CHAPTER 118: SLEEPING CLOSELY

Under the vast night sky, Carlotta and the others moved far away into the dense forest, once again beginning their exploration.

The distance from the Tri-colored Fish Pond to the treasure location wasn’t very far. The Shadow Phantom Adventurer’s Group had previously passed through this place simply because they were heading toward the treasure site.

Therefore, after midnight, Carlotta and the others arrived at a mountain. Standing on the cliffside, they could already see their destination.

It was a thick forest filled with many magical beasts. Roaring sounds came repeatedly, shaking the mountains.

Magical beasts often fight among themselves, and now, a battle was unfolding before everyone’s eyes.

It was a Raging Bear fighting against a Flaming Bird. Both unexpectedly possessed strength equivalent to peak-tier Listener, causing Carlotta and the others to feel shocked.

Apart from a few Resonators among magical beasts, this level already represents the top-tier wild dominators. On this mountain, two such beasts appeared at once, battling each other fiercely.

The Raging Bear can manipulate the earth. Spikes of soil shot into the sky, ravaging a large area, and pillars of stone nearly formed a stone forest.

The Flaming Bird seemed to arrive bathed in flames. From afar, it almost looked like a phoenix. Its wings were wide and long. As it soared, fireballs bombarded downward, causing continuous explosions in the mountains and igniting the area, spreading flames widely.

"Why are there two magical beasts at the level of peak-tier Listener here?"

Carlotta couldn’t help but frown.

Having magical beasts like these rampaging in the mountains, approaching would undoubtedly be very dangerous.

Fred also looked surprised and said, "The intelligence I obtained didn’t mention these magical beasts. Maybe... they arrived recently?"

Carlotta frowned.

Regardless, with these two magical beasts battling, she couldn’t go over directly. She hadn’t forgotten that other adventurer groups were also eyeing this treasure location. At this moment, they might also be hiding somewhere nearby, watching the area. It wouldn’t be wise for her to be the first to stick her head out.

After thinking for a while, Carlotta made a suggestion, "Let’s first check around to see if there are others. The commotion from the Raging Bear and the Flaming Bird is too loud; it will inevitably attract people."

"Let’s split up to investigate."

Amelia said.

She gave orders for Mia, Fred, and others to scatter and survey the situation. They mostly moved in pairs, with one person in each pair already listed on the soldier roster, while the other wasn’t yet qualified to be listed.

After scattering, Amelia could also understand the distant situation through the soldier roster, allowing her to learn about the surroundings more quickly.

As everyone began moving, Amelia said to Carlotta, "Let’s move together."

Carlotta nodded.

The two of them chose an unoccupied direction and started walking downhill. Since there were no paths in the mountains, Carlotta had to cut through the vegetation as she walked.

If not for the continuous roars of magical beasts, if not for the ever-present dangers, then this primitive mountain forest would actually have quite a nice view.

The flowers along the way were blooming magnificently. Leaves were blown diagonally into the sky by the wind. Moonlight seemed to have draped a crimson veil over the forest.

Carlotta soon made a discovery. On the path ahead, she saw a trail that had obviously been hacked through.

Just like when she had to cut a path through the forest, others who entered this forest had done the same.

"It’s a human-made trail."

Amelia took a look. The broken plants had very smooth cuts, clearly done by a sharp weapon.

She told Carlotta that they needed to be careful from now on. If they were to follow this trail, they might inevitably meet others, and they didn’t yet know the ranks of those people.

Carlotta nodded and started moving forward.

Since there was already an existing trail, they could move much faster now, and it wasn’t long before they heard the sounds of battle.

Battle noises at night could travel very far. However, because the fight between the Raging Bear and the Flaming Bird on the opposite mountain was even louder, any other battles nearby would be drowned out.

Only when they got closer did they notice this commotion.

The two of them hid in the bushes, secretly watching the outside. They discovered it was a battle between a group of humans and magical beasts. The magical beasts were Bloodthirsty Bats flying out from a nearby cave. They could emit sonic attacks, a technique somewhat similar to Mia’s.

As for that group of people, Carlotta only needed a glance to recognize them.

She whispered to Amelia, "It’s the people from the Baki Adventurer’s Group."

