"Drip!"
A crystal-clear droplet reflected a glimmer of light as it slowly rolled from the dense leaves, shattered against the thick roots deeply embedded in the mud, and splashed into six tiny sprays of water that fell into the muddy puddle.
"Splash!"
Then, a foot came down heavily into the puddle. Muddy water flew everywhere as a figure darted past.
"Splash! Splash splash!"
Immediately afterward, just as the figure swept past, two or three more feet stepped down. Amid the flying mud, two or three more figures flashed by.
Then came the hurried sound of footsteps splashing through water, spreading rapidly and shattering the rare tranquility the primeval forest had enjoyed these past few days.
"Tap!"
About half an hour later, the first foot to step into that puddle landed on the largest branch of an enormous tree in the vast primeval forest and came to a stop.
The forward-most relay station should be set up around here.
The terrain in this primeval forest was complicated. Between the high ground and the dense ancient trees, it was all too easy to get lost. This distance was already the limit. If they went any farther, the relay stations and transport routes would easily go off course.
That would only waste time. It would be better to establish the relay stations one by one here first, link them up properly, and then push farther ahead.
Chiba had also instructed them not to go too far.
Mm...
This should be the place.
Standing firmly on the great branch, Hirohiko raised his head slightly and looked at the canopy formed by the dense leaves overhead, from which droplets constantly fell. Then he lowered his gaze to the relatively level ground beneath the tree and nodded silently to himself.
"Tap tap tap!"
At that moment,