"As far as I know, there's only one town that players like us can currently access for services. It's called the Explorer's Town. It belongs to the colonizers. As for villages, they're all native settlents—mostly AI villages where you gain experience by killing them. From what I've heard, no player has been able to successfully negotiate with the native AIs on this island." Aswa, still sprawled out on the sand, spoke up. The two young n turned to look at him in amazent, because the information he had was more extensive than what most players in this ga even knew.
"All I can say is, if you see people dressed in leaves and animal hides, the best course of action is to run away as fast as you can. They've got poison-tipped darts, pretty high base stats, and they always move in large groups too."
Aswa sat up and explained, his face tense.
Shunk!
"Woah!"
Rustle... rustle... rustle...
A group of natives dressed in animal hides and adorned with colorful feathers appeared along the treeline at the edge of the beach. Their expressions were fierce, weapons at the ready. Siegfried, Aswa, and the ship captain—whose na was later revealed to be Hicks—raised their hands to show the natives that they did not intend to fight. Everyone except for Fluffy Head-chan, who was screaming and cursing at whoever had dared to shoot a dart right into the forehead of the brand-new puppet that Chang Long had just transferred his soul into not long ago.
"Who the heck shot a dart into my forehead? Look at this. My head has a hole in it—who's going to take responsibility? I just moved into this puppet. You bastard, co out and let bite your head off!"
The native tribesn were startled to see a talking lion cub. They threw a net over it and proceeded to capture Siegfried's group, including Chang Long, who remained completely unconscious and was taken hostage.
Fluffy Head-chan was locked inside a wooden cage and carried on a shoulder. Chang Long was slung over another shoulder, still limp. The rest had their hands tied and were roped together in a line, escorted by dozens of tribesn. They were led through a winding path deep into the jungle—a jungle with beasts that looked vastly different from anything found on the three main islands. The tribesn moved cautiously, yet with clear familiarity, as if they knew the terrain like the back of their hands, even though the jungle was thick and tangled. Towering trees reached into the sky, letting almost no sunlight reach the forest floor. The surrounding environnt was hot and humid, the ground littered with broken branches, dry leaves, and fallen logs covered in moss, lichens, ferns, and fungi.
There were very few beasts spotted along the way, which allowed the three young n to deduce that the tribesn were probably using a main travel route that intentionally avoided the habitats of forest beasts. Even though there were not many beast encounters, they almost got devoured by a Boiling Monkey Cup Beast—a carnivorous plant—because they mistook it for an oddly shaped tree.
The Boiling Monkey Cup Beast's stalk resembled a pale green pipe, no thicker than an arm. The end of the stalk looked like a large earthen pot with a lid. It was the sa color as the stalk but dotted with dark green blotches all over. Small branch-like tendrils extended from the stalk, interspersed with leaves that looked like maple leaves and were the sa color as the rest of the plant.
Its branches waved like tentacles, while the rim of its large pot-shaped mouth slowly tilted left and right all the ti. Its mouth was so large it could swallow a five-year-old child whole, which caused its stalk to bend under the weight of the enormous pot-mouth.
Even though it could not move, its tendrils could still creep around, foraging for food at a range of over two ters. However, there was one plant that did not seem fully matured yet, positioned near the tribesn's walking path. It was hiding behind a thick bush. While they were resting, Aswa was the first to spot it and pointed it out to the other two, showing them the strange plant. According to the system, it was a Young Boiling Monkey Cup Beast, level 25.
He reached out to stroke its chin, which looked like the bottom of a pot, and it responded with a dreamy sway, even making a sound by rubbing its tendrils together, as if pleased with his touch. The small lid that served as its upper lip parted slightly, as if waiting for the right mont. Every ti Aswa's hand moved closer to the edge of the pot, it tried to snap, but his hand was still too far from the mouth rim, which began to make it a bit irritated.
"What kind of beast has such a ridiculous na?"
Siegfried spoke up. He eyed the Young Boiling Monkey Cup Beast warily, still unsure of how exactly it attacked players. The more he heard its na, the more he imagined its thod of killing must be quite grueso.
