Chapter 155. Prey in an apex predator’s playground

Southern Continent.

Somewhere on the border between the Cyrenthia Empire and Eldorath Empire.

The rains poured down heavily as lightning flashed across the place.

A large military helicopter appeared in the clouds.

In the helicopter were 12 elite operatives of the Cyrenthia Empire military sector 9.

"We are almost there," A man with an intimidating demeanor in a blue battlesuit said.

Everyone in the team looked at him.

"According to Intel, four of the Eldorath Operatives survived from the attack of one of our majors. Based on the environment of zone zero, it’s been theorised that they have most likely perished by now. However, we cannot let our guard down. Kill any Eldorath Empire operative you see on sight. Most importantly, we stick together. The environment is said to be very harsh, moving in small groups is not the best course of action. At the same time, we prioritize clearing the zone."

"Yes sir!" The elite team members replied.

"Are the poisons to handle expert and legendary rank 3 chaotic beasts we encounter ready?" The man with the intimidating build, the team leader, said.

"Yes sir," someone replied.

"Good. Myself and the vice team leader are advanced rank 3 warriors and the rest of you are intermediate and beginner rank 3 warriors. Charging into zone zero without making preparations to handle legendary and expert rank 3 chaotic beasts will be stupid and will only get all of us killed. We need to be extremely careful when we make contact with zone zero. Remember once again, we stick together," The man with the intimidating build, the team leader said.

"Yes sir."

After that, the team leaped out of the helicopter.

****

Aiden’s eyes flashed open.

"They are here."

He saw a group of 12 operatives in battlesuits, moving together as a swift coordinated unit. They had just entered zone zero.

"2 advanced rank 3 warriors. 5 intermediate rank 3 warriors and 5 beginner rank 3 warriors," Aiden noted. "The two advanced rank 3 warriors are definitely the team leaders."

The group of 12 were completely clad in battlesuits of different colors. None of their bodies were exposed.

"Shit. This place is extremely cold," A beginner rank 3 warrior complained. Her battlesuit was starting to freeze.

She quickly manifested flames around her figure to cool down the ice.

"Why do I feel like my worldly energy reserves are starting to deplete all of a sudden?"

"Zone zero’s cold climate is extremely harsh. That’s why. Also, the worldly energy reserves here are very dense, more denser than even some high altitude regions I’ve been to. The only places that can rival the worldly energy density of this place are some pocket worlds I’ve been to. But let’s be careful. If you try to use your cultivation technique to absorb the worldly energy here now, you may die before you even realize. After all, there are chaotic beasts that can appear at any time and kill you during your cultivation. The best time to try and cultivate is when we are probably resting," The vice team leader said.

Everyone nodded at her words.

"Wait." Someone lifted up their hand.

It was the scout of the team.

His eyes glowed with a yellow light.

"Several corpses of rank 2 and beginner rank 3 chaotic beasts spotted ahead. What do we do?"

"What is the nature of the corpses?" The team leader asked.

"There are several claw, bite and piercing marks on the corpses. Some portions of the bodies are gutted out," The scout replied.

"It looks like a battle between chaotic beasts. Also, the four operatives of the Eldorath Empire who survived the attack of Major Stele have either not arrived here, or they are most likely dead so it can’t be them. It looks like some stronger chaotic beasts killed them," The team leader said.

"Can you scout ahead and see where the trails of the corpses lead to?" Someone asked.

"No," the scout replied. "My affinity range cannot travel that far. Also, I will need some time to recover my worldly energy before I can even resume scouting again."

Everyone sighed.

Time was not on their side too. They could not afford to wait for him to recover. The weather here was harsh, and their worldly energy reserves drained by the second. A single time wasted could lead to death. They could use their worldly energy recovery elixirs to recover quickly in case their energy reserves were depleted. But they had just arrived here.

It would be a careless decision to use them now. Unless absolutely necessary, they would not use their worldly energy recovery elixirs.

"I am sure you all know waiting for our scout to return to his peak before we continue is a death sentence," The team leader said. "I suggest we follow the trail. Our work is to clear zone zero. So if the trail of these corpses can lead us to where some chaotic beasts are, we should follow it. We just have to be careful. If the threat is more than we can handle, we escape."

Everyone nodded.

"Which direction did you spot the corpses?" The vice team leader asked the scout, whose eyes had returned to their normal black color after deactivating his affinity.

"12 oclock ahead. About 400 meters."

"Alright. Let’s move. Prepare for battle."

Everyone equipped their weapons. Hammers, swords, daggers, polearms, staffs, among others.

Various affinities were activated as they moved.

The team leader held a large hammer in his hand. An ethereal energy that caused the gravity to increase circled across his hammer. The vice team leader held a rapier which glowed with streaks of fire.

Aiden observed them with calm eyes in his base of operations as they headed towards the first trail of corpses.

"Everything is going according to plan." He nodded as he kept observing them.

The beast corpses they were headed towards were located in a forested area full of plants with deadly self defense mechanisms. However, unless a lifeform appeared in the area, the biological self defense mechanism of the plants won’t act.

The team of twelve elite Cyrenthia Empire operatives headed there, having no idea that they were prey in an apex predator’s playground, hiding in the shadows.