A village shrouded in black power
Separating the flesh from the bone was quite simple for Gner; he could even do it with minimal effort.
But to his surprise, after he finished on his end, his Boss also finished on his end.
There were three containers in total: one contained the brain of the Evil-Patterned Black Panther, another contained intact spinal fluid, and the last, larger Bottle contained purified blood.
The Boss then set up another Ritual around the three vessels and the Evil-Patterned Black Panther. This Ritual was to seal the extraordinary material. Once completed, as long as the vessels were not opened, it could be stored for five years.
Finally, Gner handed over one-third of the leopard meat and bones to the Boss, and the two completed the transaction.
As for these materials and remains, Gner had nowhere to put them, so he had to go to Benjamin. After all, he was the company's Boss, and he needed his own storage space.
Upon learning that these items belonged to his employer, Benjamin took it very seriously. He did indeed have his own storage room on the Lead Ship, made entirely of steel, which ensured its safety.
After storing Western Capital, Gner immediately rented a carriage and headed straight for Saint Luo Village.
Actually, judging by the timeline, it's still a bit early. The two of them entered the mountains on the second day in Tiana, defeated the Evil-Patterned Black Panther on the third day, and are now on the fourth day.
At Kronos's speed, it would be good enough if he could get out of the mountains and reach Saint Luo Village by tonight.
But Gner still wanted to get there as soon as possible, because his experiences over the past few days made him feel like a useless piece of trash, so he wanted to do more and more.
In fact, Gner's estimate of the time was correct. Three hours after Gner arrived at Saint Luo Village, a young man emerged from the mountain pass east of Saint Luo Village.
It was Kronos, who had been traveling through the night.
He was already exhausted, but a belief sustained him: it was the fifth day, and he had to get to Saint Luo Village as soon as possible to finish his role by dawn so he could return to the Harbor and not delay the Fleet's journey.
If the battle two days ago was a Mind Stone baptism for Kronos, then the experiences of the past two days were the aftermath of that baptism, bringing about a complete transformation in Kronos.
Mind Stone baptism is nothing more than understanding certain principles, but what's the use of understanding them if you can't put them into practice? These past two days, Kronos has been putting these principles into practice through his own actions.
Suddenly, Kronos heard some movement to his right rear. With a "whoosh," his War Blade was drawn from its sheath and pointed directly to his right rear.
Kronos didn't speak, because most of the things you encounter in the mountains don't talk, and shouting won't do any good.
A moment later, a figure emerged from the darkness; it was Gner.
"Welcome back, Kronos." Gner opened his arms to welcome Kronos.
Perhaps it was because he was too exhausted, but the moment Kronos saw Gner, the tension in his mind snapped.
Just as Gner entered within two meters of Kronos, Kronos's body went limp and he collapsed.
Gner was startled and quickly stepped forward to support Kronos.
After a thorough examination, Gner was relieved, because Kronos was simply too tired and had fallen asleep.
Looking at Kronos's young face, Gner sighed, "What kind of pressure did you, born into such noble birth, bear that made you choose to walk a path strewn with Thorn?"
Yes, there are few Demigod among the nobility, not only because of the restrictions imposed by the Royal Family, but also because not all Beyonder would choose a life of constant struggle against madness and Loss of Control.
If you want to continue down this path, how can you avoid dangers and difficulties?
"Sigh!" Gner sighed and slowly helped Kronos into the carriage.
The next morning, before eight o'clock, Gner woke Kronos, not to let him rest a little longer, because he knew that Kronos didn't need that kind of pity right now.
"It's only been two days, but it really feels like ages, Gner." These were the first words Kronos uttered after opening his eyes.
"You've been very careful these past few days, haven't you? I hadn't even touched your shoulder before you woke up," Gner asked with a complicated expression.
"Haha, what's the big deal? They're just some small animals." Kronos had no intention of discussing this topic.
Gner was no novice, so he naturally understood the significance of solo wilderness survival, which was far more difficult than surviving with two people.
But since Kronos didn't want to talk about it, Gner naturally didn't ask.
"So what do you plan to do with this Saint Luo Village?" Gner asked.
Kronos thought for a moment and then asked, "Is there a place nearby that overlooks the entire Village? I'll use my Eyes of Mystery Prying to see if there's any influence from supernatural forces."