"Hahaha. What's the matter, scared or sothing, Elf boy? This little guy couldn't possibly hurt us!"
Aswa laughed heartily at Siegfried's uneasy expression as he played with the Young Boiling Monkey Cup Beast.
"I don't trust it either. Mr. Aswa, I think you'd better stop petting it like that." Captain Hicks agreed with Siegfried. Even though it was still a young beast, and its base level was not particularly high, its behavior was deeply suspicious.
"What, you too? This little guy doesn't have the brains to... YAAARGH!!"
Aswa did not even finish his sentence before letting out a startled scream, which caused both his fellow captives and the native tribesn to collectively jump in shock.
Siegfried and Captain Hicks gaped at the sight of Aswa's hand being devoured into the pot-shaped mouth of the Young Boiling Monkey Cup Beast, right up to his wrist. The silhouette of the young man's hand could be seen imrsed in water, which seed to be bubbling, as though boiling, slowly dissolving his hand. Around the mouth's rim were countless tiny fangs, clamping tightly onto Aswa's wrist as firmly as it could manage.
A few native warriors rushed over in alard expressions, only to roll their eyes and sigh in exasperation once they saw what the commotion was all about.
"Seriously? How stupid."
One of the three warriors shook his head at Aswa and lowered his weapon, as though the situation was not even remotely serious enough to warrant intervention.
"This guy must be an idiot. Who just shoves their hand into a Boiling Monkey Cup's mouth for fun like that?"
Another warrior, seemingly the youngest of the three, looked at Aswa with slight contempt in his eyes.
"Let's go. We'd better get moving again. That yelling probably attracted a whole horde of beasts this way."
The third warrior hurried back to the front of the group to push them onward, not paying the slightest attention to Aswa, who was still struggling to pull his hand out of the mouth of the Young Boiling Monkey Cup Beast.
"What about that guy?"
The youngest tribesman asked, clearly bothered by how the elders were not stepping in to help Aswa.
"Tch. Losing one hand won't affect the sacrificial ritual. Let's go. If we delay any longer, we're all going to be in trouble."
The three tribal warriors walked away without a care, under the bewildered gazes of the three young n, because they did not understand a single word of the native tribespeople's conversation. But judging from their actions, they clearly did not mind even if their captives ended up with only one hand left.
"What was that all about? They ca running to look, then just left. Didn't even bother helping. With our hands tied like this, how are we supposed to do anything?"
Captain Hicks looked after the three tribal warriors with suspicion.
"Looks like they ordered the march to continue. Aswa, you're on your own now."
Siegfried shrugged and spoke to the mischievous young man who was gritting his teeth, in a tone that sounded sympathetic but not the least bit sincere.
"You bastards. Don't push too far. I'm letting it slide for now just because Chang Long hasn't woken up yet. But once we reach your city, I'll raze it to the ground—just wait and see!"
Aswa clenched his teeth in rage. He had to suppress it when the rope binding them together was sharply tugged to force them to continue moving. The young man channeled inner energy into his palm, which was still tightly gripped by the Young Boiling Monkey Cup Beast, causing blood to seep out. The burning pain from the acid trapped inside the pot-shaped mouth faded once his internal energy spread to cover his hand. Aswa then sharply yanked his hand upward as he stood, causing the small pot-shaped mouth to explode. The acid trapped inside splashed in all directions, accompanied by a loud sizzling sound as it corroded the surrounding ground.
"Not bad at all."
Siegfried laughed and praised him. He had already known there was no way Aswa would be seriously hard by such a minor attack.
"Hmph. If sothing like this could kill , I'd never have made it to the position of number one guild leader on the entire Aseana island."
Aswa puffed up his chest in response. Though he had lost so face after crying out when bitten by the Young Boiling Monkey Cup Beast, he redeed himself by taking it down in one shot without much effort. It was a sha Chang Long was unconscious—otherwise, she too would have witnessed Aswa's cool mont, just like the other two.
