Erik and June looked at the surroundings. The jungle was thick, stretching as far as they could see. Tall rocks poked out above the trees and small streams flowed through the forest like thin silver lines.
Thaids had kept humans from living outside the few human cities for a long ti. But now, thanks to Etrium's technology, humans had built small settlents, albeit military ones.
As Erik and June kept looking around for any signs of life or danger, the clone spotted sothing unusual in the distance.
"Master," he said, "I've spotted sothing in the northwest."
Erik looked in the sa direction as June, narrowing his eyes because of the sun. Far from their position, he saw sothing that looked like a fortification.
"Good eye," Erik said to the clone. "Any suggestion on how to proceed?"
June thought for a mont. "We could attack it, Master. Take them by surprise and wipe them out."
Erik shook his head. "That's too risky. A direct assault would alert Hin to our presence, and we don't have enough Chimaeric Demons yet for a full-scale takeover."
June's idea wasn't inherently bad. They did this kind of thing many tis, after all. But they needed to keep the outpost hidden and his presence in Hin a secret.
"What if we lure so thaids to the outpost?" June said. "It would keep them occupied and reduce the chance of them stumbling upon our camp."
Erik pondered this idea but saw its flaws not long after. "That would likely have the sa result as attacking the base ourselves. If they can't handle the thaids, they'll call for
reinforcents. Plus, any significant change in thaid behavior might alert them to an outside influence."
Erik wasn't so naïve as to think the blackguards didn't understand it was he who stole the ship back in Frant. Sure, it was still possible all the chaos he created resulted from Frant's troop, but how many chances there were after months spent in stalemate?
While Frant showed them they weren't so weak as to be bullied, it was also true they weren't powerful enough to pull that off, at least until Erik gave them a way to access their
information network.
Thanks to the backdoor Erik left for Frant's army, who could now access the Blackguards communication system, the war was bound to be won by Frant unless the Blackguards asked for the other country's help, which was likely to happen if things went too bad.
The two fell into a thoughtful silence. After a few monts, Erik spoke again.
"Before we decide on any course of action, we need more information. Let's scout the outpost and see what we're dealing with. That will give us a better idea of our options and might add new ones."
June nodded. "A wise choice, Master. Shall we proceed?"
Erik nodded. June then changed his shape. He grew larger and turned into an Erendu once again. Erik got on the clone's back, and they started moving through the forest, headed towards the outpost.
The journey was laborious. Even with June's strength and stamina, the undergrowth and uneven terrain made progress slow.
Hours passed.
At so point, the two started hearing noises.
Voices.
There were voices up ahead, coming from another clearing. The two went toward the area.
In the end, they got there. Ahead, they spotted a group of soldiers moving in formation.
Erik told June to stop. They hid behind so bushes and watched the soldiers. The group looked well-prepared, with full armor Erik was sure ca from Etrium, and that gave them multiple brain crystal powers.
They moved like they were searching for sothing.
June said,
Erik furrowed his brow.
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