Shrouded Seascape

Chapter 1014: Primitive

To avoid attracting attention, Anna joined a tour group filled with young people and newlyweds on their honeymoon. They boarded a small ship and entered the tropical rainforest.

Tourist attractions had long been developed and were available for tourists to enjoy, but Anna's destination was certainly not one of those tourist attractions.

On that same night, Anna led the others away from the tour group and ventured into the deep forest, following the map provided by the Shattered God. Despite having a map, the journey remained difficult.

They walked for several days, leaving everyone utterly exhausted.

The rainforest was humid and hot. Every moment inside the forest made them feel as if they were inside a sauna, not to mention the leeches on the tree leaves, as well as the biting insects everywhere.

"Set up camp," Anna commanded, and the Fhtagnists made use of their abilities to clear out a large clearing.

They burned the soil on the ground, killing all the insects hiding within it.

Once every insect was killed, Anna finally lay down in the tent. Of course, Anna could ignore the insects in the forest using her ability to phase through just about anything, but some of them didn't have the same special ability as hers.

Tobba's face was covered with several insect bites as he crawled into Anna's tent. He looked sorrowful as he asked, "Why did you bring me to this damned place? Look at how many times I got bitten so far…"

Wiping away the sweat from her forehead with a towel, Anna remarked, "Your special ability shines in a harsh environment, and it is about time for you to showcase your abilities. Warn me if there's anything dangerous."

"But—Aaah! I'm just a child! I ought to be enjoying a wonderful time as a child," Tobba exclaimed and hugged Anna's calf. However, Anna kicked him away.

Tobba sat up from the ground, stomping his feet in resentment. "Why are you doing this to me? I'm not a tool, you know?"

Just then, Anna's gaze swept across Tobba.

"At the very least," Tobba said, stepping backward and scratching the back of his head in embarrassment. "You should pay me a salary, right? I can't work for you for free."

"Why do you even need money?" Anna asked. She opened her phone and found that there was no signal at all, but this didn't come as a surprise to her.

"How about for my kindergarten tuition fees?" Tobba asked. Then, he chattered away for a long time. However, Anna ignored him completely, so he gave up and walked toward his mother's tent.

The next morning at daybreak, the half-asleep Anna woke up in an instant. She could see someone staring at her tent from outside. Her figure phased through the sleeping bag, and she tracked down the owner of the gaze underground.

Soon, she saw several people in camouflage uniforms with firearms in their hands. The group was standing among the trees, and their faces remained motionless even though insects were making a buffet out of them.

Their equipment looked very familiar; Clearly, they were the Shattered God's people.

Just as Anna was wondering about the reason behind their visit, her phone suddenly rang. Anna picked it up and heard a voice from the other end of the line.

— Hello, my people are outside your tent. Come out now.

With that, a crisis was averted. The Fhtagnists and the Shattered God's followers met in the humid rainforest.

It seemed that the Shattered God hadn't lied. They had to have suffered heavy casualties from the previous incident, as only five people had come to meet them—a poor line-up compared to the previous one.

The Fhtagnists in the camp began to pack up the tents, preparing to set off.

"How far is my current location from the rendezvous point? Did they specifically choose such a remote location, or do they actually live here?" Anna asked on the phone. Although there was no signal in this place, the Shattered God could still communicate with her, which was pretty amazing.

"Take a look around. They actually came last night."

"They came last night?" Anna looked around in confusion but found nothing other than the lush vegetation. There weren't even any traces at all. The next second, however, the trees suddenly started moving.

"No, the trees aren't moving. Those people are moving."

People covered in moss and tree bark were walking toward the clearing. Their camouflage was stunningly realistic, and if it weren't for their eyes, she would think that those trees had come to life and had come out of the forest.

Soon, a row of people stood before Anna. A man with green leaves on his head removed his camouflage. His dark skin was covered with bizarre patterns carved into his skin with what looked like green ink. His attire was extremely primitive as well, as he had used just a few hemp to cover the vital parts of his frame.

Their appearance alone told Anna that she was staring at a group of barbarians. Anna found it hard to imagine that they had the Anomaly she desired to obtain.

The man at the helm pointed to the west and led his people back into the forest without another word.

"Let's go. Everyone, keep up," Anna remarked and chased after the group of barbarians. While running, Anna turned to Tobba, who was in Li Lu's arms, asking, "They must have been here all day, yet you didn't sense anything?"

"They showed no hostility to us, so I didn't think it was necessary to tell you. Don't worry, I'll definitely notify you immediately if there's any threat to us around here," Tobba replied.

At that, Anna couldn't help but wonder whether Tobba could do anything else aside from irritating her.

The group of barbarians traversed the forest as if they were walking on flat ground. They led Anna and the others beneath several dozen large trees.

The trees were massive, and it'd take more than a few people to wrap their arms around it. The trees were covered with wooden ladders, and there were tree houses on the branches. Clearly, they lived here.

Tap, tap, tap!

The man at the helm picked up two bamboo slats and tapped them gently into each other. One by one, heads popped out from the tree houses. The agile barbarians either climbed down or hung upside down the tree branches to surround Anna and her group from all directions.

Their weapons were primitive as well, as they used mostly stone axes and wooden bows.

A man towering nearly two meters tall seemed to be their leader. With white hair and a stern face, he appeared to be holding what looked like a black obsidian spear as he walked through the crowd to arrive before Anna.

One of the men in camouflage took out a phone from his pocket and dialed the Shattered God's number. Then, he respectfully extended it toward the towering man.

A shrill noise reminiscent of static noises echoed from the phone.

To Anna's surprise, the towering man seemed to have understood the message behind those static noises. He snatched the phone and gestured for them to follow him.

Soon, everyone arrived at a wooden stump the size of a washbasin.

Anna and the towering man, who appeared to be the chieftain of this group of barbarians, stood on opposite sides of the wooden stump. Just like that, the deal was now ongoing.

"Can they understand me, or do you need your god to translate for me?" Anna asked the Shattered God's follower standing next to her.

Before the Shattered God follower could answer, a purple and moldy piece of paper was placed on the stump before being pushed toward Anna. The piece of paper seemed to be the Anomaly that she had been looking for.

"Oh? You're letting me inspect the goods first?"

Anna reached out to take it, but as soon as her fingers touched the paper, it came to life and ran up her arm before sticking to her face. Then, spiked chains burst out from beneath the stump and wrapped around Anna's slender waist.

Anna instinctively responded by attempting to phase through the chains using her special ability, but she was shocked to find that the chains were actually suppressing her power.

Before Anna could do anything else, the towering man raised the black obsidian spear with both hands and thrust it toward Anna's chest. The spear pierced Anna's chest, and her hot blood splattered into the air.

The towering man turned slightly, allowing Anna to catch a glimpse of a special tattoo on his shoulder. The tattoo was an emblem featuring three arrows pointing inward to a skull, and Anna found it extremely familiar.

Anna instantly discovered their identity. The group of barbarians was actually a mobile task force from the IMF!