Chapter 379 - 9: Preparations of All Sides 3

Chapter 379: Chapter 9: Preparations of All Sides 3

"Going down?"

"Of course. We can’t fly. If we want to scout, are we just going to admire the view from up here?"

"It’s got to be dangerous down there!"

"Let’s go. We signed up to be scouts, so what’s there to be afraid of? Just get it done. As long as we complete the mission, our family will be set for life!"

...

After a few words to build up their courage, the Ratmen nimbly leaped off the cliff.

The Ratman scout team consisted of four members. Each Ratman was agile and skilled at hiding. These teams were typically composed of family members, ensuring a very high level of trust among them.

Following the cliff face, the Ratmen cautiously made their way to the bottom.

"Be careful. It feels really dangerous down here. My brow won’t stop twitching."

The Ratmen crept along the shadows to a corner, then took parts out of their backpacks and began to assemble a reconnaissance device.

"So many mushrooms here. Let’s grab some to eat later," one of the more gluttonous Ratmen said, his mouth watering as he stared at the mushrooms in the shadows.

"This isn’t our territory. Be careful, they might be poisonous!" another Ratman replied.

"What’s there to be afraid of? We Ratmen might not be the strongest, but our poison resistance is maxed out." The speaking Ratman didn’t stop assembling the device, his eyes fixed on the swaying mushrooms in the shadows, drool nearly spilling from his mouth.

The purple caps swayed back and forth, looking especially tempting.

A short while later, the device was assembled. It was a terrain scanner. Their main mission this time was to survey the topography. For an abyss this vast, if they didn’t map out the terrain first, trying to cross it would likely cost many lives.

"BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!"

After activating, the device emitted a series of soft beeps.

The process would take an hour, after which it would have mapped the terrain within a 10-kilometer radius. The abyss seemed large, but with a scanner like this, it could be fully mapped in a few days.

Seeing the scanner running, the gluttonous Ratman immediately ran toward the mushrooms. In the shadows, the Timid Mushrooms saw the Ratman approach and instantly retracted into the ground.

"Whoa, these mushrooms are fun. They even hide?" The Ratman saw the mushrooms disappear underground and hurriedly started digging, but he couldn’t unearth them. It seemed they burrowed quite deep.

"Hey! Are you laughing at me?"

The Ratman sat on the ground, disappointed, only to see more mushrooms deeper in the shadows, swaying their caps as if mocking him.

He rushed over at an even faster speed, but these mushrooms also burrowed underground.

"Hah, I don’t believe this!!" The Ratman got tilted. Seeing what looked like even more mushrooms in the depths of the shadow, he charged right in.

"Fourth Brother, come back! Don’t run off!!" the Ratman squad leader shouted, but that Ratman was clearly worked up and paid no attention to his leader’s voice.

’They’re just a bunch of mushrooms. What’s to fear from these timid things that only know how to hide? I’ll just catch a few and eat them. If they can run, they must be delicious.’

Covered by the darkness, the gluttonous Ratman’s figure quickly vanished from sight.

Feeling uneasy, the Ratman squad leader said to his companion, "Third Brother, go check on him. This is enemy territory, after all. Don’t want him running into any trouble."

The other Ratman grabbed his weapon and cautiously followed him in.

After entering the shadows, the Ratman walked for several minutes before seeing Fourth Brother, who had charged in earlier. He was lying motionless on the ground, surrounded by large, colorful mushrooms quietly displaying their beautiful caps.

’Did something happen?’ He scanned his surroundings warily but saw no enemies. He sent a warning signal to his leader, then cautiously approached Fourth Brother, one step at a time.

"Fourth Brother! What are you doing?" He nudged Fourth Brother’s body with his foot, but there was no response.

He quickly turned Fourth Brother’s body over and found he had stopped breathing. ’This is bad!’

In that instant, all the hair on his body stood on end. He immediately fell back, trying to escape, but countless mushrooms appeared all around him. Then, they all spat clouds of purple spores at him...

Back by the terrain scanner, the remaining Ratman said to the squad leader, "Boss, we got a message from Third Brother. He said it’s dangerous in there. Should I go in and check?"

"Forget it. Don’t go in. If it’s dangerous, they’ve been gone so long they must be trapped. There’s no point in us going in just to die too."

"If it wasn’t dangerous, they would have come out on their own."

"We’ll wait for the terrain scan to finish. That completes our mission. We’ll wait for them a bit then, but if they don’t show up, we’re pulling out."

"Right!"

The two Ratmen decided not to add to the body count. They stood at the edge of the shadows, staring warily into their depths.

Seeing that the two Ratmen weren’t taking the bait, the Timid Mushrooms emerged from the ground within the shadows.

In the blink of an eye, countless Timid Mushrooms appeared in the darkness.

"Run!!"

Seeing they were about to be surrounded by Timid Mushrooms, the two Ratmen knew things were bad and turned tail to run.

Countless purple spores struck them. Under the effect of [Coordinated Assault], massive damage numbers flashed into existence. The two Ratmen died instantly, their bodies sent flying far into the jungle of the abyss.

Back in the shadows, many new and varied mushrooms sprouted from the corpse of the first Ratman who had entered. Under the decomposition of these new mushrooms, the corpses of the two Ratmen were quickly broken down.

The bodies in the forest were dragged away by passing animals.

A Mushroom-man walked out from the shadows. Following the operating procedure he had secretly observed earlier, he shut down the scanner.

A short while later, a golden eagle swooped down, grabbed the device, and flew off into the distance.

Similar events were occurring all along the borders of the World Tree Territory, the only difference being how these scouts died.

Not all scouts remained at the edge of the abyss; most chose to advance deeper into it after entering.

Some scouts were discovered by the animals of the outer ring and were subsequently swarmed and killed.

Some scouts, after being wounded, were ambushed and eaten by the Big-Mouthed Flowers scattered throughout the outer ring.

Some scouts had their positions exposed, and just as they were resting after repelling an animal attack, they were crushed to death by various elemental watermelons and corn cobs falling from the sky.

Others tried to fly across the abyss, but they didn’t get far before being taken down by the concentrated fire of the Cat’s Tail Grass positioned on the cliffs.

However, despite the heavy losses, the three clans did not give up. They continued to send scouts into the abyss, and information was gathered bit by bit.

...