The next morning, Sponge and Star bid farewell to Zhang Wei.
"Are you off to visit Mr. Krabs in the Cloud Kingdom?"
"No, time is of the essence. Star and I need to head to the Road of Hunger. We can't afford to have someone else get there first."
"Travel safely."
"You too. Next time we meet, I'll definitely make an even more delicious Krabby Patty!"
Zhang Wei chuckled, "Next time we meet, I'll have mastered the Rasengan and Chidori Flow to perfection."
...
After they left, Zhang Wei had no intention of simply wandering around. He remained in the valley, researching new dishes while practicing his newly acquired skills.
Compared to the soft and yielding Cloud Kingdom, the solid ground felt much more reassuring.
He had to admit, compared to meditating and circulating qi, the path of acquiring extraordinary power through gourmet cells was a pure pleasure.
For the past few days, Mo Du had been sending Zhang Wei messages punctually.
'According to the intelligence brought by Wolfgang, the allied forces have successfully located the POW camp.'
'The army launched a frontal assault on Yùchéng, but their real objective was a swift raid on the POW camp to rescue the captives.'
'The resistance at the camp was fierce; they were all elites...'
'The captives have been rescued, but our forces were caught between the Cloud Kingdom. The entire allied army is fighting independently, a complete mess.'
'We are trapped in a small town with our supply lines cut. We only have enough food for ten more days.'
...
Upon receiving the messages, Zhang Wei immediately replied, "Are you safe now?"
'We are holding our ground and should be able to last for a while. Don't worry about me; the battlefield is constantly shifting, and there are many powerful individuals in the North.'
"Don't rush. You can call for more troops to protect yourself. I'll be there soon."
'Don't worry about me; I can handle this myself.'
Zhang Wei felt a sense of helplessness.
He had already warned Mo Du that the battlefield was no place for girls.
"Sigh, truly a worrisome young lady."
...
...
Beside Mount Lieyang - Saltwater Forest
This area was filled with towering redwood trees, many with trunks eight to ten meters thick.
Beneath a tree hollow, Bo Gang curled up, hiding. His obese physique made the space extremely cramped.
Bo Gang was covered in wounds. A slight movement caused his healing body to bleed uncontrollably.
"Damn it, these old dogs are relentless."
In Bo Gang's left hand was an elk, weighing about three hundred kilograms. With a casual slash, its throat was cut open.
He brought his mouth to it, sucking greedily at the blood to quickly restore his strength.
He poked at the thick flesh on his belly, which was covered in a network of blood streaks. When he dug his fingers in, he found fine, crystalline fishing line.
"That old geezer caused me so much trouble. He's not even done bothering me after death."
That day, a fishing expert, one of the Ten Prodigies of the North, had launched a surprise attack on the command post. Bo Gang, though he fought valiantly, was no match for him and ultimately lost his life.
However, the fishing expert wasn't completely useless. Before dying, he tied a knot with his silk thread around Bo Gang. Whenever Bo Gang moved with force, these threads would act like blades, cutting into his flesh.
It was only because Bo Gang was as mighty as a war god that he hadn't been reduced to minced meat.
High-temperature flames erupted from Bo Gang's mouth, fiercely burning the threads. After about ten minutes, the fine threads finally melted and broke.
"It's taken this long to get rid of this much... Without two days of rest, I can't possibly clean it all up."
"And after eating raw food for so long, my nutrition is starting to falter."
As Bo Gang was cleaning the silk threads, a violent hurricane descended from the sky, shredding tree trunks weighing thousands of tons into sawdust as if entering a pencil sharpener.
"Damn it, they're here so fast!"
*BOOM!!!!!!!*
Dust and smoke billowed everywhere.
A meatball rolled out of the thick smoke. The gale-force winds had not harmed Bo Gang in the slightest.
"Hahahaha, Bo Gang, you dare use fire? You truly don't respect me!"
"Damn it, if I weren't injured, I'd kill you in minutes!"
The Wind-Riding Youth laughed heartily, "If you kneel and beg for mercy, I might consider giving you time to heal, hahahaha!!"
"Scram!"
The Wind-Riding Youth, ranked eighth on the Black List, also known as Hurricane. Despite his youthful appearance, he was actually over forty years old.
As a member of the Black List, his actions were ruthless, and he had no intention of showing mercy to the injured Bo Gang!
Bo Gang roared, drawing his precious saber from his waist. Flames blazed fiercely upon it.
"Burn!"
Even in his severely injured state, this strike spanned heaven and earth!
A flame wheel hundreds of meters long swept out, forcing even Hurricane to evade its edge.
The thick redwood trees were even less fortunate, with more than a dozen destroyed by the flame wheel.
"I didn't expect you to still have so much strength..."
Hurricane's words stopped abruptly.
Because Bo Gang was nowhere to be seen.
Hurricane sneered, "Running? I'd like to see how long your stamina will last!"
Howling gusts of wind scoured the entire Saltwater Forest.
Hurricane's provocative voice echoed from various corners of the forest.
While it was unlikely to make Bo Gang lose his temper through verbal taunts, it was worth a try, wasn't it?
...
The Saltwater Forest was an ancient grove, filled with giant red maple trees. The leaves, rich in salt, contained abundant woody fibers and were extremely resistant to decay.
The accumulated fallen leaves were, on average, half a meter thick.
Bo Gang moved forward like a swimmer through the fallen leaves, concealing all his breathing. Occasionally, he managed to catch a wild pheasant or a mountain goat.
In his current situation, Bo Gang couldn't afford to miss any source of energy.
"So fragrant..."
Deep within the forest.
A spring gurgled and flowed... forming a pool filled with the scent of plums, and also the aroma of wine.
"Salted Plum Wine Spring?"
Bo Gang swallowed.
He hadn't had a drink in half a month, and his gourmet cells were beginning to protest.
The moment he smelled the wine, he couldn't control his impulse.
In the wine spring, a graceful figure was splashing in the water...
Fallen leaves, light gauze, and a gentle, graceful figure formed a beautiful painting.
Through the thin gauze, the girl's back was as white as congealed fat.
Amidst the thick fallen leaves, Bo Gang cursed inwardly, "Damn it, they're ambushing me here!"
"I can't stay here. I need to find a way to leave this forest first."
He had moved only a few meters when a voice, filled with flirtatiousness and temptation, emanated from the pool, "Why are you leaving so soon after arriving? Is the wine not fragrant? Or is this servant girl not beautiful enough~"
"Come on~ I've missed you, stay with me~"
Bo Gang cursed loudly and leaped up!
His speed was astonishing!
"I've been discovered? I was holding my breath to the limit. Did the smell of wine break my concentration?"
Above the wine spring, the graceful figure leaped out.
Countless pieces of light gauze danced in the sky, barely concealing her alluring form.
Her wet body made the thin gauze even more transparent.
Bo Gang leaned against a tree, panting heavily. The strenuous movement caused the fishing lines to dig deeper, and blood seeped from his wounds.
*Drip~*
*Drip~*
A drop of wine landed on Bo Gang's nose.
A familiar, seductive voice sounded from above him.
"It took me so long to find you~~ Woo hoo~~"