A night passed without incident. Everyone slept until dawn, save for Zheng Zha, who hadn't slept a wink yet was brimming with energy. His night of internal energy cultivation seemed to restore him even better than sleep. The fatigue and injuries from using his explosive skill the previous night had vanished with the rest, so when everyone rose, he sprang up in one fluid motion, greeting them all with a perfectly normal expression.

The group casually washed using the stream water. Then, Zheng Zha produced solid freshwater and compressed rations, offering them to the others. Though curious about the items, they swallowed the two pills. Instantly, their mouths filled with flavor, and the sensation of hunger vanished.

"Good stuff, really good stuff. If we sold this to those weight-watching women in London, told them it aids in slimming, we could probably make a fortune," said Jonathan excitedly.

Zheng Zha felt a dull ache start in his head. "I have to admit, you truly are a talent," he sighed. "I swear I’m not exaggerating; your grasp of commercial opportunity is terrifyingly strong. Though, I suppose that can also be understood as your profound attachment to money."

While the others packed their gear, Zheng Zha seized the chance to leap onto the treetop canopy to survey the surroundings. It was early morning, the mist was just rolling in. For such a desert region to possess such a vast forest was an anomaly. The big man in black became visibly agitated upon seeing the fog, constantly tilting his head back to greedily inhale the mist before him. Zheng Zha, however, was frustrated by the density of the vapor, which made it almost impossible to see a thousand meters ahead. Resigned, he could only jump down from the canopy.

Zheng Zha managed a wry smile. "No choice but to push forward as best we can. Damn it, we forgot the compass! How on earth are we supposed to get through this forest?"

Jonathan suddenly mumbled, pulling a watch-shaped compass from his inner pocket. With a bizarre look on his face, he stated, "If it’s a compass you need, I wouldn't mind trading one gold brick for it."

Zheng Zha snatched the compass immediately, laughing heartily. "Fantastic! No problem, I’ll give you the gold brick when we get back. But where did you get this compass? I don't recall you ever buying anything like it."

O'Connell piped up from the side, sounding confused. "Doesn't that compass look familiar to me? Back on the airship, I seem to remember seeing Izzy fiddling with it all the time."

Jonathan quickly laughed it off. "No, no, you must be seeing things, hahahaha! You must be mistaken." Saying this, he walked laughing into the depths of the jungle.

Everyone knew perfectly well what was going on, so they simply smiled, shook their heads, and followed the direction Jonathan had taken. They had only walked a few dozen meters when they heard Jonathan suddenly yell and come sprinting back from the distance. Chasing him was a vividly patterned leopard, looking ravenous and charging toward the group at full speed.

O'Connell sighed, drawing the pistol at his waist and shouting, "Jonathan, are you incapable of using a gun? It’s just a small leopard!"

Jonathan yelled as he ran, "Run! Run! So many, so many terrifying monkeys!" He then bolted past the group. His words were so shocking that everyone forgot to attack the leopard, allowing it to dash past them—it looked less like a leopard and more like a stray dog fleeing for its life.

The group turned with strange expressions to look where Jonathan pointed, and then several wild boars burst out of the thicket. Behind them, smaller monkeys poured out of the jungle, holding—no, they were definitely holding—long rifles and firing them at the fleeing boars. The monkeys were increasing rapidly, soon covering the trees in a dense throng; at least a hundred were chasing the wild pigs.

The members exchanged glances, then decisively turned tail and fled. They had spotted several monkeys carrying automatic weapons. A swarm of monkeys this dense, armed with modern weaponry, left them no choice but to run for their lives.

Zheng Zha’s teeth were clenched in fury. He practically hissed through gritted teeth, "Damn you, 'Main God'! Who ever heard of monkeys using guns? Isn't having this many monkeys enough? They use guns too? Do you really want to play me to death before you’re satisfied?"

Though the old saying goes that when the tiger is absent, the monkey rules the mountain, hell, who had ever heard of monkeys chasing wild boars or humans with guns in hand? Zheng Zha felt like retching, but his reaction time was quick. As he ran, he pulled out a High-Explosive Grenade, gripping a Micro SMG in his other hand. Without even looking back, he ripped the pin on the grenade and threw it backward. Just as a bullet struck his right shoulder blade, he lunged forward several steps, tackling the others to the ground. Almost simultaneously, the shockwave of the explosion washed over them. The violent blast tumbled the group several times before they crashed heavily onto the earth. One hundred meters behind them, not a single tree remained standing; the destructive power of that High-Explosive Grenade was truly terrifying. Feiku Typing

"Killed 24 Jungle Guardians. Gained 24 Reward Points."

