Camp Established, Rendezvous

After finalizing the idea of Forward Base.

Finding a suitable site for construction has become much easier.

Ideally, it should be located along the coast, on the edge of the fold line.

These two points essentially determined the location of the Forward Base.

What they need to do now is find the most suitable location in this area.

Striving for perfection.

After all, this is very likely to be where I live long-term in the future.

Kevin immediately performed a large-scale scan.

After conducting a large-scale danger assessment of the surrounding area and questioning the Three-Tails to determine the Danger Level, the group dispersed.

Rukira took to the sky.

It provides a broader perspective for everyone from high altitudes.

Because it is a meticulous exploration.

So they spent a whole week wandering around here.

The entire area was divided into very detailed sections.

Inside the temporary camp.

The group pieced together the various areas they had explored to create a complete map.

"As Forward Base, we need basic resources, so we need to find an area with fresh water, a suitable environment, preferably near the coast, and ideally with a port."

Upon hearing these conditions...

Kurapika pointed to the coastline.

"From here, there's a Half-Moon Bay that extends inwards. One half of the Half-Moon Bay has a relatively flat terrain, while the other half has deeper water and can be used as a port."

Simply put, this is a very suitable port, and being in Half-Moon Bay, it's even better for building various facilities along the shore.

Based on this Half-Moon Bay, the group searched the surrounding area for the most suitable place to establish their Forward Base.

"This is indeed a suitable place."

Rukira began to draw on the map with his finger.

"Less than 20 kilometers from here is a high mountain with a source of water that flows down from here, forming a waterfall. The water is very clean, and a pool has formed on the side of the mountain due to the impact of the water."

"I know this place," Pairo nodded.

"Beyond here, there's a river that flows from the direction of the pool, then converges here to form a huge lake. I'm not sure if there are any dangerous creatures in the lake, but I did see quite a few fish."

After dividing the area in this way, a region with a diameter of about fifty kilometers was directly drawn up.

This area directly includes clean water sources and their origins, thus ensuring a reliable water supply.

The Half-Moon Bay on the riverbank ensured the port and landing facilities were secured.

Within this area lies a Dense Forest, filled with robust, straight-trunked trees characteristic of the Dark Continent.

The entire trunk is straight and thick, with most of the branches and buds concentrated at the top.

These trees are a feature of the Dark Continent; many trees have a similar appearance, but differ in other aspects.

But of course, this isn't a perfect place either.

"There are no great plains, and the land in this region, while not exactly barren, is certainly not fertile in the entire Dark Continent."

However, from a human perspective, this land can certainly be described as fertile.

After all, human society is relatively impoverished.

But this is the Dark Continent, so the land in this area can only be described as ordinary.

"Furthermore, this area is unremarkable, so there aren't many species; most of the inhabitants are small creatures."

Small organisms can be roughly categorized by their humanoid size, with a body length of three meters or less.

"This is a good thing. This area will serve as the core of the territory, so there's no need to worry about hunting grounds or anything like that."

Kevin pointed to the map and said.

This is the Dark Continent; they need to get used to the vastness of this region.

As long as the hunting area is within 300 kilometers of the core of the territory, it can be considered close to the hunting area.

"Let's make this area our core Forward Base for now, and our next task is to explore the surrounding area."

"This is no longer a rough exploration, but a detailed one. Rukira, you've drawn up a detailed map of the core area in the sky."

Kevin made the decision.

The main advantage is its proximity to both the fold line and the coastline; this area is already considered the best.

Focus on the main issues and then address the secondary ones.

With the issues of the bay, water source, and fold line resolved, the other issues can be abandoned.

After deciding on their territory, Kevin first went to the Folded Zone with Rukira, and then contacted the others through Ant Speech.

After everyone else has finished exploring their respective areas, they should gather here.

Less than a week later.

Other Exploration Team arrived here one after another.

The first to arrive were surprisingly the Jin team, which was the furthest away.

Rukira flew in the sky, looking at the massive, rapidly approaching troop with a somewhat bewildered expression.

If they hadn't made contact with Team Jin early on, Rukira would have worried that some monster was starting to invade their territory.

Kevin also sensed the commotion, but he also sensed Jin, so he wasn't worried.

As the commotion drew closer, Kevin stepped out of his tent and looked over.

A large group of very strange creatures came rushing in.

It looks like an ostrich, with a pair of huge, powerful claws at the bottom, and it runs across the land at an extremely fast speed.

Above the bird's claws is an oval-shaped body, rounded at the rear and slender at the front, completely covered in fluffy feathers.

And from among the feathers grew a pair of upward-pointing horns.

Jin sat atop the leading creature, his hands gripping its horns.

"Stop!"

A shout silenced them.

The creatures stopped. Jin and his teammates jumped off the creature, and Jin patted the thick feathered area at the front of the creature, where the head should be.

"How about it? My newly trained mount, isn't it great?"

Kevin looked at the strange creature and circled it once.

It has a tail at the back, which is very thin and long, with a barb-like structure at the tip.

Its head and body were covered in feathers, but its eyes could be seen from where its horns emerged.

It consists of three vertically arranged eyes, which looks somewhat eerie.

To be honest, Kevin had no idea what this creature looked like. Overall, it resembled an ostrich without a long neck but without wings.

It has horns that grow upwards like a goat's, but these horns are extremely wide rather than long and thin, resembling two fan blades.

A very strange creature.

"I'm so nervous."

Kevin reached out and patted the smooth feathers, sensing the creature's tension.

Jin rolled his eyes.

"These Ball Bird are all around 200,000 strong, how could they not be afraid of your aura?"

"Ball Bird? That's quite fitting, but does it really look like a bird? Except for that claw."

Upon hearing this, Kim walked over and gestured for Kevin to move a little further away so as not to frighten the Ball Bird.