Gner pointed north, "There's a Watchtower over there. It looks very old. I don't know if you can still go up there, but judging from the view, you could probably overlook the whole village."
Since there was such a location, we naturally had to go and take a look, so Gner led the way to the foot of the Watchtower.
This Watchtower was probably left over from the time when the Loen Kingdom colonized this island. It could have been Soldier ' Watchtower, or it could have just been an arrow tower.
We should be thankful that it was built by the military; the quality looks quite good. If it had been built by farmers to guard their fields, it would have collapsed under the weight long ago.
Kronos shook the Watchtower, found it alright, and climbed up without saying a word.
The tower isn't very tall, only about ten meters, but standing on it, you can indeed overlook the entire Saint Luo Village.
"How is it? Is this spot alright?" Gner asked from the side.
Kronos made a quick estimate, "It's not bad, but it's a bit far from the southernmost part of the village. If the extraordinary influence happens to be in the south of the village, then it might not be visible."
Upon hearing this, Gner said, "Don't worry about that. I inquired yesterday, and the families who are sick all live on the west side of the village, right there." As he spoke, he pointed to that spot.
Kronos nodded slightly, then activated his Eyes of Mystery Prying.
You never know until you see it, and what you find is truly astonishing—the entire village is shrouded in a black power.
Among them, the most intensely colored area is naturally the west side of the village that Gner just pointed out, where the black mist is so thick that one cannot see anything inside.
At this moment, Kronos hesitated. The black power was so vast that it was obvious even to a fool that it couldn't just be Sequence 7 power; he probably couldn't handle it.
"What's wrong?" Gner noticed that Kronos's expression was off and asked.
Kronos said with a solemn expression, "There is indeed the influence of supernatural forces here, and on a large scale. It's not just a few households that have been affected, as everyone thinks; it has almost enveloped the entire village, although the West of the Village has been most affected."
After saying this, Gner didn't show the seriousness Kronos had expected. Instead, he chuckled and said, "Did you suffer a loss when facing the Evil-Patterned Black Panther that day?"
Kronos hadn't expected Gner to change the subject so abruptly, but he didn't hide anything and simply nodded.
Gner continued his reasoning, "Then you suddenly realized you were too lax, that you didn't even have the slightest habit of being alert, so you kicked me out, hoping to use the mountain environment to quickly develop a habit of alertness. Am I right?"
Kronos didn't know what to say, so he just kept nodding.
"Alright, I'll teach you something else today: don't Consciousness trust your instincts when things happen. Every new recruit has many lingering effects after going to the battlefield, the most common being this kind of instinctive alertness that can erupt at any moment."
"Many veterans didn't die on the battlefield, but after leaving the battlefield, they inexplicably died at the hands of new recruits. The reason was simply that a veteran moved while sleeping or patted a new recruit on the shoulder, and the next second a weapon was plunged into their body."
Kronos understands this; it's PTSD, post-traumatic stress disorder.
"So I want to teach you to stay alert in times of crisis, but to use your brain to think in ordinary times."
Seeing that Kronos still didn't understand what he was talking about, Gner had no choice but to explain things thoroughly.
"If a Sequence 6 or Sequence 5 level creature or item were hiding in this village, I would hardly believe there would be any survivors. But right now, only a few households have been affected, and none of them are seriously injured."
Only then did Kronos suddenly understand what Gner had been saying all along: his vigilance and caution had become a habit, which naturally greatly improved his safety when facing a crisis.
However, sometimes it is necessary to take risks. Crisis and reward are proportional. At this time, one's thinking should not be dominated by vigilance and caution, but rather one should think calmly and then make an objective judgment.
Despite his seemingly unreliable demeanor, Gner is incredibly dependable when needed, and he's a great help to Kronos.
At first, it seemed like they had just hired a quick-witted bodyguard, but now it appears that Gner has become a qualified mentor and friend, from whom Kronos has learned a great deal so far.
Now that he had figured it out, Kronos stopped worrying about it. In any case, he would go into the village first and see what was going on. He believed that as long as he entered the village as "the Warlock," the villagers would allow him to investigate thoroughly.
Even if he can't solve this problem, he can still persuade Saint Luo Village to relocate, after all, it involves hundreds of lives.