Naji didn’t understand why it had turned into a zombie black bear.
But Nina Jacobs knew why.
A half-eaten zombie python was even hanging from the zombie black bear’s neck.
"..."
’That must be the zombie python I killed last night with my rat.’
Nina Jacobs felt it was a bit of a waste.
’This black bear is huge. We could get a lot of meals out of its meat.’
BOOM!
A Fireball was already hurtling toward the zombie black bear.
Its fur caught fire, but the zombie black bear felt no pain and continued to charge the group!
"Buy me some time."
Nina Jacobs said to Jessica Vance and the others beside her.
"Got it!"
Jessica Vance leaped into the air, sending two tornadoes of wind swirling toward the zombie black bear.
Holden Shaw and Chase Gallagher also charged in from two different directions!
The zombie black bear raised its thick paw. Just as it slammed it down, an incredibly fast figure flashed underneath it, blade in hand.
Foul, dark blood splattered as Holden Shaw lopped off one of its festering paws.
"He used its own momentum to sever the paw. Holden’s gotten even better," Leo Hale praised with an appreciative click of his tongue.
"What is she doing?"
Naji noticed that Trevor and the members of the rescue team were just watching the perimeter, with no intention of stepping in to help.
"You don’t understand. If we helped now, we’d just be getting in the way,"
Trevor replied.
It was the unspoken understanding they had developed throughout their journey.
Since they were all aware of each other’s capabilities, they knew not to interfere when someone was facing an opponent that could serve as good training.
Just like now.
Stella was displaying their teamwork.
Anyone who tried to help would just be superfluous.
But Naji didn’t get it. His people usually just dogpiled their enemies.
Two minutes later, a Fire Serpent coiled around the zombie black bear.
The others immediately got the hint and ran in the same direction.
The zombie black bear roared and gave chase, but after less than two steps, it plunged headfirst into the ground.
The ground beneath it had, at some point, turned completely to sand.
The sinkhole looked extremely deep. The bear, nearly three or four meters tall, was already submerged past its waist!
ROAR! ROAR!
Its roars were powerful enough to nearly shatter the dead trees nearby.
A sharp Stone Spike, wreathed in brilliant flames, shot forward!
The roaring stopped instantly.
The others in the group didn’t seem surprised that the zombie black bear had been dealt with in just a few minutes.
"Let’s go. It came from that direction."
Nina Jacobs pointed. The zombie black bear and the herd of mutated boars had all come from that direction.
Since the Mystic Ice Core was related to these Mutated Animals, they had to find the creatures’ lair.
Trevor, meanwhile, left markings on the surrounding trees that only his clansmen would understand.
He knew Aaron Axton and Greg Unger would be able to recognize them.
As they were leaving, Nina Jacobs casually incinerated the zombie black bear’s corpse.
Concealed beneath the sand, not a trace of it remained.
"Is it more of the same up ahead?" Adrian Shaw asked as they walked.
The bottom of the cliff looked the same in every direction.
"There’s a river up ahead, but it’s dried up now," Trevor explained. "This valley lies between two mountains. The one ahead of us used to be called the ’forbidden zone.’ It was incredibly difficult to cross."
"The ’forbidden zone’ is just a name some reckless hikers gave it. Back then, it was crawling with so many venomous creatures and fierce beasts that no one could make it through alive."
Naji added that even self-proclaimed experts with professional gear would easily get lost in the miasma.
"And now?" Shirley Lucas asked.
The valleys between the mountains weren’t connected. If they wanted to do a thorough search, they would probably have to cross the mountain ahead.

But he remembered Nina’s proposal from yesterday to search all the surrounding mountains.
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