Douluo: Transforming Xiao Wu into a Zerg Queen Was Just the Beginning-Chapter 47 - 48 – The Eerie Star Dou Great Forest, and the Mysterious Disappearance!

"Uncle Luo, why haven't we seen a single soul beast after walking for so long?"

The golden-haired youth looked around the empty Star Dou Great Forest with growing frustration.

Wasn't this forest supposed to be filled with danger, where you could run into a soul beast every few steps?

His team had been marching for quite a while now, and still—not a single soul beast in sight.

He could understand not encountering thousand- or ten-thousand-year-old beasts, but not even a trace of a low-level hundred-year beast? That was just too strange.

Robert was also puzzled. The forest was unusually quiet—unnervingly so.

Still, he reassured himself: This is just the outer perimeter—how dangerous could it be?

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"Your Highness, perhaps it's simply daytime. Soul beasts might not be very active right now. This actually gives us a chance to move quickly. If we'd encountered any, they might've slowed us down."

The golden-haired youth nodded, dabbing the sweat from his brow with a handkerchief before following the others deeper into the forest.

What they didn't notice... was that high above—ten thousand meters in the air—an Overlord was silently tracking them with its blood-red eyes. As they advanced, more Overlords seamlessly relayed surveillance, monitoring their every move with absolute precision.

Within the Hive Cluster

Lin Fan watched the small team with curiosity. His gaze lingered on the golden-haired, blue-eyed youth—clearly a noble of some kind, which surprised him slightly.

Another young master?

But judging by their equipment and strength, they could probably hold their own even against a Soul Douluo. Whoever backed them must be a major power.

An idea sparked in Lin Fan's mind. He was just preparing to make contact with human Soul Masters and still lacked a full grasp of this world's political landscape.

And now, this convenient group had basically delivered themselves to his doorstep.

"Kukuku...!"

Since they had arrived, how could a good host like him not give them a proper "welcome"?

Crack!

The golden-haired youth slumped to the ground, exhaling heavily as he looked around.

This was getting absurd.

They'd walked for half a day without seeing so much as a single trace of a soul beast.

If he hadn't triple-checked the map before leaving, he'd swear they were just strolling through the imperial gardens back in Star Luo.

At this rate, even the Soul Hunting Forest might have more soul beasts than this!

Unable to contain his doubt, he asked again, "Uncle Luo, why haven't we seen a single soul beast yet? Haven't we gone pretty deep already?"

Robert studied the area, his brow furrowed.

This kind of silence... it was too quiet.

It reminded him of the eerie stillness before an ambush during wartime—no sound, no movement... just an oppressive sense of dread.

But this was a secret mission. Aside from himself and this royal guard squad, no one knew of their movements.

Who would risk the wrath of the Star Luo Empire to ambush the second prince?

Soul beasts laying an ambush?

Robert chuckled at the absurdity of the thought and shook it away.

He'd sooner believe his pet Fragranthide Pig could climb trees than believe soul beasts had the intelligence and coordination to set traps.

If soul beasts were really that organized, humans would've never been able to keep expanding their territory into the forest.

After a pause, he replied, "Perhaps... we're just lucky today, Your Highness. That's why we haven't run into any soul beasts yet."

What else could explain this? In folk tales, desperate commoners and low-level Soul Masters often wandered into soul beast territory, only to return with incredible fortunes and rise to greatness.

Wasn't that the power of luck?

The golden-haired youth sighed and nodded, though his anxiety grew.

They had been searching for hours and still found no sign of his missing fiancée.

Where in this massive forest could she have gone?

Could she have entered the core region...?

If that were true, things were getting complicated. Her survival would be completely uncertain.

He reached into his robes and pulled out a small amethyst crystal, still glowing faintly with magical light.

A keepsake from his betrothed.

Just holding it brought her smile vividly back into his mind.

His eyes turned sharp with determination as he stared toward the forest depths.

"Ah Yun... I will find you."

After a short rest, the group continued heading deeper into the woods.

Rustle... rustle...

Not long after they departed, several black shadows began to slither out from the darkness.

Their blood-red eyes gleamed briefly before vanishing again as they silently melted back into the shadows—tracking the group closely.

As the sun dipped low on the horizon, the towering trees blocked the last rays of light completely.

Darkness swiftly fell over the forest, and the air grew cold.

The golden-haired youth instinctively crossed his arms, shivering slightly as he followed the others through the darkened woods.

Seeing this, Robert quickly ordered the group to halt.

After surveying the area, he turned to the youth and said, "Your Highness, it's too late to keep moving. It's dangerous to proceed in the dark. We should set up camp here."

The youth nodded. "I'll leave it to you, Uncle Luo."

Robert turned and began organizing the team. The royal guards dropped their packs and began unpacking tools and supplies.

One of the guards released his Martial Soul: a Blazing Fire Monkey.

Yellow, Yellow, Purple, Purple, Purple—!

Five optimal soul rings slowly rose behind him.

Activating the first soul skill, he exhaled a jet of flame, lighting the firewood stacked around the camp.

While fire wouldn't stop high-level soul beasts, it would deter weaker ones—and keep venomous insects at bay.

Some soul beasts, sensing the presence of humans, wouldn't dare approach at all.

The golden-haired youth sat by the fire, watching his guards move efficiently, and felt slightly more at ease.

After all, the suffocating darkness of the forest had become increasingly oppressive.

But just as he was starting to relax, something didn't feel right.

He rubbed his eyes and slowly counted the people from left to right.

"1, 2, 3... 9, 10, 11?"

Thump.

A cold sweat ran down his back.

He counted again.

Still 11 people.

There were supposed to be 12—ten royal guards, Robert, and himself.

Why... were there only eleven?

He swallowed hard and stood up, walking through the group to count one by one.

After a moment, his expression turned pale with terror.

No mistake—there were only eleven people here.

"Uncle Luo!"

Robert turned around, puzzled by the prince's horrified expression.

"What is it, Your Highness? What happened?"

The golden-haired youth raised a trembling finger and stammered:

"E-Eleven... eleven people!!"

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