Darnell, a boy from White Wax Town, was currently on lookout duty with several other ordinary members of the Tree Worship Church. They had been there for more than a day and a half.
Under Duolin's personal training, the four formed a small team that was able to cooperate with each other to a basic extent.
Such coordination would be considered substandard even among militia members, but it was sufficient for sentry duty. As long as none of the four men were asleep at the same time, they would never miss any movement of the Blood Corpse in the surrounding area.
Ed assigned them a very simple task: find the Blood Corpse, fire a signal flare or set it on fire, and run away.
That's enough if they can do this much. If they can also bring back a more accurate number of Blood Corpse, then they can be considered excellent militia members.
So the four of them arrived at the watchtower located on the edge of White Wax Town. They brought enough food to last a week, as well as a makeshift signal gun made of metal and the sinews of Aberration animals.
The bullets for this gun come from Ed's special cultivation of certain plant fruits that can achieve a similar "explosive" effect. When impacted, they can produce a loud popping sound and leave a very noticeable cloud of discolored smoke in the sky.
If it's nighttime and the smoke cloud is too dark to see, it's even simpler; just Ignite the special plants that have been prepared beforehand near the watchtower to successfully transmit the message.
Whether it's day or night, the militia responsible for lookout in White Wax Town or the Baron's Territory will immediately start beating drums and gongs near the mobile force after receiving the information. If everything goes according to plan, at least one player squad will appear near the watchtower within three minutes.
"... Situation detected, signal sent, await support, orderly evacuation..."
As Darnell silently recited the operating procedures, he chewed on the processed " Angler Melon " product that was in the tasting stage, and could vaguely taste a little bit of meat.
This new food has not yet been widely promoted. It is said that everyone will be able to taste what they want, but eating too much at once may cause hallucinations.
Fortunately, the effect didn't seem to be that obvious on him, and even though the taste was different, the texture was completely different from meat.
One of his three teammates was sleeping beside him, while the other two were chatting below the watchtower. He alone was lost in thought, gazing at the setting sun.
If it weren't for his parents' constant obstruction, Darnell would definitely have become a member of [ Gungnir ] by now. He also understands his parents, so he doesn't have many complaints about their choice.
But sometimes, when he saw those familiar faces, led by that imposing silver-armored knight, passing through the White Wax Town square, he would start to daydream...
If I had chosen a different path, would the outcome have been different?
As we approach the end of September, the days in this World of Disorder are also starting to get shorter, and the occasional showers in recent days have made it get dark earlier today than in the past few days.
Darnell's watchtower was located on the edge of the forest, facing a desolate wasteland that even dogs wouldn't want.
The boundary between the wilderness and the forest is so clear it looks as if it were cut by hand. It's just a thin line separating the two sides, one lush and green while the other is utterly desolate. Most plants are unable to survive and reproduce in that area.
According to Instructor Duolin, this is a manifestation of the "disorder" brought about by the Demonic Tide. There are many similar divisions in the world, and many provinces within the Tree Worship Church are divided into spheres of influence according to the rules brought about by the Demonic Tide.
Standing atop the watchtower, gazing into the distance, Darnell could see the undulating horizon on the far horizon, and as darkness fell, he felt as if something in the wilderness was awakening.
Before the light in the sky had completely faded, some ant-like creatures had already awakened from the large and small depressions in the wilderness.
Led by one of the "ants," the creatures slowly gathered together and began to walk across the wilderness towards the forest.
Darnell's companion, who was sleeping beside him, also awoke at that moment. Darnell quickly pulled the middle-aged man up and made him look at the distant wilderness:
"Uncle Ouden, look over there, isn't that...?"
The middle-aged man rubbed his sleepy eyes and looked in the direction Darnell was pointing, then his whole body trembled as if a switch had been flipped:
"Here it comes..."
The two exchanged a glance, fully understanding the situation. A hint of panic flashed across Darnell's face, but he quickly regained his composure.
"Uncle, count how many Blood Corpse there are, and I'll give the signal."
"How can you possibly count them all?"
I didn't expect you to count them precisely, just a rough estimate.
The conversation between the two men also alerted two militiamen who were chatting idly below the watchtower. Their expressions changed from composure to seriousness, and they hurriedly ran to the pile of scraps that had been prepared beforehand and began to light it with tools.
In the dim light of the night, Darnell planned to fire the heavy signal flare.
Following the instructions he received during Duolin training, he pointed the gun at the sky and pulled the seemingly Fragility trigger.
A jolt Spread from his right hand to his entire shoulder, and Darnell felt as if he had been slapped hard downwards.
While he was still in a state of shock, the explosion came from the air, and several flames appeared around the waste pile below, rapidly rising towards the top.
Just as Darnell was starting to panic, the middle-aged man beside him grabbed his shoulder:
"The number should be two hundred. According to the training manual, what should we do now?"
Darnell answered almost reflexively:
"Go to the ' Teleportation Tree ' at the back and wait for the Elite Warrior to arrive. Tell them the information, and then you can leave."
"Okay, let's do it that way."
The somewhat apprehensive middle-aged man had almost come to regard Darnell as the backbone of the four. He slid down the wooden ladder behind the watchtower and repeated Darnell's words to the remaining two militiamen.
Although they had the relevant terms in mind, the native inhabitants of the Tree Worship Church, who had not experienced much combat for a long time, were still very panicked.
Now that Darnell is willing to step forward and take on this pivotal role, they are actually somewhat relieved.
Seeing that there were no disagreements within the group, Darnell grabbed the sides of the wooden ladder and slid down. The group retreated more than ten meters and came to a hollow tree to wait.
The Blood Corpse drew closer to the forest, while the flames from the waste pile burned ever brighter, shooting straight into the sky.
If the construction team hadn't cut down and cleared away the surrounding trees and Aberration plants when building the watchtower, a fire might have engulfed the entire forest.
Just as sweat was dripping down the faces of the four men, the large tree they were leaning against suddenly began to undulate rhythmically.
It seems something is about to emerge.