Amelia hadn’t heard of this adventurer’s group before, but she trusted that Carlotta, who remembered the identities and backgrounds of many adventurer groups, was correct. Moreover, she also found some individuals slightly familiar, probably people she had seen before at the Adventurer’s Association.

"Are they also here for the treasure location?"

Amelia asked.

"Most likely."

Carlotta was certain about this because the intelligence had mentioned the Baki Adventurer’s Group as well. They were opponents.

At this moment, a young man swung his long sword, quickly cutting down several Bloodthirsty Bats nearby, then walked toward where Carlotta and Amelia were hiding.

"Two of you, why are you secretly observing us? If you have something to say, you might as well come out and speak directly."

The young man walked steadily, tall and well-built, holding a blood-stained sword. He exuded an inherently sharp aura.

Carlotta and Amelia exchanged a glance involuntarily.

Truthfully, although they possessed the strength to fight against Listeners, they still seemed lacking in some details. If they merely observed Listeners from a not-so-distant hiding spot, they would actually be discovered.

Previously, Spencer had sensed their presence, and now this young man from the Baki Adventurer’s Group had also detected them.

Since they were already discovered, the two no longer hid.

Carlotta stepped forward and solemnly said, "We were simply passing through. We saw a battle happening, so we took a quick look."

The young man from the Baki Adventurer’s Group was named Aubrey Campbell. He was a vice-captain of the Baki Adventurer’s Group and a middle tier Listener.

Carlotta hadn’t seen the group’s captain yet. According to intelligence, the captain was a Resonator, naturally inside the Sky Island area at this moment.

Adventurer groups from the Brandon Kingdom rarely had captains who were Resonators. Most adventurer groups had come to Pine Town.

"Just passing through, huh? Well, now that you’ve seen enough, you can go?"

Aubrey asked.

He didn’t underestimate the two girls, and without knowing their true strength, he chose to handle the situation cautiously.

Carlotta didn’t retreat but asked instead, "I’d like to ask, why are the Raging Bear and the Flaming Bird fighting each other? Magical beasts at the peak tier Listener level usually have their own territories and wouldn’t easily leave to confront each other."

After hearing that, Aubrey pondered for a moment and finally said, "As for the specific situation, I don’t know much because I just arrived in this area. However, those two should have been lured here by someone. As to who did it and for what purpose, I can’t say."

Carlotta nodded in understanding, then thanked him, "Thank you for the warning."

Among the adventurers she had encountered, the Baki Adventurer Team was probably the most courteous one... although, back at the Adventurer’s Association, they had once sent a ninth-stage apprentice to fight her alone.

They didn’t speak much further. After each had asked about what they cared about, Carlotta led Amelia away.

She looked toward the opposite mountain. The battle between the Raging Bear and the Flaming Bird was still raging intensely. Large swaths of dense forest were destroyed, making the battle scene especially brutal.

What exactly was causing these two to fight so desperately?

The two then made a round around the area and found that there were far more people in the mountains and forests than they had imagined. Along the way, they encountered about ten groups. Some were adventurer teams, while others were simply Transcendents who had teamed up after entering the Sky Island.

After circling the area, Carlotta and Amelia returned to the cliff where they had started.

Those controlled by Amelia through the soldier list gradually returned as well, and no one had encountered any accidents.

It seemed that the other factions also realized there were quite a number of people in this area, so they dared not provoke conflicts easily, to avoid unexpected incidents.

These returning people also brought back some information. Some of it overlapped with what Carlotta already knew, but some news was quite surprising.

"It’s said that those two fighting each other was the work of the Illusion Thorn Adventurer Team."

Mia revealed the results of her investigation.

The Illusion Thorn Adventurer Team had arrived in this area earliest. Yet, before they had even begun to explore much, they encountered the Dawn Light Adventurer Team. Both teams had the same goal, the treasure location, thus a prolonged battle erupted, which many latercomers had heard about.

In the end, the Illusion Thorn Adventurer Team suffered a crushing defeat, with heavy casualties.

A deputy leader of the Illusion Thorn Team became furious over this and used a Monster fruit that had an extremely strong attraction to, successfully drawing both the Raging Bear and the Flaming Bird from the nearby areas.

