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"Tch, so much for local delicacies."
Yilumi and Jin Bradrey stepped out of a local restaurant, glancing back at the sign [Mariel Restaurant], their mood sour.
The restaurant's signature dish was the paw meat of a peculiar animal from the Gregoriu National Park.
The Yazuxiong—a creature which resembled a bear but had ten feet on its belly.¹ The most delicious part of its entire body was the paw meat from these feet. Usually gentle, it could snap a large tree with a single swipe when angered.
The waiter claimed it was the purest wild bear paw meat, not from those raised in captivity from a young age. However, the price was exorbitant, three times that of an ordinary restaurant.
Moreover, in terms of taste and texture, there was no discernible difference.
"This sun, is it trying to roast people alive?"
Yilumi looked up at the sky. Blinding golden sunlight poured down, scorching the earth with intense heat.
"Let's go."
With that complaint, the two walked side by side towards the entrance of Gregoriu National Park, where there was a considerable flow of people.
But the entrance here was a gate, and this gate was set into an enormous old tree, so thick that it would likely take thirty people to encircle it.
In Yilumi's eyes, this old tree was long dead, devoid of any life energy. Its body had been completely reduced to a decorative tool for humans.
"Hi there, sirs! Your tickets, one adult and one minor, for two people."
The ticket lady handed two tickets to Jin Bradrey.
Yilumi and Jin Bradrey had bought two tickets at the booth next to the entrance. Due to the height of the ticket window, only Jin Bradrey could make the purchase.
They were called tickets, but they were actually access cards, inscribed with various prohibitions and warnings about dangerous activities.
The access cards had GPS inside, so if anyone went missing in the forest, they could be tracked and located using the card's GPS.
Two security guards stood at the entrance, merely responsible for maintaining order. Visitors only needed to tap their access cards on the turnstile's reader, and the turnstile would open automatically, allowing them entry.
"Pop."
A familiar bubblegum pop sounded. Yilumi looked up to his right and saw, at the turnstile entrance to his right, the choppy-haired man who had been blowing bubblegum.
"Hmm…"
As if sensing Yilumi's gaze, the choppy-haired man also looked down at him, blinked, and used his teeth to scrape the gum stuck to his lips back into his mouth.
"Sawyer Skells."
The choppy-haired man extended his right hand towards him, a smile on his face.
Yilumi, however, merely glanced at him, then coolly withdrew his gaze. He tapped his ticket on the turnstile, and after a "beep," he walked through and entered the forest park.
"Such an aloof boy."
The choppy-haired man named Sawyer watched Yilumi's retreating back, his cheeks puffing out as his bubblegum expanded, then "pop!"—it burst and stuck to his lips.
"Sawyer."
The man with shoulder-length hair at the head of a group of six turned back to look at Sawyer and called out loudly. Sawyer shrugged, pulled out his ticket, swiped it on the turnstile, and entered the park, rejoining the other five.
"What's wrong?"
The long-haired man asked Sawyer, but Sawyer turned his head to look at Yilumi and Jin Bradrey, who were standing to their left.
"A kid and an older guy?"
One of them, a girl with long, curly pink hair wearing an Irish newsboy cap, looked towards Yilumi and Jin Bradrey, tilting her head in confusion.
"Is there something wrong with them?"
"Swish!"
The girl had barely finished speaking when Yilumi and Jin Bradrey, who were standing at the entrance, flickered and, with a "swish," transformed into two streaks of light, vanishing from sight.
"Uh…"
A gust of wind swept by, kicking up dust from the ground.
The group of six stared at the forest path ahead, where the two had vanished without a trace in an instant, their faces filled with astonishment.
"Zha zha…"
The cicadas in the trees chirped incessantly, cheering and singing for the beautiful summer days.
"Rustle, rustle…"
Yilumi and Jin Bradrey moved swiftly through the densely vegetated forest, their feet stepping on dry leaves, creating soft, rustling sounds.
"Chii chii chii~~ Gaa gaa~~"
Sunlight filtered through the gaps in the leaves, dappling the forest floor. The sounds of various birds and insects in the jungle were incessant, which could feel noisy, yet at the same time, they had a strangely calming effect on the mind.
"Crack…"
Yilumi formed his fingers into a hand-chop and suddenly swung down, severing a small palm frond that blocked his path and tossing it aside.
"Hmm?"
A strong beam of sunlight ahead shone on his face, making him squint. Yilumi raised his right arm to shield his eyes, took a few steps forward, and casually chopped away the vegetation blocking his way.
"Rumble… Whoosh…"
The sound of flowing water reached Yilumi's ears. As they gradually approached the edge of the jungle, the sound of the water grew louder and more rapid.
"Hoo~"
"We're finally out."
The two stepped out of the jungle, and Yilumi took a deep breath.
He stood on a mountaintop, looking out at the land before him. What greeted his eyes was a massive river, 1000 meters wide, flowing from east to west, making a large U-shaped bend around an island in the middle.
After this U-shaped bend, the wide river abruptly plunged into a super-grand canyon, also 1000 meters deep.
This was the [Monte River], which traversed the entire [Gregoriu National Park]. Along its course, it gathered large creeks and small streams, formed by the convergence of as many as thirty rivers of varying sizes. From the top of the 10-kilometer-wide [Vasily Grand Canyon], it surged downwards with the force of a thousand thunderbolts towards the plains bordering the Republic of Batochia and the Republic of Mingbo.
The river water cascaded straight down from the top and sides of the inverted U-shaped gorge. Protruding rocks split the rushing water into more than 170 waterfalls of various sizes, forming a spectacular semi-circular waterfall system, grand and imposing.
Many individual waterfalls were broken mid-course by jutting rocks, deflecting the flow and sending spray high into the air, creating a scene like a rainbow-colored canopy.
A mist curtain nearly 100 meters high rose from the base of the waterfalls, shimmering with rainbows, a truly wondrous spectacle.
This was the habitat for many rare and endangered species of flora and fauna. The mist generated by the waterfalls nourished the diverse plant life here, allowing it to grow lushly.
"This is—the [Xizehai'erwu Grand Waterfall]."
Yilumi gazed at the super-grand waterfall, still a full kilometer away from him, feeling a sense of awe.
The Xizehai'erwu Grand Waterfall's massive torrent poured down with imposing momentum. The thunderous roar of the falls could be clearly heard even 10 kilometers away, as if the ocean itself were emptying into an abyss.
From this point onward was an area inaccessible to ordinary people. Ahead lay a deathly forest teeming with all sorts of birds of prey, ferocious beasts, and magical beasts.²
"To witness such a magnificent natural wonder, this trip has not been in vain."
Jin Bradrey looked at the spectacular sight before him on the vast land, his heart shaken with awe.
"Bradrey, let's go."
A smile played on Yilumi's lips. He tightened the backpack on his back, a thrill of excitement rising in his eyes.
"Swish…"
Yilumi took a step, and the two of them sprinted forward. Suddenly, they spread their arms wide and leaped from the thousand-meter-high mountaintop, disappearing into the clouds and mist.