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Translator: Silavin & Ashish
Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun
Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys
Dawning Light continued drifting forward, silently and stealthily.
Although they were still at the edge of the enemy defence perimeter, they would still occasionally encounter a few patrolling Black Ink Clansmen. All of these patrols were led by Feudal Lords with a dozen or so lower-rank Black Ink Clansmen following them.
Judging by this, it was quite apparent how much importance the Black Ink Clan attached to this defensive line, and how afraid they were of some Human Master breaking into it.
The more this was the case, the more it showed that the Black Ink Clan was at the end of its rope.
Since ancient times until now, when had the Black Ink Clan ever been so passive on the Black Ink Battlefield? They had always been the ones attacking the Great Passes on a large scale. Even if they suffered heavy casualties, they would quickly refill their ranks and make a comeback within a few decades.
Every time, the Humans warded off the Black Ink Clan, but only after painstaking efforts and sacrificing countless lives. Generation after generation, elites were sent from the 3,000 Worlds to the Black Ink Battlefield, but they barely managed to hold the line.
Now, the Black Ink Clan in Great Evolution Theatre no longer had the capital to act arrogantly.
This was the dawn of Humanity’s victory, the glory of Great Evolution Pass.
About half a day later, another team of Black Ink Clansmen flew towards Dawning Light, but they left soon after a brief investigation and finding nothing unusual.
Yang Kai and Shen Ao, who were standing on the deck, looked at each other with serious expressions on their faces.
It wasn’t just a coincidence. The Black Ink Clan could notice any intrusion of their defence line.
“I did not notice anyone spying on us, so how did the Black Ink Clan discover us?” Shen Ao asked in confusion.
Yang Kai thought for a moment before replying, “Perhaps it’s because of the Black Ink Nests.”
“The Black Ink Nests?” Ning Qi Zhi was confused.
Yang Kai slightly nodded, “Old Ancestor told me a few things about the Royal City. After the withdrawal of the Great Evolution East-West Army, there was nothing unusual about the Royal City at first, but after a decade or so, the Black Ink Clan began to set up this kind of defensive line. So where did the Black Ink Strength come from? Naturally, it came from Black Ink Nests.”
Bai Yi suddenly interjected, “I spotted two Black Ink Nests from where we just passed by. Judging by their sizes, they should be Low-Rank.”
Shen Ao was beside himself in shock, “You can see them?”
Bai Yi looked at Yang Kai and asked, “Squad Leader, you can see them too, right?”
The reason she could see this was because as a disciple of Divine Feather Paradise, she had to cultivate Eye Secret Techniques in order to facilitate her archery skills.
Yang Kai also cultivated special Eye Techniques. The Eye Secret Techniques of Myriad Demons Heaven were not inferior to those of Divine Feather Paradise, perhaps even superior in some aspects.
Shen Ao and the others all looked towards Yang Kai with a look of curiosity on their faces.
Yang Kai gave the confirmation, nodding, “Indeed, there were two Low-Rank Black Ink Nests. Just as the Old Ancestor suspected, the Black Ink Clan seems to have gathered all the Black Ink Nests outside the Royal City to set up a defensive line filled with Black Ink Strength.”
Originally, there was one High-Rank Black Ink Nest and nearly 100 Mid-Rank Black Ink Nest in Great Evolution Theatre. Furthermore, there were a few dozen Low-Rank Black Ink Nest under each Territory Lord.
In short, there were at least 1,000 Low-Rank Black Ink Nests spread throughout the Great Evolution Theatre, and that was not even counting the High-Rank and Mid-Rank Black Ink Nests.
Although a number of them had been destroyed during the Great Evolution East-West Army’s incursion, that was only a small part. The Black Ink Clan still had a lot of Black Ink Nests remaining.
Where did these Black Ink Nests go? Others might not know, but how could the Old Ancestor who had attacked the Royal City repeatedly not?
The dozens of Mid-Rank Black Ink Nests had all been moved to the Royal City to be better protected.
