Cold War

The next morning, Linsey and Red set off again.

However, one of them had dark circles under his eyes, and the other's smooth, long hair had turned into a messy ball of yarn.

They got up and tidied up the camp without saying a word.

After climbing the cliff, they determined their direction and route, and continued their trek.

There's a simple word that perfectly describes their current situation.

--cold Cold War.

We packed up the campsite early in the morning, prepared breakfast, and set off.

The two remained silent.

After a morning of travel, we stopped to rest and eat at noon.

The two of them remained silent.

Another whole afternoon passed, and they continued their journey, crossing several more canyons. Their improved speed, now that they were more skilled at traveling, was noticeably faster.

But neither of them said a word to their companion.

It continued until evening.

They entered the interior of a deep canyon.

This was the enormous canyon that the two had seen before entering the area.

The subsequent plans for moving forward were thus laid out before Linsey.

Continue heading east, or walk a short distance below this canyon.

The answer was quickly obtained through rough calculations.

Continue straight eastward, passing through countless cracks and ups and downs along the way.

And then we continued along this huge canyon.

Although the direction may be slightly off, you can eventually adjust your orientation by moving along the valley floor.

In terms of saving time, this method is definitely better than crossing directly.

"..."

The two remained silent throughout their journey.

Linsey led the way inside. There was still water flowing at the bottom of the canyon, and signs of animal activity indicated that the water source was available.

Although he can use the technique of having unlimited water to prepare clean water.

But places where fresh water flows do indeed make people feel more at ease; this is a habit passed down from the Life Instinct.

The only unsettling thing in the canyon was the wailing sound coming from all around.

Linsey observed carefully and realized the source of the sound—the wind.

Because of the unique sound reflection in the canyon, the normal sound of the wind becomes a strange whistling, which makes people feel that the atmosphere is strange.

The two walked for another half hour along the bottom of the canyon.

The sun continued to set in the west.

The canyon is sheltered by towering cliffs, and the sky darkens faster inside than outside.

As if in a fit of pique, Linsey set up camp in the middle of the canyon, instead of at the top of the canyon as Hong had suggested yesterday.

He even found a reason for himself in his mind.

"What if you sleep on a cliff and, during a restless dream, you roll off and die?"

"It's still safest to sleep downstairs!"

Time continued to pass.

The setting sun began to pull the yellow shadows away from the earth.

Although the two did not exchange any words, Linsey skillfully lit a campfire and set up a temporary camp.

Red then turned and disappeared into the canyon, beginning its search for today's prey.

After a month of traveling together, the two had developed a habit. Even without communicating, they had an unspoken understanding of how to carry out their tasks.

The girl in charge of the hunt was quite lucky.

She found a vulture's nest on a dead tree on the edge of a cliff. Not only did she "invite" the nest's owner back, but she also took three eggs, making the whole family together.

"Now we can definitely have a better meal tonight!"

Thinking about eating barbecue for a month straight, Hong couldn't help but smile.

She rushed back to the camp, but just before arriving, she quickly put away the smile on her face.

After overcoming the obstacles in the canyon, the girl's gaze froze.

"Ah?"

The scene before her eyes was not what she had expected.

Linsey was in the camp under construction, just as the shelter was being topped out. But everything that had just been built also became a hazard that blocked his view.

But it was right above Linsey.

A 4-meter-tall, earthen-yellow figure appeared out of nowhere from the rocks and was now silently approaching the top of the shelter.

It makes no sound.

Moreover, its location is in a shady spot in the canyon, so it doesn't cast shadows below.

Approaching silently—it's the enemy!

"Linsey, watch your head!"

Once she came to her senses, Hong threw away her dinner.

The vulture eggs they were hoping for were smashed.

However, the sharp-eyed girl didn't care about that at all.

Without hesitation, she threw her spear, herself becoming a blur as she chased the trajectory of the weapon, preparing to stop the sneak attack on Linsey.

Bang! The Meteorite Spear pierced directly into the opponent's body, and the high temperature began to destroy the body tissue, thus aggravating the injury.

"Um?"

Linsey then realized that danger was approaching.

He crawled out of the shelter and jumped away from where he stood.

He turned his head and saw the monster preparing to attack him, and the girl rushing up to help him.

To protect her companions from a sneak attack, Red risked her life.

Her position relative to the enemy made it inconvenient to draw her spear, so she risked engaging in close-quarters combat. Her slender body, compared to the massive enemy, was like a toy that could break at any moment!

"What the hell?"

Linsey immediately made a judgment and took out the Spider Silk Night Shadow, firing three long arrows simultaneously within a single breath.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Three loud bangs echoed as the earthen-yellow figure was slammed against the cliff face by three arrows wielding the power of Wolf Tooth Club.

At this moment, Red also approached again.

Taking advantage of the enemy's immobility as they crashed against the cliff face, she pulled out her Meteorite Spear, infused it with Essence, and stabbed it into the enemy's head again.

Click—

The flash of fire disappeared in an instant.

Red's attack was swift and precise. The enemy tried to dodge, but their speed was simply no match for Red's rapid offensive.

The spear pierced through, and the intense heat of the meteorite began to incinerate his head.

The outcome of the battle was already decided.

However, a month of hunting also honed Red's fighting spirit.

The head is not necessarily the weak point of all enemies.

Moreover, the enemy in front of him had just been fighting him while still injured by the Meteorite Spear.

So after completing this theoretically fatal blow.

Red immediately drew her spear and leaped behind her to prevent any possible final counterattack.

"..."

The canyon was completely silent.

The massive body, which crashed against the cliff face and then had its head pierced, finally collapsed to the ground, showing no outward signs of life.

Linsey has a natural advantage in assessing the enemy's status.

He opened the Attribute Panel and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that his experience points had increased slightly.

"Dead."

Linsey then put away his weapon and went to the corpse.

He began to research the origins of this thing, and also gathered Prey Material along the way.

"Where did that strange thing come from?"

"..."

Further back, Hong also stepped forward.

One battle is enough to sweep away all the unpleasantness from before.

Moreover, the two didn't have any irreconcilable grudges; it was more like childish sulking.

As Linsey began examining the attacker's body, Red half-squatted beside him:

What is this?

"This one?" Linsey read aloud the text on the product label. "It's called Rock Golem."

[The two chapters I missed due to the power outage are now complete!]