Su Xiao looked at the plain in front of him, where the vegetation clearly showed signs of being gnawed by animals.
"Is this the explosion zone?"
Old Bar gazed into the distance at a dirt pit: "See that dirt pit?"
"My most respected brother was blasted to death there. He was a warrior who stole Bahamut’s egg."
Su Xiao’s pupils slightly narrowed; there was actually someone daring enough to steal an egg from Bahamut. But he thought about how he had previously beaten Bahamut’s young a few times.
"Karlo, how many times left today?"
Old Bar looked at Karlo beside him.
"Good, then you lead the way."
As soon as Old Bar finished speaking, Karlo walked toward the explosion zone.
Karlo’s expression was vacant, unconcerned about stepping on an exploding ant, and simply walked forward.
Old Bar followed, and Su Xiao walked behind him, with Bubu Wang taking up the rear.
A sharp sound came from the front, and Karlo, who was walking upfront, stopped.
A blast wave spread out, blowing Su Xiao’s clothes to flutter, and a severed leg whizzed past him—it was Karlo’s leg.
Undoubtedly, Karlo had stepped on an exploding ant, and although it exploded, it didn’t make a loud sound, more like bursting a gas packet.
Brushing the mud off his head, Su Xiao looked ahead.
A large crater with a three-meter diameter appeared, and inside, Karlo was left with only the upper half of his body.
Old Bar sighed, advanced, and dragged Karlo out of the pit. From his rear waistband, he took out an animal’s stomach sac, a water bladder.
Opening the water bag, Old Bar poured a light red liquid from it, directly onto Karlo’s withered cheeks.
The plant roots within Karlo’s cheeks began to tremble, and his eyes suddenly shot open.
Like plant regeneration, Karlo’s lower half gradually regrew.
A dozen seconds later, Karlo got to his feet as if nothing had happened and continued walking forward.
Su Xiao noticed one thing: Karlo had shrunk. Previously, Karlo was at least three meters tall, but now only about two meters seventy.
Although both Karlo and Old Bar were suspicious, Su Xiao asked no questions.
The team continued forward without a word. Karlo probed ahead, occasionally stepping on exploding ants.
Su Xiao, following from the rear, held a small bag containing gunpowder, which was derived from dismantling the Spider Queen’s bullets.
He scattered tiny amounts of gunpowder along their route, which were invisible to the eye but detectable by Bubu Wang’s sense of smell, ensuring a safe path on their return.
Two-thirds of the way into the explosion zone, Karlo stepped on another exploding ant, and after recovering, he stopped advancing.
Karlo had been blasted five times, so he stood like a log, refusing to advance.
Old Bar asked tentatively, "How about overdrawing a few times?"
"No, I’ll die; it hurts."
Karlo flatly refused, and Old Bar was somewhat helpless.
"My dear ally, you see..."
Old Bar looked at Su Xiao.
"No can do; I can’t sense the exploding ants’ positions."
Su Xiao wasn’t lying; he indeed couldn’t sense the exploding ants’ positions.
Old Bar hesitated for a while before stepping to the front. His collaboration with Su Xiao was based on using Su Xiao’s exquisite sword technique.
At this time, the Insect Tribe had already sensed the few invaders, and going further a bit more, the Insect Queen would dispatch subordinates to attack them.
By then, the Mother Nest would be entirely sealed, and entering it would require forceful destruction. Old Bar had tried many methods and failed until he saw Su Xiao’s sharp slashes on the battlefield, deciding to cooperate.
This time, the old fox Old Bar led the way. This old fellow wasn’t as straightforward as Karlo; he bent down and checked carefully before each step.
Su Xiao was somewhat puzzled; with so many people in the Yasenman Tribe, why didn’t Old Bar bring more people to scout?
It wasn’t that Old Bar didn’t want more scouts. Although he was the leader of the Yasenman, its internals weren’t united, and many coveted his position.
If the tribe knew he intended to obtain a regeneration egg, he couldn’t remain the leader.
For Blood Vine Warriors, although the regeneration egg was a means of survival, it was scorned.
The Blood Vine Warrior’s fate was to return to the sun, commonly known as self-destruction~.
Obviously, Old Bar didn’t want to die by self-explosion, so he risked coming to the Insect Tribe to get a regeneration egg.
Old Bar, at the front, hadn’t walked far before stopping, appearing to hesitate.
"The number of exploding ants is abnormal."
Old Bar squatted down, examining the soil ahead.
"No choice, I’ll have to use that trick. Hope my body can take it."
While speaking, Old Bar extended his dried-up hand.
Old Bar’s five fingers naturally detached and fell to the ground.
After the fingers landed, they quickly buried into the soil, and in less than a minute, five vines broke through the earth. As they grew to several dozen centimeters tall, they gradually took on a humanoid shape.
The roots of the vines broke. The five vines formed humanoids, transforming into five vine-woven small figures, tottering forward.
At this moment, Old Bar was panting heavily, gulping red liquid into his mouth. A wave of heat spread around him.
With the vine figures scouting, the path ahead was noticeably safer.
Ten minutes later, only two vine figures remained, and the three had reached the explosion zone’s end.
The explosion zone was only the outermost region of the insect nest; the remaining path would be more dangerous.
Old Bar’s fingers had regenerated, but Su Xiao noticed the temperature around Old Bar was rising.
Instinctively moving away, Su Xiao suspected this old guy might self-explode at any moment.
Now Old Bar’s expression could only be described as ferocious, like a beast cornered.
"Keep going, charge straight through."
Old Bar stared at the massive Mother Nest in the distance, its entrance sealed.
A clattering of armor limbs occurred as a large group of scorpions gathered around.
There were hundreds of scorpions, but such a number couldn’t stop the few.
Old Bar chose this moment to invade the Mother Nest for a reason; the insect tribe had to deploy troops to the main battlefield, leaving the rear vulnerable.
The scorched black-shelled scorpions roared, their foul stench filling the air.
"I need cooling, so I beg you."
Old Bar took out a compass, hesitated briefly, then tossed it to Su Xiao. The most update n0vels are published on 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭·𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓮·𝙣𝙚𝙩
Catching the compass, Su Xiao’s face broke into a grin. With a retreat path secured, he could choose whether to fight or flee. But knowing the Mother Nest held many benefits, he wasn’t leaving yet.
"This is the attitude for cooperation."
Su Xiao drew his Dragon Slash from his waist as the scorpions approached from all directions.
The stench from the scorpions grew unbearably intense. Su Xiao’s few slashes killed the scorpions within three meters, but severed limbs and green blood flew everywhere, which was nothing against hundreds.
Seeing this, Su Xiao ceased his slashing.
In Old Bar’s puzzled gaze, Su Xiao sheathed the Dragon Slash, took a deep breath.
The Dragon Slash unsheathed, a white blade aura radiating outwards, thin and circular, spreading rapidly.
The circular blade aura dissipated after reaching over ten meters, and the surrounding scorpions froze in place.