Chapter 225: Discovering Anomalies

The first batch of supplies brought by the ship was not much, mostly consumables for Xia Duo and his people, such as rations, arrows, and insect repellent, as well as tools like ropes, axes, hammers, and clay pots. Xia Duo checked all the materials, especially the food; he paid particular attention to the bottom of the crates. Although there was a layer of wooden boards underneath and stones at the very bottom, it was still hard to guarantee that the dampness and insects in the forest wouldn't find their way in.

Fortunately, it was only one night, and nothing bad happened.

After breakfast, the Lucky Owen was set to return. They had to go a bit further downstream before they could turn around, and by this time, Xia Duo had already directed everyone to start clearing the open space.

The small area cleared last night was only enough to stack supplies; in a Pioneer Territory, every inch of land must truly be wrested from the forest—

Wrested with swords, Magic, axes, and saws! "Captain Jibu, your Team 1, work in pairs and keep watch on the perimeter to prevent beast attacks. Call for help immediately if you encounter danger."

"Yes!"

Then Xia Duo ordered Team 2: "Ximeng, you take the people from Team 2 and start from the landing point, clearing away all the plants. I know you have all been Adventurers, so pay attention to safety."

"Yes!"

Watching these twenty people start to get busy, Xia Duo also breathed a sigh of relief. With only this many people, it was very simple to arrange things, but as the number of people increased, the tasks would also multiply.

It was unrealistic to micromanage every detail personally; when that time came, choosing suitable people and granting them the relevant Permission Level would become a necessity.

The system of the Territory would thus emerge, and the core of all this, of course, was Xia Duo.

While thinking about who the suitable people were, Xia Duo walked around the landing point to observe. Time had been limited last night, and he hadn't had a good look at his Territory yet! Carrying Jibu's Adamantine Sword, Xia Duo chopped as he walked. Before long, he felt that what he had chopped was almost catching up to what the ten people in Ximeng's team had chopped.

It was just that he was chopping very randomly, almost wherever he felt like looking, he would chop. Soon, he had toured the nearby shrub area.

Further in were the tall trees.

Of course, a natural forest could not be arranged so precisely, with shrubs on this side and tall trees on that, without the slightest overlap.

In reality, tall trees and shrubs were intertwined; it was just that the shrub area had more shrubs.

Once in the tall tree area, there was no need to constantly clear a path; there was enough distance between two trees for Xia Duo to walk. It was only here that it matched the image of a forest in Xia Duo's mind.

And this place was already nearly 300 meters from the riverbank; a little further on was where Xia Duo had cleared the Goblins yesterday.

Xia Duo did not go any further, but instead began to set up Magic Alarms in the vicinity, not for the purpose of covering a certain area, but to form lines of defense.

As long as a creature larger than a Goblin passed by, it would trigger the alarm.

Due to limited ability, Xia Duo could not set up the defense lines perfectly; he chose places where the gaps in the forest were relatively large.

One would think that finding loopholes is the instinct of all creatures.

After setting up the Magic Alarms, Xia Duo returned to the landing point. Everyone was still busy, and he took out his Spell Notes to begin studying.

Except for not being able to conduct experiments anytime and anywhere, it was no different from the Mage Tower, Xia Duo comforted himself.

By noon, the sunlight became increasingly dazzling. Xia Duo put away his notes; by now, the area near the landing point had changed its appearance—

An open space about the size of a basketball court had been cleared by Ximeng and the others, with half of the area used to stack the chopped branches and brush.

The ground was covered with small stumps, weeds, and fallen twigs, looking very messy, but this was the first step of pioneering.

Xia Duo stood up from the supply crate and shouted, "Ximeng!"

Soon, a bare-chested, sweating burly man ran over, "My Lord, did you call me?"

"It's noon, arrange for people to rest. No need to clear anything this afternoon; set up the tents."

"Yes!"

"By the way, burn the ground before setting up the tents," Xia Duo added.

In just this half-day of the morning, there was no telling how many small insects had crawled onto the supply crates, and there was no knowing how many of them were poisonous.

Ximeng took the order and left.

As for Jibu and the others in the nearby thickets, they carried their own rations and did not need to return. Of course, for them, there was no such thing as resting or not resting.

Now their role was similar to that of guards; although it didn't consume much physical strength, it was a test of their mental state.

However, these people were all veterans, and they knew very well that guarding the perimeter was not just for Xia Duo, the Pioneer Lord, but even more so for themselves.

In this forest 20 li away from civilization, what could be more important than staying vigilant at all times? Compared to Xia Duo, who possessed Magic, their chances of survival were much smaller.

In the afternoon, Xia Duo notified Jibu to tighten the perimeter. After leaving one Magic Alarm behind, he left alone. He hadn't forgotten why he chose to locate the Territory here! However, when he truly saw the reality of the place, he couldn't help but doubt this so-called treasure. With only Lao Nier, an ordinary person, did he really have the ability to set up some treasure in this forest 20 li away from the town?

Wasn't he afraid it would be snatched away by beasts on the way?

It could be said that the waterway was the real reason Xia Duo decided to choose this location for the Territory; the treasure was secondary. But since he was here, he wouldn't be reconciled if he didn't take a look.

From a geographical perspective, the location where Xia Duo fought the Goblins last night was to the south of the east of the landing point, while the location of the so-called treasure was due east of the landing point.

And on the spell map provided by Wier Lingzhu, the small hill where the Goblins were was very obvious on the map, but there was no abnormality at the location of the so-called treasure.

It was all trees, no different from the surrounding trees.

Xia Duo didn't know how many times he had checked, but he hadn't found anything peculiar about that spot.

On the way to the "treasure," Xia Duo hadn't noticed anything unusual at first, but when he encountered a difficult path and had to detour, he finally discovered a trace of strangeness—

That was, the straight "path" he had walked before seemed to have plants that were "healthier" than those in other places; this feeling was very mysterious.

At first, this was just a vague feeling, but when Xia Duo realized this, he began to observe deliberately.

Plants are not like humans, where height, weight, and build are clear at a glance. To compare plants, one must first find the same species, and even then, comparison is very difficult.

It doesn't mean that a tree with more leaves or thicker branches is "healthier." Even if Xia Duo wasn't a botanist before he transmigrated, but just a Web Novelist who used to be a Programmer.

He still knew this bit of common sense.

There were too many factors to consider: age, sunlight, etc. Control the variables! However, without professional technology, Xia Duo could still use methods characteristic of Magic, using bloodline Perception—not to perceive the similarities and differences of the plants, but to perceive the differences in the environment.

If only the plants on that "path" were different, it definitely meant that the environment on this "path" was unusual.

Looking purely from Magic Vision, the Magic Net environment of this "path" was no different from the surroundings, or rather, the difference was so small that Xia Duo could not perceive it.

But with the help of bloodline Perception, he could feel the abnormal changes in the environment; there seemed to be abnormal Water Element on this "path."

This kind of Water Element was not "water" in the concrete sense, but a certain Flow and nourishing characteristic!

A metaphysical conceptual existence!

Thanks to 【Huachuan Buyong Jiang】 for the 500 book coin tip!!

(End of chapter)