Chapter 1 The Rebirth of Ramtas

Immediately afterward, a massive humanoid creature burst out of the ground, scrambling up in a shower of mud. It still resembled a wild boar-man, but its most striking feature was the long, bristling quills cascading down its back to its rear! It looked like a hybrid of a porcupine and a human.

Its skin was thick and rough, cracked like tortoise shell, indicating formidable defensive capabilities. The only familiar element was the temporary crystal forming between its eyebrows, identical in shape to the previous Ramtas, but differing in color.

Ramtas used the crystal to manipulate the power of nature, hence its pale green hue. But the crystal between this creature's eyebrows was blood red!

In close combat, it could use a shield and a massive bone club like a shield warrior. But for ranged attacks, it would prostrate itself on the ground, causing the multitude of bristles on its back to stand erect. These foot-long bristles were as thick as fingers, their sharp points gleaming with a bloody, keen light, complete with natural barbs!

By contracting its muscles, the maximum range of the bristles reached 150 meters, with the most effective range being between 50 and 100 meters. And because the crystal between its eyebrows constantly made precision adjustments, the accuracy of its attacks was considerable.

"Master," the wild boar-man bowed deeply before Fang Senyan. "I, the mighty Ramtas, am reborn, ready to fight for you (pig snort)."

Fang Senyan said in surprise:

"You actually retain your previous memories?"

The creature nodded.

"I am Ramtas! The most powerful wild boar-man warrior!"

The "native" humans were utterly dumbfounded. In their minds, cultivating combat creatures through genetic technology was not an outlandish concept. However, witnessing Fang Senyan, in this environment, skillfully using alchemical tools from the 15th and 16th centuries of the Old Earth era, rapidly creating living combat creatures within a few minutes, completely exceeded their comprehension. They immediately looked at Fang Senyan with a newfound sense of awe.

Fang Senyan and his group introduced themselves to these people as:

"Members of a special forces unit, possessing extraordinary power. A top secret of the Empire."

Initially, the people didn't believe them, as some of them had access to fairly high-level secrets. But after witnessing the power Fang Senyan displayed, they had no choice but to believe it.

However, Fang Senyan did not seize command in the subsequent actions, but insisted on letting Hadrick and his people take the lead. After all, they should be more familiar with the habits of the Berserker Beasts. Entrusting matters to professionals was the mark of a competent team leader.

At Fang Senyan's insistence, Hadrick took over command. Strangely, he didn't lead the group directly to the Berserker Beasts, but instead took a wide detour, adding at least ten kilometers to the journey. They headed upstream along the river Fang Senyan's group had followed, but instead of entering the plateau, they followed a tributary.

"The water from this tributary will flow down and spread to the Berserker Beasts' territory."

Hadrick readily explained to Fang Senyan's group, then said:

"Based on our previous observations, the Berserker Beasts have a very unique habit, a strange autumn dormancy. Like bears, turtles, and snakes, who hibernate in winter due to lack of food and difficulty in hunting. But why would Berserker Beasts enter a state of dormancy in autumn, when food is plentiful? There must be a reason behind this."

Hadrick couldn't help but grin as he said this:

"That Doctor guy finally discovered that in autumn, a tree called the *juan tong* upstream bears fruit. The fruit resembles dandelion flowers, and when ripe, the seeds are carried by the wind. These *juan tong* seeds often fall into the water and dissolve, causing subtle changes in the water flow. When this water flows through the swamp inhabited by the Berserker Beasts, it causes them to exhibit great fear, mainly because even a small amount of *juan tong* seeds mixed in the water will cause a severe allergic reaction, making the Berserker Beasts extremely itchy and uncomfortable. They'll even tear their skin bloody with their claws, though it's not fatal – the situation is quite similar to pollen allergies in humans. Therefore, the Berserker Beasts' autumn dormancy is actually to avoid the ripening of the *juan tong* fruit, which is distributed throughout the hunting ground star."

Fang Senyan's eyes lit up as he listened to Hadrick's explanation:

"But it should be early summer now..."

Hadrick said triumphantly:

"The difference between humans and animals lies in the use of tools. Since learning about Raffi and the others' accident in the swamp, I brought a bottle of *juan tong* seeds collected last year."

