Mbenga’s nostrils twitched involuntarily towards the alluring aroma of rum, even his Adam’s apple started squirming a little. His hands moved by themselves to accept the bottle that Sheyan had tossed over.
Soon came the fragrant steaming roast meat, where he chewed down viciously before irrigating his mouth his rum.
"I don’t fancy you." While chewing heftily on his meat mixed with rum, Mbenga offered his m.u.f.fled thoughts aloud.
Sheyan chuckled in response.
"I know. They way you hacked that zebra’s leg with a stone hatchet was rather imperious but yet courageous. I have no such brave warriors under me."
Mbenga persisted to ferociously rip the roast meat with his white teeth, as his thick lips occasionally emitted grunts of unknown significance. Sheyan very patiently waited for him to finish.
Prior to this, he had also weighed in the amount of meat and rum to offer, a rough estimate that could persuade this black man’s mental fort.i.tude, but also keep him at bay from slumbering.
"Do you desire to drink like this every day? To be filled with such meat daily?"
Raising his head as he greedily attempted to squeeze out the already dried rum bottle, Mbenga abruptly turned daze and nodded repet.i.tively.
Sheyan then utilized an amiable tone as he continued.
"You shall, as long as you follow and protect me daily."
Mbenga turned slightly hesitant, as he pointed to himself before pointing back to Sheyan.
"Protect…...you?"
Sheyan nodded in response.
"Yes. As long as I’m not in danger, there will be nothing required of you."
In order to enhance his persuasion power, Sheyan hooked out another bottle of rum. Mbenga eventually nodded.
At this moment, Sheyan received a notification.
[ You have hired a crucial storyline character, Mbenga, as your guide ]
[ You must pay a fee of 10,000 utility points ]
Sheyan was overwhelmed with mixed emotions.
With this notification from his nightmare imprint, it clearly indicated he was currently on the right path and had triggered the realm’s arrangement.
Yet the worrying thing was….this world’s difficulty had exceeded his personal imagination. Just a simple act of hiring a guide required a fee of 10,000 utility points!
Following that, a load of notifications came flooding in.
[ You have hired a native aborigine as your accompanying bodyguard. You must pay a fee of 877 utility points (already discounted by +1 legend level and Major rank privilege) ]
[ You have hired a native aborigine as your accompanying bodyguard. You must pay a fee of 1071 utility points (already discounted by +1 legend level and Major rank privilege) ]
"..."
As it turns out, ever since this tribe had occupied the port, the other tribes had been living in pitiable embarra.s.sment. As the saying goes, generous rewards beget brave laborers.
When Jinkuang directed for a single-masted jollyboat to be brought over with three barrels of rum, he had managed to exchange them for 21 loyal tribe warriors from other tribes. Nonetheless, they possessed relatively mediocre battle capabilities.
However, Sheyan didn’t hold them in such lowly regard. Besides, even these strong black men could be employed as scouts which would lessen lots untold dangers.
The trio had managed to ama.s.s 300,000 utility points prior to entering this world. Yet before they even entered their actual destination world, the recruitment of mercenaries had already shaved off 30,000 utility points.
At present, three hours had elapsed. The remaining seven hours for trekking a hundred or so kilometres would practically be a breeze for the trio. However, after their recruitment of mercenaries, they had to consider the movement speed of these natives.
Fortunately Sheyan had instructed his pirate crew earlier on, and no longer needed to offer further farewells. The trio also managed to purchase large amounts of local clay herbs, that could repel blood-sucking insects or toxic organisms.
Afterwards, they hastily set off; desperately trying to prevent the pathetic state of coming short of entering the hidden world.
Although a faint discomfort was still bugging his heart, as though he had overlooked something vital, Sheyan didn’t have the time to ponder over such matters now.
The group proceeded to hastily trek towards the vast Wetlands led by their native guide.
*********************
Night descended over this continent of Africa. A humid and warm atmosphere persisted everywhere, while canna leaves swayed gently alongside the night breeze.
An acacia sweet smile mixed with fan palm trees blended into a peculiar odour; causing the trio to deeply feel a distinctive exoticism of the place. A large winged house centipede completely ignored a brown ant crawling nearby, as its wings rubbed against a patch of freesia filled gra.s.s, while it partic.i.p.ated in the chorus of consort seeking.
For the sake of speed, Reef took the foremost position to clear up the way. He wasn’t afraid of any venomous bugs or feral beasts, at least not until he entered the hidden world.
Mosquitoes that caught the scent of perspiration had formed into a 2-3 metre cloud, buzzing and humming in ear-splitting unison! Fortunately, those clay herbs they procured earlier were in effect. Some other natives even brought along their own herbs, dripping sap onto their skin. With two solutions tackling the same problem simultaneously, the mosquitoes gradually scattered away.
