"Swish!"
A flash of blade, and a strangely shaped plant was cut cleanly at its base by the sharp steel knife.
Ten Avenger soldiers wielded their steel knives at the front, with Illumi and his group following behind. On their left and right were five Avenger soldiers and five Hunters each. In the middle of the formation were the Hunters who weren't skilled in combat and the four ordinary people, while ten Avenger soldiers were responsible for vigilance at the rear.
"Splash..."
Suddenly, Illumi, who was walking at the front, heard a faint sound of water. His neural-mechanical helmet showed the time was 12:33 PM.
Having set off at 4:10 AM, they had now traveled for 8 hours and 23 minutes.
"We're here."
Three minutes later, Illumi suddenly spoke.
The group looked ahead. Bright light poured through the branches into the dim forest, accompanied by a "splash" of water.
"Hoo~ Finally out of that damned forest. Ugh, so bright..."
Gina, the physicist, was the first to jog out of the forest, but the bright light outside the forest stung her eyes, making her a bit uncomfortable.
Illumi and Beyond's group arrived late.
Illumi directly stepped out of the forest, while Beyond and his companions stood motionless at the forest's edge, scanning their surroundings.
In front of them was a swamp. In the swamp grew some trees with developed roots, like mangroves, and numerous floating plants.
"What are they doing?"
Hercules looked at Beyond and his group, who were standing motionless in the forest, his expression curious.
"They're waiting for their eyes to adjust. Pay close attention. Because next, we'll be entering the second most dangerous place we'll encounter in this exploration: the [Swamp of Hell]."
"Ordinary people have been out of the dark forest for too long and can no longer smell the danger."
Illumi slowly walked past the four. He didn't need to adjust to the light because his neural-mechanical helmet automatically adjusted according to the surrounding environment.
Hercules and the other four looked at each other, then pouted.
"Water."
Seeing water ahead, Gina jogged to the water's edge.
"This water is so clean, great."
Although it was a swamp, the water was exceptionally clear, allowing one to see directly to the bottom. Gina immediately cupped her hands together, scooped up a handful of water, and "splashed" it onto her face.
"Cough cough..."
Gina, who was washing her face, seemed to have choked on the water. Tessa stepped forward, patted her shoulder, and shook her head.
"You don't even know if this water is safe, yet you dare to use it. Aren't you afraid of something happening?"
"No problem. This water is especially clean and refreshingly cool."
Gina's face lit up with a smile. Her originally dark face, from not having cleaned it for a long time, became white and clean again after this cleaning. However, she was much thinner than when they first arrived here.
"There's a wooden cabin here!"
Suddenly, the fat man from Beyond's team shouted.
Cervantes and the others walked over. Indeed, a small wooden cabin stood at the edge of the swamp. Not far outside the cabin, there were also several small boats, covered in moss and vegetation, looking as if they had been abandoned for a long time.
"I'll deal with these boats. We need them to cross this damned swamp."
Cervantes placed his backpack on the ground. He intended to clean up and repair these small boats, using them to enter the swamp.
"Alright, then let's go check out the cabin over there."
Natalie and Shepherd walked towards the small wooden cabin on the other side.
"Could this be a temporary base set up by the previous expedition team?"
Shepherd looked at the dilapidated wooden cabin and the paint drawings left on it, asking with a smile.
Natalie didn't respond and walked into the wooden cabin alone.
Shepherd shrugged, not caring, then turned to look at the others.
Illumi, Beyond, and Hercules were standing together, holding a map, discussing something.
Meanwhile, the Avenger soldiers took out inflatable kayaks from their supply backpacks and were inflating them.
Isaac, the geographer, was taking samples, scooping up some soil from the ground and placing it in a petri dish.
Cervantes was cleaning the moss and vegetation off the small wooden boats. The rest were on guard around them.
"Thud... Thud..."
Natalie's combat boots stepped on the rotten wooden floor, making a "thud-thud" sound, like knocking on a door.
"This wooden cabin has been abandoned for a long time, and it's almost submerged by water."
Natalie walked into the wooden cabin and found that 90% of it had already been swallowed by the swamp, with only a small portion still usable. There was also nothing inside. She then turned and walked out of the cabin, standing with her arms crossed at the entrance, observing the serene swamp.
"Did you find anything?"
Shepherd, who was outside the wooden cabin admiring the paint drawings, asked loudly when he saw Natalie emerge from the cabin.
"It's been abandoned for a long time inside. I estimate it's been..."
"Swish!"
Natalie, who was speaking, abruptly stopped. Her entire body trembled, and she was suddenly pulled backward into the wooden cabin, as if something inside the cabin had pulled her in.
"Natalie!?"
Shepherd's expression changed, and he immediately rushed towards the wooden cabin.
"Natalie! Natalie!"
Shepherd shouted as he rushed into the wooden cabin.
"What's going on!?"
Illumi and Beyond immediately turned to look towards the source of the sound, just in time to see Shepherd rushing into the wooden cabin, shouting Natalie's name.
"Natalie!"
Shepherd rushed into the wooden cabin and saw Natalie struggling in the water, while something beneath the water seemed to be pulling at her body, trying to drag her completely underwater.
"Help me! Something's grabbed my backpack!"
Natalie cried for help while reaching for the dagger on her leg. She intended to cut open her backpack to save herself.
She didn't know what was pulling her, but it had astonishing strength, and she couldn't break free.
"Boom!"
Suddenly, the water surface violently surged, splashing large waves.
"Ah~!"
Natalie was about to pull out her dagger when she suddenly felt the thing underwater strengthen its grip. Accompanied by her scream, the unknown monster dragged her body wildly underwater.
"Natalie!"
Shepherd roared, and a large amount of Nen surged from his body. The Nen gushing from his arms transformed into two purple giant snakes, like flowing water.
"Hiss hiss..."
Shepherd's arms trembled, and the purple giant snakes hissed, suddenly elongating and plunging into the water with two "plop" sounds.
"Got you!"
Shepherd's eyes narrowed, his expression ferocious. The muscles on his two arms bulged, and he pulled hard.
"Splash~!"
As Shepherd acted, the water surface immediately churned with huge waves. Natalie's body briefly surfaced, then sank back underwater.
"Rumble!"
With a loud crash, the entire wooden cabin disintegrated.
And Natalie was still being pulled around by the monster in the water, unable to resist.
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