Morning work began as usual in the Tsukasa Faction.
People had been mysteriously disappearing for days.
Uei Yo stood in the center of camp with a frown, his whole body tense and his expression grim as he scanned the scattered workers before him.
The orderly teams of days past were nowhere to be seen. Only a handful of people stood scattered about, doing even the simplest tasks carelessly.
The unease in Uei Yo's heart grew heavier. Frowning, he couldn't help asking under his breath, "Where is everyone?"
"Where did all the others go?!"
After his two questions, the few people left around him exchanged looks and shook their heads. Not one could explain what had happened.
Overnight, more than half the camp's manpower had vanished into thin air. Nobody knew where they had gone.
The air in camp was heavy and oppressive. An inexplicable fear hung like a thin mist over everyone's hearts.
Yo gritted his teeth and suppressed his mounting unease.
At this point, dwelling on the missing workers was pointless. All he could do was keep the remaining team steady and barely maintain the camp's operations.
"Stop standing around. Get back to work!"
He barked the order in a low voice, forcibly suppressing his chaotic thoughts.
He forced himself to continue supervising the construction of defensive traps, trying to bury his panic in work.
In the shadows of the dense woods outside camp, a tiny figure darted swiftly along.
Little Watermelon moved lightly and nimbly, using the vegetation as cover as he slipped silently around the outside of the Tsukasa Faction's defensive line.
He committed every enemy position to memory.
Once he confirmed that he had scouted everything, Little Watermelon immediately turned back and raced to their hidden camp to report his findings.
Senku listened to his clear,