In another tent inside the fortHei was sitting in a chair while all his teammates were gathered in front of him. The four supporting martial artists, Mareo, Haruno, Lilian, and Mia, were also there. After hours and hours of work, they had finally gotten their well-deserved break.
"The reason I brought you here is because I have important announcements to make. We are currently considering a plan to attack the c.o.c.kroach nest, but we need information. Therefore, I will go ahead to find out what is actually going on in there."
When Hei finished saying his words, the others were shocked. They couldn"t believe their ears. Staying at the fort already represented a considerable danger, but Hei even wanted to go to the nest of those infernal creatures?
"Isn"t there another way? Can"t we stay here at the fort?" Leon asked, even though he already knew the answer.
"No, staying here has its drawbacks. It is a temporary solution that allowed us to repel the first c.o.c.kroaches" attack. However, it isn"t a foolproof solution. We have already lost about a hundred of our comrades, and it was only the first attack. How long will we hold out if they keep attacking? You saw their behavior at the end of the fight. They don"t resent us, but they are just following orders. If we can get rid of those in charge, then the attacks will cease."
Hei"s explanation was reasonable, and none of them could refute these words. They had all seen the sense of fear the c.o.c.kroaches had shown when they retired. If there really was a way to avoid fighting them, then they had to take risks. However, the person selected for such a dangerous mission, which could be considered suicidal, was none other than Hei.
"Listen to me well. In the time that I am out, you will follow Lian"s orders. She will replace me as a general. Long Tian has already given consent. Mareo, Haruno, Mia, and Lilian will continue their duties in their respective divisions. Please, whatever happens, stay alive. Hold on until I get back. I promise to return with the information we need to get out of this forest."
Hearing Hei"s words, Leon and everyone else could only accept his decision. It didn"t seem that he had been forced into this choice. If Hei himself had decided so, they had no way of stopping him. Not when Lian herself had let him go.
Therefore, each of them gave their encouragement to Hei. Then, they went out to the tent to return to prepare for the next attack. Inside were only Hei, Lian, and the two little divine beasts that had woken up after a long sleep.
"Please, be careful. Don"t risk more than necessary. You have to come back, you promised it. "Lian said as she gazed at Hei"s eyes.
"Don"t worry. I promised you. I will pay attention and return safely. In the meantime, you too should pay attention and take care of our comrades."
"I will do it. For safety, take this." Lian then pulled out the telescope they had used during their pirate carrier in the Forgotten Ocean. "I modified it with various formations. Just insert some spirit stone powder into this slot, and the visual ability of the tool will be increased. It also has a function of being able to see in the dark if it should serve you."
Hei looked at this gift in surprise; having a visual tool from afar that didn"t use its spirit power was ideal for this mission.
"Thanks, Lian, then I"m going. I"ll be back as soon as possible."
Hei left the tent and approached the walls of the fort. He easily climbed them and landed on the other side. After that, he took a deep breath and turned to his two little sisters.
"Ye, Xing, I rely on you. My spirit power has not yet fully recovered, and the same goes for you too. We will, therefore, take turns. It will start Ye, then to Xing, and lastly to me. Thus we will have the opportunity to cultivate and rest while we continue to move. When all this ends, I will make Long Tian take out the finest food from the empire."
"Yup! Hurray!" The two little divine beasts were happy with this news and started hopping.
Hei let her have fun for a few minutes and then took Xing in her arms. "Well, now Ye. Let"s go."
"Yes, big brother." Ye replied as she a.s.sumed her true dimensions.
Hei climbed onto the head of his little sister. He let her carry him towards the interior of the forest in the direction of the c.o.c.kroaches" nest. Fortunately, since the army of c.o.c.kroaches was numerous, they had left multiple traces, and calculating their path wasn"t difficult at all. The hard part would come when they approached the nest to find out who was the mysterious ent.i.ty.
*
Almost an entire day had pa.s.sed. The last attack of the c.o.c.kroaches had taken place at dawn, and Hei had left late in the morning. Thanks to Spider Hair and Snake Tongue, in combination with the senses of his little sisters, Hei had followed the tracks of the c.o.c.kroaches without being noticed. After all, the spirit beasts in those areas had moved away because of the c.o.c.kroaches, leaving the field open to Hei.
"We have arrived. The tracks get more chaotic from here on out. Ye, Xing, try not to say a word for any reason. We will slowly crawl closer. We have concealed our smell as far as possible. Now we just have to hope it is enough to confuse the c.o.c.kroaches. However, always keep your senses on the alert. If they find out, we should run away and review a new approach plan."
"Okay, big brother." said the two divine beasts that had returned to their minute size. At the time, they were hidden in Hei"s hair, and although they didn"t show it, they were quite anxious. The nest was near, and a false move would pose a mortal danger to all three.
"Beast Concealment." Hei whispered those words in a low voice while activating his concealment technique.
"During this period at the Academy, I examined various concealment techniques, perfecting the original Demon Concealment that I learned at the Flower Sect. I am confident of going unnoticed, but unexpected events can always happen."
