1000 Scouts, 5000 Mobility Experts, 20000 Fighters, and finally, 2000 Maintenance Crew, reaching a total of 28,000 Cooter Clansmen that formed the Raid Group.
Leading this sizable force were a total of ten individuals part of the strongest echelons of the Cooter Clan.
The force of 28,000 was evenly split between the five Battleships. And leading them were Raid Captains and Vice Captains respectively.
The Battleships were named based on their position in the fleet. The one leading at the forefront was called Whispering Winds. The one manning their rear was called Trailing Waves. Guarding the sides on the right was the Battleship named Drifting Sea, and guarding the sides on the left was Stagnant Lake.
Finally, moving in the centre of the fleet was the Battleship called Central Peak. Serving as its Vice Captain was Raurau, having been demoted to this position because Settlement Leader Bnapbnap had taken charge as the Raid Captain.
There were five Raid Captains in total, each manning a Battleship. They were all Settlement Leaders. And originating from the 11th Settlement, Bnapbnap was senior to the other Settlement Leader. Hence, he took up position on Central Peak.
Bnapbnap was only at the Body Stage, not even at its peak. However, he was a Gold Grade existence and possessed enough power to handle most situations on his own.
The five Vice Captains and five Captains gathered on a stage placed before the crowd of Cooter Clansmen. Bnapbnap walked forward and waved towards the excited crowd, "I’m sure everyone is aware of the Nirclick Invasion that has plagued us with troubles recently."
A cloud formed overhead as he raised his hand and clenched his fist. In response, droplets of rain fell over the crowd. Each droplet had a decent amount of information held within, serving as an Information Slip.
As the rain fell, the Cooter Clansmen in the region opened their mouths and casually drank the droplets. The information meant to be conveyed to them had been split across multiple droplets. Hence, the Cooter Clansmen kept their mouths open until the respective droplets fell inside.
Once there were just duplicates, they closed their mouths and began to digest the obtained information.
A few minutes later, once everyone was up to speed, Bnapbnap addressed the group, "What you’ve just experienced is information related to the abilities of a Narlakk, the Gold Grade mutation a Nirclick can experience."
"The pollen released by a Narlakk cannot be detected by most of us. It makes it impossible for us to detect if one of us has fallen under the influence of a Narlakk." He sighed, "That poses us a significant risk."
The crowd grew restless in response. But without wasting any time, Bnapbnap made a signal, at which the Raid Captains dispersed across the place, taking up spots on each side, while the last of them landed in the centre of the crowd.
"We cannot detect them. However," Bnapbnap snorted, "Since we understand how their ability works, we can take countermeasures."
"Everyone!" He uttered coldly, causing his voice to blast like thunder across the region, "Slit your bellies!"
Mystic Mist Art–Perfect Incision!
It was a Skill that allowed a Cooter Clansman to make a cut on their body leading directly to the fat deposits with surgical precision. When activated, it condensed a sphere of water resembling an octopus with non-uniform legs.
The length of each leg was specified in a ratio meant to reach the respective fat deposit across the body. And once activated, it expanded in accordance to the specified ratio and proportion, behaving as a single unit to cut into the body.
This was the Skill developed by the Cooter Clan, which Bnapbnap taught everyone at the scene using the Information Slip. And at his command, every Cooter Clansman at the scene activated the Skill at once.
Mystic Mist Art–Mist Vortex!
Once the incision was made, a second Skill was activated, whose function was to cleanly suck out the entirety of the fat deposit across the body through the respective incisions made in proximity.
The mist would invade the body through the incisions and mix into the fat deposits. The mist was created to be lipophylic in nature, which meant possessing a high affinity to interact and mix with fat and other lipids.
Once the mist had interacted with all fat content, it would flow out through the incision. This was the function of the Skill of Mist Vortex.
Masses of fat gathered into a pulp before every Cooter Clansman. Majority of the Cooter Clansmen activated the two Skills without hesitation. Some did display bouts of hesitation, but not enough to overpower their intent to activate the Skills.
There was a small group, dispersed among the crowd, who refused to activate the two Skills. As if prepared beforehand, Bnapbnap snorted once.
The water that had collected on the floor thanks to the previous rain suddenly rose up, converging upon the individuals who had refrained from activating the two Skills. And like springs, it launched them into the sky.
The Vice Captains, including Raurau, unleashed a gale that swatted the launched individuals to the side and sealed them within a container of mist. While the Vice Captains maintained the container, ensuring the pollen couldn’t leak out, the Captains took action.
A bluish-white radiance covered the region as the five Raid Captains unleashed arcs of lightning that behaved no different from streams of water, flickering between rows of the Cooter Clansmen and leaving behind burnt soot in the wake.
All the extracted fat had been burnt to a crisp.
"Focus on recovery for the time being." Bnapbnap addressed the crowd, whose Prana was already working to replenish the destroyed fat deposits. Once regenerated, this will be their pure deposits, without any traces of a Narlakk’s pollen.
The Captains then approached the mist cage where over a hundred people had been trapped inside, screaming in panic.
"Leader, what is the meaning of this?"
"I’ve been loyal to the Clan for decades now. This is extremely insulting!"
"You dare do this? I’ll destabilise your position!"
"C-Captain, I am innocent! Please, save me!"
There was a plethora of screams, from pleads to threats. Bnapbnap remained unconcerned as he eyed the Vice Captains, "Extract it manually!"
"Yes," Raurau took the lead and condensed a vortex of mist that targeted an individual within the mist container.
"You dare?" The individual resisted, but was instantly overpowered by Raurau’s finesse. The clash of mist serving as a Spirit Weapon between the two individuals didn’t last a second, as soon, piles of fat from his body were getting sucked out.
Once enough of it was extracted out, the Cooter Clansman seemed to realise what was happening as he promptly activated the two Skills, hastening the purification process.
A flicker of lightning later, he was out of the mist container, fully purified and kneeling on the floor.
"I am ashamed!" He slammed his forehead into the floor, "I never realised even for a moment that I was acting against the Clan’s interests."
"Everything that you intended to do while under the Narlakk’s influence," Bnapbnap motioned for the Cooter Clansman to return to his position within the crowd, "Record it in an Information Slip."
Once Bnapbnap obtained the Information Slip, he nodded, "Return to your position."
"We’ll set sail shortly after." And then, he focused on purifying the Cooter Clansmen one by one. And once everyone was free from Narlakk influence, he addressed the crowd, "Now that you’ve experienced the danger posed by a Narlakk, I’ll remind you the importance of this mission."
"The Narlakks have managed to infiltrate the Cooter Clan. And based on what we witnessed just now, even our Raid groups aren’t immune." He continued, "Thankfully, the Settlement Leaders such as myself cannot be affected. So, we’ll continue to ensure we regularly cleanse out Clansmen as much as possible."
"However," His tone turned chilling, "The Narlakks are attempting the same at the Dralh Sea, and if they were to succeed, I’m afraid even the Settlement Leaders can no longer be immune towards their influence. Hence, our task is to erase the Nirclick Race from the region."
"That, is this mission’s priority."