BIOLOGICAL SUPERCOMPUTER SYSTEM-Chapter 1227: Looking around (1)

Erik left the underground shelter and turned invisible.

The last thing he needed was for the monsters to know where the base was located—revealing its position would compromise not only his safety but also endanger any future operations he planned to conduct from there.

His mission was to find and analyze some thaids. He had two crucial reasons: first, to determine if he could survive in this environment, and second, to assess whether Amber and the others could have survived here as well.

If the thaids were too strong, he and the others would just die in a direct confrontation. The only way for Erik to survive would be to stay holed up in the underground base, train, and make Chimaeric Demons. It would force Erik to completely change the tactics he and the clone would need to use to fight the monsters.

<Damn… This is not going to end well…>

[You’re worried more about their research than them searching for my blueprints,] the system said. [Pretty insensitive.]

<Well, I doubt they will be able to find your blueprints. On the other hand, making real progress with their research has immediate and tangible results. Think about it—they’re already getting stronger at an alarming rate.>

If that happened, Erik would just have problems piling up, and he would end up unable to destroy the blackguards before it was too late.

His chances of success depended on how much he could move on Mur, and that depended on the Thaids inhabiting these lands.

[Don’t be so pessimistic,] the system said. [Even if they’re making progress, you just need to hunt here for some time to become much stronger than you currently are. And let’s not forget—you have me.]

<Glad to have your annoying voice in my head,> Erik said, chuckling, <but you are missing the other point. You are assuming I CAN hunt here, but the real question is if this is true.>

[Only one way to know.] That was to go analyze some thaids and find some suitable ones to hunt. Erik turned to the Chimaeric Demon, who was waiting for him at the door.

<Don’t get out of here before I return,> he told the clone through Instability. <If anything approaches the shelter, contact me immediately, and I will head back. Is it clear?>

<Yes, Master.>

With those words, Erik left.

Erik moved silently through the thick vegetation. He turned invisible to avoid being spotted, but if that was going to prevent all thaids from attacking him was an unknown.

<What do you think we’ll find here?> Erik asked. <In terms of monster strength, I mean.>

[Hard to say with certainty,] the system said. [But based on what we know of Mur’s evolutionary pressures, we should expect powerful creatures.]

<Yeah, thanks for having stated the obvious.> Erik sighed. <What I actually wanted to know is the strength and energy range of the creatures here. I need a benchmark.>

Erik’s stomach churned at the memory of the three-headed void ravagers. That was the bar of strength he hoped the average monster didn’t reach.

In theory, it shouldn’t. Flying thaids were usually stronger than land ones, but that was only true on Mannard.

There was no way to say it was true also on Mur. He managed to kill some of the three-headed void ravagers, yes, but only under specific conditions and with considerable risk.

[I doubt all creatures here will be that powerful,] the system said, reading Erik’s thoughts. [Strong, certainly, but not necessarily beyond our ability to engage in close combat. Even if they are that strong, you could theoretically take them down from a distance. Like you did on the sea.]

<Yeah, but...> Erik paused, scanning the area ahead. <Back then, I had an army of clones protecting me. I had backup. Here?>

[Here you’re more exposed,] the system agreed. [Though don’t forget you are not in the sky anymore. Besides, we got some experience since then.]

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<Experience won’t help much if one of these things catches me off guard.>

[Then we make sure that doesn’t happen,] the system said. [We are going to be careful. We will observe and analyze the thaids before engaging, and we will pick our battles only if we are certain we can win. No need to engage everything we see.]

Erik nodded, though no one could see the gesture. The system was right—they needed information before making any moves, and that was why he left the safety of his underground shelter. Still, he couldn’t shake the nagging worry that even careful planning might not be enough here.

Moving silently through the undergrowth, he searched around.

"Let’s see..." he said to himself. "I need to find tracks, like footprints or claw marks. Droppings would tell me about their diet. Broken branches could show their size and path. Territorial markings, feeding grounds, nesting areas... And most importantly, signs of recent kills to understand their hunting patterns."

Little was known about the Thaids on Mur. Most knowledge had been lost when Solomon Judd perished in these lands. What remained was a grim warning: the Thaids here were overwhelmingly powerful, and only vast numbers could ensure survival. This was both his father’s warning and his own firsthand experience.

He also knew that the sea thaids in this region were more dangerous than the flying ones, which in turn were more dangerous than the land-dwelling ones. This hierarchy matched Mannard’s, but the difference in power here was at least tenfold greater. Of course, Erik knew too little to be sure that this hierarchy was still followed.

The forest floor was a maze of massive roots and fallen leaves, but among them, he spotted the first signs of thaid activity. Deep claw marks scored the ground, each groove wide enough to fit his body.

"Well, that’s... comforting?" Erik said with sarcarsm to himself. "I’m following the tracks of something that could swallow me whole, and what’s worse is that maybe these are just the babies."

Following the tracks, Erik noticed disturbing patterns. The marks weren’t random—they showed signs of intelligent hunting behavior.

Some tracks, made from other thaids, vanished mid-stride, suggesting they belonged to creatures that could either fly or worse. It wasn’t weird considering the trees here were so big that one could build a house in between them. The monsters had plenty of space to land and do whatever they wanted.

<Maybe one of them has a sort of teleportation power. Getting my hands on that would be great…>

Other tracks showed evidence of coordinated group movement, hinting at pack hunters, who were even more troubling than lone predators, despite generally being weaker.

<Well, at least on a preliminary glance, things don’t look so different from Mannard... except these things probably bench press mountains for warm-ups and have PhDs in advanced killing techniques. I bet they attend seminars on ’How to Make Your Prey’s Last Moments Extra Terrifying’ and vie for ’Most Creative Ways to Use Terrifying Powers.’ At least on Mannard, the scariest thing was a thaid that could breathe fire. Here, they probably breathe nuclear explosions while solving quantum physics equations powers.>

[Ah yes, the eternal optimist strikes again. Should I get you a black umbrella to go with that sunny disposition?]

Erik followed these traces, maintaining his invisibility while moving from cover to cover. The good thing was that with all that mana, his replenishing rate was also faster. The bad thing was that was going to be true for everyone else.

His path led him to a clearing where several tracks converged, but Erik was unsure if they belonged to the same creature, or more than that.

<One thing is sure: if this belongs to multiple thaid species, there is going to be a battle somewhere. Either that already ended, or one that is still going. Maybe I can find something about the thaids here by observing them fighting.>

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In the end, he found no ongoing battles. However, the tracks belonged to multiple species, as evidence showed a fierce fight had taken place here.

The ground was torn up. Massive trees had been uprooted, their trunks splintered like twigs. Whatever had done this had strength far beyond anything he’d encountered on Mannard, and even its opponent wasn’t weaker.

Then a terrifying screech cut through the air, and Erik felt his heart stop for a moment. The sound was strange and scary—it sounded like metal scraping mixed with a howling wind, but there was something behind it that made it even more frightening. The sound was so loud it made the gigantic trees shake.

Erik didn’t move a muscle, grateful that he had a power allowing him to turn invisible. He knew the screech came from somewhere to his left, but the forest made it hard to tell where. He wasn’t sure if the creature was calling to hunt or marking its territory, but one thing was clear: in this place, he was far from being the strongest creature around.

Through a gap in the canopy, Erik spotted movement. A creature emerged from the treeline - a predator roughly the size of a house, with multiple limbs ending in curved claws. Its hide seemed to shift colors as it moved, blending with its surroundings. But what caught Erik’s attention was the not-so-smaller creature in its maws.

<If this is an average predator here, the apex predators must be truly terrifying.>