He paused, recalling a strange enemy.
"That creature with the weird smile? It's definitely the tree man we encountered before."
"This confirms that the left side of the mural depicts where we've come from, but it also reveals something else important."
"Those creatures that demand special attention are marked with circles, like a clear warning."
Everyone nodded in agreement, recognizing that circling something is a common way to highlight it on a map.
Miru gave a slight nod and then turned his gaze to the other side of the mural, his tone becoming serious.
"But it's not just the shape of the circles that matters, the color does too."
"If the red circles mean danger or something to watch out for, then what could the white circles here mean?"
He pointed to the right side of the mural.
Everyone's eyes followed his finger.
The left side showed the path they'd traveled, with rocky terrain in the middle, but the right side represented where they were headed next.
The first thing that caught their attention was a deep, dark green color mixed with some earthy yellow.
Miru scratched his face awkwardly and said, "Even though this mural is a bit abstract, it's clear that this section marks the goal of our journey."
His voice grew stronger, and with it, everyone's anticipation steadily rose.
A spark of excitement ignited in my heart because we all knew the real goal of this trip was finally within reach.
Miru eagerly announced, "There's a swamp filled with Nitro Rice, known as the 'ultimate food' that can extend a person's lifespan!"
The moment he said this, joy spread across everyone's faces, and the excitement was impossible to stifle.
After this journey, we were about to reach our true destination, the swamp where Nitro Rice grows!
It wasn't an exaggeration to say that this hope was exactly why we chose this direction in the first place.
There are many kinds of hope that people chase: herbs that cure any disease, stones that generate electricity when submerged in water, Sangen water said to be the original solution for all liquids.
Each of these hopes points to a different part of the six continents, so before setting off, you have to pick the hope you want to pursue and then decide where to go.
In the end, we all agreed on Nitro Rice.
Being some of the strongest men across the six continents, nobody on the team could object to the idea of living longer.
So, naturally, Nitro Rice became our top priority.
Even if some preferred wealth, it wasn't a problem. Thanks to its longevity effect, Nitro Rice would never run short.
Across the six continents, countless wealthy people are desperate to live longer.
To them, the ring nun is just a string of numbers.
Even if it means giving up everything in exchange for some Nitro Rice, I'm more than willing to do it.
Besides, something like this is likely to be snapped up early by the V5, and chances are high that ordinary people without power won't get a chance to buy it.
Ging took out an apple and bit into it lightly, the crisp sound ringing out.
"Click!"
As he chewed the sweet, juicy fruit, he muttered to himself, "The ultimate food to extend life... I wonder how it tastes?"
Ging raised an eyebrow, clearly more curious about the flavor than its effects.
Though his voice was low, everyone around could hear him clearly.
For a moment, everyone stared at Ging in surprise.
'This is about extending life, and all he's thinking about is whether it tastes good? No matter how bad it tastes, shouldn't people be rushing to get it?'
"Click! Click!"
Ignoring their surprised looks, Ging took two big bites and kept eating as if he hadn't noticed.
After a beat, Ging spoke up in surprise, "You want some too?"
Ging lifted the apple slightly with a smile.
At first glance, it seemed friendly, but that grin revealed apple peel stuck between his teeth, two or three red pieces standing out clearly.
Pariston stood off to the side, quietly watching Ging's casual, almost careless behavior, as if he'd seen it all before.
Everyone glanced at the half-eaten apple, the clear teeth marks visible.
A thought crossed their minds: 'No thanks, we don't want to eat it.'
Almost as if rehearsed, they all shook their heads in unison, as if afraid Ging might try to stuff the apple into their mouths.
Seeing this unspoken understanding, a flicker of amusement crossed Ging's eyes before he finished the apple.
"Ahem!"
Beyond coughed twice, shifting everyone's attention away from Ging.
"Let's get back to listening to Miru."
Seeing this, Miru spoke up again, "We all know this place is a swamp, so we need to be extra careful. This has to be our main focus."
He pointed to a particularly eye-catching white "en" painted on the ground.
Compared to the other patterns scattered around, this one looked like it had been made with special care and was much bigger.
For example, the tree man painting in the grassland was about the size of a human head, but this white "en"'s pattern was closer to the size of a TV screen, clearly meant to draw attention.
Though the style was still abstract, it was obvious the artist had put a lot of effort into this one so anyone could easily recognize what it depicted.
Miru's eyes grew serious as he said, "This pattern is pretty detailed. It's definitely a snake!"
The image showed a snake coiled around a branch, its tail wrapped tightly.
At first, a snake on a tree branch isn't strange, but there was something unusual here, the snake actually had two tails.
Miru described what he saw: the front half of the snake hung down slightly, with a sharp, triangular head wide open as if ready to strike.
It even seemed like the snake was making a sound, about to hunt.
The body was thick and long, covered in intricate patterns and dense scales that almost looked like eyes.
Despite some distortion in the painting, the image conveyed the snake's terrifying nature perfectly.
Even though it was just a mural, looking at it made them imagine how frightening this creature must be.
What was even stranger was that around the middle of the snake's body, there was a branch splitting it into two tails, one wrapping left, the other right.
"A creature with two tails living in a swamp? That's definitely one of those so-called disasters," Miru said gravely, his face tightening.
If their previous discussion had been about hope, this was the opposite, a disaster no one really wanted to face, at least not willingly.
A two-tailed snake... it seemed far more dangerous and complicated than they had first thought.
Larry listened carefully to Miru's explanation and stared intently at the two-tailed snake symbol.
He raised his eyebrows slightly, noticing that Miru's analysis was mostly accurate, but something still didn't sit right with him.
The problem was the white "en" surrounding the snake.