The Place Where Everything Begins - Chapter 168

At this time, many people started casting their glances this way, looking at Jeremy and Gerard’s interactions. Their initial unpleasant expressions had morphed into a complex one right now.

Those expressions were obviously aimed towards Jeremy…

Some wanted to help Jeremy out from such an awkward situation, but they felt afraid of offending Gerard as the latter was pretty strong, and he also had a companion to back him up. Some only looked on in pity, whereas some felt utterly indifferent to the incident.

“Gerard, stop plaguing our new member.”

A deep feminine voice was heard from ahead of the team as the speaker turned her head back to look Gerard directly in the eyes.

The woman was none other than the team leader, Mylah Crowley.

Having heard Mylah’s deep voice, Gerard furrowed his eyebrows for a split second, unnoticeable by most people, before smiling while scratching his head in embarrassment.

“I didn’t bother him at all, captain. Don’t misunderstand my good intention like that,” said Gerard as he walked alongside Jeremy, looking a bit stiffened than before.

After all, if the quiet Rachel wasn’t counted into the equation, the only person within the team who could suppress Gerard was the team leader, Mylah.

“That’s not a question. It’s an order.” Mylah continued with a stern voice after hearing Gerard’s lame excuse.

“Alright, alright. I get it,” said Gerard before raising both of his hands in the air, indicating his defeat.

Nonetheless, if one looked into Gerard’s eyes right now, they would see a deep resentment lingering deep in there.

Having said his piece, Gerard proceeded towards a middle-aged man with a mohawk, walking some meters behind Jeremy.

‘So, there are two of them…’

Jeremy thought to himself as he smiled at Mylah in cordial to express his gratitude.

At the end of the day, Mylah hadn’t saved Jeremy from Gerard, but in contrast, she saved Gerard from Jeremy instead.

Upon seeing the annoying man walking away from Jeremy, other people finally had a chance to introduce themselves to this mysterious newcomer. They had long wanted to talk to the man but were too afraid to approach the latter while he had a ‘thug’ standing beside him.

Many of them were pretty curious as to how Jeremy had managed to stay alive within the forest for three days straight.

They also felt bewildered at the fact that Jeremy was teleported so deep into the temperate forest instead of being put in the camp’s periphery.

Thus, some people started approaching Jeremy to introduce themselves to him to ask some questions. It appeared that the mood started becoming better as they marched through the north gate.

Soon, the group of twenty people disappeared into the green forest, signifying the start of their journey.

…

One hour later…

The group of twenty people, led by a white-haired man in his fifties holding a crossbow, proceeded cautiously into the dense forest.

At this time, Jeremy had already known the names of more than half of the people here.

However, at some point after coming adequately deep into the forest full of deciduous trees, myriad plants, and small animals, Mylah suddenly gave an order for everyone to stop talking as they would only use hand signals in communication from then on.

It was fortunate that there were only ten or so signals to note so that most people could learn them very quickly in the past three days spent within the camp.

Jeremy was also taught by a man named Trevor about how each signal worked as the latter had thought that Jeremy didn’t know about it.

Not only that, but Trevor also taught Jeremy about what to do when they were about to ambush or be ambushed by the enemies.

After that, Jeremy also learned about the light flares and their colors, knowing which one to use in which situation.

Although Jeremy had more or less known most of those things, he still nodded his head and behaved ignorantly while asking some questions to Trevor every time he had to.

Just like that, Jeremy got to know many people and talked with Trevor about various things.

However, half an hour ago, Mylah suddenly signaled everyone to keep their voice down as they were almost two miles away from their camp. So, everyone kept quiet since then as they knew it would be pretty dangerous from that point on.

After Mylah had given the signal to keep their voice, they continued traversing along the treelines, following the marks on the trees for more than thirty minutes now.

Everyone knew they could encounter the enemy at any time. Thus, most people appeared a bit tensed up, ready to engage in a fight at any time.

As they proceeded deeper and deeper into the forest, the group occasionally encountered small animals, birds, and various plants.

Some of the plants looked poisonous; some looked the same as the edible plants on Earth, so people would pick those plants up whenever they saw one.

While the team was marching with a tense atmosphere, the middle-aged man, who led the team, suddenly raised his left hand with a clenched fist, signifying everyone to stop.

When everyone saw the signal, their eyes widened slightly, and they promptly stopped in their tracks. Some of them even held their breath and raised their weapons in the air, preparing for any unexpected situation.

At this time, a bush situated roughly twenty meters before the team suddenly shook, emanating the rustling noise into the quiet atmosphere.

Upon seeing so, Mylah raised her right fist up high with both her index and middle fingers pointing towards the sky.

Simultaneously, everyone, who had bows and crossbows, started nocking the arrows, aiming towards the green bush.

Meanwhile, some people within the team also started dispersing to different areas to prepare for other ambushers.

*Rustling*

*Rustling*

Following the rustling noises from the bush, a creature promptly appeared before everyone.

Having seen the creature finally emerging from the bush, Mylah pointed the two fingers towards it without delay.