgency to leave.
"I'm used to being alone, so I won't join you."
Clara felt reluctant, and her small hand held Nautia's arm as if that might change her mind.
At this moment, people from the camp had already spotted the two of them approaching, and one called out to alert the others.
"Leader, new people are here again!"
The one in the lead was a middle-aged man, none other than Big Shrimp himself. He approached with an easy smile.
"You've come to join us, too? Welcome, welcome!"
This top-ranked expert seemed kind and lacked any arrogance, acting more like a friendly grandpa next door than a competitive player.
Nautia looked at the initiator of this Peace Camp with curiosity. He didn't seem to possess the aura of a skilled person, which made her wonder how he had achieved first place.
As Big Shrimp approached and saw the name above Nautia's head, his eyes immediately lit up with recognition. He remembered that name from the leaderboard as one of the top ten players, and his tone became even more enthusiastic.
However, Nautia had no intention of joining any faction.
"I appreciate your kindness, but I have other matters to attend to. I'll leave after I drop off this girl."
"In that case, I won't force you. But if you ever change your mind, you can come anytime since our camp will always welcome you."
Big Shrimp sensed that she wasn't interested in staying, so he didn't press the issue further.
"Thank you."
Nautia nodded to Big Shrimp in acknowledgment before turning back to Clara.
"I'm leaving now."
"Please take care!"
Clara saw that Nautia had no intention of staying, and although she was disappointed, she felt that traveling with her would only drag her down. So she could only reluctantly watch as Nautia gradually walked away into the forest.
Time flowed slowly across The Island as players settled into a steady rhythm.
At the beginning, players generally got stronger peacefully, while various large and small teams quietly built up their bases. As the personnel of each team became fixed, large and small strongholds and fortresses began to appear throughout The Island.
Some players who were good at taming dinosaurs tried to capture them, while those skilled in construction utilized their design talents to build structures. As for those who weren't good at anything specific, they gathered resources and contributed what they could.
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North District - Berserker Faction
Their numbers had grown considerably and reached around a hundred people, and numbers were still growing, though development proved challenging. Due to this area being in the most dangerous northern part of The Island, large dinosaurs would occasionally attack the Faction, which meant early development was relatively slow compared to the southern camps.
Of course, not all North District players chose to join the Berserker Faction at this time. A portion of players who couldn't stand the tribe's exploitation gathered to establish a small independent tribe, while other players simply built rafts and sailed out to sea without saying where they were going.
"Dig faster, no slacking off!"
A supervisor riding a Velociraptor was currently overseeing a group of about ten novice players, his voice sharp with impatience.
"Everyone must turn in at least 500 iron ore and 1000 stones today."
His words instantly drew dissatisfaction from some workers. With the reduced gathering rates, resource collection efficiency was painfully slow, and 500 iron ore was no small amount. Without a utility dinosaur in the early stages, relying purely on a pickaxe would exhaust them to death in a day.
"Why are you ordering us around? Who do you think you are?"
"You're just taking advantage of a little power and acting like you're someone important."
"This is the leader's order. If you have any complaints, just get lost and don't blame others if you get thrown out and die out there."
His squad was responsible for digging iron ore in the mountains, and if they couldn't meet today's production quota, he would also be punished. That was why he was pushing them extra hard.
Their Faction now planned to expand towards the Mangrove Forest since entering the depths of The Island would allow them to capture some utility dinosaurs like the Ankylosaurus. Then they wouldn't have to rely solely on manual labor for mining, which would speed up their development significantly.
Although the northern parts were dangerous, their mineral resources were very rich. Even at the foot of the mountain, they had discovered a large amount of iron ore.
His words had an effect on the workers, and although the players grumbled under their breath, they still diligently got to work. Mainly because the northern parts were in fact too dangerous, and they couldn't survive without grouping up.
"What's that?!"
"Oh no, an Allosaurus! Run!"
Everyone looked in the direction he pointed at and saw two massive Allosaurus charging out of the forest with their black and red skin glinting in the sun. Their gaping maws were full of sharp fangs, and they let out deafening roars as they lunged straight at the miners.
Some people's legs immediately turned to jelly from fear.
The supervisor, who had been arrogant just moments before, instantly changed his expression upon seeing the Allosaurus. Without a word, he slammed his hand on the Velociraptor's neck, turned around, and bolted at incredible speed before vanishing in a flash.
"What the hell..."
The others watched in disbelief at the betrayal, but at this point, they didn't have the time to care about that. The group frantically ran towards the camp for their lives, and after leaving behind two slow-running, unfortunate players, they narrowly escaped.
A week passed in the competition as players continued to adapt.
The death toll had now reached 259, though aside from the high number of deaths on the first day, the remaining players were rapidly adapting to the new rules and survival conditions.
In the sky, Jose was riding a Pteranodon and flying from the East District towards the South District, having developed quickly to reach over level thirty. Before long, the Pteranodon began to descend due to exhaustion, since stamina management was crucial for flying mounts.
Although there were many flying mounts on The Island, only the Pteranodon was easy to catch in the early stages. As long as the bola was thrown accurately, the taming difficulty was very low, though of course, the prerequisite was that you had to throw accurately in the first place.
The intelligent wild dinosaurs were all cunning and would flee at the first sign of danger, especially flying types. If you shot them with a tranquilizer arrow, the Pteranodons that sensed danger would quickly escape before you could finish taming them.
Therefore, not many players currently owned flying pets, and due to stamina issues, they had to land and rest periodically. Jose temporarily didn't dare to venture too deep into The Island's center.
Once the Pteranodon's stamina was fully recovered, he once again mounted it and soared into the sky with renewed purpose.
In the distant river area, a massive Rhino carried a huge platform saddle on its back. On this platform were many furnaces and chest-like storage items that created a mobile base.
This was the team of Boshita and his companions working together, and they had chosen an unusual strategy. They did not intend to settle in the South District permanently, so they did not establish a fixed stronghold. Instead, they moved around using the dinosaur platform as a mobile base, exploring and developing at the same time.