Biochemical Unit

Dozens of Eye of Lucius arrived on the wind, surrounding the area from a distance. Each hot air balloon was equipped with four elemental turret mages who were charging up their magical energy.

Further afield, the magic-based defenses have been deployed. A legion of ice crystal crossbowmen, transferred from the Azure Waves Province, is urgently moving towards this location. High-ranking mages patrol the skies, while eagle air cavalrymen, bearing the Phoenix King's orders, circle and sway nearby, creating an impenetrable and tightly controlled surveillance.

Everyone was on high alert.

It is said that strange phenomena have occurred.

However, whether human or elf, soldier or spellcaster, they learned of the attack on two scout mages and knew that something strange was happening in the area. They received orders, they carried them out, sealed off the area, remained vigilant, and awaited further instructions—yet, as they gazed at the scene of the incident from afar, all the creatures had the same thought.

Is this necessary?

They saw black smoke and dust drifting in the sky.

Then came the target area, which had been completely ravaged. What should have been a dense forest was now almost entirely uprooted, ravaged by the power of the raging Flame. People had heard the rumbling thunder earlier, and some even faintly heard the green-skinned men shouting, "Big bomb! Big bomb!"

Clearly, unimaginable forces ravaged this area, turning it into scorched earth.

So much so that the soldiers and mages who were subsequently placed under lockdown and guard duty only saw the fallen vegetation, the remaining Flame burning fiercely, various indistinguishable fragments mixed together, and the air filled with the stench of burning and decay, mixed with the smell of sulfur, as if it were the breath of hell.

Looking down from the sky, a piece of the lush, green earth had been gouged out, the ugly scar emitting thick smoke, and faint flames still spreading—it looked like the scene of a demonic invasion.

His Highness, the Forbidden Spell Master Kang De, was a man of great stature.

Stella sighed from the hot air balloon command center platform.

She said to Kang De, "Although I know you must have your reasons for doing this, seeing the beautiful, picturesque green forest turned into this is still quite unsettling. Please cherish it a little; this is also land you and Tina are entitled to inherit... To fight like this over a mere disagreement is just too much..."

Kang De shrugged. "They've all made their move, and they're quite fierce. I have to fight back."

Stella was both annoyed and amused. "So you just unleashed a spell that's far too powerful, capable of destroying an entire legion's formation? You should have been a little more economical."

Kang De proudly declared, "That's how we fight in our village."

--Fry it up, fry it up, fry it up again!

The second princess shook her head and said, "Doing this is too extravagant. Excessive power means many unnecessary burdens. You..."

Kang De said earnestly, "You think it's luxurious only because you're standing on top and observing afterward, while the soldiers who are responsible for going deep into the fray to investigate and search, and charging ahead, will certainly feel that the more attacks like this, the better."

Stella's expression changed slightly; she turned back and secretly rolled her eyes.

She glanced at Kang De again, and seeing no mockery on his face, she snorted.

The second princess added, "Furthermore, what if the dragons we're looking for are down there? What if you kill them in this round of attacks?"

"That's a real shame," Kang De said, smoothing his hair. "But perhaps that's life."

"... Hello!"

Seeing the second princess frown, Kang De explained, "Alright, alright, just kidding. I investigated this area before, and there are no large life forms here. Instead, they've all become very strange. So, you know, I could only perform rituals to release them from suffering."

Stella asked, "So... what was that? I heard reports that we encountered a flock of mutated birds, birds that were twisted and deformed by some inexplicable force, exhibiting extremely strong aggression..."

"How would I know?" Kang De shook his head. "I know absolutely nothing about this continent."

The second princess said, "Then we'll have to leave it to the witchers, naturalists, and sorcerers to determine... Once the rain spell controls the fire, we'll send a special task force to collect some samples."

Kang De said, "Let me go."

Stella frowned and said, "No need. It's better to leave it to the professionals."

... Are you going to get yourself killed?

So, it's like a bunch of warriors, mages, priests, druids, etc., dressed in various armors and wielding various weapons, running down the mountain, chatting and progressing through the story, only to be parasitized and wiped out by a terrifying and bizarre substance?

Kang De shook his head and said, "I can handle this small matter myself. You haven't seen what that bird looks like. It's been mutated and deformed by that disgusting purple substance. According to my guess, it probably has some kind of corrosive and mutating power. Judging from many classic storylines, rashly coming into contact with that substance might risk parasitism and infection, leading to rapid transmission between people... In short, it's still..."

"That's exactly what I wanted to say," Stella said. "Leave it to the professionals."

Kang De wanted to say a few more words, but soon he saw the "professionals".

The heavy, fully enclosed protective armor, with its built-in respirator and goggles gleaming with magical light, is engraved with sacred patterns on its bronze plates. It can resist 436 curses discovered to date and 56 kinds of dangerous extradimensional microorganisms, including demon worms. The central obelisk provides a full-body purification effect every ten minutes, and can be repeated every ten seconds when overloaded.

