After that low growl vanished, every stray sound in the polluted forest fell silent.
The scale-like leaves that had been rustling moments ago all folded shut. Several low-tier beasts hiding in rock crevices tucked their tails and scrambled into burrows. Farther away, a row of giant trees swayed one after another, yet no moving figure could be seen between their crowns!
Below the rocky slope, the Polluted Star Beast Juvenile turned its single eye, its gaze shifting between the players and the northeast. It still wanted to feed, but its broken crystal spines had flattened tightly against its back.
It let out a brief low cry toward the northeast, its front claws digging into the rocky slope as it hesitated to pounce on the players.
"Hunter, report your position!" the squad leader ordered cautiously.
Two Ghost Blades used grappling lines to leap onto adjacent stone pillars. One moved along the treetops toward the northeast, changing footholds several times. Even with enhanced vision, he could not see the target, only rows of trees shaking from far to near. The other crouched halfway down and pressed his palm against the stone. Soon, the entire pillar began to tremble.
Both tried to lock onto the underground target through their panels. But the target bar flickered repeatedly; the marker that had just appeared vanished again in an instant. They could not lock onto whatever was beneath them.
"Northeast. There's probably something huge getting closer. The detection panel's nothing but garbled text. I can't read its tier!"
"It's at least twenty levels above us!"
"Could be a native Hunter coming to harvest a free buffet..."
"Then what useful information did you get?"
"Emmm... Chovy's, the vibrations are almost under our feet. That thing seems to be underground!"
The squad leader's temple twitched. "Say that last