Hei slowly crawled on the soil. His clothes had already been drenched in blood and c.o.c.kroach body fluids. Hei had even sprinkled his naked body in such fluids to decrease the chances of being noticed, and he did the same with his little sisters. Furthermore, Beast Concealment had lowered vital functions to a minimum. His breathing was practically imperceptible, and the heat of his body had dropped drastically.
With Ye and Xing using their body detection features, Hei went through the block of c.o.c.kroaches without being seen. The c.o.c.kroaches were, in fact, worried about bringing corpses of spirit beasts and humans to a specific point, not to mention that they would never have thought that there was a human so insane as to invade their nest alone.
Approaching enough to be able to see with his telescope, Hei rose slightly to lean his back against the trunk of a tree. His chest swayed up and down at a fast pace. Although it was only a tiny fraction of the distance he had traveled to get here, this distance under the action of Beast Concealment had nevertheless represented a great effort for his heart and his body. Beast Concealment was a technique that was recommended to be used while being still and in case of movement only for short periods.
"I still don"t have a perfect control over Beast Concealment, that"s why I"m in this state. But I still managed to get close. It should be enough to see the center of the nest from here."
Hei pulled out the telescope that Lian had modified for him. By crus.h.i.+ng a spirit stone and inserting the dust inside, Hei activated the instrument"s enhanced vision function. Thus he was finally able to take a look at what was really going on. But what he saw left him speechless.
Seven bugs about three meters long were in a circle as they watched the c.o.c.kroaches carrying the carca.s.ses collected in the forest with a watchful eye. From how the c.o.c.kroaches behaved warily, it was confident that the strength of such creatures was higher than the bipedal c.o.c.kroaches, probably around the power of a sixth-seventh stage spirit soldier. Some may even be close to breaking through to the third level.
However, it wasn"t their power that surprised Hei. No, it was a completely different thing. These seven insects were not c.o.c.kroaches but termites. And they weren"t the only ones present. The seven termites were, in fact, nothing more than guards to protect the other two specimens in the center.
"A king and queen! What are they doing here? Mother said that c.o.c.kroaches and termites are creatures that can be considered similar. But even so, that group of termites shouldn"t be able to command such a large number of c.o.c.kroaches. Not even with the strength of those guards. Unless..."
A terrifying thought began to form in Hei"s mind. Thinking back on the bipedal c.o.c.kroaches they had faced, it was sure that the strongest specimens of c.o.c.kroaches were to be around the fifth stage spirit soldier"s power. So, it made sense their behavior against the seven termite guards was cautious. However, the expression of the c.o.c.kroaches when they approached the king and queen was of absolute terror. And that could only mean one thing.
"Third level spirit beasts. How is it possible?! The Academy has ensured the cleansing of spirit beasts beyond what we can manage. There should be no spirit beast going beyond the second level. Yet there are two. Wait, maybe?"
Hei moved the telescope to look at the carca.s.ses of humans and spirit beasts that were being carried by the c.o.c.kroaches. And finally, he understood what had happened.
"Necrof.a.gia! Termites usually feed on wood, but the awakening of spirit power has made them more like c.o.c.kroaches with regards to feeding. Did they use the bodies of the forest"s spirit beasts to level up? And why are they gathering other corpses if they have already advanced a level?"
Suddenly Hei noticed another detail - the termite queen was pregnant, and from her appearance, it didn"t seem to be long before she gave birth. In light of this truth, Hei"s face darkened because he understood why he and all the other humans were being attacked.
"They don"t resent us. We are only food to feed their future offspring."
As Hei thought about it, the termite king suddenly turned his head where Hei was. The young human felt as if he were right in front of the termite king and instantly took eye contact away.
"That"s no good! Did he notice me? Xing, get us out of here. Fast!"
Without a second to lose, Xing took on her real form. Hei jumped onto his little sister"s back while holding Ye. The purple spider with silver patterns began to move her eight legs at full speed. The unevenness of the ground was not a problem for her at all.
A few moments after starting their escape, the sounds of c.o.c.kroaches could be heard all around them. It was evident that the termite king had noticed it was being watched and sent a team of c.o.c.kroaches to investigate. Luckily Hei had acted instantly, or otherwise, he would have been surrounded with no escape.
"Xing, don"t stop for any reason. Just think about running. Ye and I will focus on guiding you instead. We have to reach Long Tian and the others."
"Alright big brother, leave it to me." Xing replied as she jumped in the air. Her body began to bounce as Xing used her legs to push herself using the trunk of the trees. In that way, her speed underwent another surge, leaving the c.o.c.kroaches behind.
"Did we lose them? Ye, can you smell them?"
"I think so. There are no more c.o.c.kroaches nearby."
"Excellent, then let"s go back-"
"BIG BROTHER! Enemy coming!" Ye suddenly shouted, surprising both Hei and Xing.
From the surrounding vegetation came a huge bear with brown fur, slightly larger than Ye and Xing. On the claws of its paws, there were remains of c.o.c.kroaches. Emitting a mighty roar, he charged at full speed against Xing while its expression contained an immense sense of ferocity and anger.