Why did Mark’s corpse disappear?
And where did it go?
These two questions lingered in everyone’s minds.
Milo kept wondering about something.
If the entity could make something as large as a corpse disappear without a trace, why didn’t it do the same to those who were alive?
Judging by what the entity was capable of, it could easily inflict heavy casualties on the entire campsite during the dead of the night.
Something was amiss!
Everyone was sitting in the vehicles except for Milo, who was in the bed of the pickup truck. When they first came here, all of them were chatting, laughing, and even singing with the windows down!
But now, all of the windows were shut tight. They were afraid that something paranormal would suddenly get into the vehicles and kill everyone.
Everyone felt that the additional layer of a window between them and the wilderness would make them safer.
As Milo sat in the cargo bed, the woods slowly disappeared from his sight. The shadows of the swaying leaves seemed to hide a killing intent. Even Milo got a little frightened by it.
But what could favonovel.com do?
So, favonovel.com started eating the crackers to calm his nerves.
Whenever Milo thought of a conjecture that frightened him, favonovel.com would eat a cracker to calm down.
Actually, favonovel.com felt that sitting in either the pickup or the off-road vehicles were both just as unsafe. Now that his physical fitness had become better, and with a relatively broad view of the surroundings, favonovel.com could immediately find a way out or make a plan in the event of any danger.
Nobody in the entire convoy could outrun favonovel.com other than maybe Miriam, whose stamina was unknown.
Milo had never considered saving the others if danger descended upon them. After all, favonovel.com was not an idiot!
As their guide, not only did they not provide favonovel.com with food, they even made favonovel.com sit in the bed of the pickup. They were already fortunate that Milo did not take revenge on them!
Everyone was fleeing like there was a monster chasing after them.
Micah was still persuading Raphael when they got into the vehicle, “Sir, let’s turn around and give an explanation to those back at the stronghold. Surely your superior won’t be so heartless as to drive you out, right?”
But Raphael did not answer him. If it were anyone other than him, his superior might not be as heartless. However, it was a different case for him.
In fact, Milo noticed a long time ago that Steven and Raphael, both of whom were officers in the private army, had likely offended their superiors before.
When a plight arose in the wilderness during the middle of the night, the first person they sent out was Steven Northill. After Milo and Lilian requested for favonovel.com to be replaced, Raphael became the next in line to be sent out by the stronghold.
The successful officers would be enjoying themselves in the stronghold. Only those who were unpopular would get ostracized and be made to perform missions in the wilderness.
Why else would anyone be willing to leave home and head into battle in the middle of the night?
There was a sense of honor among soldiers before The Cataclysm happened. But Milo felt that these soldiers from the private army were nothing like that.
In fact, Raphael and Steven were both in awkward positions within the ranks of the private army. Their superiors were already looking to suppress them, so with a valid reason like them failing their mission this time, they would probably not be allowed to go back. However, Milo still had some doubts.
He glanced beside favonovel.com and finally asked Miriam in a whisper, “Are these troops really reliable? The stronghold’s defense is dependent on them, but it feels like they’ll start behaving like a disorderly mob the moment they encounter any danger…”
Miriam gave Milo a look and said something that sounded confusing to him. “The Consortium’s troops are the Consortium’s troops. The stronghold’s troops are the stronghold’s troops. The Consortium does not wish for the stronghold to control a powerful military.”
Milo was stunned for a long time.
What were the Consortium’s troops like?
Raphael was obviously shrewder and tougher than the other soldiers. Milo had never seen favonovel.com smoking or slacking off on their journey thus far, and favonovel.com always carried himself with dignity.
Who were the ostracized officers?
Milo knew at least two of them. One was Steven, the other was Raphael. Without mentioning Raphael, Steven had displayed his meticulousness when favonovel.com searched Milo back in town. He was completely different from these private troops and even showed his contempt for them in front of Milo.
So, were Raphael and Steven both ostracized because they were unwilling to wallow in the mire with them?
