The surprise on Zhang Xiao's face deepened. Unable to help herself, she raised her voice slightly. "What's going on?
We've been watching the lake the whole time, hardly even daring to blink, but we didn't see any mutated beasts enter the water.
How did the number of Spiritual Energy fluctuations increase for no reason?"
The investigators around them began discussing it among themselves, all of them wearing confused and puzzled expressions.
Liu Jialin furrowed her brows in thought, her fingers unconsciously rubbing the weapon at her waist.
Listening to her companions' discussion, she slowly voiced a deduction. "Could there be a secret passage hidden beneath the lake, connected to the sea?
Could the mutated beasts from the sea have entered the lake through this concealed passage instead of coming overland?"
The moment she said this, everyone present fell silent.
Immediately afterward, they all reacted, their faces revealing looks of sudden enlightenment.
"The captain's guess could very well be true..."
"Yeah. When I was carrying out a mission in the wilderness, I encountered something similar.
An underground river beneath a valley was connected to a distant river, and the mutated beasts had secretly infiltrated through it."
"I never thought the mutated beasts from the sea would be so cautious. They actually thought of using this method to land on the island. There's really no defending against them."
The investigators spoke one after another, their voices carrying both emotion and increased vigilance.
Liu Jialin instructed Zhang Xiao beside her, "Take three people and guard the bamboo grove ahead.
Once the reinforcements arrive, immediately escort them here."
"Yes, Captain." Zhang Xiao promptly nodded and accepted the order.
She turned toward the two male team members and one female team member beside her, then gestured.
"Follow me."
Then she led the companions quickly down