Then he patted the other person on the shoulder, offering some words of comfort.

Only then did the other person relax, and Kevin realized that despite being called Ball Bird, the other person wasn't fat at all.

The layer that had peeled off from the sides of the body, which was originally spherical at the back, was actually a pair of wings that had completely covered the other party's body. They fit so perfectly that no one noticed them at all.

A pair of wings, shaped like semi-circular lids, with three claws protruding from their tips.

However, the back of his body, covered by wings, also looked chubby and was covered with a layer of feathers.

Can it fly?

"It can't fly anymore, but it can glide if it falls from a height, so that's still not a problem."

Upon hearing this, Kevin observed for a moment longer and nodded.

Very smart.

When Jin gave commands, he didn't use any gestures; he simply used words, and the birds understood him.

Its powerful hind legs already indicated its extremely fast running speed, and because it has two legs, its off-road capabilities are even stronger.

This is a significant advantage in the Dark Continent.

Having a pair of wings allows it to glide when falling from a height, ensuring safety during a fall.

What do you want to eat?

Omnivorous.

That's great.

Kevin nodded; it was indeed a perfect mount.

Jin also looked towards the temporary camp.

Wooden houses can already be seen inside the camp, with a long, narrow boat-shaped house in the middle, used as a temporary Meeting Room.

There are also Wooden Cabin of various sizes built nearby as places to live.

These were all set up casually within the past week.

As Jin entered the longhouse, the first thing he saw was a map pasted on the wall.

"Are you planning to set up camp with your back against this cliff?"

Kevin nodded.

"It's perfect, isn't it? With the mountain cliff behind you, you only need to focus on what's in front of you, and there's a lake to your side."

"The water source flows down from the middle of the cliff, passing right through the camp."

It's only a dozen kilometers away from Half-Moon Bay, so there's absolutely no problem.

For them, running on foot would only take about ten minutes.

With the arrival of Jin and the others, the exploration of the surrounding area could proceed more quickly.

Melusina and Biscuit's two squads arrived at the camp together on the third day.

Night.

Everyone is present.

A simple banquet began.

After a good rest, everyone threw themselves back into work the next day.

First, Kevin gave everyone a brief explanation of their exploration of the rules for the Folded Zone.

"It really was man-made, a hidden area," Jin muttered to himself.

To be honest, his desire to explore diminished somewhat after learning it was man-made.

It's very simple. The fact that this area has been deliberately hidden means that the place or the creatures living in it do not want outsiders to disturb or explore it.

This is, after all, the Dark Continent, and judging by the territory they've built up so far, the other side can be considered their neighbor.

This is not a good opportunity to make an enemy.

"From this perspective, the area from the territory of the Resentful Eater Snake to the Boundary of the Overlord's territory can be roughly divided into three sections."

The first section is the Folded Zone, which they have already explored, and the general area can be divided to some extent.

Next is the second section, which is the middle area, the area they are currently in.

This place will be a key focus on the next time we explore the Dark Continent.

After all, it's located around the territory.

Next is the Spike Mountain Range, the Wearer Ghost.

During this time, a rather rough exploration of the environment surrounding the territory was also conducted.

Well, it's not entirely satisfactory.

"The surrounding area is more barren than I imagined. There are no large creature communities for a hundred or two kilometers outward from the core territory."

"The area of Dense Forest is not large, and there is even a large area of wilderness here where the soil is not very fertile."

Simply put, their core territory is an area with a diameter of 5,000 kilometers, centered on their current location.

There's nothing particularly special about drawing a semicircle of 200 kilometers outward from the core territory.

"Of course, on the other hand, it's actually quite safe here."

Since there are no resources, there aren't many creatures coming here to compete for them; those willing to stay here are mostly not very strong.

"If we're going to colonize this place later, it's really not suitable."

After observing for a while, Men Qi said.

She had barely finished speaking when she noticed the strange looks from the group of people.

"What's wrong?" she asked, puzzled.

"There won't be any large-scale immigration in the future. As for the plans for the Forward Base, I won't allow the number of people at the Forward Base to exceed one thousand."

"Why?"

Men Qi was somewhat puzzled.

Kevin then recounted to everyone some information he had learned from the Wearer Ghost.

Slash Ghost nodded in agreement.

After hearing this, Jin wasn't surprised, after all, he had been in the Dark Continent for almost two years.

He had had these doubts in his mind for a long time, and now this was just a confirmation of them.

"Do you think it's possible that the folded-down, hidden area was there to avoid such a risk?"

"Just as our ancestors led us to the islands in the middle of the lake, away from the mainland, to hide and circumvent these rules."

Kurapika nodded and said, "We had the same guess before, but it was just a guess after all."

There is no empirical evidence.

"Of course, this also shows that this is not a rule, is it? It's not like Restriction or an oath, since there's no way to avoid it."

"Although the islands in the center of the lake are barren lands, are they not part of the world?"

"The fact that they were able to evade it suggests that what caused this phenomenon is not some inexplicable rule, but something that actually exists."

At this point, Jin shook his head again.

"Thinking about these things now won't lead to any conclusions. We can only ask those Sapient Life, preferably those that exist in groups."

At this point, Jin Meng slapped his forehead.

"Tuck, those Machine Lifeform might know something."

This was the only known and closest community of Sapient Life they knew of.

After listening to everyone's conversation, Biscuit frowned and said...

"If we don't understand this rule, it will be very troublesome to go back, and it will be difficult to determine what preparations we should make next time we come back."

Having already secured the territory, we could have prepared to return. But now that we know this new information, it's not so easy for us to go back.

"Let's go and bring the rest of the people in the territory over first."

"Melusina said."

That's the key point now.

"And my ship."

77

Morel reminded him.

Enjoy