Dangerous and Bountiful Catachan

Chief Apothecary Mikel met with Reaper Lord Sanchez, and after their discussion, the two decided to continue exploring the forest, using it as a place to temper the Shadow of Order.

After discussion, they divided the dense forest into three areas and established standards for the teams exploring each area.

Within a 50-kilometer radius of the dense forest, near the various Catachan tribes, the probability of encountering dangerous creatures such as the Catachan Barking Toad is low.

There are forty teams exploring the edge areas, numbered from twenty-three to sixty-two, and the core force of each team is a "hunter".

After the Battle of the "Wheel of Fire," and with over nine hundred members transferred to the Fourth Legion, the 7th Legion still had one thousand four hundred and seventy-two members of the Court of the Black Duke.

Despite paying a heavy price at the Wheel of Fire, the 7th Legion, having followed Nimrod in his long campaigns, remains the Chapter with the most Royal Court members.

Each team exploring the outskirts of the dense forest consists of thirty "hunters," one "Apothecary," fifty Shadow of Order, and twenty Catachan Warrior.

The Reaper Lord hope that the Shadow of Order and the Catachan Warrior will learn from each other.

There are twenty teams in the middle of the dense forest, numbered from three to twenty-two.

These squads consist of ten "Provoker," one "Beast Tamer," twenty Shadow of Order, and ten Catachan elites.

In the central area, there were only two teams, numbered one and two, led by Mikel and Sanchez respectively.

Meanwhile, the Shadow of Order have infiltrated the various tribes.

One group was responsible for selecting new recruits for the legion; they gathered eligible children and conducted the selection process.

Another group was responsible for selecting soldiers from among the adults to form the Catachan Auxilia.

After the meeting, Mikel did not set off immediately. Instead, he led the "Beast Tamer" to his new pet, the Catachan Devil.

The "Vampire," dressed in a black hooded robe, wearing a mask, and with a black scarf around his neck, spoke.

"I will install runic saddles on the back of the Catachan Devil, and I will instruct you in the process."

"I want to see your trained pets in a month. This is my test for you."

"Before we begin teaching, I want to tell you about the importance of choosing the right subjects to tame."

"First, do not choose the Catachan Barking Toad. Although using a combination of drugs to make them dizzy should allow you to tame them, they are too unstable and may self-destruct if provoked by your fighting brothers, your servants."

"..."

At the same moment, the "hunters" set off in their teams.

Stepping into the jungle, the "Apothecary" felt as if they had entered a dangerous yet treasure-filled paradise.

The "Apothecary" of Squad 54 encountered a group of Mirel Catcher four hours after his squad entered the forest.

After dealing with the tentacle that suddenly leaped up from the ground and launched an attack, the "Apothecary" used a detection probe to examine the remaining tentacles.

A moment later, the "Apothecary" said with delight.

"The toxin contained in Mirel Catcher Paralysis 13.64 times more potent than the anesthetic currently used by the Legion."

Just as the "Apothecary" was getting excited, four leaves suddenly sprang up and wrapped tightly around his body.

The "Apothecary's" face was covered by jaw-like leaves, his throat was choked, and his body was entangled by two leaves.

Upon seeing the "Apothecary's" body being dragged, the Shadow of Order immediately sprang into action.

The hunter, closest to the "Apothecary," charged toward the carnivorous plant, its Power Blade flashing as it severed the connection between the leaves and the food.

He struck again with his sword, killing the predator.

Then, he went to the "Apothecary" and carefully pulled the jaw-shaped leaflet with his hand.

The hunter was surprised to find that even though the leaf had separated from the main body and most of it had been torn apart by the Disruption Field, the remaining small part was still tightly wrapped around the Apothecary.

The leader of the Catachan squad in the group came over and spoke in Vostonian Language.

"We call this plant a catcher; they move their leaves..."

He wasn't yet proficient in Vostonian Language, so he switched to Catachan to continue.

It actively seeks out prey and uses its jaw-like leaves to trap its victims in the surrounding area.

He switched back to Vostonian Language: "You must act immediately, or he will suffocate."

