Chapter 386 - 12: Northern Reconnaissance

Chapter 386: Chapter 12: Northern Reconnaissance

In the north, Yuan Dafeng and Seven Stars entered the Northern Continent. It wasn’t long before they ran into trouble.

Seven Stars led the Beetle Demons in their true forms, along with his ordinary beetle subordinates, flying continuously across the Northern Continent.

Before long, he noticed that the ordinary beetles under his command had fallen far behind.

BUZZ—

He let out a soft, low drone.

The beetles under his command responded to his inquiry.

’Can’t fly? Out of energy? Feeling heavy?’

Seven Stars was puzzled. With his high stats, strong body, and a talent that enhanced his defense and constitution, he felt nothing out of the ordinary. He couldn’t sense any change in the environment, so he simply assumed the ordinary beetles were struggling to adapt after leaving the high-Spiritual Energy environment of their territory.

So, he asked his Excellent-grade Beetle Demons. A few of the lower-level Beetle Demons said they felt a bit sluggish, as if they hadn’t slept well, but reported no other abnormalities.

So, Seven Stars led the beetles down into the grass to wait for the ordinary ones to rest and recover their strength. Once they had, he set off again.

After flying for another while, the ordinary beetles’ stamina gave out again.

So Seven Stars waited where they were for them to recover.

After this happened several more times, the ordinary beetles finally became completely unable to fly. They felt an immense weight on their bodies, leaving them powerless to take off. All they could do was crawl laboriously along the ground.

The Beetle Demons, too, now felt the anomaly. Their bodies had grown heavier, as if they were carrying weights.

’The gravity is getting stronger!’

Feeling the pressure on his own body, Seven Stars understood the cause.

The ordinary beetles could no longer advance. As they journeyed deeper into the Northern Continent, the gravity grew steadily stronger, and the ordinary beetles were completely unable to adapt to this environment.

If he forced them to go any deeper, their internal organs would rupture and they would die.

BUZZ—

Seven Stars and the Beetle Demons escorted the ordinary beetles part of the way back, ordering them to return to the territory on their own. Then, they turned around and continued their advance.

As they continued deeper into the continent, the gravity grew increasingly intense. Fortunately, it stabilized once it reached three times the gravity of the World Tree Territory.

Since the entire group consisted of heroes from the Demon Race and the gravity had increased gradually, the Beetle Demons adapted easily to the triple gravity. Though their overall flight speed and altitude were reduced, they could at least still conduct reconnaissance normally.

’Any race that can survive in this gravity won’t be weak.’

Bearing this in mind, Seven Stars proceeded with extreme caution during the rest of his reconnaissance.

As they pressed onward, buildings began to appear on the ground below, along with humanoid lifeforms tilling the fields.

Seven Stars led his subordinates in flight over the fields, tracking the local troops and populace. By following an army’s path in reverse, they located one of their cities. There, they began to quietly gather intelligence.

From the people’s conversations, Seven Stars learned that these enemies were called the Titan Race.

The Titan Clan People had no guard up against these insects, which they had never seen before.

This was because, to better cope with the gravity, Seven Stars and his subordinates had all shrunk to their smallest possible size.

On the continent of the Titan Race, most animals had hard shells, so small beetles were a common sight.

Thus, Seven Stars and his group’s most common intelligence-gathering method was to hide in the city’s various taverns and eavesdrop from the corners while the Titan Clan People ate their meals.

While he hadn’t obtained much military intelligence, he had learned a great deal about the Titan Clan People themselves.

...

Meanwhile, Yuan Dafeng’s reconnaissance mission was not going as smoothly as Seven Stars’s.

Like Seven Stars, Yuan Dafeng and his subordinates were plagued by the ever-increasing gravity after entering the Northern Continent.

Although he hadn’t brought any ordinary members from the territory, his subordinates weren’t all heroes like Seven Stars’s group either. Most were regular territory members who had changed to combat classes.

Fortunately, their talents were all defensive in nature. After a few days of adaptation and screening, Yuan Dafeng selected a group that could move freely under triple gravity. The others were left behind in a low-gravity area to provide backup.

Afterward, Yuan Dafeng led this group deeper into the continent, braving the triple gravity.

By tracking the Titan Race scouts that kept appearing, Yuan Dafeng and his men arrived at a manor near one of the Titan Race’s cities.

However, just as Yuan Dafeng and his men were about to try and blend in—pretending to be harmless animals to get close to the Titan Clan People and gather intelligence—the unexpected happened.

The Titan Clan People themselves were small, roughly the same size as the animal forms of Yuan Dafeng and his men. In fact, some members of Yuan Dafeng’s team were significantly larger than the Titan Clan People.

When they approached the Titan farmers working in the fields, the farmers were startled by their large size and immediately called for the Guards.

When the Guards saw their size, they also mistook them for dangerous animals, raised their weapons, and charged.

Unwilling to expose their true strength, Yuan Dafeng and his men had no choice but to retreat, fleeing into the woods.

The Titan Guards’ conversation drifted from the distance:

"There are a lot more large animals around lately!"

"They probably came over from the neighboring continent. I hear there’s a giant pit on the edge of that land, full of ferocious beasts."

"But they can adapt to our gravity?"

"You find tough ones everywhere. Maybe these beasts just think the food over here is more to their liking?"