Chapter 371: The Allies Suffering Heavy Losses |
Good news: the team successfully found the allies for this map's cooperation.
Bad news: the never-before-met allies are severely crippled and have suffered heavy losses from the insect swarm attack.
"They've lost over a hundred people, a large swath of houses in their stronghold was burned, and charred marks are everywhere. When we arrived, they were still cleaning up the battlefield. While the specific details aren't clear, the casualties are definitely not small."
Looking at the burly, muscular man before him, Qin Ziwen felt he looked somewhat familiar.
After a moment of scrutiny, he remembered. "You... are Chen Jingsi, right?"
The broad-shouldered man with thick eyebrows, a wide nose, and a square face looked up, a flicker of surprise in his eyes. He hadn't expected the Guild Leader to remember his name. "Yes."
"I remember you. Last time on the island, you were the one who volunteered to be the envoy to the urban village."
Seeing the Guild Leader remembered him, Chen Jingsi felt somewhat flattered.
Qin Ziwen said, "Why did you think of running so far out? Weren't you afraid of danger?"
Qin Ziwen looked at him deeply. "This time, you scouted well. What is their attitude?"
"They briefly inquired about our situation. Judging from their attitude, they probably want to cooperate. However, because of what just happened, they are quite wary of us."
After simply understanding the situation, Qin Ziwen nodded. At least he now knew the location of the other side.
It's actually quite normal for the other side to be wary. After all, from previous encounters, different Shedding Abysses sometimes are competitors.
Although this time it's called cooperation, the rope binding this cooperation is actually very thin.
Home did not provide any prompt about whether attacking a cooperation partner would incur punishment.
This so-called cooperation is more like a certain gentleman's agreement that exists only verbally.
Now that they are injured, it's normal for them to be wary.
"I didn't expect the other Shedding Abyss to come knocking so quickly." On the four walls of the town stood two figures.
On the left was a long-haired youth wearing black martial attire, with a long sword at his waist.
On the right was an elegant middle-aged man in a blue robe with a jade belt, his temples long.
The elegant middle-aged man slowly nodded, deep in thought. "It seems they should be fine, probably weren't attacked by the insect swarm."
"They're really lucky," the long-haired youth said hesitantly. "Mr. Lu, should we make contact with them? We still don't understand their situation. Judging from that person's clothing and attire, they don't seem to be from our same period."
A gleam flashed in Mr. Lu's eyes. "Young Chieftain Xue, we can attempt contact first. The fact that they came knocking so quickly means they can't be too far from us. Both sides will inevitably have contact sooner or later.
Avoiding them on purpose now would only make it seem like we fear them, putting us at a disadvantage instead.
Since they took the initiative to come knocking this time, making contact accordingly isn't a bad idea. If we can reach a cooperation agreement, even better. At the very least, we should figure out their intentions."
The long-haired youth addressed as Young Chieftain Xue thought it made sense. "Many houses in the town were burned. Rebuilding the houses requires timber. Also, those insects fear fire, so we need timber for that too. Our demand for wood is huge. I just don't know if the other side has any surplus."
"We can find an opportunity to buy some wood from them," Mr. Lu slowly nodded. "However, we need to probe first to see if they know these insects' weaknesses."
On the other side, the investigation teams returned from various cave entrances.
They brought news of two Altars.
One was deep within the northern passage.
That passage sloped downward, with many branching paths. At the end of one branch, the Altar was built on a cliff, its position very precarious.
The team discovered traces of Black Beetle activity nearby and didn't dare stay long, quickly withdrawing.
The other was near the western passage, less than five hundred meters in a straight line from the residential complex. Its location was hidden, and there were no dangers around it.
After assessment, it could be considered a fixed Gathering point within the Qin Alliance's sphere of influence.
The card on the Altar was also brought back.
It was an [Enhancement Card] Human Constitution Enhancement Card (One-Star).
According to the Contribution Points system, it was directly exchanged and used by that team internally using their Contribution Points.
Besides the Altars, there was another discovery that drew more attention.
"You discovered a forest?"
"Yes, Guild Leader," Yuan Ming confirmed. "At the end of the southwestern passage, there's a fork. Going in leads to a very large Karst Cave. The cave walls and Stone Pillars are covered in vines. Large patches of grayish, shrub-like plants grow on the ground, growing exceptionally well, generally over three meters tall."
"Besides plants, are there any animals inside?"
"We didn't dare go deeper, but I guess it's highly likely," Yuan Ming stated his speculation.
Even the bare, rocky caves outside could produce Black Beetles and giant centipedes. Such a large underground forest couldn't possibly be empty.
That was also why he hadn't dared to venture deeper.
He paused, then added an important detail: "Oh, right, Guild Leader. When we approached that Karst Cave, we could clearly feel... the temperature inside was significantly higher than outside. It wasn't cold at all."
"It might be geothermal heat, or other environmental reasons," Qin Ziwen felt the information brought back by Yuan Ming's team was very important.
This indicated that the map of this Underground Cavern wasn't just bare rock; plants had now been discovered.
There might even be an underground forest.
Since there is one, there could be a second.
This might be the reason capable of nurturing the Black Beetles.
This Underground Cavern might not be just a simple cave, but possibly a vast, complete underground ecological world.
"Gradually investigate. I remember that body of water, whether it's an underground river or lake, is to the south, right? It might be connected to that underground forest. Patrol teams should strengthen patrols and expand the alert radius to the south," Qin Ziwen looked back at his younger brother.
Qin Ziwu nodded to indicate he understood.
Qin Ziwen then said solemnly, "Also, Black Beetles were discovered to the north. The ones attacking the other Shedding Abyss are also Black Beetles. How can there be so many of these bugs? I just don't know if they are from the same colony."
"If they are from the same colony, that's terrifying," Qin Ziwu's mouth twitched. He didn't dare think about how large the scale and range of that Black Beetle nest would be if they were the same colony.
"If they aren't from the same colony, that's even more terrifying. It means these things are as common as ants in the Underground Cavern. Can you kill all the ants?" Qin Ziwen glanced at him.
Qin Ziwu felt a headache coming on. "So, is there no way to deal with them?"
Cao Biansheng suddenly had a wild idea. "For bugs like these Black Beetles, could there be a queen inside? Like an ant queen. If we could capture the Black Beetle queen, could we 'hold the son of heaven hostage to command the nobles,' and cultivate our own Black Beetle army?"