Chapter 566: Lunar Tribe (1/2)
Hevastes rushed through the forest, his sharp nose all the guidance he needed to avoid his distant, and far less enlightened, cousins. A squad of silent killers followed in tow, ruthlessness gleaming in their eyes. They set out five days ago at the behest of Cervantes to find a new path to the weaklings of the Cartava Clan.
A century ago this would have been considered a suicide mission, a way to discard unwanted members of the tribe. They would most likely perish to the environment, and if they somehow survived they’d still have an impossible mission to complete.
However, things had changed. Hevastes looked up at the distant Skythreads, both excitement and trepidation filling his hearts. He remembered running through these woods just three hundred years ago as a fledgling member of his first hunting squad. The sky had been so much closer then, and the distances weren’t so insurmountable. But the world had grown, just as Hevastes himself had.
It almost felt like he would leave part of himself behind when they finally left this place.
They finally reached their target location; a seemingly insignificant corner of the forest where the wall made a slight turn. There were no signs of anything special about this place, apart from a small grate in the Memorysteel close to the ceiling.
A century ago this small vent just had a diameter of ten centimeters, but by now it was over a meter across, effortlessly providing a new point of ingress for their kin. Similar weaknesses were appearing all over the base, with new ones being discovered every week. The sanctums of the Core Sector were still unreachable, meaning it still was impossible to reach the bloodline pools freely. But it was just a matter of time by now.
Of course, the dangers had increased just like the opportunities had.
“Isolating steps,” Hevastes muttered and one of his subordinates produced a series of spikes, each of them connected to a small dongle.
Hevastes took out his charger and poured some of the harvested Base Power into each spike. He couldn’t help but grimace at the expenditure, especially now that it was so hard to harvest. But times had changed, and there was no point in hoarding things that would be useless in the outer world.
Seeing that the spikes had activated properly he threw them into the wall with pinpoint precision, each of them hitting the wall with half a meter’s distance, all the way up to the grate. The spikes embedded themselves in the Memorysteel as though the wall was made of mud, and a few seconds later the fusion was complete.
The arrays on the had completely dimmed by the time that the spikes had become part of the wall, and Kato didn’t need any prompting as he climbed up along the spikes. He took out a tablet from his backpack as he carved a small groove with his special tool, allowing him to connect to the local systems through a cable.
Hevastes saw the screen light up a second later, and the whole group tensed as they prepared themselves for retaliation. However, the seconds passed without either the wall awakening or the corruption appearing, allowing them to breathe out in relief. It wasn't that they didn't trust Kato, he was one of the most skilled Datamancers in the tribe after all. But things had become too unpredictable as of late.
The grate swung up a few seconds later, and Kato jumped down to the others with a relieved look on his eyes. After all, it was usually the Datamancers who got the worst of it in case they were discovered.
“Excellent job. How long?” Hevastes asked.
“Sixteen hours under normal operations,” Kato said before he hesitantly added. “But the risk of anomalies is high.”
“Ten hours. Everyone needs to be back here by that time in case we get split up. Any latecomers will have to return by themselves,” Hevastes eventually decided.
The rest of the squad nodded without hesitation, even though the implication was clear. Returning to the tribe without Hevastes’ source of Base Power was a suicide mission, and they were better off staying in the forest, praying that some other squad would pass by before they were discovered by the beasts.
“Remember the goal. First of all, find a path to the Cartava Clan. Secondly, if an opportunity arises, capture the Grand Elder’s granddaughter. Finding information about the interlopers would be a bonus, but other squads are working on that,” Hevastes said as he looked across the group.
The group of veterans nodded, though they couldn't hide the confusion from their captain. After all, most of them had worked together for almost two centuries. But they were elite warriors that were content in following orders, which couldn't be said about the ever-curious Datamancer.
“Is that brat really worth the risk?” Kato hesitantly asked when no one else would speak up. “We have already spent such a large amount of our resources on this one objective.”
“Are you questioning Cervantes’ orders?” Hevastes asked cooly.
“N-No, absolutely not,” Kato hurriedly said with a shake of his head, quickly realizing the folly of questioning the Alpha’s grand nephew. “I just hoped to understand the goal to better complete my mission.”
“Very well. I don’t know all the details either, but my uncle said one thing that might interest you. Leviala Cartava is the key to prolonging our lifespans by many times over. Now tell me, is it worth snatching her?” Hevastes said with a cruel smile.
The eyes of even the veterans in the group widened in shock, before a red tint spread in their eyes. Hevastes knew all too well what they were thinking. The bloodline of their tribe was unmatched, and the only one in this realm solely focused on combat. Those gemlings far on the other side were only useful for creating living treasures, and the True Sky Faction had long lost their way by interbreeding.
Only the Titans and unique specimens were a match to their prowess, but the specimens were long gone while the Titans all perished when the cataclysm turned their sector into the wastelands. If it wasn’t for the unique environment, the werewolves would long have been able to dominate this whole realm.
But there was a downside to their power; it took them too long to cultivate. They were part-beast, which had provided them with superior bodies and power. But they still had the much shorter lifespan of humans, making it almost impossible to unleash their full potential before they grew old. But what if their lifespans could be improved upon?
Hevastes could feel it. This was the era of the Lunar Tribe.
-----------------
“Exactly! This world is expanding!” Tina nodded with an odd face as she looked at Ogras. “It seems impossible, but this whole base seems to be growing like it was a living creature or something. It's already grown around ten percent since we were trapped here.”