As he spoke, Hadrick pulled out a standard military can, still painted grass green, containing the *juan tong* seeds. Fang Senyan looked closely and realized that this thing was very similar to the fruit of the sycamore tree on Earth.

The sycamore tree fruit on Earth looks like a sphere when ripe, but if you squeeze it, you'll find a small hard core inside, surrounded by very dense, dandelion-like downy seeds. The *juan tong* seeds were larger than the sycamore fruit on Earth, about the size of a goose egg, but much fluffier, and would fly everywhere in the wind.

Fang Senyan watched Hadrick grab two or three handfuls of *juan tong* seeds and sprinkle them into the water, noticing that the stuff quickly dissolved in the water, as if sugar and salt had been mixed in. Then, Hadrick very carefully put the remaining *juan tong* seeds away.

Ronnie frowned as he watched the dark water slowly flow towards the swamp and asked doubtfully:

"Can such a small amount really work? Should we sprinkle some more?"

Hadrick shook his head like a rattle drum:

"It's enough, I've already increased the amount. If we put in too much, it will cause panic among the Berserker Beasts, and if they gather together and forcibly relocate, it will be counterproductive!"

The group waited for half an hour. It was the darkest hour before dawn. They crept towards the back of the swamp where the Berserker Beasts were entrenched, as quietly as Japanese devils entering a village. Although Fang Senyan and the others were still quite vigilant, it was obviously unnecessary now.

Because the Berserker Beasts had all run to the land islands to stay, most of them were tearing at their skin with their claws, even drawing blood, while making indescribable roars. In such a state, it was impossible to stand guard, let alone maintain basic rationality.

Through high-powered binoculars, it could be seen that most of the Berserker Beasts had many pimples the size of soybeans on the surface of their bodies, densely packed like toad skin, which made one's scalp tingle with itchiness and pain. Some Berserker Beasts even started attacking each other frantically, seemingly hoping to suppress the uncomfortable allergic reaction on their bodies with intense pain.

"It's really effective," Paul murmured.

Hadrick shrugged his shoulders and said:

"Unfortunately, this is all I can do, make them uncomfortable. There's no way to kill them."

Fang Senyan suddenly said:

"It seems that these *juan tong* seeds are useless against the Aliens, right?"

Hadrick nodded and said:

"The Aliens are very powerful creatures. Their genes evolve very quickly, so it's useless."

Fang Senyan looked at the Berserker Beasts crowded on the land islands in the distance, and turned to look at Aldaris:

"If you can get close and release a Psionic Storm, then we'll hit the jackpot."

At this time, Fang Senyan and the others had obtained some relevant information from Hadrick and his group. The relationship between the Berserker Beasts and the Aliens was not the kind of master-slave relationship one might imagine, but a peculiar symbiotic relationship.

On Earth, many ants and aphids choose to live in symbiosis. Ants like the sweet secretions of aphids as food, and in return, when ladybugs that feed on aphids attack, they will be ganged up on by ants.

Similarly, the Aliens secrete a special acidic mucus, which, even when diluted with water, is remarkably effective against a certain parasite, completely killing it. This parasite is quite deadly to the Berserker Beasts.

Therefore, the average lifespan of Berserker Beast groups living with Aliens is extended by 50%, which leads to the fact that the number of Berserker Beasts coexisting with Aliens is often much larger than normal groups.

According to Fang Senyan's calculations, the number of Berserker Beast colonies living in symbiosis with Aliens must be over a thousand. In last night's conflict, Fang Senyan and the others killed two or three hundred. If they could take this opportunity to kill another two or three hundred, then the next action would be much easier.

At this time, Fang Senyan looked at Aldaris. If he could release a Psionic Storm on the land islands... then they would reap amazing results. However, Aldaris resolutely rejected this unreasonable request, because according to his spell range, he would have to risk being ambushed by Aliens in the swamp.

Most importantly, Psionic Storm is a spell that requires continuous casting. If it is interrupted midway, then it will not have the greatest power.

Fang Senyan thought for a while, then pulled Hadrick aside to discuss it. Hadrick said that since it was night, their plant sap had a very strong covering effect, which would allow Aldaris to approach the land islands without being discovered, but that was all they could do.

After thinking about it, Fang Senyan pulled Aldaris aside to explain for a while, and repeatedly emphasized a few details. Finally, Aldaris stared at the dark swamp for a while, and finally nodded, looking very reluctant.