The moment Ethan caught the scent of human blood, Natasha also sensed that something was wrong.
Brutus bared his fangs and let out a low growl.
Only Lena hadn’t noticed anything.
But seeing everyone’s reactions, she immediately realized something had happened.
She quickly drew her last throwing knife.
Then she glanced at the weapons in Ethan’s and Natasha’s hands before smiling bitterly.
She doubted she’d be of much use in a fight.
At best...
She could act as another pair of eyes and keep watch for danger.
Just then, Emily’s voice called out from nearby.
"Brother Ethan!"
"Over here!"
Seeing that Emily was unharmed, Ethan relaxed slightly.
As he walked toward her, he asked,
"What happened here?"
Even while speaking...
He remained on full alert.
"A few thieves set their sights on our shelter."
"They thought having weapons meant they could do whatever they wanted."
"So Sister Claire slit all their throats."
Emily spoke so casually...
As though she were talking about slaughtering a few chickens rather than killing people.
Lena had secretly been judging Ethan for keeping such a young-looking girl by his side.
But after hearing Emily’s calm explanation...
She immediately realized the petite girl was far more dangerous than she appeared.
"Where’s Claire?"
"She wasn’t hurt, was she?"
Ethan had no desire to expand his team only to immediately end up with casualties.
"Don’t worry."
"They were just a bunch of amateurs."
"Their physical abilities were worse than mine."
"After Sister Claire killed them, she dragged all the bodies into the Sea of Flowers."
"Grandpa Walter said that place suppresses the smell of blood."
"Now that you’re back, we were waiting to see how you wanted to handle them."
Hearing that, Ethan finally relaxed.
"Alright."
"Let’s go take a look."
When they arrived at the Sea of Flowers, Lena froze in astonishment once again.
I thought Ethan’s shelter was already unbelievable...
Now he even has a cemetery?
But... why build one?
Did that many people die?
Or does this place have some special function?
As those questions raced through her mind...
She spotted Claire standing quietly nearby.
At her feet lay several corpses lined up neatly in a row.
Some belonged to young men.
Others were middle-aged.
All wore modern clothing.
Clearly...
They were Survivors.
Each still clutched a weapon.
Knives.
Axes.
Spears.
They also wore sleeveless wooden armor.
Although crude, the armor would still be enough to block ordinary attacks.
With superior numbers...
Armor...
And weapons...
If Lena had encountered this group herself...
Running would probably have been her only option.
Yet this entire squad had been wiped out.
Judging from the wounds...
Every one of them had died from a single strike.
None had even been given a chance to fight back.
"Ethan."
"You’re back."
After greeting him, Claire’s gaze shifted toward Lena.
She smiled faintly.
"A new teammate?"
"Hello."
"My name’s Lena Li."
The instant Claire looked at her...
Lena instinctively shivered.
It felt as though a predator had fixed its eyes on her.
Fortunately...
The chilling sensation disappeared just as quickly.
It was obvious Claire had intentionally given her a small warning.
Even so...
Lena could clearly tell there was no real hostility behind it.
Only the natural caution reserved for strangers.
That was perfectly understandable.
In a world where only the strong survived...
Being careful was never a mistake.
"Hello."
"I’m Claire Quinn."
After introducing herself, Claire looked toward the bodies.
"What do you want to do with them?"
"Loot everything useful."
"Then burn the bodies somewhere away from here."
Ethan had no interest whatsoever in eating human flesh...
Or selling it.
The only things worth keeping were whatever valuables they carried.
"I already searched them."
Claire sounded rather dismissive.
"Other than the weapons in their hands and the armor they were wearing..."
"They didn’t have anything worthwhile."
"They’re Survivors."
"The valuable stuff is stored in backpacks you can’t access."
With that, Ethan and Natasha began efficiently looting the corpses.
The process was simple.
Because they were dead...
There was no resistance when opening each person’s in-game inventory.
Everything inside could simply be transferred into Ethan’s own backpack.
Just as he’d expected...
The backpacks contained plenty of supplies.
Mostly food...
Water...
And low-tier crafting materials.
After finishing, Ethan sighed.
"Too bad."
"No weapon blueprints."
"No wooden armor blueprints either."
"Otherwise we’d have strengthened the team’s combat power again."
Claire blinked.
"Wait..."
"You mean you people actually need blueprints to make weapons and armor like this?"
"That’s right."
"Once we consume a blueprint and unlock it..."
"As long as we have the materials..."
"We can instantly craft as many as we want."
Claire stared at him for a moment before laughing.
"Something this simple doesn’t need a blueprint."
"Just give me the materials."
"I’ll make them."
"I can’t produce them instantly..."
"But mine definitely won’t be any worse than these."
Hearing that...
Ethan slapped his forehead.
Ever since arriving in this world...
He had become so dependent on the Universal Crafting Bench that he’d completely forgotten people could still make things by hand.
Then again...
He couldn’t really blame himself.
Before coming here...
He’d just been an ordinary office worker.
Not some master craftsman.
Thinking that way was only natural.
"Alright."
"I’ll bring you the materials later."
Nodding, Ethan opened the newly unlocked map.
Then he asked,
"Can you two see this?"
"Oh?"
"A map?"
"That’s fascinating."
Claire looked surprised.
Emily even reached out to touch it.
Her hand passed straight through the floating projection.
"So you can see it."
"Too bad the places you’ve explored can’t be shared with my map."
Ethan smiled.
Since natives like Claire and Emily could also view the map...
Planning routes together would become much easier.
Lena suddenly spoke up.
"I don’t think the game unlocked the map simply to make travel more convenient."
"I agree."
Ethan nodded.
"The announcement specifically said it was to make it easier for Survivors to visit each other."
"So either..."
"It’s encouraging Survivors to form alliances."
"Or..."
"It’s encouraging Survivors to hunt each other."
"Whichever it is..."
"It’ll rapidly increase the overall strength of the Survivor population."
He paused.
Then his expression became serious.
"...Which makes me think this is preparation for the beast tide."
"We’ll just have to take things one step at a time."
Claire smiled reassuringly.
"I’m sure all of us will survive."
"I hope you’re right."
Ethan nodded before asking,
"By the way..."
"Did either of you hear the voice from the sky earlier?"
Both Claire and Emily shook their heads.
"No."
"It was probably something only Survivors could hear."
"I see."
Another difference between Survivors and natives had just been confirmed.
Turning toward Brutus, Ethan ordered,
"Take these bodies somewhere farther away."
"Then burn them."
Brutus blinked.
"...Me?"
"I don’t know how to start a fire."
"...Fair point."
Ethan looked toward Emily.
"Emily."
"Go with Brutus."
"It’s only burning a few corpses."
With Brutus protecting her...
There was little chance anything would happen.
"Got it!"
Emily answered enthusiastically.
She showed neither fear...
Nor disgust...
At the task awaiting her.
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