Chapter 41 of 100

Chapter 41

21 min read5,257 words

"Master, I found it, I found it, we found the castle of the Beastmen." The thunder eagle, still flying in the distance, shouted anxiously without even landing, a stark contrast to the calm demeanor it usually displayed to Liu Siyi.

"Hehe, don't be in a hurry, take a rest first." Regardless of the urgency, Liu Siyi couldn't show it on his face and had to maintain a composed appearance. After learning about the four major forces underground, he knew that a day or two wouldn't make much difference. If the enemy's strength was weak, they would fight; if it was strong, there was nothing they could do.

"Huh? Looking at you now, can you already control the power of lightning freely?" Liu Siyi asked, a bit surprised.

"Yes, Master, in just a few days, I can fully control it." The thunder eagle was not particularly concerned about its newfound ability to control lightning.

"Good, then you can be my mount again." Liu Siyi laughed and said, "Come, let me introduce you to your future comrades. These are the elite witches Lya and Lina, this is the minotaur Bill, and the diamond golem."

"Master, this isn't the time for introductions. Let's set off immediately and take down the castle first." The thunder eagle urged.

"No rush. You said you found the castle of the Beastmen. Tell me, what's the situation like?" Liu Siyi continued to act cool.

"Master, it's hard to explain in a few words, but in short, their strength isn't very strong. The strongest are the fifth-tier minotaurs, but there aren't many. You might as well see for yourself; with your... current strength, you can definitely capture the castle." Even the thunder eagle couldn't remain calm when it came to such a major task. It glanced around at the troops, greeted each one, and then hurriedly said.

"You mean the Beastmen don't even have many fifth-tier units? Have you investigated clearly? Are they out or really not there?" Hearing that he could capture a castle right away, Liu Siyi couldn't pretend to be calm anymore. The thunder eagle wouldn't lie to him and wouldn't say such things without a certain level of confidence.

"I investigated personally. There are only about sixty fifth-tier minotaurs. I returned so late because I observed for two whole days," the thunder eagle said confidently.

"Besides the Beastmen's castle, where else did you go? Did you find anything else?" Liu Siyi had a plan. If the Beastmen's castle was really that weak, with his current strength, he could summon either Lexus or the phoenix to handle it. He left the minotaur Bill to lead the minotaurs and the diamond golem, and also left a thunderbird to fly and scout. Liu Siyi rode the thunder eagle, while Lya and Lina each rode a thunderbird, and the three of them flew toward the Beastmen's castle.

On the way, they didn't idle. The thunder eagle reported everything it had encountered over the past few days.

"Master, as you instructed, we flew north. To see a larger area, we spread out and flew high, almost covering the entire northern region." At this point, the thunder eagle regained some of its calm and detailed the information about the north.

The thunder eagle, though not trained in calculation, provided a detailed account, which needed to be summarized to fully understand the terrain of the northern region.

The main terrain in the north was a vast mountain range, about 2,000 kilometers wide from north to south and at least 5,000 kilometers long from east to west. To the east of this mountain range was the forest where Liu Siyi first arrived in this world. The mountains grew higher as you moved north, with winds like knives, making even dragons unable to pass. Beyond the mountains, to the north, was a barren wasteland, followed by a desert that stretched as far as the eye could see. To the west, the terrain gradually lowered, and beyond the mountains was a vast swamp.

The Beastmen's castle was located 100 kilometers inland from the boundary between the mountains and the wasteland, about 500 kilometers from the eastern forest. It was almost on the opposite side of the mountain range from Liu Siyi, which explained why he couldn't see the Beastmen.

Even flying at over 10,000 meters, the thunder eagle could still see every detail on the ground. Therefore, anything visible in this mountain range was within its sight.

Besides the Beastmen's castle, Liu Siyi was most concerned about the information on seventh-tier units. The thunder eagle did not disappoint, bringing back information on four locations where seventh-tier units existed: the nine-headed hydra in the swamp, the desert giant scorpion in the wasteland, the behemoth at the foot of a mountain, and the mantis in a forest.

Nine-headed hydra? Liu Siyi had never seen a nine-headed hydra, but from the information in his inheritance, he had a thorough understanding of it. Even in the eyes of legendary mages, the nine-headed hydra was very powerful.

The body of the nine-headed hydra was not the long, slender body of a two-headed snake but a flat, streamlined body suitable for moving through swamps. It also had four relatively short legs for walking, though the walking speed was not fast and had little other use.

Don't think the nine-headed hydra is easy to bully just because it's slow. The nine large heads have a significant advantage in both close combat and acid spitting. Moreover, the nine-headed hydra has the strongest vitality. It won't die unless all nine heads are cut off or its body is severely damaged; otherwise, it will continuously grow new heads as long as it has the strength.

Additionally, the nine-headed hydra has dragon blood. Upgrading to a high-level seventh-tier unit is marked by one or more heads evolving into "dragon heads." These dragon heads may have an extra horn, an extra eye, or be covered in dragon scales, similar to the unpredictable mutations in a bio-horror game. This is why the nine-headed hydra is also called the nine-headed monster.

The upgraded nine-headed dragon does not have the magical abilities of dragons but has greatly enhanced physical attack and defense capabilities, making it very suitable for close combat. The evolved dragon heads also have a new ability: acid breath, which is second only to the breath of dragons. However, when multiple dragon heads breathe together, the power may not be weaker than that of dragons.

If not for its slow movement speed and inability to fly or survive in lava or deserts, the nine-headed hydra could adapt to any environment, including the underground world, seas, and rivers. It can be said that the nine-headed hydra is one of the most powerful low-level seventh-tier units.

Having obtained information about the nine-headed hydra, Liu Siyi naturally hoped to seal one as a recruit.

However, capturing a nine-headed hydra in a swamp is extremely difficult. This isn't a game where you can overpower it. The nine-headed hydra can easily sink into the swamp and escape when it sees an opportunity. Would you chase it down?

Moreover, the 5,000-kilometer length of the east-west direction would take a long time to fly over. So, despite his strong desire to seal a nine-headed hydra, Liu Siyi decided to rule it out first.

Similarly, the desert giant scorpion is a neutral seventh-tier unit with a thick, heavily armored body, making its defense extremely strong. It buries itself in the sand during the day and only comes out to hunt at night.

Thus, although the desert giant scorpion is very powerful, its limitations are also significant. In the presence of other options, no one would choose it.

That left the behemoth and the mantis. It's worth noting that while seventh-tier units are the top of ordinary units, they don't live alone and always have companions.

If this were a game, Liu Siyi would undoubtedly choose the behemoth. However, in this real world, there was much to consider.

As the most powerful seventh-tier unit in close combat, the behemoth is well-deserved, capable of tearing apart dragons. However, the mantis is not far behind, able to fly and attack at high speed. Most importantly, its two scythe-like arms, when swung, form an impenetrable wall, making it extremely effective in both defense and offense. Comparing them feels a bit like comparing a warrior and an assassin in a game, depending on who has better control.

From the information provided by the thunder eagle, Liu Siyi was not optimistic about either the behemoth or the mantis.

There were three behemoths: two low-level seventh-tier behemoths and one high-level seventh-tier behemoth. The number of mantises was one more than the behemoths, all low-level seventh-tier mantises, but their combined combat power might not be much weaker.

Facing three behemoths or four mantises at the same time was not feasible. They needed to be separated and defeated one by one. With this in mind, Liu Siyi immediately instructed the thunder eagle.

"Thunder eagle, let's go to the place where you found the behemoths first."

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