At such a critical juncture, the Main God's voice suddenly sounded, leaving Zheng Zha stunned rigid. It wasn't until a sharp pain flared in his shoulder blade that he groaned and snapped back to reality. A stray bullet had grazed him there. The impact wasn't tremendous, but it was enough to pierce his skin and reach the muscle, causing tearing pain with every slight movement. Blood was already streaming down his entire back from the wound.

The others had also scrambled to their feet. They seemed equally shaken, having just recovered from the hail of monkey gunfire. Still, it was understandable; facing monstrous armies of Death, statues that moved, or giant scorpions three meters long—these things could be rationalized. There were too many inexplicable events in the world for humans to comprehend. But seeing monkeys wielding guns while chasing boars and humans—that sight could only be described as utterly bizarre.

The group remained dumbfounded for a moment. O'Connell was the first to notice Zheng Zha's wound. He quickly drew his knife and said, "Hold still, easy now."

As he spoke, he carefully inserted the blade into Zheng Zha's wound and leveraged it open, popping the bullet out. He then took the Hemostatic Spray Zheng Zha offered, sprayed it a few times, and wrapped a section of strong bandage around Zheng Zha’s shoulder. Only then did he smile. "You’re lucky, as always, you manage to get yourself beaten up. But can you explain why those monkeys were carrying firearms? Don't tell me the Scorpion King's treasure hoard was an ancient armory."

Zheng Zha managed a weak, dry laugh, unable to form a complete sentence. He could only manage, "I thought there would just be a lot of monkeys here. Who knew these monkeys could actually use guns? If I had known this beforehand, I wouldn’t have brought just us here. If I had known, I absolutely would have organized a few mercenary teams to come along, alas..."

Not only that, but in the original storyline, the jungle surrounding the pyramid wasn't that extensive—certainly not large enough to cause one to get lost. But here, it had become a genuine primeval jungle, and by the looks of it, this forest covered a considerable area. This was undoubtedly the Main God adjusting the difficulty. Furthermore, regarding the gun-toting monkeys, there was no need to wonder: it was the Main God’s handiwork.

Zheng Zha took a deep breath. He stood up, drew the Green Goblin Glider, and smiled at the others. "Wait for me here. I'll fly up and check the surrounding terrain. Maybe there’s a shortcut to the pyramid, preferably one that bypasses those monkeys." With that, he stepped onto the glider and soared into the air.

The sun had risen now, and the forest mist had thinned considerably. Once aloft, Zheng Zha gazed out toward the distance and indeed saw a massive, magnificent pyramid far away, appearing as if it were constructed of pure gold. At the very apex of this pyramid sat a huge, crystal-clear diamond—the massive gem that Jonathan snatched at the last moment in the original plot.

Perhaps his vision momentarily tricked him, but he thought he saw the diamond reflect the sunlight. Before he could react, a beam of light shot out from the diamond, instantly piercing his left chest. Fortunately, he was standing on the Green Goblin Glider, which required constant side-to-side wobbling for balance. The beam missed his heart but punched a large hole straight through his left lung. In an instant, he lost his balance and plummeted from the sky.

The people below him were already stunned. They had only seen a flash of light, and then Zheng Zha, along with his Glider, fell from the sky. He had been about twenty meters high. Luckily, beneath him was the dense canopy of trees. He scraped against leaves and branches all the way down, landing covered in gashes, with a bloody hole piercing straight through his chest. The group could almost see his beating heart through the aperture. For a moment, no one moved, until Zheng Zha let out a loud, gushing cough of blood. Only then did the big man in black and O'Connell rush to lay him flat on the ground. One grabbed the hemostatic spray, the other the strong bandages, and the two grown men frantically bandaged Zheng Zha, while Eve, terrified, rushed around assisting.

Zheng Zha’s Vampire Earl constitution was indeed formidable. With his heart and brain unharmed, his body began to recover on its own. After spitting out several mouthfuls of stagnant blood from his lungs, the pierced hole in his chest began to visibly contract. Though the healing was still slight, Zheng Zha knew his life was no longer in danger; all he needed now was time for the wound to mend.

Meanwhile, Jonathan, who had run off earlier, came charging back from the distance. But this time, he showed no panic, only panting heavily as he ran, indicating he was not in mortal danger.

Before he got close, Jonathan shouted, "There’s a huge canyon over there! I almost fell in just now. It looks like the huge pit we made at the temple, only magnified! Why are you all staring at me like that?"

The group once again looked at Zheng Zha with strange expressions. Zheng Zha could barely speak now, murmuring laboriously, "If we could lure a whole herd of those monkeys over here, my explosives are enough to kill ten thousand of them..."