Activity outside the safe zone meant no one dared to suddenly acknowledge Kuro's presence!
Li Chonglou immediately felt a sense of unease. This stranger's appearance was too coincidental. Before this, it was always the captain and the others who were on alert, and there had been no anomalies in seven days.
Now, just as the mutated pig beasts showed signs of abnormality, they appeared?
Li Chonglou hid in a patch of grass, motionless, staring intently at the figures.
The figures were directly opposite him, on the other side of the valley's cliffs. There were four of them, all dressed in gray, their movements extremely stealthy. If Li Chonglou hadn't deliberately looked for them, he probably wouldn't have noticed their presence.
"How is it going? The captain has ordered that we must obtain this batch of soul grass this time!"
"Don't worry, it's just a King's Guard team. Once all their members enter, we'll ensure they go in but never come out! That Pig King has swallowed an entire soul pill, and it's sure to break through to the seventh layer this time!"
The four figures were led by a middle-aged man. His appearance was ordinary, but his expression always carried a hint of gloom. Although he wasn't exuding any aura, he made people feel a faint pressure.
The one reporting to him was an expert with a sixth-layer aura, holding a cloth bag. The bag was turned inside out, as if something had just been used.
As the middle-aged man, the leader, was about to nod, another figure darted out from behind the four.
"Boss, there's one person who ran off somewhere, and we can't find his whereabouts."
The middle-aged man's expression changed slightly, and he quickly asked, "Didn't I tell you to keep a close eye on everyone? How did this happen? Who is it?"
"It's the newcomer who was added temporarily. He wasn't in our intelligence report, so I forgot to keep an eye on him."
"You're trying to get us killed!"
The middle-aged man's aura suddenly erupted to the peak of the sixth layer, similar to the captain of the 'Xiao Dao' team. The other was so scared that he immediately knelt on the ground.
"Boss, I thought he had just left and would rush back when he heard the commotion, but I didn't expect everyone else to have gathered, and he was nowhere to be seen."
The reporting man felt a bit wronged. Firstly, the people they were supposed to monitor were already fixed, and this plan had been meticulously planned for a long time. They never expected a temporary member to suddenly appear. According to the intelligence they had obtained, this team had no intention of recruiting anyone!
What had happened, had happened. The middle-aged man finally suppressed his anger and said sternly to the reporting man, "I don't care how you do it, find the person for me! At least stall him so he can't return, otherwise, if the plan goes wrong, see how the captain punishes you when we get back!"
Upon hearing the words "captain's punishment," the reporting man shuddered involuntarily, as if recalling something terrifying.
"Don't worry, boss! I know his direction. Based on his habits from the past few days, his range of activity shouldn't be too wide!"
"Then why are you still standing there!"
The latter quickly got up and disappeared into the grass.
At this moment, another man spoke, "Boss, Ah Ming is also at the sixth-layer realm. The new member is only at the fifth layer, so we shouldn't worry too much, right?"
The middle-aged man's eyes were filled with gloom, and he said sternly, "What do you know? These foolish humans have always been most wary of traitors. If this operation fails and he leaks any information, our boss's informant could be exposed!"
"Do you know how much effort it takes to establish an informant within the human race!"
"If this matter isn't handled properly, you can all wait to collect Ah Wen's body!"
The faces of the three men suddenly changed, and they dared not speak further.
In terms of strength, they were actually not as good as the 'Xiao Dao' team. Apart from their captain who was at the seventh layer, Ah Wen was the strongest at the sixth layer. The rest of them had only recently entered the fifth layer.
They could definitely defeat them in a fight, but what they wanted wasn't to drive the people away, but to eliminate them completely, to silence them!
The 'Xiao Dao' team not only had their captain at the peak of the sixth layer, but two others also reached the sixth layer. The strong man's realm was actually at the bottom, but his combat power was decent, so he could still be a regular member.
Therefore, for a team battle like this, they had to rely on some methods to ensure their objective was foolproof!
On the other side, although he couldn't see their every move clearly, the disappearance of the figure that appeared later still put him on alert.
"Should I inform them or wait and see?"
Li Chonglou was hesitating at this moment. The strong man below had just emerged and rejoined the others. They soon entered the beast's lair together. Remembering the terrain inside, if the hidden enemies there blocked the exit, it would essentially be like catching a turtle in a jar.
However, their hidden presence made him sense that something was wrong. If that were the case, they should have made their move long ago, but they were still hiding there, which opened up more possibilities.
Were they trying to catch the mantis stalking the cicada, or did they have another agenda?
At this moment, his decision seemed to determine the fate of the 'Xiao Dao' team.
Let's see.
Li Chonglou finally decided to play it safe.
Firstly, the strength of this mysterious group was still unknown. No matter what conspiracy they had, if he followed them in, he would be surrounded and dealt with in minutes. Staying outside at least offered a sliver of a chance.
Secondly, he didn't know if there were only these few people outside. If there were other trump cards, then staying outside to find an opportunity to rescue them would definitely be better than going in to notify them.
Meanwhile, inside the beast's lair.
After the six entered, they soon arrived at the entrance of the second cave. There, the previously sturdy large rock was now looking precarious, and dull thuds of impact could be heard continuously.
"What exactly is going on?"
The captain's expression was grim. The strong man shook his head and said, "I don't know either. As soon as I came in, I felt something was wrong. When I got inside, the remaining hundred-odd mutated pig beasts had all gone berserk, charging at the steel stone desperately. I even saw several of them smash themselves to death on it."
"Fortunately, I ran a bit faster, or I would have been trapped inside too."
A look of lingering fear appeared on the strong man's face. Although the remaining beasts were mostly fifth-layer mutated pig beasts, and he could easily deal with them in a one-on-one fight.
But their sheer numbers were overwhelming. Once surrounded, he would surely be in grave danger!
The steel stone mentioned by him was a unique type of rock in the underground world.
This rock was somewhat similar to a semi-sentient organism. In the underground world, an unknown type of plankton would attach itself to it. When the number of these organisms reached a certain level, they would form a substance harder than steel. Even experts at the sixth layer couldn't guarantee they could break it.
The name 'steel stone' came from this characteristic.
And because of this property, not only them, but all the teams habitually used it as a blocking stone for their entrances.