"These trees are sturdy enough to make a boat..." James patted the tree gently, feeling its solidity with his hand. Then, he took his sword and struck hard, causing the nearly 20-meter-tall tree to fall, crushing the surrounding bushes. He turned to Liam, who was still lying comfortably on the surface of the lake, and shouted.
"Come here and help me carry this tree…"
With Liam's help, James would have a much easier time, especially since Liam possessed Force energy. Carrying several logs would be a trivial task for him.
Hearing James' shout, Liam remained lying on the water, gazing at the cloudy sky with a relaxed expression. The gentle contact of his body with the water made him feel as though he were lying on a soft mattress.
At that moment, the rustling of nearby bushes caught Liam's attention. He stood up and carefully observed the direction of the noise. From the bushes emerged a thin, hunched, and frail figure, clearly exhausted and worn out. His body bore visible wounds from monsters, along with scratches all over.
"Water... Water..." The thin man, with vacant eyes, didn't notice Liam standing on the surface of the lake. To him, the only thing visible was the water. He rushed towards the lake as if it were his first time drinking water in years.
"Is that him…" Liam stroked his chin, observing the man closely. From their past encounters, Liam knew this man to be reckless and lacking wisdom. It was surprising that he had survived.
James, who had heard the strange noise nearby, immediately ran over.
"It's the scrawny guy…" He was just as surprised as Liam.
After drinking a large amount of water, the thin man slumped wearily by the shore. Hearing James call him "scrawny," he furrowed his brow and shouted:
"My name is Brow… not the scrawny guy…" He added: "I'm not skinny, I'm just small."
Liam and James exchanged a light smile. It seemed they both shared the opinion that this guy was quite sensitive.
After a brief investigation, they learned that Brow had been chasing a blonde man for some time. However, when he entered the forest, he got lost. Without food and water, coupled with constant harassment from monsters, his body ended up in its current state. Fortunately, he managed to find this lake.
"So, where's the big guy who usually travels with you?" James asked.
At this point, Brow shuddered as he recalled the events that had transpired in the cave beneath the sea. Hesitantly, he said: "He… got eaten by that monster…"
"What…" James and Liam said in unison, a bit horrified. It didn't make sense, as the monster had clearly attacked them first, meaning the others should have had a higher chance of survival.
With a sorrowful expression, Brow recounted: "We thought we had escaped, but there were so many tunnels beneath the lake. We spent quite a bit of time trying to find a way out. And you know… just as we found the exit, the monster caught up to us. I was the lucky one who escaped."
James stepped forward and patted Brow on the shoulder to comfort him.
"It's alright, buddy. Just surviving that is already a miracle." He added: "We thought we'd end up in its stomach too."
After being comforted by James, Brow's face immediately brightened, and he continued chatting and laughing with James.
"Hm…" Liam, standing nearby, listened to the conversation without any visible change in emotion. In reality, he wasn't sure if Brow was telling the truth. The escape route under the lake was just a guess on Liam's part. He didn't actually know if there were many tunnels down there. But one thing he was sure of: Brow's emotions were fake. His face went from sorrowful to cheerful as soon as James consoled him. If Brow had been honest about his feelings, Liam wouldn't have doubted him. The chances were high that Brow had ulterior motives. Perhaps he was trying to win over James? Or maybe Liam was overthinking things.
"For now, you should rest… Then we'll gather the food and wood," James said.
"What do you mean?" Brow asked, his face puzzled as he looked at James.
Realizing he had been too hasty, James smiled and said to Brow:
"Are you thinking of joining our group?"
With James' kind-hearted nature, it was obvious that he would invite Brow to join.
Brow responded with a deliberately fake awkwardness:
"Really? I think I might be a bother to you two."
James smiled brightly and replied: "Of course not." Then he turned to Liam with an enthusiastic look: "Right, Liam?"
The more Liam looked at Brow's fake expression, the more uncomfortable he became. He couldn't believe that James, who had once tried to kick him out of the house, was now so quick to open up to a cunning person like Brow.
Perhaps after leaving their old home, James had to avoid forming relationships with others, which caused his deep-seated kindness to gradually surface. But all Liam could do was sigh and nod in agreement with James.
"See… None of us feel bothered at all…" James said with a confident tone, looking at Brow.
"Well, then I'll be in your care." Brow nodded and smiled. This time, the smile was genuinely sincere, with no hint of deception. But it wasn't because he was happy to have two new comrades.
After that, the three of them worked hard throughout the day. With Brow's help, the tasks became much easier, significantly reducing the time required to complete them. Instead of taking 2-3 days, they managed to gather all the essential supplies in a single day.
"For now, just leave the logs here," Brow said, exhaling sharply and tossing the last log onto the ground.
Liam glanced at the pile of logs on the sand with a satisfied expression. Finally, they were about to leave this place.
"We should head back to the cave; it's getting dark," James said, glancing up at the sky.
***
"Let's go to sleep. Tomorrow will be a busy day..." James said tiredly, then walked to a cool spot to lie down.
"Wait a minute. Before we sleep, can I borrow your spatial ring?" Liam asked with a pleading tone.
James furrowed his brow slightly and asked,
"What do you need it for?"
"Oh... I just want to count how much gold we've collected," Liam smiled, trying to signal to James with a wink.
Hearing the word "gold," Brow's eyes lit up immediately.
"Did you guys collect a lot of gold in that cave?" Brow asked.
James thought for a moment and stroked his chin:
"If I were to exchange all of my gold, I'd estimate it would be worth about 200k gold coins."
Then, he tossed his spatial ring to Liam, though he was a bit puzzled since Liam didn't really know anything about money due to his amnesia. But seeing Liam wink at him, James didn't ask further. Whatever Liam did, it was always for their benefit, even if James didn't always understand it.
"200k gold coins?" Brow's face briefly revealed jealousy, but he quickly changed back to his usual fake smile.
"My gold probably amounts to only around 30k coins."
"Of course… That ring is top-tier. Naturally, it helps collect gold much faster." James smiled proudly, pointing at the ring in Liam's hand. It was a trophy he had cleverly acquired by exploiting a member of the Smith family.
"Is that so?" Brow said, his eyes narrowing as he stared at the ring.
"Things would've gone much smoother if that scumbag hadn't messed with us." James lamented the fact that they couldn't collect more treasure. Thinking about Liam's medallion, James believed it to be the most valuable item, one that gold couldn't buy. If it weren't for that guy, maybe James would have obtained something equally valuable to Liam's.
At that moment, Brow's face twisted, anger clearly rising within him.
"Exactly!…" Brow replied.
Liam observed Brow's reactions to words like "gold," and it was clear that Brow was a greedy person. He had seen such faces and emotions far too often before. Liam could now confirm that Brow would definitely rob them if given the chance.
He couldn't help but sigh. Perhaps saving them was a mistake. Liam suspected that in any world, there would always be people like Brow. However, at least he had acted in accordance with his conscience.