After pondering for a moment, George, still looking troubled, bowed respectfully towards the two and, lowering his head, spoke with a respectful tone:
"George is sincerely grateful for your righteous action, and I believe everyone else is equally grateful to you both for your selfless help. However, too many people have died in the past four times, as you both have witnessed.
Sam and the others come from small camps, with limited strength in the Axeheart Realm, and losing more manpower would genuinely threaten their survival. Could both of you think of another way to lure out that Wood Puppet Monster?"
After George finished speaking, he quietly waited for the two at the head to respond.
The other four leaders also quietly awaited Lex and Matthew to speak, hoping they could come up with a different way, so they wouldn't have to use people as bait again.
However, what everyone failed to notice was that from the beginning of their conversation, Matthew's expression had already turned extremely impatient.
Even compared to him, the usually calm Lex now furrowed his brow, and his face looked very unpleasant.
Unable to contain himself, Matthew stood up, intending to vent his frustrations at everyone, as was his nature.
But before he could start, Lex stood up from his seat, stopped him, then turned to face everyone.
After thinking for a moment, he asked a lowly voiced question:
"Do you think that using people as bait to lure out the Mimicking Monster is too cruel, and since it hasn't been effective in the four attempts, it's not worth the loss of so many lives?"
George didn't respond, and the four leaders exchanged glances but remained silent.
Of course, silence in itself can be an answer.
Lex naturally understood this, and after glancing around at the five people, he suddenly let out a low laugh, shook his head, and his face showed a hint of helplessness.
"Do you know what it means if the Wood Puppet Monster at Redwood Ridge evolves from a beginner level to an intermediate level?"
When asking this question, Lex's tone carried a distinct hint of anger, not expecting them to answer, he continued speaking directly.
"An Intermediate Strange Monster, even a Cold Resistance Level powerhouse could easily be killed without understanding its nature.
To an Earthripper Realm human, it's not even considered an ant; it could be killed with a wave of its hand.
Therefore, if it evolves, it means not only you small number in Redwood Ridge, but all large and even giant camps in the surrounding area would become its hunting ground;
And if unlucky enough for it to evolve to an advanced level, my Manhattan Town would have to pay a huge price to deal with it. Do you really think that the two of us stayed here just to save your few worthless lives?"
Lex's first outburst, with a harsh tone, slightly shook George and others, plunging the hall into a deathly silence.
Yet, his speech was not finished:
"The Mimicking Monster, this evil lifeform that evolves through killing, is inherently the enemy of humans.
If it were not for the concern that its growth in strength would bring greater harm to more camps, do you really think the lives of two to three thousand people in your camps would matter to us?
These Mimicking Monsters are devoid of humanity, killing to evolve by instinct, never stopping once strengthened; not eradicating them while they are weak would only bring endless harm.
Do you believe the method I used is deliberately harming you? The fact is, Mimicking Monsters are bloodthirsty.
Apart from using people as bait, there is no other way to lure them out; this is a consensus among Ice Abyss Humans.
Twenty-nine lives, which might seem a lot to you, but to me, if that Wood Puppet Monster isn't removed early, once it evolves successfully, that number will turn into 2900, 29000, or even more.
Not to mention my Manhattan Town, which of the nine towns of Israel Mountain hasn't sacrificed thousands of lives fighting Mimicking Monsters; I've personally witnessed more than a hundred Earthripper Realm people volunteer as bait to encircle an Intermediate Mimicking Monster."
At this point, Lex seemed to recall something and pointed behind him at Matthew, saying to everyone with a loud voice: "Matthew's father sacrificed himself as bait for Manhattan to hunt a Mimicking Monster."
Hearing Lex's words made Matthew's face show pride and confidence without any sorrow, along with a profound hatred for Mimicking Monsters.
Hearing this, everyone fell into silence.
Lex, feeling he may have spoken too much, remained silent for a moment before finally shaking his head, sighing: "Never mind, I've said all I needed to say. Tomorrow, we'll try one last time.
If we can't destroy the Wood Puppet Monster, Matthew and I will first return to Manhattan Town to seek assistance. Until then, you can only hope for the best!"
Upon reaching this point, neither George nor the other four leaders found themselves with any words of refutation.
Even if they had such thoughts, they were forced back by Lex's speech.
These people, being the leaders of their camps, despite not being particularly shrewd, had some ability to judge character.
When Lex made those statements, his emotions were evidently genuine.
At this stage in the conversation, no one could easily refute Lex.
At most, tomorrow they will try one last time.
If they can indeed get rid of the Wood Puppet Monster, then everyone would be delighted.
