Chapter 198 - 131: The Bizarre Eye Demon
"Order the army outside to handle the Ratman corpses. Cremate them on the spot."
The lord was giving an order to a nearby messenger when suddenly, a chill shot up from his feet, traveling all the way up his body.
"AH—"
"What is this? What is this thing?"
The terrified lord leaped to his feet, frantically patting himself down and trying to grab whatever unknown creature had burrowed into his body.
But while the Big Eye may have seemed slow on the ground, it moved like lightning on a human body. In an instant, it had scurried onto the lord’s back.
"AAAAAAAHHH!!"
"Someone, help me!!!"
The lord clawed frantically at his body. His nearby adjutant tried to help but was pushed away by the lord’s flailing arms.
"My lord, my lord, don’t panic! Hold still, I’ll help you!" the adjutant cried, on the verge of calling for more help.
The lord didn’t seem to hear the adjutant’s voice; his thrashing only grew more violent.
"Quick, restrain His Lordship! Stop him from thrashing about!" At the adjutant’s frantic cry, the surrounding soldiers grabbed the lord’s arms and held him fast.
Perhaps it was due to his terror, but the lord’s strength was immense; the soldiers holding his arms were nearly thrown off.
Once the lord stopped struggling, the adjutant hurried behind him and went to lift his tunic.
Just then, a sinister light flashed in the lord’s eyes, and he slowly rolled his neck from side to side.
"That won’t be necessary, Adjutant."
"I just had a bit of a... reaction. I’m fine now!" As the lord spoke, he calmed down completely. The soldiers immediately released their grip, bowed their heads, and stepped aside.
"My lord, are you alright? Should we have a physician take a look at you?" the adjutant asked nervously.
"No need. I’m fine."
"Right, that previous order hasn’t been sent out yet, has it?"
"Ah, no, not yet!"
"Change the order. Have the army bring all the Ratman corpses back. I’ve suddenly taken an interest in their bodies. I want to use them for some... interesting experiments."
The lord thought for a moment, then added, "Actually, I still feel a little unwell. I think I’ll go see the physician after all."
...
[World Chat Channel (788211)]
"This defense is pretty easy! I just fought off a wave of Half-beastmen."
"Yeah, it’s pretty easy. I fought a wave of barbarians, though!!"
"Why am I fighting goblins?"
"So, who are the enemies this time? How come I’m fighting Birdmen?"
"I’m fighting Ratmen. Go all out, everyone, they’re super easy to kill. Bring their corpses back to your territory to study—there’s a surprise!!!"
...
Everyone in the chat channel was busy sharing their experiences with the defense.
Lin Yu watched the chat channel slowly liven up, then turned his attention back to his own territory.
’It’s been two damn hours. Why aren’t there any enemies yet? Did I get a bye?’
His consciousness, surveying the entire territory, began to drift into idle speculation out of sheer boredom.
Just then, the leaves on a large tree at the edge of the territory parted in a strange manner, the effect spreading in a straight line deeper into the domain. (Under the influence of the colossal ancient trees, a ten-meter-tall tree was considered small within his territory.)
This line crossed the border’s Defensive Array, proceeded for over ten kilometers through an undeveloped area, and then doubled back.
The anomaly caught Lin Yu’s attention. Although he couldn’t see anything causing it, he cautiously dispatched a patrol team to the border to intercept.
...
At the border, a patrol team lay hidden in the woods. In mid-air, leaves parted to either side, creating a straight path extending from within the territory outwards.
The patrol members watched carefully, each using their own detection skills. Where the leaves were parting, they spotted a transparent figure flying through the air.
The figure was highly unusual; even with their skills, they could only make out faint traces of it. The most likely explanation was that it was naturally transparent.
Because of this, it didn’t trigger various passive detection alarms. It wasn’t using any stealth abilities, so it didn’t trip energy or shadow monitoring systems (using Magic for invisibility or shadow-sneaking were the most common stealth methods). That was how it could scout various territories as if they were completely undefended.
The moment the patrol members spotted the transparent figure, it stopped abruptly. A light flashed in its eyes as it scanned the group.
The transparent figure was incredibly sharp; it discovered the patrol members hidden in the jungle at the exact same moment they discovered it.
"Spread out, it’s spotted us!"
The patrol’s captain, a high-level Druid Forest Monkey, immediately shouted to his team.
All the team members scattered at once.
The transparent figure glanced at each patrol member in turn, then ignored them and continued on its way back.
The patrol members exchanged glances, then followed it.
In an instant, a monkey, a Forest Wolf, an elk, a lizard, a leopard, and a crow were all moving swiftly through the jungle.
Perhaps the transparent figure paid them no mind precisely because the patrol members were all beasts and birds of the forest. It likely assumed it had merely encountered a group of strange animals, since none of them were in humanoid form.
The transparent figure soon reached a patch of jungle ten kilometers outside the territory and vanished into thin air as the patrol watched.
"This is the spot. Report back immediately!"
The crow flew back swiftly, diving into a tangle of vines behind the Defensive Array. It took a Heaven-Reaching Vine and returned rapidly to the center of the territory to report to patrol headquarters.
Lin Yu finally felt a sense of relief after receiving the information from the patrol.