Half an hour later, Fang Senyan and the others stopped to rest. To avoid being tracked by the wicked Buffalo people who might have heard the commotion, they deliberately crossed a river to mask their scent before choosing a campsite.

Specifically, the campsite was a cavern that Bokan had widened. The cave was originally only two or three meters deep, but after Bokan’s modification, it became quite complex: after entering, one had to walk seven or eight meters, then turn ninety degrees left and continue forward, followed by another ninety-degree turn to the right. To put it vividly, the entrance and exit passage formed a shape like the Chinese character "" (jǐ), and only then did one reach the main chamber where everyone was staying.

This setup seemed superfluous but was actually quite necessary. With the buffer provided by the passage, firelight could not penetrate at all, nor could the outside wind blow in, yet there was no danger of suffocating due to lack of air. This significantly reduced the chance of being discovered, even at night.

The two captured wicked Buffalo people were bound tightly like rice dumplings and thrown to the side. At this point, there was no fear of them emitting their foul odor, as that smell was only produced when they were excited during combat.

Thinking from the perspective of these two unlucky fellows—being captured alive by aliens, and witnessing these creatures brutally mutilate corpses, even cutting off organs—they must have been thoroughly terrified. Fang Senyan figured that even if he wanted to smell that distinct, pungent odor now, he wouldn't be able to detect it from them.

After a brief rest, Fang Senyan put on his Predator mask. This mask had numerous functions. During their trek, Fang Senyan had handed it over to Android No. 1 for research, and at this moment, the translation function had finally been activated. After analyzing their vocal patterns through a series of operations, Fang Senyan finally initiated communication with the two captives:

“What are your names?”

The two exchanged glances, clearly astonished that Fang Senyan understood their language:

“Black Tentacle. He is called Meat Beard.”

“Are you hungry? Would you like some roasted meat?” Fang Senyan said amiably, cutting off two glistening pieces of barbecue and offering them. The roasted meat was prepared by the Android using a five-star hotel chef's strategy retrieved from its database. It was perfectly balanced between fat and lean, sizzling as it cooked, and seasoned liberally with cumin, star anise, and other spices. It possessed a truly enticing, rich aroma that no carnivorous creature could possibly refuse.

Unexpectedly, Fang Senyan's kind gesture immediately caused the two unlucky ones’ eyes to widen in shock, appearing as if they were about to weep from emotion. Then… a large amount of foul matter erupted from the depths of their throats; they vomited violently, as if they had swallowed excrement.

Of course, the most outrageous part was that Fang Senyan was nimble enough to dodge in time, so both streams of waste sprayed squarely onto Paul, who was nearby happily chewing his own portion, covering him from head to toe…

The situation instantly fell into silence. Everyone stared over silently. Paul, showing the most confusion, stood there dumbfounded, clearly struggling with the abrupt shift from the heaven of enjoying delicious barbecue to the hell of being soiled.

Android No. 1 coughed lightly:

“Master, it seems the wicked Fallow are vegetarians… Why did you offer them roasted meat?”

Black lines appeared on Fang Senyan’s forehead. Paul, as if suddenly stabbed, leaped up and roared maniacally:

“Aaaah! I’m going to tear these two idiots limb from limb, rape and kill, then rape and kill again!”

Everyone widened their eyes, completely unprepared for Paul’s unexpectedly ferocious and extreme nature. They quickly restrained him, and the two unfortunate wicked Buffalo people trembled in fright, immediately starting to plead. After this incident, Fang Senyan’s interrogation proceeded much more smoothly.

It turned out that these two belonged to the largest local tribe of wicked Buffalo people, a clan called the Black Spore Clan. As for the tribal population count… the wicked Buffalo people were quite deficient in numerical aptitude. Meat Beard and Black Tentacle had to resort to counting fingers, then toes, and repeating this process dozens of times before estimating a figure that was likely several hundreds, perhaps approaching a thousand.

Regarding the matter of the Xi ore vein, which Fang Senyan and the others were most concerned about, they received encouraging news.

The prosperity and strength of the Black Spore tribe were largely attributable to the Xi ore vein. This was because the leader possessed knowledge of a secret location, described as a place blessed by the gods. Whenever a female tribesperson became pregnant, the leader would blindfold her and send her to the "Holy Land." After recuperation there, not only was the pregnancy guaranteed a very high rate of safe delivery for the wicked Fallow, but they often gave birth to multiple offspring in a single pregnancy.

Fang Senyan and the others already knew that the Xi element provided an extra boost to life recovery speed and mental recovery speed. This implied that the leader likely knew the location of an exposed, high-purity Xi ore vein!

