After he gathered his thoughts for a while, Michael traveled deeper into the Gogi Lord's territory.
However, what he saw confused him more than before.
Everything was destroyed.
Not a single stone was in the right place. The wooden manor had been reduced to ruins and the vegetation had taken over all the space, covering the wooden planks and pillars.
A single glance was enough to tell that the wooden manor would become one with the surrounding environment in a day or two and the trees and vines would gobble it up.
"Is that also the doing of the Untamed Jungle?" Michael mumbled quietly as his gaze moved across the small accessible area that had once been the center of the Gogi Lord's territory, "Is it trying to get rid of the traces left behind by the Gogi Lord, his subjects, and his territory?"
Most buildings had been razed to the ground. The vegetation had quickly claimed the space, invading the settlement, snaking its way through the gaps into the buildings to cover them first before devouring them. Only the Summoning Gate was left in good shape.
Michael strode through the Gogi Lord's territory. He couldn't see any monsters, but he was still vigilant, and his senses were hyperaware. The Untamed Jungle felt scarier than ever before, and it was uncertain whether he was in danger right now, or if he was safe and sound.
The more time he spent in the center of the Gogi Lord's territory, the scarier the scenery around him grew. There was a feeling of unease bubbling inside of him and it grew so intense that Michael felt like he should leave at once.
However, there was still no imminent danger. There was no reason for him to leave, other than the eerie feeling the Untamed Jungle caused within him.
'Just what is the relationship between the Untamed Jungle and Lords?' Michael wondered again.
He could tell that the eeriness and the scary feeling were somehow directed at the now-dead Gogi Lord. The Untamed Jungle seemed to have hated the Gogi Lord to the core, but it attacked the Gogi Lord's territory only now, after he died.
Michael was aware that the Untamed Jungle had not attacked him or his territory either. He had already extracted several trees and killed hundreds of Monsters, but the Untamed Jungle had not harmed or hindered him in any way.
If not for his encounter with the Gogi Lord, Michael would have never thought that the Untamed Jungle was sentient, and a devourer.
That meant the Untamed Jungle couldn't attack Lords when they were alive. Some reason prevented the Untamed Jungle from venting its hatred at the beings it loathed to the core. Only when they die would it get its revenge, devouring things they once valued and loved…wiping away every trace of their existence.
If that were really the case, Michael and his territory could be reassured. He didn't plan to die anytime soon either.
After he traveled a while through the Gogi Lord's territory, Michael found the remnants of a once large and empty area. The grass and plants in the area had grown a lot, but Michael was more interested in the demolished fence around the area, and the monsters that had been raised and taken care of inside before.
Michael expected to find a few Bilrox, who had been left alone, or at least, some Bilrox feathers, but there was nothing.
After he witnessed what happened to the Gogis, Michael immediately thought that the Untamed Jungle must have devoured the Bilrox horde as well.
However, that thought was proven wrong once he began to unleash Extraction on the small ranch.
Michael tested if the Bilrox horde had been devoured using Extraction. He walked inside the ranch and scanned the ground with his Soultrait. It didn't require much energy to scan the surroundings with Extraction if he didn't extract anything.
Thus, in no time and with the use of a little energy, Michael found out that the wet soil hadn't absorbed Bilrox blood or its remnants. Their only remains in the ground were dung, quite a lot of it at that.
'Was it the Forest Elves then? They wouldn't waste their time inside the Untamed Jungle to lay waste to the Gogi Lord's territory…but they might have taken the Bilrox horde.'
Michael concluded that the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team took the Bilrox Horde, including all of their feathers. The Untamed Jungle wreaked havoc afterward, turning the entire territory upside down.
That was the most likely course of events. It calmed Michael a little to know what must have happened, and he diverted his focus to the destroyed buildings. There was something he wanted to find out.
'If the Untamed Jungle doesn't attack living Lords and subjects, I should be fine,' Michael repeated in his head like a mantra. Simultaneously, he stayed vigilant of the surrounding area.
He had a nagging feeling that something was odd about the destruction of the Gogi Lord, but he had no way of finding out more, not right now, at least.
Michael spent the next 20 minutes using Extraction on the destroyed buildings. He first started with the wooden manor, extracting the most precious resources out of the manor's ruins and salvaging whatever he could.
Afterward, he walked over to the other buildings to unleash Extraction on them.
Within 20 minutes, Michael extracted two blueprints and various precious materials. This made him feel excited.
'Oho?!'
Michael's eyes gleamed brightly, and a bright smile appeared on his lips as his head flicked to the Summoning Gate.
He walked over to the Summoning Gate and unleashed Extraction once again. His hands were shrouded in golden streams, and it didn't take long before the first materials were extracted.
'Summoning Gates can be dismantled, and their cores and other components can be used to strengthen existing Summoning Gates or construct stronger Summoning Gates…but is that everything?!'
The glint in Michael's eyes intensified while his smile widened, reaching his eyes.
His energy was rapidly drained, but Michael continued to extract. Beads of sweat trickled down his temples, and his back was drenched in sweat not long after.
Never before had he used that much energy to extract a single object or corpse. It felt a little weird to realize that his energy had been completely drained, yet the Summoning Gate was still towering in front of him.
However, that was all the more reason to keep working hard and give his utmost. He could rest a little to replenish his energy and continue extracting right from where he stopped before.
It didn't matter if he had to spend several hours extracting the Summoning Gate because he was certain that he would gain a lot.
At noon, Michael's stomach grumbled loudly, but he didn't take pause, nor did he stop extracting.
He looked at the first few drops he had extracted with a tinge of excitement in his eyes.
'Ohh!!'
**
