Fang Er, paying no mind to the two brothers slung over each other's shoulders, continued to explore the forest with Wang Xuance and the others.
Australia Island was so vast that with their mere two hundred men, even if they had a thousand times more, it would be impossible to explore it all in a short period.
Fang Er merely wished to see if they could find any local inhabitants or a suitable location to establish a base.
In other words, he was looking for a place near a water source, with flat land suitable for cultivation.
At the same time, this location could not be too far from the coastline, and it needed to have the conditions for building a deep-water dock to moor ships.
After the group had traveled dozens of miles, Wang Xuance ran back to report.
"My Lord, there's a large lake ahead!"
"Let's go take a look!"
Fang Er led Chang Le forward. Li Tai and Li Ke, the two brothers, were still huddled together, whispering about their future plans for the place.
After walking for a while, they saw the large lake Wang Xuance had mentioned.
The area around here was open, and there weren't many giant trees, only some shrubs. After clearing them, it would be sufficient to serve as a base.
"Everyone spread out and scout the surroundings!"
"Yes, my Lord!"
The two hundred Tianhuo Army soldiers received the order and began their search in groups of three.
"My Lord, there are crocodiles here!"
Before long, someone shouted, pointing towards the lake.
Fang Er quickly handed Chang Le over to Ge Luoyang to watch and ran over with a few men.
Upon hearing this, Li Ke immediately pulled the nunchaku from his waist and said to Li Tai, "You're not allowed to snatch my prey this time!"
With that, he also followed Fang Er towards the lake.
Crocodile, as it was called by people in ancient times, referred to the alligator.
A large group of about seventy to eighty of them were basking on the shore. Seeing the approaching group, they all alertly raised their heads.
"Master, let this prince test their strength first!"
Li Ke, having caught up, brandished his nunchaku and, without waiting for Fang Er's reply, charged towards the crocodiles.
"Quick, use your nunchaku! Hnngh, hah, hei!"
*Crack!*
As he swung his nunchaku, before it could even hit a crocodile's head, one of them leaped up and bit it into pieces.
Li Ke was somewhat stunned.
"Damn it, these things don't play by the rules! They actually bite!"
"Master, save me!"
After only being imposing for less than three seconds, Li Ke quickly cried out for help.
"Rescue him!"
Fang Er gave an order to Wang Xuance and the others. Immediately, gunshots rang out. Over forty special forces soldiers, armed with AK47s, unleashed a barrage of fire at the crocodiles.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, Li Ke fled back in disarray.
Seeing this, Li Tai sneakily approached him and said with a grin, "Hehehe, Imperial Brother, I didn't snatch your prey this time~"
"Get lost~" Li Ke's face flushed with embarrassment.
Fang Er playfully nudged him on the backside with his toe. "That's enough! I won't care if the Prince of Han beats you later!"
"Hehehehe~~ That's unlikely. Imperial Brother wouldn't hit me, would he, Imperial Brother?" Li Tai said, pulling a cigarette from his pocket and offering it to Li Ke.
"Here, Imperial Brother, let me light it for you~~"
*Slap!*
This time, Fang Er directly swatted him. Li Tai, holding his head, ran away. Only after getting far off did he say aggrievedly,
"Master, why did you hit me!"
"Throw away the cigarette!"
"Oh~~!"
This fellow had secretly hidden cigarettes on himself. A young tree must be pruned to grow straight. He deserved a beating!
Chang Le watched from the side, covering her mouth and giggling.
Fang Er was the master. In those times, it was only natural for a teacher to discipline a student, and as long as he wasn't crippled, Li Shimin wouldn't say anything.
Moreover, he had the status of Chang Le's fiancé.
Beating him was as good as not beating him.
No matter how fierce the crocodiles were, they couldn't withstand the hail of bullets from the AKs. In a short while, the shore was littered with their corpses, while some, sensing danger, had fled into the lake.
"My Lord, with so many crocodiles, if we don't clear them out, building a camp here will be too dangerous," Wang Xuance said worriedly.
"There's no such thing as a thief for a thousand days, only a guard for a thousand days."
If they were to build a camp, these creatures might sneak in at any time.
With their biting force, humans would be torn in half with a single bite.
"Go chop some trees, first fence off an area, and then clear the open space!"
With the order given, Wang Xuance recalled the two hundred Tianhuo Army soldiers. They chopped trees together and then used branches to build a double-layered fence by the lake.
The low shrubs were cleared to create a firebreak, and then a large amount of dry branches were thrown in and burned.
The resulting clearing was left for later cultivation.
Of course, reclaiming this land would take more than a day or two. The task of these two hundred Tianhuo Army soldiers from now on would be to stay and wait for reinforcements.
With limited manpower, finding the indigenous people would have to wait.
After staying there for a few days, Fang Er began to worry about home.
Xiao Qing was already over seven months pregnant. Counting the travel time back, if he stayed any longer, he might miss the birth of his second child.
Spreading out the map and looking at the location of America, he felt a slight regret.
It was too far. Traveling there and back alone would take several months.
Having made his decision, he brought up the matter of returning.
However, Li Tai and Li Ke were already developing ideas.
"Master, why don't we wait a couple more days to return? This prince wants to bring some gifts back for my father."
Upon hearing Li Tai's suggestion, Fang Er smiled. "What do you want to bring back?"
"Kangaroos, dingoes, koalas. Father and Mother have never seen them before. I want to take them back to broaden their horizons."
Filial piety is the first of all virtues. Fang Er couldn't refuse such a request and assigned fifty soldiers to assist them.
The captured animals had to be brought back to Datang. The journey was long, and even a slight injury would likely be fatal.
The soldiers, using branches to make cages, placed crocodile meat inside as bait to lure dingoes from afar.
Kangaroos were easy. These creatures were not afraid of humans at all, otherwise, they wouldn't have engaged in a three-hundred-round battle with Li Ke.
Koalas were as lazy as pigs. In the eucalyptus forests, one could walk right up and grab them.
Two days later, after leaving ample supplies for the two hundred Tianhuo Army soldiers stationed on the island, the fleet set sail for Datang!