Anyone with even a shred of common sense knew that a high-purity ore deposit was already a massive fortune. The addition of the keyword "exposed" made it entirely like a blazing coal, enough to make everyone jump up in feverish excitement.

An exposed high-purity mine meant that the pulverizing and extraction equipment they brought would never lack raw material—they could process it however they wanted, extract as much as they liked—as long as they stopped before the Predators conducted their inspection! At this thought, intense greed flashed in everyone’s eyes.

However, possessing such a massive, exposed Xi ore vein couldn't be achieved by mere talk. It was clear that Android No. 1 must be brought along to obtain firsthand visual evidence, or the group needed to bring back enough Xi element to establish undeniable proof.

But a huge problem stood before them: time was tight. A thorough, carpet-style search in this complex terrain was unrealistic. Therefore, the only option was to deal with that damned leader and obtain the mine coordinates from his mouth.

The prerequisite was capturing the leader of the wicked Fallow tribe. But a leader of a thousand-strong tribe was a serious challenge for Fang Senyan’s team. Dealing with about ten wicked Buffalo people was no issue, but handling a hundred would likely require their utmost effort. If there were two hundred, the only choice would be immediate flight.

When they previously routed the combination of the Volatile Beast and the Xenomorphs, Fang Senyan largely relied on the fruits of the Tiliaceae tree combined with favorable terrain to achieve that attack's effectiveness. Now, facing the wicked Buffalo people, who excelled at burrowing and breaking rock, even with the intelligence gathered by the ship, it felt utterly insufficient.

Fang Senyan then interrogated Meat Beard and Black Tentacle further, but still failed to find any exploitable weakness. Instead, he felt the pressure mounting. It turned out that within the wicked Buffalo tribes, strong individuals also existed. The Kurut ore they skimmed off during mining was used to placate these higher-ranking members.

Those stronger than ordinary wicked Buffalo people were called Wicked Buffalo Marauders. Their most defining characteristic was the ability to wield two axes simultaneously (mastering dual-wielding) and possessing faster movement speed.

The mere existence of the Wicked Buffalo Marauders shattered the group's kite-flying tactics.

And above the Wicked Buffalo Marauders were the even more powerful Wicked Buffalo War Beasts. These creatures were monsters that mutated after consuming too much Kurut ore, pushing them to the opposite extreme. Having completely lost their sanity and devolved into a bestial state, only a few wicked Buffalo Elders could communicate with them.

The wicked Buffalo Elders could be understood as spellcasting classes, characterized by wielding totems in battle.

The more he heard this news, the heavier the pressure felt on Fang Senyan’s shoulders.

At this moment, he suddenly recalled an anomaly that defied common sense and immediately questioned Meat Beard and Black Tentacle:

“Since you are vegetarians, you feel sick at the sight of meat, but… why did you charge at us so frantically back then? You looked as agitated as if you hadn't eaten in days.”

Meat Beard and Black Tentacle looked bewildered and exasperated. After their explanation, Fang Senyan finally understood the whole story.

It turned out that the wicked Buffalo people were indeed purely herbivorous. Their staple diet, besides plants, was a secretion from a fungus called the Black Liver Mushroom. This fungus, however, required large amounts of rotting animal carcasses to grow robustly.

Android No. 1, after querying the offline database, immediately discovered that the so-called Black Liver was a rare saprophytic fungus, half a meter tall, with a cap reaching two square meters in size, which secreted a pulp by consuming flesh.

The mycelium of this fungus remained hidden beneath the cap during dormancy. Once a living creature passed by, it would spread out like a jellyfish sting, enveloping an area of twenty square meters. The stems inserted into the shoulders of wicked Fallow when they were young were made from dried fungi, which allowed them to pass through the area unimpeded without being consumed by the fungus.

The wicked Fallow subsisted on the secretion from the Black Liver cap, Kurut ore, and common Sosuota plants. While the first two were not required in huge quantities, they were essential; otherwise, they would die within a few days.

The reason the wicked Buffalo people had been so agitated upon seeing Fang Senyan’s group was that the tribe’s "Black Liver" had not received fresh blood offerings for several days. Consequently, after the secretions satisfied the higher-ranking members, the ordinary wicked Buffalo people were left underfed and semi-starved, naturally making them doubly zealous when they sighted prey.

“Hmm…” After hearing their account, Fang Senyan sank into contemplation. He suddenly felt there was great potential to be tapped here. Clearly, the “Black Liver” was the Achilles' heel of the wicked Buffalo people. Perhaps the key to breaking the deadlock lay within this very thing.