Chapter 637: City and Wilderness (Middle)_1

Modern people living within the Iron Jungle may find it difficult to comprehend the violence of Mother Nature. However, if they found themselves in a tropical jungle reminiscent of the primitive era, they would deeply understand that nature wields ultimate power, with the ability to nurture everything and, simultaneously, to destroy everything.

In less than a minute from when the clouds started to gather to when the heavy rain began to fall, the whole scene dramatically changed. A few dozen seconds later, the strong wind picked up, transforming the forest completely.

The once vibrant jungle instantly became a green hell of sorts, with the shadows and reflected light from the plants resembling devilish eyes and claws. As the cute little creatures disappeared, a sense of imminent storm brewed.

The three of them quickly moved upstream. In between, the man with the bow introduced himself, "I am Oliver Queen, from Star City, stranded here about three months ago…"

Arthur and Shiller introduced themselves too but didn't say much. Or perhaps, they couldn't have said more. The wind strength was growing. Just keeping their heads down and marching on was already energy-sapping.

"No matter where you are from, as long as you are not those drug traffickers, we can cooperate. I've built a shelter in a cave upstream. We need to get there to take refuge from the storm."

After that, the three of them proceeded in silence, dealing with the storm head-on. If it were only Shiller, he could have quickly reached their destination using Flash. But the problem was, Oliver and Arthur couldn't.

Even though they hurried, the tropical storm still beat them, arriving before they could reach the cave Oliver had mentioned.

The stormy winds, accompanying heavy rain, pelted onto their faces. Oliver and Arthur struggled to keep their balance. Shiller looked up, squinting into the distance, and asked, "Is that the cave you're talking about?"

At the source of the creek, a crevice appeared at the foot of a cliff resulting from a fractured mountain side. With the scenery vision provided by Gray mist, Shiller noticed signs of human habitation.

"Exactly!!!" Oliver shouted; though, even at his loudest, his voice trembled in the howling wind.

"Let's go quickly!" Arthur tread forward with his water-made shield, yet it offered little resistance against the powerful wind.

Finally, during the last stretch, Oliver fell. He'd been injured and was physically exhausted. His unsuccessful hunting attempts had depleted his food reserves. The passing wind quickly took away his body heat, leaving him even weaker.

As Arthur rushed to help him up, Shiller turned into Gray mist, grabbed the two of them, and flew into the cave.

Both men groaned in pain as they were thrown to the ground. Arthur sighed with relief, while Oliver looked at Shiller, who was slowly regaining his shape, and swore, "I must be dying, I'm starting to hallucinate…"

"You're not hallucinating, but you indeed are dying." Shiller approached Oliver, who had now collapsed on the floor. He removed the leaves wrapped around Oliver's body and took a closer look at his shoulder wound.

Upon removing the wrapped shirt, Shiller finally understood why this jungle survival journey could transform the Green Arrow from a rich young man into a true Hardworking Hero.

The wound beneath was truly horrific. A large patch of skin on Oliver's left shoulder and part of his chest was missing, revealing the muscles underneath. It also looked like it had been burnt, with uneven bumps.

Shiller examined the wound closely and concluded it was likely a shotgun wound. The bumps were spots where the pellets were embedded. The burnt marks, Shiller guessed, were possibly Oliver trying to prevent further decay.

Shiller thought about it for a while and then took out the medical kit stored in Gray mist, which had everything needed to treat the wound. Conducting a simple surgery wouldn't be difficult.

Under the current conditions, hygiene was the least of their worries. They needed to treat him as soon as possible. However, the problem was that Oliver was very weak, and any hasty surgical procedure might adversely impact his physical condition.

Shiller took a deep breath, put down the medical kit, and turned to Arthur, "He's in a very poor condition. I can't treat his wound now. Otherwise, he might faint or go into shock."

"After the storm passes, we'll have to find food and water for him first. We can only perform the surgery once his strength returns."

Arthur sighs deeply, looking at the pale-faced Oliver. He hadn't expected things to reach such levels.

"I thought we could bring a boat over and just take him with us. But now, even if a boat were to come, we couldn't just take him away like this. He'd die on the way…" Arthur let out a deep sigh, regretting that he'd underestimated the situation.

When living in familiar surroundings, he felt omnipotent. Be it sailing, fishing, or weather forecasting, he excelled at everything.

But when the environment changed, things didn't go so smoothly. He felt he had overestimated his abilities and put both himself and those he intended to save in danger.

Arthur appeared regretful, but Shiller remained calm. He said, "Listen, there's an issue that you should have noticed by now. His body temperature is dropping."