The "hunter" captain also came over, and he could barely understand what he meant from the language spoken by the Catachan.

He became the captain of this exploration team not only because of his command abilities, but also because of his rapid mastery of the Catachan language.

He recalled the information issued by the Primarch, verified it against the data, and confirmed that the plant was indeed the Catachan Catcher.

The captain told his team, "We must provide immediate assistance."

As the commander, he decided to take responsibility himself.

He drew his Combat Knife from his waist and swiftly and carefully sliced through the blades.

Especially when cutting into the face and neck, the movements are deliberately slowed down.

Two minutes later, the leaves that had entangled the "Apothecary" were all cut off.

The "Apothecary's" face and neck were covered in blood, and his upper body was a bloody mess, with his ribs exposed.

The "Apothecary's" Larraman's Organ are activated due to injury, and the skin replacement tissue generated by Larraman Cells quickly forms scars.

The Catachan watched in astonishment as the wounded Shadow of Order quickly stopped bleeding from its body.

The Apothecary, his mind hazy, struggled to pull out emergency medication from the side of his backpack with his right arm and injected it into his lower left shoulder.

He said with difficulty, "Take me back to... the Medical Deck."

With each word he uttered, it felt like his vocal cords were being cut by a knife.

"You two, take the Apothecary back."

With the Apothecary injured, the "Hunter" captain was forced to abandon the exploration and ordered a return.

Initially, the "Apothecary" was still able to walk on his own due to the stimulant components in the emergency medication.

But after walking three kilometers, the "Apothecary" still fainted.

Two "hunters" carried the Apothecary back to the Void Hunter and onto the Medical Deck.

After a day of intense emergency treatment, the "Apothecary" woke up, but he was left with permanent scars.

His face and neck were covered in dense scars, like the cast iron scales on the body of Iron-Scaled Kraken.

The captains of each exploration team received an exploration briefing from Exploration Team No. 54 a day later.

They deeply understood that even as Shadow of Order with keen senses, they had to remain vigilant at all times in the forests of Catachan.

The animals and plants of Catachan will seize any opportunity to prey on humans.

On the other hand, the "Apothecary" also realized that the jungles of Catachan harbored plants that could be used to make medicines.

A month later, Mikel stood in the newly set up camp, inspecting each of the pets brought back by the "Beast Tamer".

He saw the Shambling Mamothas, which lived in the volcanic region, and could fight the Catachan Devil to a standstill.

He saw large, winged, Dark Bat lurking in the upper canopy of the jungle near the equator in Catachan, devouring their prey.

He also saw flying Swamp Mamba and Catachan Black Viper.

After inspecting all the domesticated pets, Mikel said with satisfaction.

"Very good, each of you has tamed your own pet, which proves that you have become qualified 'Beast Tamer'."

"Becoming an excellent 'Beast Tamer' isn't enough. Your next task is to help the Thunderwolf adapt to the environment of Catachan."

"This is a challenge. They have lived in the icy, snowy Fenris for generations, and now we need to help them adapt to this humid, warm forest world."

Mikel had just finished giving instructions when he saw a group of Shadow of Order and Catachan, armed and hacking at vines.

[They're impossible to eradicate! Every night, they just appear out of nowhere, as if they're consciously trying to destroy human camps.]

The Chief Apothecary walked toward the conference room, deep in thought.

A moment later, the meeting began.

First Company Captain Thibault spoke first.

"My lord, the Chapter has suffered 274 casualties in the past month."

His tone betrayed his sadness, but he quickly composed himself.

"According to statistics, 34 people died on the first day, 27 on the second day, and 4 on the last day."

"Overall, after the Shadow of Order of the Chapter adapted to the environment of Catachan, the death toll dropped sharply."

"Fifty-four of them were buried in Dreadnought, continuing to serve the Chapter."

The Reaper Lord's eyes were filled with sorrow as he issued his command.

"Summarize the lessons learned, and each team leader must repeatedly emphasize this."

The "Hunter," responsible for forming the Auxilia, was the second to speak and report to the Reaper Lord.