"But I'm sure it'll be ready soon."
Wang Ming stuck the branch into the crack in the cement floor, stood up, took off his glasses, and wiped the floor one last time with his sleeve.
After putting it back on, he looked straight at Jiangnan, and his expression finally turned somber.
"This issue originally only existed in academic circles."
His voice was low, as if afraid of disturbing something unseen, "But things are different now."
"It had barely dawned when hundreds of people like you inexplicably appeared in An City."
"But most people are not a threat to the Soul-Devouring Monster, but rather health packs, a buffet."
Jiangnan remained silent for a moment, his fingertips stroking the Godslayer Spear.
His memory was triggered by Wang Ming's third-stage description of a name that wasn't too distant.
Hungry Ghost.
Rose Middle School is also in its growth stage and can continue to evolve.
He nipped both an A-Class and an S-class dog in the bud.
If it had continued to evolve back then, it might have been even more troublesome than the people of the Desolate God Society.
The Soul-Devouring Monster that Wang Ming is talking about now is most likely of the same origin as them.
Their nests are in An City.
In An City, hundreds of trial participants are being chased and have their Shadow gnawed away by Ghost Infant.
For every one of them who dies, the unseen entity gains an additional experience point.
Even more critically, he hadn't yet found the target designated by the Sky Curtain.
If the target happens to fall within the nest's predation range, then killing more Ghost Infant here would be meaningless.
No matter how good the puzzle is, if the box is gone, the whole puzzle is useless.
He smashed the cement bricks beneath his feet with the butt of his Godslayer Spear.
Where is the nest?
Jiangnan was too lazy to throw out any more sticky notes, and his tone when he spoke no longer sounded like he was asking a question.
It's more like an officer pointing out an enemy flag on a map, ready to be captured.
"Right here."
Wang Ming turned around and pointed to the due south of the park.
Beyond the withered lawn, past a row of uprooted willows, lies a dense forest.
There were no birdsong or insect chirps in the woods; even the wind rustling through the leaves was barely audible.
"I was investigating in a residential area when I encountered Soul-Devouring Monster and was chased by it."
"But as soon as we reached the eastern shore of this lake, the number of Ghost Infant began to surge abnormally, with a density far exceeding the range of random distribution."
"Then the second-stage Ghost Brat emerged from the forest, not just passing by, but more like patrolling its territory."
Wang Ming pulled the tree branch that was stuck in the ground and threw it into the water.
"And did you notice? Those Ghost Infant weren't just an ordinary hunting pack that scattered after reaching the water's edge."
"They're clearly afraid to go into the water, yet they won't leave."
"They didn't clear a path for the leader until the second phase began."
"This isn't foraging; it's territorial defense."
"They are protecting what's in this forest."
Jiangnan did not respond.
His gaze went over Wang Ming's shoulder and up into the dense forest.
"Lead the way."
Jiangnan left behind only two words.
I should add something first.
Wang Ming rolled up his sleeves, revealing an old bandage on his wrist.
"I'm just an ordinary person, I don't have Supernatural Ability, my physical fitness is just barely passable, I haven't even undergone the most basic enhancement."
"I probably can't be of any help in your fight; at most, I can be a commentator on the sidelines."
He thought for a moment, then added, "If you think I'm in your way, I can draw you a detailed picture of the dense forest."
"I secretly observed the routes they took to drag their prey back to their nests, and I roughly remember a few main paths."
You can go by yourself.
Jiangnan stopped, glanced at Wang Ming, and then took out a note from his pocket.
[You are currently the only one who knows what these monsters are.]
[I don't know what's inside the nest. But you must know, so... you must go.]
Wang Ming looked down at the note and remained silent for a moment.
"Good."
He stuffed the sticky note into his breast pocket as well. "On a side note, are you really that quiet, or do you prefer writing sticky notes?"
"Don't be embarrassed. Powerful people often have quirks, I can understand."
Jiangnan ignored him.
He can't exactly say that speaking is equivalent to expending an arsenal, can he?
Seeing that he was being ignored, Wang Ming stopped talking and turned to walk into the dense forest.
The entrance to the dense forest was a narrow path buried under dead branches, with large patches of black sap clinging to the tree trunks on both sides, dripping down the bark.
The air was thick with the stench of blood, and several pieces of gnawed bone lay scattered on the ground, their shapes resembling human finger bones.
Wang Ming squatted down, picked up a bone, glanced at it using the reflection in his glasses, and then put it back in its place.
"It's only been a short time."
"The bone marrow has been completely sucked out, leaving only an empty shell."
"A first-stage Ghost Infant couldn't leave these kinds of teeth marks; it must have been done by a second-stage Ghost Brat."
"It ate at least ten people before moving on to the second stage."
How many are still alive inside?
Jiangnan's Godslayer Spear hung at his side, its tip leaving a charred mark on the ground covered with decaying leaves.
"Ghost Infant don't fight amongst themselves."
Wang Ming stood up and continued walking deeper into the dense forest. "They share the same energy pool, act as a group, and obey the hive commands of higher-ranking individuals."
"If you're asking about the number of living individuals, then I estimate it's no less than five hundred."
"If you're asking whether there are any other second-stage options..."
"I hope not, after all, the one you just killed was tough enough."
"But that's almost impossible. If nothing unexpected happens, we'll likely encounter the third stage of the ghosts."
After walking less than three hundred steps, the end of the dense forest suddenly opened up into a bright and open space.
A deep pit appeared in the center of the field of vision, with an estimated diameter of over fifty meters, and its edges were surrounded by a dense nest of Soul-Devouring Monster.
It was something like a honeycomb, made up of compressed chunks of black energy crystals.
The surface is studded with broken bones and fragments of decayed clothing, and occasionally half a human tooth can be seen.
Below the pit's mouth, it was dark and bottomless.
Only a series of extremely low vibrations came from the deepest part, like some unimaginably large organ slowly writhing.
Wang Ming stopped at the edge of the pit and took a scalpel out of his white coat pocket.
Then he picked up the crystals and put them in his mouth.
"Are you out of your mind?"
Jiangnan's Godslayer Spear swept across, knocking the weapon from Wang Ming's hand.
The scalpel spun a dozen times in mid-air before falling into the deep pit and disappearing into the darkness.
"Don't worry, it's not poisonous."
"It's a concentrated nutrient that solidifies into crystals after being catalyzed by a certain biological enzyme."
"It's something that makes me feel excited and comfortable, like a tonic for the soul."
Wang Ming stood up unhurriedly. "They're using these things to build their nest, which means incubation has already begun."
"Something is being nurtured down there, and the amount of soul energy it requires is outrageously large."
Jiangnan ignored his explanation, his gaze sweeping down the pit wall before his dark red eyes between his brows opened.
The Watcher Eye's function is essentially to release an area of effect.
The Extinction Tribulation Light concentrates the domain into a single point, extending in a straight line and compressing energy to create an attack.
However, if the straight line is changed to fork, the energy will be dispersed, allowing for undetected detection!
Countless thin red lines probed into the pit, piercing the darkness and transmitting the scene at the bottom back into his visual nerves.
Then he fell silent for three seconds, which was unusual for him.
Two things.
Jiangnan held the Godslayer Spear horizontally in front of him and threw out the note again.
[One, there are still eight living people below.]
[Secondly, that second-stage unit is not unique.]
At least nine Ghost Brat were guarding the bottom of the pit, and in the very center was something that hadn't fully formed yet... but it wasn't far from hatching.
Wang Ming's face darkened.
The two of them said that sentence at the same time.
It has three stages.