The village wasn't large, but there were quite a few houses, built rather densely.
The moment he saw the village, Dafifi sensed something was off.
It was too quiet, so quiet the village seemed shrouded in an aura of death.
"Let's go in and check. Be careful, something's wrong here."
Dafifi said grimly, then headed towards the village.
Taking his first step, the aura around him increased slightly.
Pokkle and Wayne followed behind Dafifi.
"I smell blood. Very faint, probably been a while," Wayne suddenly said.
Dafifi didn't smell the blood, but he knew Wayne's nose was sharp. He didn't doubt him and gave instructions to both.
"Pokkle, go left. Wayne, go right. Stay alert at all times. Even if you find something, don't make noise. Regroup here in ten minutes."
After Dafifi finished, he headed towards the center.
Pokkle and Wayne said nothing, splitting up to search as instructed.
Ten minutes later, the three reconvened.
Wayne brought back a pile of severed fingers. "Bitten off by sharp teeth."
Dafifi picked up a severed finger to examine and agreed with Wayne's assessment.
"There are many bloodstains, but not a single corpse. In the entire village, only this small pile of severed fingers. What are your thoughts?"
Pokkle shook his head. His experience was still shallow, insufficient to draw conclusions.
Wayne's eyes behind his sunglasses flickered slightly. "Billy Terrestrial Lizard."
"Very low probability," Dafifi shook his head.
Wayne nodded silently, he also knew that guess was a bit far-fetched.
Pokkle didn't know what a Billy Terrestrial Lizard was and looked at them questioningly.
Dafifi explained, "The Billy Terrestrial Lizard is a creature unique to East Gorteau. They usually eat frogs. They have a habit, like us spitting out fish bones when eating fish. After eating a frog, they spit out the frog's webbed fingers."
Pokkle nodded in realization, then connected it to the pile of severed fingers, finally understanding Dafifi and Wayne's conversation.
He hesitated for a moment and said, "Could it be human factors?"
"I hope so. Based on the traces left, it doesn't look like humans," Dafifi squinted his eyes, feeling more and more that coming here was the right decision.
The group of three left the village and headed towards the location point.
Having seen the village's anomaly, they increased their vigilance.
Continuing forward, two days later, they entered the forest.
Dafifi and Wayne quickly noticed something abnormal.
It was too quiet. Looking around, it seemed there wasn't even an insect in sight.
Moving cautiously, they suddenly saw a bloody, mangled corpse. Their faces all changed.
That corpse was the fish-scale man killed by the bull-horned man.
Chimera Ants don't eat their own kind. Additionally, the forest's creatures had basically been cleaned out by the Chimera Ants, so the fish-scale man's corpse was preserved.
The three observed the already showing clear signs of decay corpse. Without a doubt, this wasn't a human corpse, but its physical structure was quite similar to humans.
The bull-horned man, in anger, had given the corpse a couple of kicks, one of which had smashed to pieces the fish-scale man's head, making identification difficult for Dafifi and the others.
Wayne crouched beside the corpse, staring silently at the clawed fingers that identified it as a Chimera Ant.
Then, he took out a sharp dagger and struck the corpse's wrist.
A light clang rang, and it only left a mark on the wrist.
Wayne's eyebrows rose. He wrapped the dagger in Nen, then chopped off the clawed hand and stored it away.
Seeing Wayne's action, Dafifi didn't say anything. This was one way to verify an unknown species.
They silently looked at the corpse. It had crab characteristics, fish and shrimp characteristics, and also human... characteristics.
"Something indeed happened here."
Dafifi stood up, looking at the quiet forest, his expression serious.
A whole village population collectively disappearing, plus an unknown creature's corpse.
These two points alone were enough to indicate the seriousness of the situation. But the Republic of East Gorteau acted as if nothing happened.
Thinking of East Gorteau's special circumstances, Dafifi felt resigned and somewhat helpless.
"Pokkle."
Dafifi thought for a moment and called Pokkle.
Pokkle looked at Dafifi, awaiting what came next.
"We're already in the general area of the location information. Six hours. Regardless of whether we find anything, we have to leave here."
Pokkle's face tensed slightly, then he nodded in agreement.
