Chapter 3456: Pursuit of the Anomaly
"According to the trajectory and the track plotted from the reports of the flies that saw a trail of entropy, we can surmise that this invisible source of the mysterious entropy is likely something from outside of the continent. This has increased the probability that the anomaly is an infiltrator from outside Kiriket. The probability is high that this mysterious entity is a hostile entity with the intention of espionage or sabotage, possibly an assault or an assassination. Regardless..."
The captain of the squadron sharpened his insectile eyes. "We cannot possibly allow it to escape. The fact that it is invisible to all of our other senses suggests stealth technology of the very highest caliber that one can imagine. It is possible that we are dealing with an operative from one of the other six civilizations in Gaia. Just in case we are dealing with an entirely natural anomaly with no mal-intent, we have also decided to take a squadron of experimental researchers with us to gather data to discover the mechanism by which it is evading every other sensor that we have within our borders."
He gestured to three female therianthropes that possessed smaller wings, garbed in protective lab coats made from chitin. They stood separately from the squadron of male soldiers, carrying with them various scientific instruments.
The women cowered under the stern glare of the male captain.
"Do not become a burden to us."
"Yes, sir," they meekly responded.
He heaved a deep breath before commencing the operations. "Let’s get started!"
BZZZT!
All their wings buzzed at high speeds as they took off into the air, heading into the skies at high speeds such that sonic cones formed around their body as they shattered the speed of sound, surging in the direction of high speeds. The unit that had been chosen to pursue the anomaly comprised elite units
They were capable of achieving the high speeds at which the anomaly was moving. They needed to move much faster than it, otherwise they would never catch up with the anomaly. Each of them possessed great strengths, while the giant flies that accompanied them were powerful, each stronger than a Master-level beast, making them very confident of their ability to track and catch the anomaly, whatever it was.
BZZZZ!
They shot through the skies above Kiriket, taking a rather wobbly path as they tried catching up with where the anomaly was supposed to be, according to the anomaly reporting from the engineered entropy surveillance insects. Therianthropes were highly territorial, and any infringement could spark a conflict that could escalate into wars between different clans.
Around the Dthrivoraustrat Mountains were forests that belonged to other insectile clans, many of which were even centered around insects that hunted the common fly, which made them predators and enemies of the Dthrivoraustrat Clan.
Of course, that didn’t mean that clans of predators hunted clans with prey for sustenance. Even therianthrope clans associated with predators focused on hunting game in the rich fauna of the continent.
Far away in the distance, Rui’s eyes sharpened as he felt chills crawling down his skin. "We’re being followed."
Amare and Rui had been moving at speeds faster than that of lightning as they zoomed through the forest at blindingly high speeds.
WHOOSH!
They cleaved right through the air in a manner that left them entirely unchanged. One of the most fundamental breathing techniques in the field of stealth was one that allowed Martial Artists to move at high speeds and without causing any wind disturbances.
By manipulating their breathing, they could create wind currents to cancel out those caused by their motion. Yet, it did lower their max speed, since much of their breathing of their capital was being employed to cancel out the winds they generated.
This allowed for people who were much slower than both Rui and Amare to catch up with them when they were using stealth. It was why Rui did not abuse Greater Phantomind Void in battle, because it took away combat effectiveness in exchange for great stealth.
That was why Rui couldn’t simply speed off into the distance just like that.
"Dammit," he cursed as he gripped Amare’s hand tighter, whizzing through the forest at high speeds. "How the hell did they find us?"
"Maybe we underestimated how sensitive the animals are," Amare’s expression grew serious. "We should abandon the stealth and pick up the pace if they have found us. There’s no point to the stealth anymore."
It was a sensible suggestion, but Rui knew better, closing his eyes as he spread his senses to them, gauging their numbers. "If they knew who we were, then why would they only send fifty high Master-level monsters with them?"
"What...?" Amare’s eyes widened with shock. "Only fifty?? Do they think they can beat with only fifty people? The nerve!"
While Amare huffed about the gall of the therianthropes, Rui frowned. She had a point; it didn’t make sense that the therianthropes would send anything less than an army of monsters against him.
Hell, it was probably still too little unless the Dragon Emperor showed up to fight Rui himself. Thus, the fact that they had only sent about fifty people was proof of at least one thing.
"They have detected some kind of anomaly, but have not identified us as us. If they did, they would not show up with only fifty people."
That was the only logical conclusion to be drawn, and Rui was accurate in his deductions.
"What should we do then?" Amare turned to him with a conflicted expression.
"We can’t reveal our identity. That’s for sure," Rui replied with a serious expression. "We will have to kill them without divulging our full power and then figure out what gave us away."
Thankfully, Rui had a pretty good idea of what was going on. He quickly skimmed through all possibilities as he understood what was happening, groaning out loud.
"Entropy... goddamn chaos!"
Chaos had sabotaged him thrice now. The first time being with Ieyasu, the second time being with Anthea, and now with the therianthropes. It appeared that Gaia would keep hammering the lesson into him until he finally accepted it.
"The first thing I’ll do when we get back to Panama is master chaos!"