Roadmap to the Boundless Sky

After leaving the hub, the three squad captains and the rest of the team followed their guides deeper into the undeveloped area.

Before, they would occasionally disturb the creatures in the area due to being a large group, which would slow them down. They also left behind a lot of tracks. Now, they didn’t run into any danger. All they encountered were small problems that could be solved quickly.

This increased their traveling speed, and they even found the time to hide their tracks.

This was the benefit of having good guides. If they had these people a few days ago, they might have already found the artifact.

Despite that, the three squad captains remained wary of the locals. They had come to the conclusion that if these people were trouble, it could only be because they wanted the artifact as well. Until they found it, they would be safe.

After around half a day, they reached a river, and the guides noticed something. They spent a moment discussing things among themselves before suggesting to rest there. Even though the team could continue, they were sure that the guides had a reason for doing this, so Captain Hai immediately ordered them to stop and rest.

Once he took a drink of water, he cast a glance at Captain Lu, specifically, at the frown on his face. “Are you still worried about Captain Xu? I don’t think you should be.”

Captain Lu looked at him in surprise.

Captain Hai took another sip, shut his bottle, and set it aside. “Captain Xu is strong and has always been cautious. Even if something happens to us, he might still make it out.”

Captain Lu’s frown deepened. “No matter how strong he is, he’s alone.”

“It has also been days since we sent any word back. The World Ring Defense System won’t just sit by and do nothing. They should have already sent reinforcements," Captain Hai comforted him.

Captain Lu considered it. Even if reinforcements were on their way, he didn’t think the situation was favorable. Their best martial artists were at the gap in the World Ring and Central City, where they were protecting important politicians. Where could they find any manpower?

Suddenly, he thought of someone. Even if he came to help them, though, there were plenty of powerful enemies after their lives. It wouldn’t solve all their problems. Besides, it would be difficult for anyone to locate them.

Having hope was better than not having it, though.

“Let’s hope so,” he said with a sigh.

Captain Hai didn’t continue comforting Captain Lu. He was sure that the man would recollect his composure. Besides, his focus was different right now. “Captain Lu, Captain Hu, the sooner we find the artifact, the easier things will be for Lao Xu.”

Captain Lu and Captain Hu nodded. They had already made an agreement that once they found the artifact, they would send a signal flare and leave marks at crucial points to notify Xu Chan. The sooner they found the artifact, the sooner they could get Xu Chan out of danger.

The last time they felt the resonance of the artifact was four days ago. Back then, they had walked forward based on this clue, though they had stopped periodically.

By now, they were certain that some creature had eaten the artifact. Hence, aside from relying on the resonance from the pendant, they also had to follow tracks. Guides shone here, because only locals could tell them what sort of creature they were following.

Rumbling came from up ahead. The next moment, countless four-legged creatures the size of horses showed up galloping along the riverbank. They were huge and looked like they weighed a ton. Every step they took left a deep pit in the ground and crushed all the stones along the way.

After around fifteen minutes, the creatures passed by them. The terrain had changed where they went. The riverbank was now covered in fallen trees.

It was only at this point that the group understood why the guides had asked them to stop. If they had continued onward, they would have run into these creatures. Then, perhaps only a few of them would have made it out alive.

One of the guides motioned for them to continue, and Captain Hai spoke to him for a bit. After making sure that the coast was clear, he didn’t order his team to move out. Instead, he crossed the river and checked the area himself.

He felt a faint tremor and froze up before turning around. With his outstanding senses, he instantly fixed his eyes on a certain spot. He took a dozen steps forward, but the feeling remained.

His eyes lit up. There was no mistaking it. This was the place. After a few days since they last sensed the tremor, they had once again found tracks leading to the artifact.

***

Chen Chuan stayed the night at the Union’s campsite and set out in the morning. This time, he didn’t use the motorbike and just ran.

However, he wasn’t that much slower. Running used up some of his energy, but he could replenish it by just stopping and taking a few tubes of nutritional paste.

Trying to read the tracks around him took more effort. Soon, he realized that the further he went, the clearer the tracks became, which meant that he was getting close.

Around noon, he found the third campsite.

Eight armed combatants were guarding the place. It seemed like they were waiting for someone, because they spent most of the time looking back.

Of course, they could also be doing this to be on guard against enemies sneaking up on them from behind, but that wasn’t likely. They wouldn’t be so obvious if that were the case. They would have observed the rear more covertly.

After watching them for a while, Chen Chuan put down his backpack, picked up the Frost King Saber, and went toward the campsite. Soon, gunshots came from the sentry towers. After a while, they fell silent.

In half a minute, Chen Chuan killed all the armed combatants.

He checked the place and found some simple records. They had left behind the campsites and tracks to make it easier for reinforcements to come over and liaise with them. The people coming after them would have received word and know how to avoid the creatures guarding the first two campsites.

The main fighting force shouldn’t be too far then.

Chen Chuan didn’t linger because it was still early. After taking a sip of water, he continued onward. At around 4 p.m., he found the next campsite. It also had several guards. Once he easily took them out, he discovered something new.

The group had split into two and headed in two different directions.

Maybe the Union and the Linacrox Union were moving together before, but now, they’ve split up, Chen Chuan thought. They were two different organizations and splitting up to search was more efficient, so Chen Chuan could understand why they did this.

Based on what the captured combatants said and the tracks on the ground, he became certain that the two groups were only two or three days ahead. If he sped up and didn’t run into any obstacles, he might catch up to them in a day or two.

Once Chen Chuan determined the direction the Union took, he decided to chase after them the next day.

From the information he had, most of the powerful martial artists were from the Union. If he got rid of those people, most of their problems would be solved.

***

Half a day after Captain Hai’s group left the local hub, the Union’s vanguards found the place while tracking them. However, the place was deserted. Everyone had already retreated.

The most experienced operations captain examined the hub before checking the area outside. There were several tracks, but they couldn’t determine which belonged to their target.

Just as they were about to venture deeper inside to search, they heard an explosion from the hub behind them. The operations captain whipped his head around and found that it came from a remote bomb. Fortunately, no one was hurt by it.

But before he could sigh in relief, he saw nest fragments on the ground, and he was shocked.

Was that... a nest?!

It didn’t belong to bees. Usually, such nests belonged to merged space flying insects with a gregarious nature. Judging from the size of the shards, the destroyed nest was astonishingly large.

“Set up bonfires around us! The more, the better! Quick! Start moving!” he cried out urgently.

Due to the panic and urgency in his voice, his teammates realized that they were in trouble, and they hurriedly set up simple bonfires.

Soon, they heard buzzing and saw a swarm of insects flying over. They looked like a violent dark cloud that could cover up the sky with its presence and could be seen from several kilometers away.

The vitalized plants and other creatures in the forest stirred awake and started hunting, but the insects soon retaliated. Since the swarm was huge, the vitalized plants were only able to last a short while before they were gnawed clean.

The insect swarm soon reached the bonfires like a sandstorm. The fires and black smoke were suppressed, and a gap opened. In an instant, countless insects surged in.

Just as they were about to overwhelm the group, Heros took a step forward. Light shone from his eyes, and an invisible wave of power shot out from him. In an instant, all the insects within four hundred meters fell like the rain.

His attack was indiscriminate, though. The weaker people around him, even those with protective items, collapsed. Only the powerful Third Limit martial artists remained standing.

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