In the Snow Forest, a large force was making camp. Setting up camp in the wilderness for over a thousand people was no easy task; there was a great deal of work to do. They had to survey the surrounding terrain, determine whether they were in the territory of fierce beasts, find a water source, and so on. Most of the force consisted of seasoned Card Adepts, who had more experience in these matters than Chen Mu. Even so, they had spent a great deal of time feeling their way through marching a thousand-strong force through the jungle.
For any Card Adept Corps, a jungle march on this scale was a formidable challenge. So far, only the military had conducted specialized research into it. Yet because communication equipment could rarely meet the military's needs, even that research was virtually a blank slate. Once they entered the jungle, they relied more on the experience of jungle specialists.
On the high ground surrounding the camp, two Card Adepts stood guard every five hundred meters.
"Bear! Bear! Anything to report?"
"Iron Rhino! All clear!"
"Tiger! Tiger! Anything to report?"
"Iron Rhino! Nothing unusual!"
Each of these Card Adepts was equipped with a special Communication Card that allowed them to stay in contact within an area a hundred and fifty kilometers in diameter. "Iron Rhino" was tonight's password. Initially, everyone had disagreed over how to choose the passwords. Then, after seeing Wei'a drag back yet another beast, they unanimously decided that whatever beast Wei'a brought back would become that day's password.
Tonight, Wei'a had dragged back a Cold-Iron Rhino!
Several disc-shaped pieces of card machinery circled silently in the darkness. Equipped with powerful Detection Cards, they remained highly effective even at night amid the vast Snow Forest. Inside the camp, three Jungle Shuttlecraft