Chapter 56: Renee

Chapter 56: Chapter 56: Renee

The river water was still a bit chilly in the early morning. Renee Morgan scooped up two handfuls, cleaned her face, and instantly felt much more awake. She wiped the water from her drowsy eyes and suddenly saw a reflection in the water—a figure with loosely curled long hair, a scruffy beard, and a fierce expression. She was so startled she nearly fell into the river.

When Renee got back, everyone else was already up. Lynn Miller was just about to head to the river to wash up, but Wendy Aldridge and Zara Chapman refused to go alone, insisting that Lionel Lincoln and Julian Prescott go with them. After some discussion, the whole group set out for the river in a big crowd.

Seeing Renee coming back, Lynn exaggeratedly widened her eyes, "Morgan, you got up this early and went to the river alone?"

Renee was still a little shaken. Thinking back to when she left, she remembered that provoking look from one of those men—it seemed to be one of the people from last night’s group. But last night, he’d just stayed silent in the crowd. Why was he acting like that now? Did he actually want to arrange a fight with her?

Seriously... that’s so childish.

Renee’s lips twitched silently. Hearing Lynn’s voice, she just grunted in response.

Lynn exclaimed, "Morgan, you’re amazing!"

Wendy snuck a little sneer. What’s so great about it, going to the river alone so early? They probably had other motives, wanting to get in touch with those disgusting muscleheads.

"Yeah, Renee, you’re so awesome. No wonder those guys were so friendly to you last night. Looks like you’re pretty popular with foreigners, huh?" Wendy put on a sweet smile and a cutesy tone.

Renee stared back at her, replying in a flat voice, "That’s because I’m friendly to them too."

Wendy: "..."

Lynn nervously scooted over, "Morgan, did you run into those big guys by the river?"

Although Lynn was a taekwondo instructor, those men from last night were all over two meters tall with huge muscles. Her little arms and legs wouldn’t stand a chance—she probably wouldn’t even get hit before she was kicked flying.

Renee nodded, glanced at Miles Yates and the others’ worried faces, and reassured them, "If you see those guys, just avoid them. They won’t hurt us."

If they were truly dangerous people, they would’ve beaten them up last night instead of just taking some food and then even giving a warning before leaving.

When the others heard that Renee had run into those people by the river, they all gasped. But once they saw she made it back fine, they relaxed, thinking those guys probably wouldn’t bother them again.

Renee watched them leave, then went back to her tent, took out her toolkit, and checked all her things. After making sure nothing was missing, she tossed it behind her.

When she came out of the tent, Class One’s team was already gathered, sitting and waiting on rocks up ahead. As soon as Renee appeared, they all turned and shouted, "Renee!"

Renee: "..."

She scanned them. Most of them were older than her by several years, except for Zayed, who was younger. Were they sure she was "Renee" the respectable sister, not Renee the kid?

Renee knew they were thankful for last night, so she spoke calmly, "You guys really don’t need to be so polite. We’re teammates."

"Renee’s right, we’re all teammates." They responded in agreement, all grinning.

Renee frowned and looked at them, "I’m younger than all of you. You shouldn’t call me that."

Zayed was squatting, tying his shoelaces, and said naturally with a cool expression, "Renee is a sign of respect."

"Yeah, yeah, Zack’s right. Renee is respect—we all really respect you, Renee." The others echoed happily.

Renee: "..." To be honest, that title doesn’t sound so respectful for a woman.

Class One’s team and Renee had gotten up early. Once they finished packing up, they waited outside their tents for the others to return.

Maybe it was fear of running into those people, but Lynn and the rest didn’t dawdle either. After washing up, they headed back quickly,

Wendy and the others walked back to the tent chatting and laughing, but the moment she saw Renee and Class One’s team sitting together, her smile disappeared.

She’d thought Renee was a coward last night, especially with her forcing Class One to hand over food. She’d figured their relationship would fall apart. But now? They’d patched things up this fast?

Renee got up so early today just to fix things with Class One’s team, right? They must have done something under the radar. That’s the only way Renee could calm them down so quickly.

Once everyone was assembled, the group got ready to set off.

Kyle Beckett tailed after Renee, asking curiously, "Morgan, where are we going now?"

Renee had no idea either and replied, "Let’s just walk along the river and see if we can find something to eat. If not, we can just follow the route back."

So far there wasn’t any sign of other danger in the forest, but the most important thing was still finding food, otherwise tonight would be rough.

The riverbank was hard to get lost on, but it was also tough walking. The group moved slowly.

Class One’s team led the way, opening the path up ahead. Renee followed behind, chatting with them now and then about ways to find food.

Renee wasn’t familiar with the local climate, but Class One’s team knew more about the crops in this region.

But none of them were really farmers—just knew what was common in the markets, which wasn’t much different from back home. As for wild vegetables, they had no idea—never even heard of them, probably.

Renee wasn’t sure if it was just that Merrick didn’t have the kinds of edible wild plants common back home, or if people here never ate that stuff to begin with.

After all, Z country is famously the world’s most adventurous eaters—anything that flies, swims, or grows on land, plants or animals—if it’s edible, it ends up on a plate sooner or later.

The group finally hit an impassable steep slope. A rock wall blocked the way. They decided to stop there and rest, sitting on stones by the river.

Everyone took out their water bottles, some drank, others scooped water to wash their faces and cool off, while a few simply lay down on the rocks for a break.

Zayed took a sip of water, put his bottle back in his bag, then glanced around as he thought about their next move. Suddenly, he noticed a faded patch of green by the big rock. Looking more closely, he saw what looked like a sign hidden in the weeds.

Julian ran over at the sound, looked up, and sure enough, spotted a sign. You could just make out a letter—W?

Julian’s curiosity was instantly hooked. Staring at the stone wall in front of him, he tried climbing it by hand but nearly slipped. Luckily, Zack quickly grabbed his waist from behind—otherwise he would’ve landed hard on his back.

Zack told Julian to stand back, then pulled a rope out from his kit. He tossed it up to the top of the wall, got it hooked, and then nimbly started climbing up the rope.

He soon reached the top, steadied his footing, and brushed aside some weeds—revealing the whole sign.

Everyone finally saw the sign in full. On it was a sentence everyone understood, in English: Welcome to the Animal World