Outbreak Period

The wind outside was still blowing gently.

Arthur sheathed the sword in his hand and looked at his body's stats, standing motionless.

"Name: Arthur Falkus. Strength: 4.9. Agility: 4.8. Constitution: 5."

A string of data appeared before his eyes. Compared to before, all his stats had grown explosively.

This was all the harvest from the recent period.

This world... no one knew what had happened in the past. There were many dangerous creatures in the wild, and they encountered many every day as they traveled through the dangerous wilderness.

And all these mutated insectoid beasts were eventually killed by Arthur.

Every time he killed an insectoid beast, Arthur gained some buffs. Although these buffs weren't much, over several days, with dozens of insectoid beasts accumulated, he had gained quite a bit.

Of course, the most important thing was the crystal core Arthur had obtained earlier.

Thinking of this, Arthur's tightly clenched left hand loosened slightly, revealing the black crystal within.

After this period of consumption, the power within the crystal core was constantly decreasing. Now, the crystal core, originally the size of a fingernail, was only about the volume of a few grains of sand.

"It's going to be consumed soon." Feeling the faint warm current emanating from his body, Arthur sighed inwardly. He clenched his left fist, hiding the black crystal so no one else could see it.

Behind him, the sound of footsteps approached.

The seven or eight people behind them, seeing that the fight ahead was over, hurried over. They cheered and looked quite excited upon seeing the corpses of the two insectoid beasts.

Arthur couldn't be bothered with them. He quietly walked to the side, waiting for them to move forward.

"What a shame about these two insectoid beasts. If they could be transported to the territories of other nobles, they would surely be popular. Now, they're just cheap food for these wild beasts."

Before leaving, the Knight looked at the corpses of the two insectoid beasts and said with great regret, looking very reluctant.

The others were the same. Looking at the two corpses in front of them, they collected some relatively valuable materials at most, and then left with great reluctance. Even Erui and the other two were like this.

This situation had been common in the past few days. At first, they were excited to pounce on the corpses of the insectoid beasts and scramble for them, but eventually, they became almost numb.

They walked forward quietly. Ahead, some signs of human habitation gradually appeared, though it still looked very desolate.

"We part ways here."

At a crossroads, the Knight in armor said to the others, "Earl Alaral to the east is my distant relative. I plan to go to his castle. Do you want to come with me?"

He looked at Erui and the others, with some anticipation.

Sensing his expectant gaze, Erui and the others exchanged glances, feeling helpless.

They knew in their hearts that his expectation was not directed at them, but at Arthur.

Along the way, Arthur's terrifying combat power was evident. The boy-like Knight had killed countless terrifying insectoid beasts that could easily wipe out villages, saving countless lives.

Arthur couldn't communicate with others due to the language barrier. He and the other three had been together from the beginning, and only they could communicate with him to some extent along the way. In the eyes of others, they could naturally influence him.

However, in their hearts, they did not wish for Arthur to go with others.

With the strength Arthur had shown, he was destined to be valued everywhere. If he could stay here, their current relationship would undoubtedly bring them great benefits.

As if sensing their thoughts, the middle-aged Knight opposite cursed inwardly but remained outwardly calm, continuing to persuade, "I understand your thoughts, but I still advise you to leave this place immediately."

"You may not know it yet, but our region is about to enter an Outbreak Period."

"That's impossible!" In an instant, Erui and the other two's faces changed drastically. Looking at the Knight's face, a trace of fear flashed in their eyes.

"Lord Alaral, please don't say such jokes or threats lightly. Our region hasn't been affected for a very long time." Erui's face turned ashen, looking extremely grim.

"Precisely because it hasn't broken out for a long time, this sudden outbreak is not surprising, is it?"

Alaral's face showed a cold smile. "Otherwise, why do you think I would leave my territory?"

"This matter has almost spread among the remaining nobles of the Kingdom of Bosh. The nobles in various territories have basically taken their people and left this land, leaving only you commoners still in the dark."

"If you follow me now, you can avoid this outbreak. If you continue to stay here, you will only experience the apocalypse again and see if you are lucky enough to survive this time."

Opposite them, the three's faces turned pale in an instant. They seemed to recall a scene, and a flicker of lingering fear flashed in their eyes.

They fell silent for a long time before finally making a decision.

Erui stepped forward and said to the Knight opposite, "Thank you, sir, for telling us this news. However, we have our families here and cannot leave immediately."

His expression gradually calmed down, and finally, he said cautiously, "Why don't you wait here for us for a while? When we are ready, we will move our families away together?"

"Impossible!" Alaral waved his hand directly, his expression turning grim. "I've already made it clear, the Outbreak Period is coming soon, and strange things could descend at any moment. I can't stay here to die with you."

After saying this, he couldn't be bothered to speak further and left with his escorts.

Behind him, watching the decisive departure of the other party, Erui's face showed a hint of hesitation, which quickly disappeared.

"Could what he said be true? Is the Outbreak Period really coming?" The young man's eyes showed fear and apprehension, and he asked Erui doubtfully.

"That's just him trying to scare you," the woman in the worn leather robe next to him said disdainfully. "Except for that one time three years ago, we've never encountered any strange occurrences here. How could it suddenly break out?"

"His goal is clearly not us. Even if we move all our families over, we might not be valued by him then, and our lives might not be as good as they are now."

"With that powerful Knight here, and the good relationship we've maintained, our future lives will be much better. We won't have to live in danger like before."

She looked at Arthur, who was standing quietly in the distance, and said excitedly.

"But..." The young man hesitated, but in the end, he did not voice his rebuttal.