"Beep! Beep-beep-beep!"
The miniature detector Monkey was carrying suddenly changed from a steady, faint ticking to a sharp, ear-piercing, nonstop alarm.
On the screen, the handful of red dots at the heart of the Nest multiplied and spread wildly, quickly becoming a vast cluster.
The scattered red markers throughout the territory were also converging on the Nest at breakneck speed.
"Boss, something's wrong! How did there suddenly get to be so many Abyss Beasts?" Nightingale's face had gone pale.
"No! This happened once last year. It's a Nest riot! Retreat, now! Abandon everything! Full speed!" Old Cat needed only one glance for his heart to sink. He let out a roar with every ounce of strength he had.
There was no hesitation. Their hard-won experience surviving countless brushes with death made their bodies react before their minds could catch up.
They tossed aside the bags of crystals they had just collected. Like startled rabbits, the five sprinted toward the way they had come—the direction where they had parked their motorcycles—as fast as they could.
"Roar!"
"Rumble!!"
Soon, a furious chorus of howls erupted behind them.
"Faster! Pick up the pace!" Old Cat shouted as he ran, glancing back to urge them on.
The three motorcycles appeared at the edge of their vision, like arks sent to save them.
"Monkey, send out a warning immediately! Coordinates B-07, Small Nest riot!" Old Cat yelled to the side as he ran.
"Sending it, sending it!" Monkey raced along while pulling a tactical tablet from his backpack. He worked it frantically, faster than he ever had in his life, oblivious to the sweat dripping onto the screen.
They knew the military's remote monitoring system might have detected the anomaly before they did. But no matter what, they had to do their part.
Monkey had