The style of this five-person group was astonishing. Apart from having largely the same equipment, the items they carried were also different. The one who was obviously a priest was holding a book of holy words that Detect Evil, the one who was leading the charge was carrying a heavy tower shield that was two people tall, and self-defense items such as maces were of course included.

One guy was carrying something that looked like an agricultural sprayer, with angels and the sun engraved on its surface. When asked, it turned out to be filled with a highly concentrated concoction of holy water...

"For purification," the priest muttered. "More efficient and less strenuous than Bathing Light."

... Hold.

Is this some kind of biological warfare unit from another world?!

Kang De felt humiliated; this was also the wisdom of another world. Stella behind him explained, "Since the dawn of Civilization, we have had similar records: strange curses, unknown parasites, plagues, corruption, the erosion of unknown forces. Magic has provided a ladder to the extraordinary, but it has also attracted the covetous eyes of evil. We draw strength from it, and we are always ready to fight back against those with ill intentions."

"Because the world is so unknown and so vast, caution is always the best option when encountering anything mysterious or unknown. The Life Safety Department of the Arcane Council revises the First Contact Guidelines every year, listing the steps, plans, and suggestions for handling dangerous situations."

The second princess paused, then said calmly, "I've already told you not to underestimate us. Did you think that when faced with something mysterious and unknown, we would just send a few unprotected soldiers in to their deaths?"

--Stop hitting me, stop hitting me.

Kang De raised his hand and said, "Please, please."

Stella smiled, pursing her lips.

The hot air balloon carrying professionals moved toward the target location. Kang De even saw a mage in the gondola take out a large bundle of cable-like objects from the equipment compartment and then fasten one end of the cable with three locks to three fixed points on the hot air balloon gondola.

"..."

Are you really mages?

Stella, who was beside her, said, "Aren't you going to come and take a look?"

Kang De turned his head. "Huh?"

The wind high in the sky ruffled the second princess's hair. Stella turned her head and smiled gently at him, "Now I understand a little why Tina can't forget you. When she first came back, I asked her how she felt about you and why she liked you. She blushed and hesitated for a long time before saying that you were very special."

"I laughed at her back then, thinking that what she considered special was just a girl's subjective feeling when she liked someone, but now it seems you really are special..."

"You are clearly an unparalleled powerhouse, possessing immense strength and the confidence to be arrogant and prejudiced. You are entitled to despise us, but after I pointed out your mistakes, you only felt embarrassed, not angry... What does this mean? It means that no matter your status, no matter what you do, no matter what power you possess, your heart has probably not changed at all..."

Stella chuckled softly, "That's really special."

Kang De paused for a moment, then shook his head and said, "I underestimated you, looking at you with a sense of superiority. I reminded myself not to be like that, but... alas, after all, I am just a mortal."

He noticed Stella was still smiling at him, "What's wrong?"

The second princess shrugged, mimicking Kang De, blinked, and laughed, "Let me put it this way, if an elf looked distressed and self-deprecating and said that he shouldn't have underestimated humans, that he often reminded himself not to, yet couldn't change certain aspects of his nature, and was solemnly reflecting and rambling on—what do you think I would think?"

"... Um?"

"I would think," Stella blinked, "That guy is actually quite cute."

Kang De's expression froze.

The second princess gave Kang De a push, urging him, "Go quickly. Although you lack sufficient professional knowledge and protective equipment, you can use your advantages to provide care and protection from a distance. Even with full armor and theoretical support, what these brave men are doing is still the most dangerous job in the world... They step onto the battlefield with the necessary awareness every time, please give them peace of mind."

At the same time, a dragon's roar echoed, and Lily, in her dragon form, flapped her wings and swept past not far away. A strong wind blew, causing the gondola to sway gently. A figure sat astride the dragon's neck, with A Xing's Flame short hair fluttering in the air. Ah Xing waved and shouted loudly in this direction.

"Kang De!" the A Xing shouted, "Come ride her with me!"

The silly girl's screams echoed in the air.

Kang De only heard Stella mutter a curse under her breath, then she pushed him. "Go on, I need to oversee other tasks and clean up the mess you've made..."

Summoning Horus, who was replenishing ammunition and changing parts, from the White Mist World, Kang De donned his battle suit, soared through the sky, flew for a while, and then suddenly shouted.

Wait, did she flirt with me?

"Father, what's wrong?"

"Nothing?"

"Really nothing?"

"It's really nothing."

"Then why did you scream as if you'd finally figured out the secret message your crush left in your yearbook five years after graduation?"

"--What's with this bizarre description!"

"I was wrong. That analogy wasn't quite right. No one would confess to you, Father."

"--The mistake isn't here!"

The suit sprayed energy, and the white dragon flew in from behind. A Xing shouted, "Kang De, come fly with us! It's so much fun up there!"

Lily spoke in a human voice, angrily shouting, "Make her come down!"