The Black Ink Clan had no choice in this matter, as there was no safe place for the Black Ink Clan in the entire Great Evolution Theatre apart from the Royal City. If the Black Ink Nests remained outside, they were at risk of being destroyed by the Humans at any moment.
Furthermore, many more Low-Rank Black Ink Nests were arranged in the periphery of the Royal City, which were then used to produce Black Ink Strength using large amounts of resources, creating a strong defensive line.
In other words, Low-Rank Black Ink Nests could be found almost everywhere in the periphery of the Royal City. These Black Ink Nests would constantly generate Black Ink Strength, filling the defensive line and expanding it outward.
Every time the Old Ancestor attacked, she would destroy many Black Ink Nests, but once she made a move, her position would be exposed, and the other Black Ink Nests were quickly evacuated.
Dawning Light entered the range of two different Low-Rank Black Ink Nests, and they were detected every time. So, it was obvious that the Black Ink Strength did serve as a monitoring tool.
Perhaps the Feudal Lord in charge of the Black Ink Nest could sense when something came into contact with the surrounding Black Ink Strength.
After pondering for a moment, Yang Kai ordered, “Inform the other three Squads about this and tell them to be on guard.”
The current situation was a bit problematic. If they were lucky, they might be able to smoothly bypass the enemy patrols, but if they were down on their luck, and if one of the Black Ink Clansmen who came to investigate launched an attack at them, Dawning Light would instantly be exposed. The Illusion Array set up on the Dawning Light only had concealing effects, it didn’t provide any form of defence.
Having received the order, Shen Ao quickly took out some Space Beacons and sent messages to Chai Fang and the others.
Meanwhile, Yang Kai turned his gaze in the direction of the Royal City. They were about a month’s journey away from the Black Ink Clan Royal City, so when Great Evolution Pass arrived, it would definitely be discovered by the Black Ink Clan. At that time, the Royal City would quickly be able to gather its forces and prepare for the incoming attack.
A month was more than enough time for the Black Ink Clan to prepare completely.
Whereas Great Evolution Pass would lose its element of surprise.
Was there any way to hoodwink the eyes and ears of the Black Ink Clan?
The only way to do so would be to take down some of the Black Ink Nests in the outer ring without being discovered.
It would be difficult, but not impossible!
Having made up his mind, Yang Kai ordered, “Carefully retreat from here and follow along the edge of the defensive line.”
He planned to first investigate the situation of the Black Ink Clan’s defensive line. The defensive line built using many Black Ink Nest might have appeared like one enormous wall, but in reality, it was bloated and uneven, so there may be some flaws.
The reason why Yang Kai wanted to withdraw was because he did not want to intrude into any Black Ink Nest domains anymore. After all, they would be investigated every time they entered a new detection range.
They might have been lucky so far, but each new inspection increased the risk of getting caught.
Under the prudent control of the Dawn Squad’s members, Dawning light drifted through the Black Ink Clan’s defensive line and retreated.
Once they were out of danger, Shen Ao reported in a low voice, “The other Squads have replied back, the Old Turtle Squad and Profound Wind Squad had the same idea and have withdrawn from the defensive line to search for a gap to infiltrate. On the other hand, the Snow Wolves Squad said they want to go deeper.”
“Deeper?” Yang Kai furrowed his brow.
Shen Ao nodded in response, “Brother Yao said that since the Black Ink Nests are all placed on the outer ring to build the defensive line, once the defensive line is pushed outward, the Black Ink Nests would definitely move along with it. In other words, there are no Black Ink Nests in the inner ring. No Feudal Lords should be guarding the inner perimeter, which would make it safer to set up a reconnaissance position.”
Yang Kai pondered for a moment before replying, “That may be so, but the Black Ink Strength in the depths of the defensive line is also denser, and many Black Ink Clan squads should be patrolling that zone, so it’s not necessarily safer than the periphery. If we get caught in the periphery, we can still find a chance to escape, but if we get caught deeper inside…”
The consequences would be dire.
It had also crossed his mind, but as a scout of the main Army, Yang Kai naturally had to prioritize keeping Great Evolution Pass’ movements a secret.
