Heather’s gang reacted quickly. After shouting a few commands, their summons disengaged from their various battles and rushed back. Those that couldn’t get away were saved using long-range recalls. Suhua and the other woman named Nellie lifted Heather between them and carried her away. Zachary and the other man brought up the rear.

Elmont and Doro were too slow so Zachary recalled them. Only Onkie and Archer were out fighting skirmishes with the enemy summons that dared to give chase. But they were enough as the Dark Star Gang gave up after a short, half-hearted effort. Their leader and strongest summoner, Casimir, was still chasing the alligator so they dared not take risks.

After fleeing for a while, they finally left the enemies far behind. The chaotic surges of Eternum that occurred during the battle were gone, replaced by eerie calmness. The jungle was quiet except for the hum of insects and occasional bird calls.

Zachary let out a sigh and finally deactivated Wander’s shield ability.

“Looks like we’re in the clear.” He said, looking around at the man beside him, “I’m Zachary, what’s your name.”

The older man nodded toward Zachary in acknowledgment.

“Oliver Jones. That’s Suhua and the other is Nellie.” He said, pointing to the black-haired woman first and then a brunette.

Zachary couldn’t see their faces as they were ahead of them and dragging Heather along.

“Nice to meet you.” He said pleasantly.

“Likewise,” Oliver replied, “That shield with your ability summoning helped us a lot. Thanks. We wouldn’t have been able to make such a smooth getaway without it.”

“Don’t mention it.”

Oliver sighed, “It’s a pity we couldn’t nab the crocodile. I hope it was able to get away.”

“I hope so. There is a swamp downstream from the pond. It should be able to get away if it reached it.”

“We tracked that crocodile for a whole week. A whole week wasted!” Oliver shook his spear at the sky as if it had also offended him.

Zachary smiled, “Actually, it’s an alligator. Their mouths are shaped differently. A crocodile has a long, narrow snout while the alligator’s is wide and rounded at the tip.”

“Hey!” Suhua stopped and shouted at them, “Why are you two so noisy? Crocodile, alligator, who fucking cares? This isn’t a stroll in the park!”

“Sorry, sorry.” Oliver quickly replied.

Zachary also stopped talking.

Suhua glared at him in particular before turning away with a huff.

“Hoh! She is feisty!” Wander said inside Zachary’s soul, “Do you like this kind of woman? How does she compare to that cat lady?”

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Zachary suppressed a laugh, “Not my type. Cats aren’t my type either.”

“Then what type do you like?”

“The type that isn’t hiding all kinds of secrets and ulterior motives.”

“Hahaha!”

After that, the party fell into silence as they continued to flee. They were not completely out of danger yet. Zachary and Oliver watched the rear while the women led the way. Zachary used Blue to scout in a wide area while Boba stayed alert for immediate dangers.

Oliver’s summons included the adept rank rhinoceros beetle, a bear cub that looked like the smaller version of the adept rank brown bear that was covered in tree bark, and a small red-haired monkey that quickly climbed up a nearby tree to help scout.

They moved swiftly through the jungle, following an established path. There were no large obstacles and even the underbrush had been mostly cleared away. It wasn’t one made by the elephant herds by but human design.

“Where are we going?” Zachary asked.

“Back to our base,” Oliver replied simply, still wary of Suhua.

Zachary nodded and the two returned to their own thoughts.

They traveled for a long time again before finally stopping beside a stream. Oliver went to get some water while Suhua and Nellie tended to Heather.

“How is she?” Oliver asked when he returned with a gourd filled with fresh water.

“Not good,” Suhua said.

She took and poured it on Heather’s wound, washing away the dried blood and grime around the black spike which was buried deep into her side. Nobody dared to pull it out. They didn’t know what damage it had already done and what further damage it would cause. Also, the area around the wound had turned a disturbing shade of purple mixed with green.

Nellie touched Heather’s neck to feel her pulse and then checked the discolored wound, “Really not good. It might be poison.”

Suhua looked murderous, “That bastard Casimir, I hope that alligator bites off his dick. Otherwise, I’ll kill him and feed him to Rosie!”

“What do we do? Heather might not make it.” Nellie said.

“How far are we from base?” Suhua asked.

“Too far. We’re only about halfway there.” Oliver said.

“Shit. Shit. Shit.” Suhua muttered.

She fell silent. It appeared as if she was thinking, agonizing over something that was equally as painful as Heather’s condition. She finally let out a small, self-deprecating chuckle and dug her hand into a small leather bag.

She produced a small object wrapped in leaves. After undoing the vine knot and wrappings, she took out a small fruit. It was bright red and round like a cherry. It gave off a sweet fragrance and a wave of Eternum. Onkie and Archer both reacted, turning toward the fruit with clear desire.

“Wow… that looks delicious,” Wander said.

Zachary had to agree. That small fruit was by no means ordinary. Its allure reminded him of the strange white flower that attracted so many wild Ensouled. In this case, Zachary had a strong suspicion of what the red fruit was. Its effect was even stronger than the white flower.

Suhua raised the fruit toward Heather’s mouth.

“Wait!” Nellie almost shouted, grabbing Suhua’s hand, “That’s your Soul Ruby Fruit! It’s too precious!”

“Of course it is! But Heather’s life is even more precious!” Suhua retorted.

“But you were going to use it on your Sunflower…”

“It doesn’t matter!”

Zachary stirred, “It really was the Soul Ruby Fruit.”

He walked slowly towards the two arguing women.

“Eh? What’s a Soul Ruby Fruit?” Wander asked.

“It is a rare fruit used to let summons breakthrough in rank. Its efficacy is extremely good. A breakthrough is almost guaranteed, even for those with low talent. This one is small so it is only useful for going from the novice rank to the adept rank. Even so, it can buy a house in the city or a whole farm in the country.”

“Ah.” Wander replied and licked his lips, “How do they taste?”

“Don’t know. Never tried one. Hold on…”

Zachary stopped behind Suhua and Nellie and cleared his throat, “Ladies, I have another way of helping Heather.”

“What? Go away, this doesn’t concern you!” Suhua spat.

Nellie held Suhua to calm her down and looked at Zachary warily, “What way?”

“You see, I have a summon with a healing ability.”