Lucius recounted his experiences to his people, stroking the children of his tribe with his large hands.
He looked at the familiar faces, and the leaders who had come from afar, not daring to meet Lucius's gaze. The leaders feared the old man who had come back from the dead, and at the same time felt guilty. After the old man left, they began to fight among themselves, completely forgetting the unity of the White-Faced Monkey. So the leaders sat far away like children who had made a mistake, as if the old man would not scold them if they stayed far away.
The old man did not rebuke them, but came to their side. The burly leaders cowered and avoided him like the plague.
So Lucius summoned the four leaders of the tribe. They were the heads of the four major families of the White-Faced Monkeys. As for Lucius, he had lived the longest and had seen the most. He had ruled the White-Faced Monkey for several years and, looking out over the Black Swamp, he always made the right decisions.
For example, they would leave the tributaries of the Mara River to avoid dangerous predators, or migrate deeper into the jungle to places with water during the dry season so that the White-Faced Monkeys would not die of thirst. Furthermore, he was the first White-Faced Monkey to believe that Death God could be served, and from then on, the monkey troop became Death God's henchmen, never worrying about attacks from predators.
"I want you to go to various places," Lucius said to the leaders.
"Lead your families to the farthest place you can reach, and multiply on the largest tree."
Black Typhon's size is growing larger and larger, and his appetite will not be limited to the Black Swamp area. This behemoth is bound to expand its territory, and the monkey troop will act as his eyes and ears to help Black Typhon expand. As long as the monkey troop can play a small role, they can obtain a more peaceful and prosperous home in Black Typhon's new territory.
Lucius looked at his people and thought that perhaps before he died of old age, he would hear another Mud Language voice from the monkey troop.
"Take your families and go!" Lucius shouted, his aged yet powerful roar igniting the fighting spirit of the monkey troop.
They heard incredibly stirring syllables in Lucius's words, syllables that represented struggle, expansion, and endless food.
The White-Faced Monkey joined Lucius in cheering.
Lucius raised his arms high. "Go! Go to fight! Go far away!"
"Your descendants will grow ever stronger, for Death God watches over them, and Death God will bless them!"
The monkeys imitated Lucius, raising their arms and shouting excitedly. Some of them even learned how to pronounce the syllables of the elder's name. Lucius turned around and saw loud shouts of "Lucius" coming from the monkey troop. The sound grew louder and louder until even Lucius himself could not hear his own voice.
Famu remained underwater, watching the White-Faced Monkey split into several groups, disappearing one after another from their original territory.
He sank into the water, and by the time Lucius jumped down from the tree to try and find his master, Famu had already left the Blackwater Swamp.
Famu followed the waterway to the Green Marshland, Colin was teaching Headscar hunting and communication skills.
"Go to the Black Swamp in the west." Famu emerged from the water.
Colin and Headscar both stopped to look at him.
"An Intelligent Species, an elder, has been born among the White-Faced Monkeys. I need you to look after him and recommend him to be a messenger," said Famu.
"But Famu, I'm prepared to refuse Nar. You see, I can't even speak properly, how can I be a messenger? I might even say there are five Nightmare Leopard instead of one, causing everyone to panic," Colin said with difficulty.
"But at least you didn't say a single wrong word in front of me." Famu's tone became stern.
Colin, of course, had to serve as a messenger; more than just a messenger, he also needed to become the ruler of the Mara River basin.
Colin didn't reply. In fact, he regretted his first rebuttal. He repeatedly warned himself not to offend Black Typhon's authority and not to try to bargain with a creature that could easily kill him.
"I will go," Colin said.
"Very good," Famu said.
Colin watched as the grotesque head sank back into the water, ripples spreading across the surface. Then, the enormous snake-like shadow left the edge of the floating island and disappeared into the deep water.
Colin glanced at Headscar, Headscar was baring his teeth at him, probably looking down on old Colin again.
He was furious and slapped the Headscar man to the ground.
Famu traveled eastward along the waterway, passing through floodplains and crossing the main channel of the Mara River, thus entering a vast and unfamiliar wetland.
Water lilies, duckweed, and decaying leaves float on the water's surface, while in the distance, patches of grassy islets emerge from the water.
Tall palm trees grow between the grassy islets, and further away are Forest Islands surrounded by floods.
In the messenger's records, the Mud Language name for this wetland is Arensa Wetlands, but this place is also often called "East Waterway" or "Great Waterland" because the overall terrain is low-lying. During the rainy season, the Mara River overflows its riverbed, and the originally separate river channels, oxbow lakes, marshes, shallows and forest depressions all become one. When the dry season arrives, the water level drops rapidly, and the floodwaters recede, leaving behind countless lakes of different sizes.
This is also the habitat of Intelligent Species marked on the messenger coordinates.
According to Arlen's description, three Furnace-Core Creatures, two giant capybaras, and a white stork live in the Arensa Wetlands. They are all very old and know how to survive in the rainforest. They only come to land during the dry season. In the current dangerous rainy season, these three old guys either stay in the wetlands with four or five escape routes behind them, or hide in the Forest Islands where they can't see the sun or moon.
Finding them is not easy; messengers contact them, and they only appear at specific times and places, so only the range of their habitat can be determined.
But for Famu, defining the scope was enough; Famu possessed the miracle of the terrifying upright ape.
"Kether, full power," Famu said.
"Received, Your Jiuxun, operating at full power."
The golden Spiral Tree was illuminated, and all life signals from the wetlands flowed simultaneously through its treetops. The Scepter searched for the Furnace-Core Creatures within these life signals.
"Searching, number one, number two, number three, number four, a total of four Furnace-Core Creatures. Among them, there is a male and a female capybara of level two, a white stork of level two, and an additional swamp crocodile not mentioned in the messenger's records. It has the highest Furnace Core strength and is of level three."
The water lilies and duckweed on the surface were pushed aside, and underwater, the Black Typhon arched its back, then silenced its heartbeat and submerged to the bottom.
Famu was about to begin his raid, swimming toward the capybaras' hideout, where two capybaras lived together—a sort of appetizer.