August 14th, 4:00 AM, Dark Continent.
In the temporary camp, Illumi lay inside his tent, his brows slightly furrowed, his narrow, tightly shut eyes occasionally twitching.
"Jihoping, Jihoping..."
"Wake up quickly."
In Illumi's dream, a sweet and melodious female voice echoed in his ear, distant yet clear, carrying a hazy sense of warmth.
It was like a call, the voice moving from distant to right beside him, as if someone was pressed against his back, speaking into his ear.
"Swish!"
Illumi suddenly opened his eyes and sat up from his lying position.
The moment he opened his eyes, the voice vanished instantly.
"Boss, it's almost time to prepare. We're about to set off."
Jin Bradley's figure appeared outside the tent, informing Illumi, who was sitting inside.
Illumi gently shook his head, closed his eyes, then opened them again.
The golden morning sun shone on the yellow tent, making the interior of the tent seem bright. Having just woken up, Illumi found it a little dazzling.
"I understand."
Illumi nodded in response, getting up. With a "rip," he unzipped the tent flap, picked up the neural-mechanical helmet placed inside, supported himself with one hand on the ground, and bent at the waist to exit the tent.
Illumi stepped out of the tent and looked around.
"Drip drip..."
The sound of hazy, drizzling rain filled the entire forest. Everywhere his eyes landed was verdant green, teeming with life. Dozens of unknown bird calls enveloped him.
The morning sunlight filtered through the gaps between the leaves, passing through the faint white mist floating in the forest, and shone upon the lush green grass.
"Hoo~"
Illumi closed his eyes and took a deep breath. The clean, natural, pollution-free green air made him feel refreshed both physically and mentally.
In a trance, Illumi felt as if "this place is a paradise."
"Looks like we still won't be eating proper meals."
"Look at this, Taros dry noodles, Ladresko vegetable crackers, and military rations."
"Cornbread, mm, this isn't bad."
Illumi looked towards the source of the voices. Sergio and Cervantes were squatting in the damp grass, taking out a pile of food from their backpacks and tossing it onto the grass, picking and complaining as they did so.
"Oh, our 'big star' is finally awake."
"Rare, for you to oversleep too."
Sergio sensed Illumi's gaze, looked up at him, and teased with a raised corner of his mouth.
Forty-one days had passed since their first day on the Dark Continent. Everyone had transitioned from initial wariness to mutual cooperation in the middle, and now to harmonious coexistence.
Many people understood that although Illumi appeared cold on the surface, he wasn't someone who was completely unapproachable.
Just like now, if someone casually made a joke with him, he wouldn't get angry.
"Finish your breakfast quickly, pack your luggage. We're leaving soon."
Illumi said casually as he walked past the two, looking around as he walked. He still felt half-asleep.
"Tessa, a question for you, did you have a dream last night?"
A male voice rang in Illumi's ear. His raised right leg paused, and he turned to look behind him.
Shepherd, the Marine Hunter, was squatting beside Natalie, the valiant female biologist, holding a piece of dry ration, and asked curiously.
"You had a dream too?"
Natalie was rummaging through her backpack, pulled out a food bag and threw it onto the grass, then casually asked back.
"I had a childhood dream. I dreamed my dad took me to Lake Livin in our hometown to fish for giant fish."
"Isn't that great?"
"But the strange thing is, I couldn't see my dad's face at all throughout the dream. That's my dad, even though he's been dead for over ten years."
"You can't remember the appearance of your family members either?"
Tessa asked again. Shepherd pursed his lips and shrugged, indicating that was the situation.
"Rustle."
A combat boot landed on the grass in front of the two. Their gaze followed the combat boot upwards, and Illumi, holding his neural-mechanical helmet, stood before them, his expression solemn.
"You all..."
"Is there anything else you can't remember?"
Illumi's low, serious tone immediately caught the attention of others, who all turned to look.
"Illumi!"
Suddenly, Beyond walked out from the jungle behind Illumi, looking at him with a solemn expression.
"Beyond..."
Illumi frowned.
"I've asked around. Everyone's the same."
Beyond and Illumi stood facing each other, their expressions serious. It was the first time Illumi had seen Beyond like this since entering the Dark Continent.
"Same what?"
The fat man who had once asked "Is it a hybrid species?" scratched his head and asked.
"Idiot, didn't you dream last night?"
Sergio rapped him on the head. The fat man gave an "oh" of sudden realization and nodded repeatedly.
Excluding the Avenger soldiers responsible for vigilance and packing luggage, all twenty-four people present focused their attention on Illumi and Beyond. The atmosphere instantly became heavy.
"What do you think is going on?"
Illumi stared directly into Beyond's eyes and asked in a low voice.
"I had a good friend when I was a kid, the kind who often got into trouble with me."
"But when I woke up this morning, I couldn't even remember what he looked like. I only remembered that I had such a good friend when I was a kid."
Beyond stroked his long beard, falling into a brief recollection, but recovered in just a moment.
As Beyond spoke, Illumi's expression grew increasingly serious.
It could now be confirmed that some factor had caused them to lose their past memories, which were deeply buried in their minds, overnight.
"Should we temporarily stop advancing and investigate the cause?"
"No! We've already delayed for a long time. Besides, for something so inexplicable, it's best we leave this area as soon as possible, while we haven't suffered any losses yet."
Sergio suggested, but was immediately refuted by Cervantes.
Hercules and the other three exchanged glances, feeling a little heavy-hearted, as they were the four ordinary people slowing them down.
Illumi glanced around. Everyone looked at Cervantes and nodded, clearly agreeing with his suggestion.
"It's not impossible that the longer we stay, the worse it gets. For everyone's safety, it's best to leave this area as soon as possible."
Beyond also spoke.
It was obvious that he, too, was wary of this inexplicable cause of collective memory loss, worried that the longer they stayed here, the more severe the amnesia would become.
"Depart."
Illumi said no more, simply issuing the order to depart to the already packed Avenger squad.
Beyond and his group also composed themselves. They took their dry rations and ate while on the move. They wanted to leave this area as quickly as possible to avoid any unexpected incidents.
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