The meeting concluded, and everyone returned to the accommodations arranged by George for rest.
The living conditions at Rogel Camp were decent; each person was given a room, with Barry and William brothers being arranged next door to each other.
By now, it was already daylight outside, and everyone was exhausted from the night; as soon as they got to their rooms, they fell asleep almost immediately.
At around noon, when everyone was sleeping most deeply and it was coldest outside.
Barry suddenly opened his eyes while lying in bed in his room.
He got up quietly and gently, opened the door, and walked outside the wooden house.
---
"They're dead, all dead, Father, nineteen people, all dead!"
At the outskirts of Redwood Ridge, Christ walked into the cold and desolate cave, sealed the entrance completely, then approached the campfire and spoke to his father, Steve, who had collapsed on the ground, his voice full of panic and fear.
To outsiders, Steve was a spirited man, but now he had lost his left arm, and blood continued to flow from the severed limb, leaving his breath weak to the extreme point.
Hearing Christ's words, a trace of panic appeared on Steve's weak face, but he still endured the pain, gritted his teeth, and said, "Don't panic, we're not far from the camp, that ghost can't find us, it will leave soon."
Steve could never have imagined that after years of smooth sailing, he would face such a massive upheaval tonight.
A mere hunting trip turned into a nightmare because of encountering a Mimicking Monster.
The Mimicking Monster kept replacing members of the Hunting Team, transforming into their familiar forms, sneaking up to attack, and eliminating them one by one.
In less than half a night, the twenty members of the Hunting Team, except for his youngest son Christ, were completely wiped out.
He himself was ambushed by a Hunting Team member who had turned into the Mimicking Monster, resulting in the loss of his left arm and multiple cuts on his body.
Not only himself, but his youngest son Christ was also ambushed and his right arm was slashed by the Mimicking Monster.
Steve instinctively wanted to check his youngest son's injury and turned to look at his right arm.
But upon seeing it, his pupils contracted abruptly, and his expression froze instantly.
His youngest son's right arm, which had been slashed just now, was not only unharmed but didn't even have a single wound or mark.
Steve realized something, closed his eyes, and his face was immediately filled with sorrow.
Meanwhile, Christ, who was crouching in front of him, obviously noticed his recent glance.
Seeing the look of pain on Steve's face, the corners of his mouth curved slightly, and his expression became extremely dark and grim.
"You discovered it, huh? You twenty-one people gave me quite a hard time. I almost let you two escape!"
Steve opened his eyes, and the pain on his face gradually transformed into fear.
The voice, sounding like woodchips grinding against each other, was hoarse, piercing, and bizarre, completely different from his youngest son Christ.
"Christ" took out a small knife from his pocket, aimed the blade at the position of Steve's severed arm, and slowly inserted it, watching as the blood spurted out faster due to the expanding wound, its smile growing ever more twisted and sinister.
The intense pain transmitted from his nerves to his brain; Steve, once so heroic, now could only helplessly wail and howl in agony, unable to make any resistance despite the pain.
Watching as the flesh on his arm was sliced off piece by piece, the bones of his shoulder and chest starkly visible, his mind began to collapse, and all that remained in his pupils was the will to survive.
"Spare… spare… me…"
"I don't… want to die, I beg you… spare my life…"
The piercing wails seemed to further stimulate "Christ".
Its speed with the knife grew increasingly faster, completely ignoring Steve's pleas for mercy.
Under the intense pain and fear, Steve's mental defenses were finally completely shattered:
"I… can… help you… bring people here for you to kill."
The knife stopped!
The expression on "Christ"'s face suddenly turned blank.
Then, an old man in black walked out from the shadows of the cave.
The old man held a ball of white thread in his left hand and approached Steve before taking the small knife from "Christ".
He produced a half-meter-long piece of wood from somewhere and used the knife to carve it until it immediately became a lifelike arm.
The old man used the ball of white thread to sew the wooden arm onto Steve's body.
Then he gently scraped it, and the arm instantly changed color, fitting Steve's body perfectly, as if… as if it had never been broken.
"Get up. Your body is fine now. In ten days, you must bring a hundred people over as payment for sparing your life. Take your son back; I'll monitor you through him. Don't try any tricks!"
Though he saved his life, the terms set by the old man left Steve unable to muster any joy, just blankly kneeling on the ground, nodding.
The old man left, and Steve also left the cave.
Leaving with him was his expressionless youngest son Christ, whose humanity was now questionable.
Steve, with his spirit on the verge of collapse, took "Christ" and returned towards the camp.
But he dared not go directly into the camp, instead wandering aimlessly around its perimeter.