At last, they arrived at a grand, majestic city that looked more civilized than they had ever imagined. The tribe, who dressed like savages, turned out to have an enormous city—organized and seemingly well-planned. The townspeople did not wear animal hides and feathers like the warriors. The won wore cotton garnts adorned with jewelry made from gold and gemstones like jade, ruby, lapis lazuli, carnelian, and opal. The n dressed similarly, and those of higher rank wrapped themselves in finely tailored animal hides—mostly tiger, bear, or wolf pelts.
Chang Long's group was taken to a prison facility not far from a massive cathedral at the city's center—a step pyramid so tall it nearly touched the sky. The tribal warriors tossed them into cells without a care. One of the warriors turned and spoke to them after locking the cell door.
"Welco to the capital city of Cuzca, the great empire of the Inca. Soon, you will fulfill a most sacred role—as sacrifices to the gods two nights from now. So take care not to die too early."
"What was that guy saying? I didn't understand a word of it!"
Aswa grumbled because he could not make sense of the warrior's speech. But Siegfried managed to pick up parts of it. The young man's jaw dropped when he realized he was witnessing a lost ancient civilization once believed to be the greatest in South Arica, before being wiped out by Spanish colonizers.
"Cuzca… Inca… The na's different from history, but… incredible!"
Siegfried muttered to himself in awe. Aswa turned to look at him with an annoyed expression.
"What are you mumbling about? You understood what those guys were saying?"
"Not all of it. But from what I gather, we're in the land of the Inca tribe—Native Aricans once known for their golden city, El Dorado."
Siegfried replied. Aswa and Captain Hicks gasped, finding it hard to believe.
"El Dorado?!"
Captain Hicks whispered in astonishnt, equally thrilled and shocked.
"I don't know if it's really El Dorado, but one thing's certain—we're in the city of Cuzco in the Inca Empire. Even if the ga calls it Cuzca. And it looks like we captives might be used as sacrificial offerings in one of their divine rituals."
Siegfried responded calmly. He gently placed Chang Long's head on his lap and began surveying the interior of the prison where he and his companions were now confined.
Their weapons and backpacks were confiscated by the jailers, even though there was no way to open them at all. But even so, destroying the cell—built from clay mixed with twigs for added strength—was not difficult in the slightest for them. However, breaking out of prison at this ti would be too risky, since Chang Long still had not regained consciousness, and Fluffy Head-chan had been separated and imprisoned elsewhere, though it probably was not far from them. Siegfried could still hear his shouting echoing faintly every now and then.
"Devi-chan, are you around here?" Siegfried called out to the spirit of the forr pirate king that belonged to Chang Long, who remained invisible to avoid being seen by others. Devi-chan appeared not far from Chang Long's body. He looked at Siegfried with displeasure in his eyes, then asked in a blunt voice:
"What is it?"
"Uh… I want to know how much longer Chang Long will be unconscious. I'm worried sothing might happen soon, so I'd like to escape as quickly as possible,"
Siegfried said to him, looking a little nervous.
"You afraid she'll drag you down, and you won't make it out, boy?"
Devi-chan furrowed his brows, his voice growing slightly more stern upon hearing Siegfried's answer.
"N... no, that's not it! I'm afraid I won't be able to protect her all the way through. Besides, if we all work together, escaping from here won't be difficult,"
Siegfried's answer made Heaven clasp his forehead in distress. His heir showed weakness every ti he was with Chang Long, making Heaven feel that Siegfried would never have the will to overco Devi-chan's heir—and that the title of Supre King he hoped for might slip away unless soone got rid of Chang Long first.
"You may not be able to do it, but I definitely can. Once the ti is right, I'll be the one to take care of Chang Long. As for you and the Captain here, just focus on breaking through to the exit."
Aswa puffed out his chest and declared with full confidence.
"You're going to protect my heir? Shouldn't you ask his opinion first?"
Devi-chan sneered as he asked Aswa, who followed his gaze. A familiar dark shadow appeared before the young man—who now stood with trembling lips, his face drained of color.
"R-Roche Roger!"
Aswa shouted aloud upon seeing that the figure who suddenly appeared out of the void beside him was none other than the deceased Pirate King himself—the one who had bestowed upon him treasure, ocupation, outfit set, title, and the very position of Pirate King's heir.
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