After so many days, combined with the anomalies here, he had already prepared for the worst.
The reason Dafifi set a six-hour time limit wasn't solely because of the village population disappearance and this corpse, but because this vast forest showed no obvious signs of life.
That reason alone was the most noteworthy point.
Even if it were an invasion by foreign species, it shouldn't erase all signs of life in a forest.
Looking at it this way, the number must be substantial.
If that was the reason a team of Pro Hunters was wiped out, then it was best to return fully prepared.
"Better make it quick. Trust me, this place is dangerous," Wayne said grimly.
Dafifi and Pokkle both looked at Wayne.
Then, the three began to move.
For safety, they didn't split up for efficiency.
If they could find a living person, perhaps they could find out what happened here.
Several searches later, they still hadn't encountered any living creatures.
Time passed bit by bit. Soon, two hours passed in the blink of an eye, with no results.
Perhaps it was the keen sense honed from years in deep, old forests, but Dafifi felt a thread of danger lingering in his heart, unable to be shaken off.
Another hour passed. Wayne passed by a nearly dried-up pond and suddenly stopped.
His nose twitched slightly. He couldn't help but look at the half-wet, half-dry mud.
Seeing Wayne stop, Dafifi and Pokkle also halted.
"What is it? Find something?" Dafifi asked.
"Smell a very faint scent."
As Wayne spoke, he walked towards the pond. Looking closely, he spotted a slightly raised, strange spot.
"Come here quickly."
Dafifi and Pokkle, hearing this, followed him into the pond.
Soon, the three worked together to dig out Ponzu, who was unconscious and hidden in the mud.
Seeing Ponzu, Pokkle almost cried out. Fortunately, he was no longer a clueless novice. He forcefully held back at the last moment.
Otherwise, in such a quiet forest, the sound could carry far.
"She's alive, but her pulse is weak. Probably fainted from hunger," Dafifi checked Ponzu's condition.
If not for being a Nen User, in that environment, an ordinary person would have died long ago.
Seeing Ponzu alive, Pokkle's suspended heart finally settled.
"We found her. Let's leave quickly. I feel uneasy," Wayne said.
Perhaps it was the special quality of a Beast Hunter, years spent lingering in deep, old forests, giving them keen sense for potential forest dangers.
Or perhaps all seasoned Biological Hunters had this keen sense.
They quickly headed out of the forest.
They were lucky. The time they arrived coincided with the Queen's peak feeding period, so the Chimera Ant troops, in order to capture more food, had all traveled far.
Late at night, in a well-concealed cave.
After feeding Ponzu some food, two or three hours later, she woke up. Before she could see her surroundings clearly, she opened her mouth to let out a scream.
Fortunately, Dafifi was quick-handed, reaching out to cover Pen's mouth.
Although they had chosen a place far from that forest, they still couldn't be careless.
"It's okay, Ponzu," Pokkle hurriedly came over.
Seeing Pokkle, Ponzu wanted to cry but found she couldn't cry.
"Got strength to talk? If not, eat something first," Dafifi said, confirming Ponzu wouldn't scream before withdrawing his hand.
Ponzu shook her head rapidly, voice trembling as she said, "We encountered a group of monsters."
Dafifi's gaze sharpened, he said solemnly, "What exactly happened?"
Ponzu's eyes trembling as she described the situation they encountered.
After hearing Ponzu's words, Dafifi and the other two became solemnly silent.
Wayne even took out the clawed hand he had chopped off in the forest and looked down at it.
"They have a habit of capturing prey alive. Xiaoyu might still be alive."
Ponzu muttered to herself, then looked at the three and said urgently, "Did you bring phones in? I need to contact Law. If it's him, maybe he can save Xiaoyu."
"Law?" Dafifi was slightly taken aback.
After a while, Pokkle and Wayne took advantage of the night to leave the cave.
Their group of three had entered legally, so they couldn't bring phones into the country.
Through Ponzu, they understood the seriousness of the matter. They needed to get the message out as fast as possible.
Due to Ponzu's physical condition, Dafifi chose to stay and look after her, while having Pokkle and Wayne return to the border entry point at the fastest speed to retrieve their phones and contact the outside world.
This also included Ponzu's request to contact Law.