"?"

When Carlotta heard this, she immediately thought of such a fruit.

Monster fruits were rare. They held no value for humans, yet possessed a unique allure to magical beasts, driving them into madness. Of course, sufficiently high ranks could resist this temptation.

It didn’t offer any particular benefits. It was simply that this fruit had a peculiar addictive quality, enough to make lower ranks go wild over it.

Because they held little value to humans, no one specially cultivated. No one knew where the deputy leader of the Illusion Thorn Team had obtained them, but what was certain was that his plan had succeeded.

Two peak tier Listener-level, along with numerous others of lower ranks, were drawn to the mountain where the treasure was located, and they wouldn’t leave.

Mia continued, "According to what we’ve learned, that deputy leader of the Illusion Thorn Team was directly killed by the magical beasts. However, before his death, he crushed the Monster fruit and scattered them across many parts of the mountain, so arriving magical beasts there wouldn’t likely leave for quite some time."

With so many magical beasts gathered in one place, naturally there would be plenty of conflict among them. This was precisely why the Raging Bear and the Flaming Bird were fighting fiercely.

Moreover, there were even more fighting in other areas, though their commotion was overshadowed by the two peak tier Listener-level.

At this moment, the mountain where the treasure lay had become an extremely dangerous zone. Countless magical beasts gathered there, and whoever approached would face attacks from numerous.

Carlotta also remembered that there were many other people around who had come for the treasure as well. Those individuals also needed to be wary of.

After some thinking, Carlotta even felt a bit of a headache. "It seems that accessing this treasure location won’t be easy. If that’s the case... we should rest first."

By now, the sky was already slightly bright. Carlotta felt it was time to get some sleep. She believed that by the next early morning, the intelligence would provide some useful information.

Amelia said somewhat surprisedly, "Rest already? The information we’ve gathered isn’t enough yet. At the very least, we don’t know who else is around. I think we should learn more about potential opponents first."

Carlotta shrugged, "However, there are too many people around, and it’s dangerous. We can’t reach the mountain where the treasure is located for now. More adventurers will arrive in the upcoming days, so there’s no need to rush."

She explained that even if they identified who the people around were, after some time, some would leave and new arrivals would come, so the information would quickly become outdated.

Amelia thought for a while. She felt Carlotta’s reasoning wasn’t entirely accurate, but gathering more information about the surroundings was never a bad idea.

"How about this? We get a good rest and maintain our peak combat readiness. The others can sleep less and take turns to gather intelligence for us."

Carlotta suggested.

Due to the balance among various factions, there wouldn’t be any battles breaking out among the surrounding adventurers anytime soon. So sending others to investigate wouldn’t be a problem.

This time, Amelia agreed.

Then she quietly told Carlotta that it wouldn’t be convenient to return to the Moonlight to rest because it was too large. Taking it out would surely draw attention. Even if it were invisible, there wasn’t enough wide space to accommodate the Moonlight, which would crush the surrounding woods and leave obvious traces.

"Use the carriage then."

Carlotta immediately took out the carriage card.

She infused it with magic power, and the card transformed into a carriage beside her. The carriage wasn’t as large as the Moonlight, but there was enough space to accommodate it.

Inside the carriage was empty, but that wasn’t an issue. Amelia had many daily necessities stored within her Ten-Heart Jewel, and she immediately brought out pillows, quilts, and other items, spreading them across the carriage floor. It was actually quite soft to lie on.

The only issue was that the carriage was a bit cramped.

It wasn’t until Carlotta lay down that she realized how close she was to Amelia.

She couldn’t resist turning her head to glance at Amelia, her thoughts stirring.

After all, when people sleep, they tend to toss and turn. If she happened to roll closer to Amelia later, it would be quite understandable, wouldn’t it?

"Car..."

Suddenly, Amelia spoke.

"I’m here. What’s wrong?"

Carlotta whispered softly.

"I can’t sleep very well. Please use the Sleep Card for me."

"No problem."

Carlotta took out the Sleep Card, infused it with magic power, and a strange ripple spread inside the carriage. In a short time, Amelia fell asleep.