Xiang Nan's trio had been venturing deeper and deeper into the Miera Mountains ever since they entered, heading toward the border area between the Republic of Rokario and the NGL.
Only here would there be a chance of encountering some sign of the ants.
Within that entire mountainous primeval forest, the biodiversity was indeed rich, and danger lurked everywhere. All sorts of poisonous insects and ferocious beasts lay hidden in the darkness, making the environment harsh. Ordinary people would never be able to enter.
A few days later, they finally reached the border.
Standing atop a mountain peak and peering through binoculars, one could see, on the other side of the boundary line, more continuous mountain terrain, stretching on and on.
"Since we can fabricate the investigation report anyway, why are we going to such lengths?"
Silent Cloud finally couldn't resist voicing the question.
Xiang Nan and Manman were both Nen users, so traveling these primeval forests was very easy. But for someone normal like her, the past few days had been truly grueling.
The Miera Mountain Range was just one of the possible locations where Chimera Ants might appear. Druid Master had led the other players in heading toward a different area of the Republic of Rokario, near a place called Quen City out in the wilderness. It was rumored that people had gone missing from a mountain village near there.
"As I said before, being players, aside from clearing the stage, we also want to earn some hidden points for this mission — namely the 'performance rating.' But now that the squad's leader is someone else, besides coordinating with that group's progress, there's a second opportunity for us to gain performance points: the employer's evaluation of us."
Setting down the binoculars, Xiang Nan calmly explained.
Since they'd already effectively split from the others, he saw no need to hide anything from Silent Cloud anymore.
"So you mean we need to carry out a serious investigation?"
Silent Cloud, pushing up her glasses, asked nervously.
"That's right. Not only a serious investigation — we need to do even better than they expect."
Xiang Nan nodded. He pointed to a lake visible in the distance:
"There's a body of water over there. Let's go."
Where there was a source of water, there'd naturally be a high concentration of wildlife — and a perfect hunting area for Chimera Ants to get quick nourishment.
Then, without further explanation, Xiang Nan took the lead, striding off.
"But… How do we even hand over the mission? After all, the Kakin Empire basically wants us dead. If we return there, it's like serving ourselves up as targets. And Kakin clearly intends to eliminate us anyway… Under these circumstances, can we realistically expect any praise or positive evaluation from them?"
Silent Cloud tried persuading Xiang Nan to reconsider.
During the past few days, she had exchanged a fair bit with Xiang Nan. She proposed simply faking some data, then returning to Kakin and paying someone to deliver it to the royal family. If that didn't count for clearing the stage, then maybe they could figure out something else.
She called out again, following after Xiang Nan's brisk pace.
Soon, they reached the lake.
Xiang Nan scanned its shimmering surface, spending a good half-day circling the entire shoreline to examine various hidden "traces" in the surrounding environment. As expected, he found some patches of animal fur and dried blood, but no sign of any ant nest.
"LikesIceCream…" Xiang Nan turned to Manman.
"Bring me back a wild creature."
Manman nodded and walked off alone.
Xiang Nan sat himself by the water's edge, quietly waiting.
Seeing this, Silent Cloud still looked anxious. She wanted to ask more but didn't. Over these past days, Xiang Nan was clearly well aware of her tension and doubts. Because of Kakin's unique situation, the simplest guess was that, once they turned in their "investigation," the empire was almost certain to kill them. It was nearly impossible to exploit loopholes there.
Which meant players were liable to face either the Kakin stooges, or the opposing-faction players head-on. ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ novel-fire.ɴet
After about an incense stick's time, Manman returned carrying the corpse of some mid-sized wild animal. Since her frame was rather petite, she couldn't handle anything too large, so she'd killed something resembling a panther or lion-like big cat.
Xiang Nan pulled out a scalpel and cut open the cat's hide and flesh, letting the fresh blood flow onto the muddy ground by the lakeshore. The faint stench of blood soon wafted along the breeze.
Within minutes, the hardened earth beneath the corpse rose slightly, forming a small mound.
Then, a bizarre insect with a deep red carapace, roughly several dozen times the size of a normal ant, crawled out from underground without a sound. Without further ado, it opened its sharp pincers and tore directly into the bloody flesh.
An Ant… Also called a Chimeric Ant.
Xiang Nan narrowed his eyes with interest.
This was, after all, a creature from the Dark Continent…
After just a few bites, the ant suddenly sprang up like a grasshopper, shockingly fast. Letting out a shrill screech, it shot straight toward Xiang Nan in a black blur.
Yet Xiang Nan merely reached out a hand and pinched the little ant's attack mid-air with two fingers. The creature struggled frantically.
"I was ten meters away, you still sensed me and went in for the kill? That's quite the perception, and the aggression is insane… This is the Dark Continent's power?"
He slowly increased his grip. With a soft crunch, the little Chimera Ant's body was crushed into pulp.
Silent Cloud gasped, face going pale.
From the hole beneath the big cat's carcass, more Chimera Ants were crawling out in quick succession.
"Start filming," Xiang Nan instructed, strolling forward.
"LikesIceCream, ready the camera."
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