Forest edge.
Two figures lay still, the night flowing over them.
After a long while, one of them slightly opened its eyes, twisted its body, and then rose up.
His gaze was fixed on the depths of the forest.
"Is it time?" a voice asked from the side. The figure next to him seemed to hear the noise, opened his eyes, and sat up.
"Still a little short," Qin Yu replied, glancing over in the direction of the object.
Because of concerns about unknown dangers in the forest, they did not immediately begin exploring after leaving last night, as advised by their captain. Instead, they waited at the edge of the forest.
The plan was to begin the operation an hour before dawn.
Shen Heng looked up at the sky.
The sky was still pitch black, with no sign of dawn.
However, thanks to their sense of time, they can roughly determine what time it is.
Lowering his gaze, Shen Heng looked into the depths of the forest.
"It doesn't matter, let's go." He stood up.
"Aren't we going to wait a bit longer?" Qin Yu asked from the side.
"It doesn't matter," Shen Heng said, lifting his leg and walking into the woods.
Qin Yu paused for a moment, then followed, her body swaying as she went.
The two headed deeper into the forest.
Because of concerns about potential dangers, they didn't move very fast, but they weren't slow either.
Trees flashed past the two of them.
Qin Yu followed the captain forward, cautiously looking around.
Apart from being somewhat dark due to the lack of light, the forest appeared no different from what she had seen before.
"Be careful, if there's real danger, even the Black Rat Clan can't handle this. Although you and your captain's abilities can help you survive to some extent, you're only at Tier 2 or Tier 3 right now. If you encounter any danger, it will be very troublesome!" The voice in my mind reminded me with concern.
"Yes, I understand, Sister Liya!" Qin Yu responded in her mind.
Hearing her response, the voice in my mind relaxed slightly and then asked, "But I wonder what exactly that danger is that it can't even handle those Black Rat?"
"Hmm... I'd like to see it. I wish you hadn't turned out like this!"
Qin Yu responded in a low voice, " The Black Rat Clan has several Fifth Tier members, even..."
The sound of footsteps continued through the woods.
It continued until the sun rose and the sky became bright, before slowly coming to a stop.
"It seems... there's nothing special. Was my previous thought wrong?" Qin Yu said softly from the side. They had been traveling through the forest for so long without finding anything.
Apart from being quieter than usual, the forest was still the same forest.
"No, even if there were danger, it wouldn't be so easy to encounter, especially since we've only been in the forest for an hour." Shen Heng said, glancing to the side and walking towards a hilltop. "The fact that we didn't encounter anything this time just means our luck wasn't too bad!"
"But does this mean the possibility of no danger tonight has increased?" Qin Yu followed up, trying to analyze the situation using the captain's usual method of problem-solving.
"Yes, it's risen, but the probability of it rising is not high. There's a high chance that there will still be problems tonight, otherwise those Black Rat wouldn't have only allowed mining until before sunset." Shen Heng paused, avoiding a piece of loose rock on the mountainside.
Qin Yu nodded. "So, we still need to be careful from now on, right?"
"Hmm, but the reconnaissance time tomorrow night can be extended a bit." Shen Heng said in a deep voice, but his steps stopped at that moment.
He stood atop the hill, gazing into the distance.
Qin Yu paused, then looked in that direction as well.
In the far distance, one could vaguely see several groups of Calamity Beast heading outwards.
"Captain, what should we do now?" Qin Yu turned to look at the captain.
"Let's head towards the outer ring of mountains and see if there's a chance to get out from there!" Shen Heng turned his gaze and said in a heavy tone.
Seemingly sensing the heaviness in the captain's words, Qin Yu whispered, "The chances aren't great?"
"If there hadn't been the previous riot, there would still have been a chance, but now, it's going to be difficult to go that way, especially with some new rules that are clearly targeting the rioting of the Calamity Beast!" Shen Heng said in a deep voice.
There was no response, and Qin Yu slowly nodded.
The rules prohibiting conversation are clearly intended to prevent the Calamity Beast below from linking up.
While preventing that, it is also quite possible that some Calamity Beast might try to escape over those mountains!
"Alright, come and take a look," Shen Heng said, then resumed walking forward after stopping.
They continued exploring towards the outer mountains.
We did not encounter a single Black Rat along the way.
They didn't see it even when they arrived at the foot of the high mountains surrounding Black Stone Valley.
However, they did not make any move, but waited in a place a little distance away from the mountain.
About half an hour later, several Black Rat came into their sight.
The Black Rat were patrolling.
Some looked up at the mountainside to see if any Calamity Beast were climbing; others looked into the forest to see if they could spot any other Calamity Beast.
However, overall, they weren't particularly vigilant; they mostly just glanced at the objects casually.
And during this process, they were also chatting with other Black Rat.
Shen Heng and Qin Yu hid in the woods, watching in silence.
Even after the Black Rat left, they showed no intention of coming out and continued to wait in the same spot.
Then.
They might be spaced half an hour apart, or forty or fifty minutes apart, or even more than an hour apart.
Several Black Rat would then patrol from the foot of the mountain.
Furthermore, it wasn't just low-ranking Black Rat patrolling the area.
On several occasions, one could see a Fourth Tier Black Rat slowly flying along the high mountain.
Shen Heng pondered deeply.
It would take at least half a day to climb out.
In other words, they only need half a day to disappear from the sight of those Black Rat Black Rat, or to avoid being noticed by them.
This seems like an impossible thing.
Leaving aside the occasional Fourth Tier Black Rat that fly by, Qin Yu's current condition alone doesn't support her ability to be maintained for such a long time.
Once she loses her ability to sustain it.
Being situated on the mountain, exposed in a large area, they were constantly at risk of being discovered by low-level Black Rat.
Solve them?
To be honest, if the Two-Horned Lizard and the others were to stay behind and clean up the patrolling Black Rat, there might still be a chance.
But is it possible?
In other words, relying solely on these resources, it would be virtually impossible to cross these mountains and get out.