In spite of all these, the guide, Mbenga, had slipped into drunkenness previously and began thunderously snoring; requiring two other natives to support him. When he finally awoke, they were nearly reaching the end, thus offering no opportunity for him to repent.
As they trekked through the stifling hot jungle, Sheyan’s heart welled up with burning anxiousness as he realized there was scarcely an hour left.
All of a sudden, he felt a sudden gust of chilling wind ahead. As the wind swept against the perspiration beads on his face, it released great satisfaction. Yet upon careful sniffing, they could whiff a shockingly unfathomable rotting stench contained in the wind.
After taking more inhalations, it even caused their lungs to twitch with discomfort. As this discomfort spread towards their organs, they couldn’t help but feel nauseous.
After whiffing that gust of wind, Sheyan started hearing the ‘wulilala’ whispers of the natives. After carefully listening, he realized they were saying that the vast Wetlands was around the corner.
After striding for another hundred metres, the thicket enshrouding his vision started turning sporadic. The rotting stench in the air gradually thickened and congested deep into their hearts.
One could observe under the vast expanse of night, legions of greyish figures creeping around. Through the gaps of these figures, everything remained a dense submerging black.
That was the Great Wetlands.
After taking a few steps forward, his nightmare imprint transmitted the notifications.
[ The destruction of an ancient kingdom by dreams of madness and mutations ]
[ A successor remains steadfastly safeguarding a past glory ]
[ The stairs leading to paradise, a flower bud of gorgeous bewitchment ]
[ A venture from Europe, finally, the veil of mystery is undone ]
[ A progenitor virus, engulfing the world half a millennium later ]
[ Warning: You are about to enter the hidden world – ‘Resident Evil, Origins ]
[ Warning: If you do not have the qualifications to enter this hidden world, you will be penalized immeasurably ]
At this moment, a mild b.l.o.o.d.y glow emanated from the trio’s bodies, which swiftly dispersed into their bodies.
Their nightmare imprints instantly transmitted the notifications.
[ Henceforth, you are officially enrolled into the hidden world: ‘Resident Evil, Origins ]
[ Please pay a fee of 80,000 utility points per contestant to enter this hidden world ]
[ Each individual will receive a one week period of stay in this world. Excluding that, each individual currently possess an additional free period of 62 hours ]
[ After all purchased time has expired, utility points will be deducted from you at a rate of 1,000 utility points per hour. If utility points are insufficient, your equipments will be used as mortgage. Equipment mortgage value will be in accordance with the realm’s official valuation. If you exhaust all equipments and utility points, you will be forced out of this world ]
[ During this period of stay, you will not receive any main mission. You can only obtain side missions. Please cautiously proceed after weighing your circ.u.mstances ]
[ You can select to initiate the milestone/t.i.tle system of this world. As the milestones in this hidden world has a nature that is hard to be replicated outside, for every milestone you initiate but is unable to be completed before returning to the nightmare realm, you will receive a fixed penalty ]
[ Warning: The nightmare realm will not determine your coordinate positions in a hidden world. You can only return to the nightmare realm by returning to Port Qom ]
[ Warning! Warning! Warning! Warning! The Dingyuan crew members do not have the authority to enter other world planes. Once they enter the regions of the Hidden world ‘Resident Evil, Origins", they will perish ]
At present, the trio was only left with 270,000 utility points. Therefore after these deductions, they were unexpectedly left with a trifling 30,000 utility points! This implied that once their time was up and if their accounts hadn’t received any extras, each could only last for roughly an additional 10 hours.
It was no wonder a party leader had gone bankrupt due to a hidden world previously. This ghost land was truly a grand gamble of staking a thousand gold pieces in one throw!
************************
The marsh here was awfully quiet.
Stretching out to places as far as the eyes could see, greyish mist polluted everywhere.
Foul muddy waters gently swooshed around the roots of reeds.
Strangely, the waters contained pigments of dull red; as though a widespread ma.s.sacre had befallen a place nearby.
Blood polluted water extended in all directions, failing to dissolve like the unwilling grips of a vengeful spirit.
However, upon close inspection, this redness actually stemmed from densely packed algae. These b.u.t.ton-sized duckweeds appeared faintly red, congregating in the millions as they drifting along with the flow; appearing like plains or regiments of coagulated blood.
According to the native aborigines, even the hyenas, who possessed the most tenacious vitality of the primitive jungles, would rather die of thirst than drink the waters of these wetlands.
Upon drinking, one’s belly would swell like pregnancy before rupturing open and spilling out loads of white living maggots!
*************************************
(Author’s note: For details of this inspiration, please refer to public information of the Resident Evil 5 game)