Hours later...

The sound of bestial howls cut through the bioluminescent fog like a sharp blade, making Leon’s blood boil hot as he paid sharp attention.

But through his invisible eyes, he knew that he was not in immediate danger.

Bzzz!

Spread in a carpet around the truck, the C-5 drones buzzed softly as they drifted into the fog, scouting the way ahead of him.

Through them, Leon knew that his situation already changed.

He already crossed the 1 kilometer mark long ago, but after that things changed. Unlike at the periphery where the lizard-like beasts prowled, quietly stalking and searching for prey, here, the situation was far more frenzied.

He realized that the periphery was where the runt of the Neon Beasts hunted. Here, past the 1 kilometer mark was where the true horrors dwelled.

And unlike their timid counterparts at the periphery, these Neon Beasts were not shy of announcing their presence with their bestial snarls and howls that sounded nothing like lizards but like wolves.

Past the 1 kilometer mark, the Neon Beasts fiercely contested territory and were almost always fighting, devouring each other.

Observing them through the eyes of his C-5 drones, Leon had a faint suspicion that something was compelling the beasts to hunt and kill each other in such a savage manner. It was not just hunger.

The way they moved, the way their eyes burned, there was a madness in them that Leon couldn’t explain.

It kind of reminded him of when he first experienced an Ascended who failed his trial morphing into a Neon Beast.

These sights brought even more questions to him.

’What exactly is ADE?’

’Why is it corrupt? And what exactly does it do to Neon Beasts?’

Of course, Leon had no answers to his questions. But even more importantly, he simply could not travel unimpeded anymore.

The further and deeper he traveled, the more uneven the terrain became and the more Neon Beasts prowled.

Sometimes, the lizards moved in hordes comprising dozens of them.

When Leon encountered them, he either had to retreat, take a detour, or stay put and stay silent till they passed.

But even that no longer worked at some point as even by scouting ahead, he began finding less and less spaces to sneak through simply because more and more hordes of the lizard-like beasts filled the terrain.

Leon cursed. ’How is it even possible for so many Neon Beasts to be gathered in such clusters in one region?’

But then he remembered how Neon Beasts reproduce; due to the density of ADE corruption in the Abyssal Scar, here was a breeding ground for Neon Beasts.

And at some point, Leon couldn’t simply sneak through anymore and finally, he had to bring out the guns.

At first, he sent out two Doom Rover v0.1s.

The 2 machines masqueraded as Neon Beasts as after avoiding the hordes, Leon sent them to deal with the smaller clusters of Neon Beasts numbering only a few. They carved a way for him through, leaving blood in their wake.

But even that no longer worked at some point as finally, despite sending his drones to scout ahead, Leon finally found himself in a situation where he was surrounded from all sides by hordes of the lizard-like Neon Beasts.

Staring at the footage being transmitted to his brain by the C-5 drones, he snarled, once again realizing that sneaking through unseen was impossible.

2 groups of the E Rank lizard-like Neon Beasts were currently embroiled in an intense battle ahead of him, their 2 leaders- 2 crimson lizards tearing at each other with savage intensity, their black eyes burning with murderous intention.

Attracted by the smell of blood and the sounds of the battle, another horde of the lizard-like beasts were swiftly approaching from the east.

To the West, Leon finally discovered another group of Neon Beasts.

Unlike the lizards, these beasts were like bats, hanging upside down within the open mouth of a gigantic cave hidden by a mound.

There were hundreds of them inside the cave mouth! And every single one of them was also E Rank!

Leon thought of retreating, but having made a big detour to escape another horde of the lizards earlier, they already closed the distance and were now just behind him less than 40 meters away.

Leon knew that he couldn’t avoid a fight this time.

With a dark look on his face, he closed his eyes. ’I really didn’t want to make a big commotion...’

He sighed. ’North, east, west, or south?’

Going straight ahead was suicide.

The 2 army of battling lizards were by far the biggest horde combined, comprising more than 100 of the lizard-like beasts and Leon knew that if those murderous lizards detected his machines, they would temporarily abandon their fight just to tear the machines apart.

That was their 1 behavioral trait that he already learned the hard way at the expense of losing a Doom Rover v0.1 to them.

The horde behind him was the least, comprising less than 30 of the lizards.

’But they’re too close to the cave of bats!’ He opened his eyes again and they gleamed inside the truck. ’Which leaves east!’

Leon turned his head right, looking at the alloy hull of the military truck like he could see the horde of lizards dozens of meters away from his position currently rushing to join the ongoing battle.

There were at least 40 of the lizards in that horde, but as mere E Rank Neon Beasts, Leon could handle them.

His problem was the noise that a battle was going to make; that was why he avoided fighting any large concentration of the lizards.

But then, an epic territorial fight was currently ongoing between 2 different tribes of the lizard beasts.

The sound of their battle was loud enough that even here, Leon could feel the tremors of their tremendous clash.

His eyes gleamed. ’If I’m subtle with it, the sound of their battle can effectively mask the sound of my own battle’.

He no longer hesitated.

Vroom!

The military truck jerked and picked up speed.

In less than 3 minutes, Leon’s mechanical army met the horde of Neon Beasts.

...

[Please check Author’s Note.]