In less than a second the beetle was completely engulfed by the black and blue ropes and dragged under the sea of tentacles that had started waving back and forth in merriment.
Their harmonized motion really did mimic rolling grass fields. The only difference was these were far more deadly.
Hao Xuan who was watching the scene unfold from safety couldn't help but squint hard upon noticing the tentacles that had encompassed the beetle starting to glow. Their fleshy skin turned semi-transparent and bioluminescent.
A wave of blue-colored light passed through the tentacles and reached the flower in the middle. Upon reaching the five-petaled flower it was absorbed by its stem that in turn increased the brightness of its luminous body by just a small degree. So small in fact that anyone other than Hao Xuan who did not have such sharp vision would probably miss it.
Hao Xuan rubbed his chin as a myriad of thoughts raced through his mind.
"So they weren't just killed here for no reason, but probably fed to this... 'thing', whatever it is," he concluded.
The flower in the middle was quite obviously the prize.
Now the question was whom? But that was easier asked than answered.
"Baracus, are there any formations left within the storage space?"
Hao Xuan asked him since he would know best.
*Beep*
"Yes, a few. What kind do you need?"
"Something that can act as a sensor and tell me if somebody is close?"
Baracus went silent upon hearing his query.
"..."
"What?"
"I can simply make a long-range sensor. Would that suffice?"
"....."
Now it was Hao Xuan's turn to be left dumbfounded at his own stupidity. He spoke after a brief bout of silence.
"Y-Yeah...make me a couple but....why do I always forget you can just make simple things like that?"
"I would call it human ignorance but it would be unfair to drag all of humanity down to your level," Baracus answered cooly, leaving Hao Xuan at a complete loss for words.
"Just...get me the sensors, there is no need to talk so much."
"They are already done."
"Hmph," Hao Xuan waved his hand indignantly and two metal rods appeared within his grasp.
Each of them was 16 centimeters in length and as thin as a standard pencil from earth. There was one small button on the side with no other protrusions or apertures.
"Place them across from one another at some height, no more than 50 meters away."
Hao Xuan did as instructed and nailed both of them onto the trees near the creature's mouth after turning them on.
"Initiating scan..."
"Activating sensors..."
"Creating 3D model."
Hao Xuan's vision blurred and a small 3D model of the region within the sensors was projected in front of his left eye. It was in shades of blue and wasn't too detailed but still more than enough to give a clear idea of the surroundings.
"Due to the lack of raw resource a tool of this caliber was the best option. Please place the transmitter nearby."
Hao Xuan waved his hands again and a small circular device that resembled a quail egg appeared. He buried it in the ground somewhere out of the way.
"Effective range for live feedback for a setup like this is 200 standard kilometers. Any further and it would only send data once per hour."
Hao Xuan did not want to admit but he was most certainly impressed. The advanced technology that Baracus could create at a moment's notice was nothing short of a miracle in his eyes, even though he would never admit that.
"Che, just 200 kilometers? Advanced AI my ass. But I guess it's better than nothing," he said contentiously to which Baracus replied, "I am but a reflection of my master's own inadequacies."
Hao Xuan grit his teeth while pretending not to hear it.. He retraced his steps and went back in the direction he had come from, trying to find the same whispers that were mentioning the ancient ruins.