"No, no!" A Xing hugged Lily's neck and spun her around 360 degrees. Ever since Lily revealed her dragon form, A Xing had found a new toy. After all, with the Big Goldie not around, her vigilance had greatly decreased, and she no longer clung to Kang De all day to keep watch—going for a drive was really fun.

"I'm going down to take a look. You guys stay here and keep watch," Kang De said to Lily. "How's it going? Can you feel it? Are those dragons here?"

Although strange phenomena and corrupted creatures have been discovered here, it cannot be confirmed that this is related to the missing dragons... so further investigation is needed.

If they are two completely different things, that would be a mess.

Lily shook her head and said, "The stench down there is extremely foul. I can't sense any of my kind's presence; it might be masked... I suggest we investigate thoroughly, Kang De."

"Let's see."

The jet descended, and the suit swept towards the low sky.

Not far away, a five-person biochemical team rappelled down from a descending balloon.

They landed one by one.

The defenders raised their great shields, the alchemists activated their mechanical dogs, the explorers opened the Book of Holy Words to detect evil, the support priests wielded maces in one hand and holy water sprayers in the other, and the spellcasters' staffs glowed with magical light. They walked toward the mission area, the ruins blasted out by Kang De.

A familiar voice came through the walkie-talkie. "Gentlemen, this is Kang De. I will provide you with aerial reconnaissance and fire support. Maintain contact and continue the advance."

"Received, thank you, Your Highness Kang De. Mission in progress."

They stepped onto the soft ground and entered the scorched earth. The alchemist held a mine detector-like device close to the ground, searching left and right. The alchemical mechanical dog walked beside them, its crimson eyes scanning the surroundings.

"Soil samples were taken for preliminary analysis, revealing unusual soil structure and altered elemental composition."

The caster took out a small box, activated the additional spell on the tactical glove, and Void Grip to remotely extract a small clump of soil, avoiding direct contact, and sealed it in the box he carried with him.

"The discovery of biomass, visible distortions, and clearly mutated tissue structures..."

They continued forward a short distance, searching for more complete clues and samples. As they went, the mage reported his observations, "The oak leaves tested under general conditions showed no change, indicating it's not one of the twenty-four common aberration factors. Further testing and verification are needed to reach a definitive conclusion. We need larger samples, preferably complete ones... Well, at least we should look."

There was a hint of helplessness in his voice.

Smoke and dust filled the air, debris was everywhere, and broken pieces were scattered all over the place. The terrifying shockwave and explosion destroyed everything nearby, making it quite difficult to find intact wreckage.

"Preliminary investigation of the ecological structure is as follows: Life sensing magic indicates that very few traces of blood from normal organisms have been found. This area lacks organisms at all levels of a normal dense forest ecosystem. All remains found so far are from birds; no remains of land animals have been found. This is a significant record and a major indication that needs to be reported to the command center."

After a moment, Kang De's slightly embarrassed voice rang out. "Could you explain a little?"

"It is my honor, Kang De Highness. The initial sightings were of an attack by a flock of mutated birds in the dense forest. We have not yet found any remains of any other organisms besides birds, whether mutated or normal... The forest ecosystem is extremely thriving; the lack of any other animal activity is an extreme anomaly. They may become prey or servants, just like these birds..."

Kang De had already vaguely understood this, but after this was pointed out, he immediately realized its meaning.

"But they didn't appear, nor were they killed in the explosion..."

The only explanation is that they escaped.

The investigation team leader replied, "In other words, it's almost certain that there are two possibilities: first, the existence of an interdimensional rift; second, the existence of an unknown underground nest structure."

"The first possibility has been ruled out because we performed phase sequencing immediately after the incident, and there was no discontinuous spatial folding at this location..."

That means...

Is it an underground nest?

Kang De asked, "Is it possible to locate it?"

"We can't pinpoint the location yet, but if we analyze and deconstruct the mutated organism samples, we might be able to track the aberrations and find the nest, but that will take time..." the mage replied. "The most urgent task is to determine the nature and type of this mutation."

Kang De said, "Then let's try another method first."

The combat suit spewed flames, increasing its altitude. Kang De searched the surroundings, and under the gaze of his Phoenix Eye, the place was desolate. In fact, it was because he had witnessed this scene of lifelessness and strange creatures running rampant that he decisively launched a saturation bombardment, clearing the area out of control.

The fact that the ground did not collapse after such a bombardment suggests that the so-called nest may be very deep, perhaps even like Zhuerban's underground colony...

In this way, the thick layer of soil can isolate the Phoenix Eye's gaze.

That would be disgusting.

He opened the communicator and said, "Stella, have those two mages we rescued earlier recovered yet? Ask them where they encountered the flock of birds."

We need to determine the general location first, then the Power of the Fire Thief can be put to use.

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PS1: I went for a walk today. I haven't moved around for two months... Ah, it's time to take out my long-forgotten Ring Fit Adventure.