Gourmet Hunter - Chapter 405 (Patreon)

Chapter 405: The Method of Leaving

Including Ali and Yaya, only five members of the Eagle Corps survived in the end. William suffered minor injuries, and Buhara and Geru were unharmed.

The Sand Thieves met a complete end, but only a hundred or so people survived in the settlement, a result that was hard for them to accept.

If they were unlucky, the fifty captives who came with the Sand Thieves were fortunate. Due to a whim of Gerrot, they narrowly escaped disaster temporarily, and thanks to Luo’s presence, they were freed from the Sand Thieves' clutches.

In front of everyone, they performed an unexpected act, silently kneeling before Luo, their foreheads touching the ground.

The sudden gesture left Luo stunned, unsure of how to react.

"What are you doing?" Luo looked at the group kneeling silently before him.

From his standpoint, he couldn't understand the joy and excitement these people felt after surviving a catastrophe, like birds escaping a cage. To him, obtaining over 140 pages from the battle was already a reward.

Kneeling in gratitude might be too formal, but their act of kneeling wasn't just simple thanks.

"Only you, only you..."

A rugged man with a full beard raised his head, tears streaming down his face, a stark contrast to his tough image.

His lips trembled as he looked at Luo, saying with a quivering voice, "Only you can save them!"

"What?" Luo felt baffled. At this moment, everyone kneeling raised their heads, looking at Luo with hopeful eyes.

"Let me explain."

Miria stood up from the crowd, appearing to be the calmest and most composed among them.

Luo looked at the dirty-faced Miria, feeling that her face and voice seemed familiar.

Miria's eyes shone as she looked at Luo, as if she had discovered some secret.

Luo didn't control his throat to make a sound, so the voice he spoke with now was his original one.

Just from the sound, Miria instantly recognized it as the voice of the black-haired youth. But what confirmed his identity for her was the black cat.

"They... want you to rescue the captives held by the Sand Thieves in Red Rock Canyon," Miria said.

"He has no obligation to agree to your request, and you haven't grasped the situation yet." Before Luo could respond, Salin walked over, directly interrupting this highly difficult request.

In her view, the request was absurd.

The Sand Thieves had stood for many years, troubling the three major oasis nations. It wasn't that they hadn't thought of eradicating the Sand Thieves, but every attempt ended in failure.

A problem that even three major nations couldn't solve, they wanted to push onto a junior disciple?

Luo looked at Salin, who was standing protectively in front of him, feeling a small favor from her.

Without understanding the Sand Thieves' background, even if rescuing the captives could add many pages, he couldn't agree to this request lightly.

Salin calmly scanned the kneeling people before her, saying lightly, "Those who came in can't get out. Instead of hoping for an uncertain request, think about how to live well here."

"What... do you mean?" Miria's eyes trembled.

"You'll understand."

Salin said, then directly pulled Luo away, leaving behind a group of bewildered people.

The Sand Thieves' bodies piled up like a small mountain. Transporting them to the prairie for disposal was quite troublesome, mainly because there were so many bodies.

Luo didn't help with the task. Instead, he asked Buhara to help. Though Buhara only had his right arm, his efficiency was ten times that of an ordinary person.

The captives also helped. When they saw how the bodies were being disposed of, they were shocked.

By using the task of handling bodies, Salin let all the newcomers, including Geru, witness the horror of the ant swarm firsthand.

What could be more convincing than seeing it with their own eyes?

In an old house with obvious repair marks, oil lamps fueled by grease were distributed on the mottled walls, illuminating the room. Neatly arranged stone shelves held various ancient artifacts, a dazzling array.

"I have a way to leave the prairie."

Luo stared at nearly a thousand ancient artifacts in the room, took a deep breath to calm his excitement, and said to Salin.

Salin tilted her head to look at him, asking, "Are you serious?"

"Absolutely."

"Is it Nen?"

"Yes, my Nen can isolate the ant swarm, so leaving isn't difficult, but the number of people who can go is limited." Luo reluctantly withdrew his gaze from the stone shelves where white light flashed and met Salin's gaze.

He clearly saw the joy in Salin's eyes, which dimmed because of his last sentence. He sighed inwardly.

"Can't you take everyone?" Salin asked unwillingly.

"If you can't take everyone, will you still not leave?" Luo asked in return.

"Yes." Salin nodded silently, saying, "If I leave, who will deal with the mutant ants?"

The soldier ants wouldn't invade the capital, but the mutant ants could.

If it weren't for the heavy casualties in the settlement, she wouldn't have any concerns now.

Luo could see Salin was serious. If she couldn't take everyone, she really wouldn't leave, even if a relative was waiting for her outside...

Taking everyone was nearly impossible because ordinary people moved too slowly. Even if he took one at a time, Luo was sure he would be dragged to death.

His domain could isolate the ant swarm, but it consumed Nen constantly. If countless ant swarms pressed down like a mountain, the consumption would multiply.

In such a situation, taking weak ordinary people was like saving a drowning person only to be dragged down, resulting in both dying.

"Sago is waiting for you," Luo suddenly said.

Salin was slightly stunned, then laughed heartily, "Just right, you can take a message for me when you go out."

Luo exhaled heavily, rubbing his forehead, saying, "Actually, there's a way to get everyone out."

"What way?" Salin's eyes widened, asking eagerly.

"Eliminate the soldier ants." Luo raised his index finger, hitting the nail on the head.

Salin smiled bitterly, sighing, "That is indeed a way, but do you know how many ants are on the prairie? Even a million Sand Thieves would be devoured quickly."

"Conventional methods can't clear so many ants, but I'm not sure I can do it either. Just think of it as... me giving you a little hope." Luo put down his hand and walked towards the stone shelves holding ancient artifacts.

Salin watched Luo's back, unable to resist saying, "If you can clear the ants, do you know what that means?"

Luo stopped, looking back at her, saying, "Everyone can leave the Forbidden Zone, right?"

"No."

Salin shook her head slightly, seriously saying, "That would be a great achievement."

• Please take a moment to rate this novel at Novelupdate.

Table of content - Next Chapter >>>