Inside his cave mansion, Su Ming rose and walked to the window.
The mountain breeze stirred his black robes, and his partially incorporeal left arm shimmered faintly with a transparent sheen beneath his sleeve.
There probably wouldn't be many peaceful days left.
The anomalies had reacted faster than he had expected.
Over the next two days, anomalous scouts appeared more and more frequently.
Their numbers rose from three waves at first to seven or eight, and their scouting range steadily expanded, showing signs of penetrating toward the encampment's core.
The Investigation Battalion followed Su Ming's orders.
They only made a token effort to drive the scouts away from the outskirts, without launching an all-out sweep.
They deliberately let a few scouts reach the edge of the encampment, allowing them to see the Alliance conducting its regular patrols and expanding the camp.
The anomalous scouts received the false impression that "everything was normal."
Sure enough, they made no rash moves, merely continuing to prowl around the outskirts as though awaiting orders from the rear.
When Su Ming received the report, his gaze darkened.
The enemy's caution suggested that their main force was most likely following behind.
The anomalies must have noticed that contact with their core stronghold had been lost and sent scouts to verify the situation.
Once they confirmed what had happened, the next step would be an army bearing down on them.
The Alliance had little time left to build its strength.
That morning, Su Ming was working through array calculations in his cave mansion.
He wanted to incorporate the soul-stabilizing patterns of the Soul-Preserving Jade into the Mountain Protection Array to improve its overall defenses.
Just as he reached a crucial point in his calculations, a commotion broke out outside.
Then a voice rang out in the distance.