It turns out that this kind of monster was the latest biological research product of the Viper Group, created with the purpose of countering Vampire sensing abilities. Its internal codename within the group was 1038.
However, since this creature had only been developed recently, aside from its powerful destructive capabilities, it still had various shortcomings too numerous to list.
But the monsters that had already been created were difficult to destroy, and if they accidentally escaped, their whereabouts would be extremely hard to trace.
Considering this, the Viper Group thought that rather than keeping this ticking time bomb in their own lair, they might as well deploy it directly to other territories.
The human faction's recent operation had just failed, so to be safe, the higher-ups wouldn't choose this place as the deployment point again.
The Vampire and Werewolf Race were too fierce, and deploying there would be too risky.
After much deliberation, they finally chose the Forest of Life of the Elf Race.
The flagged point on that huge sand table was their final, most detailed deployment location.
Looking at the nervous faces of the captives before her, Chloe raised her eyebrows with interest:
"Well, well, picking on the weak, eh? Your Viper Group's higher-ups must be quite the clever folks. Care to share their names with me?"
As soon as she finished speaking, the captives' faces turned even paler.
Seeing this, Chloe grew more curious and pressed on, "Come on, speak up. Why so quiet now? Don't you want to keep your fingers?"
As she spoke, she raised her dagger suggestively.
But even so, the captives still refused to speak, shaking their heads frantically, their faces turning a sickly green.
Chloe looked at their complexion, thinking their faces could be used for stir-frying at this point.
At the same time, her suspicions deepened —
Why wouldn't they give up the group's higher-ups? Were they too afraid to speak or unable to?
These captives were at best low-level workers. For the sake of their fingers... no, for their lives, they were willing to voluntarily disclose the purpose of this mission. So why wouldn't they dare to name the higher-ups?
Chloe experimentally placed her dagger on their fingers.
The captives' bodies shook more violently, their faces deathly pale, large beads of sweat rolling down, looking utterly miserable.
But even pushed to this extent, they still refused to utter a word.
Seeing this, Chloe pondered thoughtfully.
Daniel, standing behind her, turned his head to look at the group of captives and let out a short, derisive laugh: "Hey, you guys really don't value your lives, do you?"
The captives looked at him fearfully, their bodies curling up even tighter.
Like a bunch of tied-up shrimp waiting for slaughter.
How pitiful.
Chloe raised an eyebrow, sheathed her dagger back at her waist, then stood up and activated the scanner on her terminal, thoroughly scanning the group of captives from top to bottom.
Sure enough, before long, the terminal emitted a warning "beep".
Hearing this, the others quickly stood up and gathered around Chloe.
Qin Huaibei asked in a deep voice, "What did you find?"
"They have monitoring devices implanted in their bodies," Chloe said. "No wonder they wouldn't say anything."
The function of these monitoring devices was extremely inhumane. Once it detected that the implanted person was revealing secrets, the consequences would be unimaginable.
Chloe rubbed her chin: "Although we don't know the ultimate effect of the monitoring device, seeing how terrified they are... it's probably something more horrifying than death."
She shook her head and sighed, "How miserable, poor little things."
As she spoke, Chloe tried to interrogate them a few more times about where their headquarters was located.
The captives couldn't even squeeze out a fart, rendering them completely useless now.
Chloe felt there was no need to keep them alive anymore, so she pulled out the dagger from her waist and tossed it to Anderson.
Without a word, he didn't even think, just stood up with the dagger and went about slitting the throats of each captive.
Anderson was extremely careful, even dragging the captives far away before slitting their throats to avoid the strong smell of blood affecting everyone's barbecue.
Meanwhile, Chloe glanced in Anderson's direction, and after making sure he was about to return, she turned her head and casually pulled the dagger from Katherine's waist, starting to whittle a tree branch out of boredom.
As she whittled, she said, "You've probably guessed it too, there are only more, not fewer, monsters in this forest."
Chloe pondered carefully for a moment, and finally said, "That... that little 1038, there must be many more hidden in the Forest of Life."
She yawned, holding up the finely whittled branch in front of her, comparing it with one eye, then continued whittling:
"The little 1038s like to come out during the day. We need to replenish our energy at night so we can slaughter them all during the day."
Just as she said this, the branch in Chloe's hand was snatched away.
Daniel felt the sharp tip, pricking his index finger and drawing blood.
He shook it off nonchalantly and said, "So you mean, we can't leave the Forest of Life until we kill all those monsters, right?"
"Correct," Chloe said decisively.
Hearing this, Daniel sighed, immediately handed the branch back to Chloe, and stood up to start setting up the tent.
As he worked, he said, "What are you all standing around for? Get to work!"
Qin Huaibei finally sauntered over lazily.
Chloe glanced at them, quickly averting her gaze, and stuck the freshly whittled branch upright in the damp soil.
At the same time, a small blue Soul Fire appeared at her fingertip, igniting the branch.
A powerful aura began to spread outward from this point, and instantly, the bird calls and insect chirps that had just started up disappeared again.
Chloe: "This way no one will dare to come near here. Everyone get a good rest tonight, no one needs to keep watch."
"Alright."
The tents were set up very quickly. In less than half an hour, they were all lying in their sleeping bags.
Chloe was right next to Anderson, with a small night light lit between them. The dim yellow light illuminated a small area, giving it a strangely cozy feeling.
She turned to face Anderson, only to find that he was still awake.
Chloe immediately reproached him: "Why aren't you sleeping yet? What are you staring at?"
As soon as she finished speaking, Daniel's snoring came from nearby.
Chloe: "..."
She casually grabbed a roll of paper and threw it to the side. After being hit, Daniel instinctively stopped snoring.
As the surroundings quieted down, Chloe unconsciously lowered her voice and patiently asked Anderson again.
In the warm yellow light, Anderson's emerald green eyes looked particularly gentle, and Chloe found herself mesmerized.
It wasn't until Anderson half sat up and leaned over that she snapped out of her daze.
Chloe asked confusedly, "What are you doing?"
But she didn't move.
That was the absolute trust built up over years.
Anderson's lips curled into a slight smile as he tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear, saying gently, "Nothing. Your hair was messy. Go to sleep."
With that, he lay back down in his sleeping bag.
Chloe opened her mouth, wanting to say something but stopping herself, her body remaining stiff the whole time.
She found it strange.
Wasn't it normal for hair to get messy while sleeping? Why did Anderson have to manage even this?
Chloe felt a bit flustered, her heart beating a little faster.
After a moment of silence, she tucked herself further into her blanket.
Like a little quail avoiding reality.
