Cave Refuge

Madeline noticed the fervent gleam in the eyes of the Patrol Team members and likely guessed their thoughts.

That's why Madeline no longer mentioned the plan to buy meat from Dong Tianyu and decided instead to arrange for her own people to explore the forest.

Perhaps because Dong Tianyu had safely emerged alone earlier, those standing on the city walls now subconsciously disregarded the potential dangers lurking in the forest.

It didn't take long for Dong Tianyu to return home. To his surprise, while his parents had been cleaning the damaged room before he left, upon his return, they had chosen not to stay in their own villa but rather to sleep within the Companion Spiritual Treasure summoned by Mrs. Thompson.

If Mr. Thompson's choice for a Companion Spiritual Treasure resembled a speedboat due to opting for the Wave-Breaking evolution, then Mrs. Thompson, who had chosen the Bearing branch, had a Spiritual Treasure that looked not unlike a cargo cruise ship.

Normally, although it was a cargo ship, many cabins were still partitioned beneath the deck. For a typical cargo ship, the area of the cabins where sailors lived below the deck wasn't very large.

However, the interior space of all Companion Spiritual Treasures was controllable by its owner, so most survivors who had chosen the Bearing evolution for their Companion Spiritual Treasures tried to maximize the size of every room inside the cabins, as it safeguarded the size of their Storage space.

Mrs. Thompson was no exception, making a similar choice to maximize cabin space, equally dividing up the internal space.

Since Dong Tianyu had flown back on his Sword Flight, he had observed the situation in the camp from the air. He was surprised to find that although the water had receded for several days, the Companion Spiritual Treasures that had occupied backyards and streets had still not been recalled to the Sea of Consciousness.

Whether it was the survivors living in the villa district or those in other areas, the visible Companion Spiritual Treasures, and children playing on them, confirmed that this situation wasn't temporary.

On the deck, sunbathing Father Dong and Mother Dong stood up from their lounge chairs when they saw Dong Tianyu flying back.

Just after landing his Flying Sword on the deck, Mrs. Thompson approached him as she used to do and immediately began checking his clothes for any damages that might have occurred during fights.

After a thorough external examination showed no damage to his clothes, Mrs. Thompson became even more convinced that her son had changed his clothes before returning home to avoid worrying them.

Indeed, Mrs. Thompson's guess was not wrong. Having been through several battles, although Dong Tianyu had not faced any life-threatening dangers, it was normal to get some minor injuries and torn clothes during a fight. Thus, it was quite normal that Dong Tianyu had changed his clothes after leaving the forest.

After confirming that Dong Tianyu had changed before coming back, Mrs. Thompson stopped checking and sighed helplessly, thinking that her son had changed into clean clothes because he didn't want to worry them.

"Dad, when I left, weren't you guys tidying up inside the villa? Why are you living in a Companion Spiritual Treasure now? Is it uncomfortable in the villa after cleaning it?"

Hearing Dong Tianyu's somewhat sarcastic remarks, Mr. Thompson's expression vanished instantly, while Mrs. Thompson patted Dong Tianyu's shoulder, "Enough, you've been gone for days, and now you're back, don't create issues."

Concerning Mrs. Thompson's reproach, Dong Tianyu dared not admit it directly and tried to change the subject, "I'm not creating issues out of boredom. Didn't I just return from the air, and I saw that the streets were filled with Companion Spiritual Treasures.

In our villa district, many also have Companion Spiritual Treasures parked in their backyards like our family, and now that the water has receded,

since our house lacks even basic furnishings, it's normal not to return there. But it's impossible that other homes in the camp are all unfurnished as well. From above, it seems most people still choose to live in their Companion Spiritual Treasures.

If everyone lives in Companion Spiritual Treasures, then what's the point of having houses in the camp? If I had known this, we might as well have spent the effort on reinforcing the city walls."

Hearing Dong Tianyu speak like this, realizing Dong Tianyu really wasn't being sarcastic, Mr. Thompson's expression gradually eased. However, as if struck by a sudden thought, he sighed helplessly and then spoke,

"A few days after you left, for some unknown reason, many Bugs Clan appeared in our camp area every night. These bugs are small, but a bite from them causes the bitten area to swell and then start itching.

The duration of symptoms depends on the individual's physical condition but lasts at least over ten hours. These bugs are very active at night, and if bitten, it means you simply can't sleep that night.

Though these symptoms aren't fatal, getting bitten is extremely uncomfortable. The bugs are eerily quiet during the day as if they don't exist at all. Initially, some people in the camp organized bug killing during the daytime, but after searching the entire camp, they couldn't find any trace of the Bugs Clan."