Eliminating the Black Ink Clan’s eyes and ears, increasing the chances of Great Evolution Pass’ surprise attack being successful was the appropriate choice.
Still, they might be able to obtain more information if they ventured deeper.
“Can you still contact him?” Yang Kai asked.
Shen Ao denied, shaking his head, “Brother Yao has already cut off contact.”
Although the disturbance caused by their communication was extremely small, if a Master happened to be nearby, they might notice it.
Since Yao Kang Cheng was leading the Snow Wolves Squad deeper into the enemy defence line, he would naturally not contact Yang Kai and the others. The safest choice would be to keep the Space Beacon in his Space Ring to avoid any possible mistakes.
Yang Kai couldn’t help frowning.
Still, Yao Kang Cheng must have his own plans, so Yang Kai didn’t object. In any case, the other party was a veteran Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master. Furthermore, there were four Squads present, three of which were on the periphery, so entering the inner circle was indeed a better use of their resources.
Be that as it may, Yang Kai had originally wanted to discuss with the others about letting Dawning Light scout the inner region; after all, he was proficient in the Dao of Space, so if they got caught, he could take the cultivators under Seventh-Order into his Small Universe to escape. Dawn had better chances of escaping if they ran into trouble than any other Squad.
Now that the Snow Wolves had severed contact though, Yang Kai had no choice but to give up on this idea.
All he could do now was hope that everything went smoothly. Yao Kang Cheng was indeed right; all the Low-Rank Black Ink Nests were arranged at the periphery to act as detectors. So, even though the Black Ink Strength was denser in the inner region, it would be easier to sneak around.
At the very least, the Feudal Lords managing the Black Ink Nests would not be able to monitor everything at such a distance.
Perhaps they might gain something different.
Yang Kai threw this matter to the back of his mind and focused on searching for flaws in the Black Ink Clan’s defensive line as Dawning Light moved around the periphery.
They did not have that much time as they had only advanced a two-month distance ahead of Great Evolution Pass. In other words, Great Evolution Pass would be arriving within two months. If they failed to take care of the Black Ink Clan’s detection net by then, the surprise attack would be exposed.
Two months might seem like a long time, but it wasn’t easy to find a gap in this massive Black Ink Strength defensive line.
With the Black Ink Strength continuously spreading over time, the Black Ink Clan’s defensive line was constantly moving outwards. Fortunately, given the vast area that needed to be covered, the outer edge of the defence line did not advance very quickly.
Dawn did not encounter the Old Turtles or Profound Wind Squads as it continued its search.
The Black Ink Clan’s defensive line was a huge sphere centred around the Royal City, covering a range of about one month’s distance from the Royal City.
Currently, the three Squads, including Dawning Light, were moving along the outer arc of this sphere.
The chances of running into each other in such a large area were quite slim.
At a certain point, Yang Kai, who was attentively observing from the deck, seemed to have noticed something as he looked back.
Much to his surprise, a large ‘ship’ was flying straight towards Dawning Light from the depths of the void.
Yang Kai’s heart immediately leapt into his throat.
Much to their shock and dismay, there was a Black Ink Clan ‘ship’ out here away from the defensive line. If it crashed into them, Dawning Light would definitely be exposed. Even if it didn’t crash into them, the Black Ink Clansmen on the ship might try to brush the ‘asteroid’ in their path aside. At the time, Dawning Light would undoubtedly be exposed.
Everyone aboard Dawning Light immediately looked nervous. Yang Kai signalled with his eyes and, in a flash, everyone secretly circulated their strength, preparing to attack at any moment.
If they were fast enough, they might be able to eliminate the Black Ink Clan on the ship before the enemy inside the defensive line noticed anything. Of course, there was also a possibility that they might get exposed. But at this moment, they could only take a gamble.
When they were just 100,000 kilometres away from each other, the Black Ink Clan ship changed directions, almost brushing past Dawning Light as it plunged back into the Black Ink Clan’s defensive line.
Everyone immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
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