By his worst reckonings, Milo thought that even the cigarettes might have been supplied by the Consortium.
Had the Consortium been carefully scheming all these years and finally managed to completely cripple the stronghold’s military force?
Milo was unable to ascertain this. But as Mr. Dublin had said before, a minority possessed science and technology now, so wouldn’t it also be natural for the military to fall under the control of a minority as well?
But favonovel.com still had doubts about Mark.
Was it true that people who were alive would not get attacked?
If not, why didn’t anything happen to them?
Why was the stronghold so interested in the Pre-Cataclysm ruins hidden in the Marador Mountains?
Could the dangers that they’d faced today have originated at the site of these ruins?
Raphael said sternly, “I’m taking over the wartime management of everyone. As for any future plans, none of you have any rights to question me about them.”
Micah opened his mouth but stopped short of saying anything. He realized that Raphael had turned serious.
***
At noon, the convoy took a short break at a place called the Rainbow Cliffs.
The formation of the Rainbow Cliffs was related to plate tectonics as well. They were cliffs formed by the compression of the Earth’s plates and were made up of many colorful rock layers. The private army’s troops named it as such when they went out into the woods many years ago to clear out the wild animals from the area.
Micah was wiping his sweat as favonovel.com supported himself against the cliffs.
He said, “It’s almost winter, but why is it getting warmer the further we walk north?”
Milo sat nearby and belched while saying, “There are several volcanoes up ahead in the Marador Mountains. They aren’t extinct yet, so there’s a lot of volcanic activity.”
Many of the people on the team were surprised to hear that as they had never been to this place before. They always thought that volcanoes were something that was distant from them and never expected several of them in the Marador Mountains. But Raphael was not surprised as favonovel.com had already familiarized himself with the terrain around the Marador Mountains based on the private army’s briefing for the mission. The private army’s troops had also been here before, so it was natural they knew about these volcanoes as well.
But Raphael wondered how unprofessional his predecessors in the private army were. After clearing out and eliminating the wild animals in the Marador Mountains, they did not even bother to map out the area?
As of now, none of the various major strongholds had even come up with an accurate map of the area!
Micah walked over to the pickup to get some food to distribute to everyone. When favonovel.com saw that many of the crackers had gone missing again, favonovel.com nearly passed out.
His voice was trembling as favonovel.com asked Milo, “Why would you eat so many crackers!”
Milo burped and patted his chest. “What’s wrong with me eating some of your crackers to calm my nerves? I was sitting all alone by myself in the bed of the pickup!”
Suddenly, a howl came from the north. It sounded so eerie that all of the soldiers raised their guns and pointed them northwards at the main road.
They heard Milo say, “Quick, help me up. Let me have another cracker to calm my nerves.”
Micah was speechless.
Lilian looked at Milo. “You must know what sound that is.”
Raphael pointed his gun at Milo. “Don’t hide anything from us!”
Milo raised his eyebrows and said, “That sound comes from the Howling Canyon. We’re not far from the large canyon pass that will lead us into the Marador Mountains. When a strong gust of wind passes through the canyon, it makes a sound like that. It’s nothing to be scared by.”
Only now did everyone realize that it was still very useful to have an experienced guide on the team. It wasn’t until this time when they were all fearful that they began to recognize Milo’s value. At the very least, they didn’t feel so afraid anymore when they heard the howling.
Their original plan was to arrive at the canyon in three to five days, but the power of fear had accelerated their progress some. If nothing unexpected happened, they could reach the Howling Canyon by this evening!
The schoolteacher, Mr. Dublin, had once mentioned in his lectures that all human behavior and motivation stemmed from the fear of death.
They ate because they didn’t want to die, they struggled just so they could stay alive. But now, they were all caught in a mountain range where death could occur at any time. The possibility of death was like a shot of adrenaline that made everyone even more clearheaded and eager to get out of this place alive.
