After All, Too Young!

Seeing Maxwell's expression, the young man thought he knew something about the castle and couldn't help but show a glimmer of hope on his face. "The castle is entirely red, it's a red castle, hence it's also called the Red Fortress. I'm not too clear about the specifics myself, because no one has actually seen it; we just know it's somewhere in this area."

A red castle?

No one has seen it?

Wouldn't it mean he wasn't human if he had seen it?

Maxwell was somewhat speechless.

He then shook his head and said, "As a human, I haven't seen it."

Hearing him emphasize "human," the young man was confused and didn't understand why he said it that way, but his face showed a hint of disappointment at the words "haven't seen it." Even so, the young man bowed to Maxwell respectfully and said, "Then I apologize for the disturbance! We'll continue our search."

"Don't rush off!"

Maxwell stopped him.

"Is there something else?"

The young man was very friendly, although the wariness in his eyes did not lessen.

Maxwell looked at him, smiled, and asked just as amiably, "What is this castle you spoke of?"

The young man explained, "You might not be aware, but information about that castle is scarce because few people know about it, so related materials are even rarer. What we do know is that the castle was once inhabited by a powerful female Evolver, who also built the castle. She only took in women, and it's said that at its peak, the population of the castle reached over ten thousand. But that was over a hundred years ago; the castle was overrun by zombies, and since then, the Red Fortress has been lost."

"Lost?"

Maxwell didn't quite understand.

The young man nodded and said, "Exactly, we learned about it from an ancient book. Moreover, our annual mission into the wilderness this time is to search for traces of this castle."

Maxwell nodded in understanding, "Now that you explain it, I get it. I'll keep an eye out for you as well."

The young man nodded slightly, "Then we will take our leave now."

With that, he turned and walked back to the helicopter with the other young men and women.

The helicopter started up again and roared off into the distance.

Far off, a few scattered zombies, attracted by the noise of the helicopter, chased after it with red eyes.

These were just low-level zombies, and Maxwell easily dispatched them. Once the helicopter had flown out of sight, he called out Eva and Carline.

Eva, now a third-tier zombie, showed no signs of her zombie traits anymore. Maxwell looked at her and couldn't resist pinching her cheek.

Eva's skin was really delicate! Clear and smooth, it felt great to the touch.

"Eva!" Maxwell waved at her.

Eva stared back at him with big eyes, which seemed to sparkle with more vivacity and brilliance.

Still, she ignored him.

"It looks different now!"

Maxwell felt inspired, sensing that hope was closer than before.

Then, he turned his gaze towards Carline.

"Carline, can you smile for me?"

...

On the helicopter.

"Aubrey, why were you so polite to that guy? With his looks, he doesn't seem like someone formidable at all!" a young woman said.

Aubrey, the young man who had spoken to Maxwell earlier, replied, "He can move alone in the wilderness; how could he be simple? Those who dare to venture deep into the wilderness alone usually have some special means to protect themselves. Didn't you notice the signs of intense fighting around there?"

The young men and women, upon hearing this, paused to reflect, recalling the scene they had witnessed.

Seeing their expressions, Aubrey immediately understood that they hadn't observed carefully.

He shook his head and said, "You all, you're just too young! You're too proud to take a closer look at others. Although that man didn't emit the aura of an Evolver, how could anyone who appears alone in the wilderness be ordinary? Maybe he's deliberately hiding his aura, making it undetectable to us and others, causing us to let down our guard. Now, think about it, what kind of person could do that?"

After hearing Aubrey's analysis, the young woman who had spoken earlier was stunned, her mouth slightly open as she murmured, "Could it be... could he be a sixth-tier...?"

Aubrey nodded and affirmed, "Yes, it's very likely that man is a sixth-tier Evolver! In the past two hundred years, sixth-tier has been equivalent to royalty, and each sixth-tier powerhouse is not to be underestimated. Of course, it's not certain, just very possible. Remember! In the depths of the wilderness, we should not underestimate anyone!"

On this side, Maxwell was still teasing Carline.

Carline continued to look at him expressionlessly, not to mention smiling.

Maxwell couldn't help but think of the people they had just met, and said to Carline:

"Carline, they are all from Supreme Hall, but despite coming from the same place, it looks like our Carline is still more impressive!"

As he spoke, Maxwell reached out and pinched Carline's tender, pale cheek.

Carline had a charming, pointed oval face that looked pitiable at first glance, but the flesh on her cheeks surprisingly felt nice to the touch.

She reacted much like Eva when pinched by Maxwell, just staring blankly at him.

Carline was beautiful, and her dazed expression made her look adorably clueless, but it also lacked liveliness, making her seem like a lifeless, pretty doll.

"It's getting dark; we better find a place to spend the night. It would be best if we could find a river, so I can help you take a bath," Maxwell said.

Carline looked as pretty as ever, but her clothes were dirty and grimy, with traces of blood visible on her hair and clothing, which was indeed not a pretty sight.

Thus, Maxwell sent out a few of his lower-tier zombies, which were quite useful for scouting and finding things.

Sure enough, before long, the zombies found a clear, shallow stream.

The water was shallow, just deep enough to reach the calves, which was perfect.

Moreover, the stream was crystal clear and shallow from top to bottom.

This was ideal, as Maxwell was hesitant to venture into deeper rivers or lakes, fearing what strange things might be lurking there.

After all, in this world, aside from zombies, there were also mutant beasts, and this area was known as zombie territory, so Maxwell had not encountered any mutant beasts up to this point.