Otherworld Advance Team
Chapter 524 - 517: Early Preparations

Chapter 524: Chapter 517: Early Preparations

The group began to slowly penetrate deeper into the heart of the forest along the cleared path. They didn’t know if it was just an illusion, but as soon as they stepped into the Weird Talk Forest, they clearly felt an chilling wind blow, which made them shudder.

Because there are not many people coming in and out, the original appearance of Weird Talk Forest has not been damaged too much. Various bushes and vines hinder the way forward for everyone. Tall trees obscure the sky, casting down mottled patches of light.

The group struggled to move deeper, and Luo’er even doubted how they entered this forest in the first place. If they followed these road conditions, they would likely need the entire night to penetrate the forest.

Because they were delving into enemy territory, all their guns were equipped with silencers to avoid unnecessary trouble caused by gunshots. Although the Weird Talk Forest is frightening, the Theron gang is even more terrifying. Even if they don’t enter this forest, they have plenty of ways to deal with the advance team.

After about three hours of walking, the group finally found the small open space. It was midday then, and they guessed they wouldn’t be able to see the ghosts. It seems that these beings have their own biological clocks, only active at night.

"They may only appear at night, so let’s wait here until nightfall!" Upon arriving at the destination, Luo’er heaved a sigh of relief and relayed this to Nightingale.

"Hmm," Nightingale nodded, then unabashedly ordered, "You guys hurry up and clear this open space. Make it a little bigger."

"Oh, alright!" Although Luo’er didn’t know what Nightingale wanted to do, he still nodded, and called his companions to start working.

Since they often had to shuttle through the jungle, the members of the Advance Team each carried a machete to chop branches and brush to clear the way. Meanwhile, Luo’er carried a folding spade that could be used to uproot the bushes on the ground.

Soon, the group expanded the existing area of the open space and leveled the ground. Following Nightingale’s instructions, they pitched their tents outside the large area she had cordoned off with sharpened branches, while she began planning within the flattened area.

Anyone with some rudimentary knowledge of runes could see that Nightingale was drawing a magic array with a diameter of over three meters. She used a dagger to carve gullies into the ground, then sprinkled magic crystal mine dust.

She was very adept and didn’t hesitate while drawing the runes. However, since Luo’er and the others weren’t particularly knowledgeable regarding runes, they didn’t understand what kind of magic array she was drawing. According to Tangmo, Nightingale was not simple; she had contributed about one-third of the magic-related knowledge in the academy and had written several books on magic.

The workload was immense, and it took Nightingale approximately two hours to complete just half. She dismissed Luo’er and the others’ offer to help, fearing their clumsiness might lead to deviations. Instead, she asked Luoya to evenly spread magic crystal mine dust in the gullies on the ground.

It took Nightingale and Luoya almost five hours to complete this massive task, drawing an incredibly complex magic array on the ground. Nightingale then went to her bag and took out several stone slabs, each about thirty centimeters long, twenty centimeters wide, and approximately one centimeter thick.

Only then did Luo’er understand why her bag was so heavy — it was loaded with so many stone slabs. He still didn’t know what she wanted to do with them.

These stone slabs were engraved with complex runes, which the three of them still couldn’t understand. This time Nightingale didn’t ask Luoya for help, but instead inserted the stone slabs herself, standing upright in circle grooves of the magic array, with the engraved side facing the center of the circle.

After finishing this step, she continued by taking out some magic crystals and embedding them in the outer circle at the magic input points of the magic array. This kind of magic array needed a stable magic input, so it couldn’t absorb atmospheric magic power, otherwise it could cause instability in the magic input.

Having completed all of this, Nightingale let out a sigh of relief, her forehead covered in sweat. She turned to look at the three stunned men and quickly instructed them, "Hurry and find some tree branches or something to surround the magic array. When the magic array is activated, it will produce light. We can’t let Theron see."

"Understood, we’ll get to it right away!" Luo’er nodded and immediately began to busy themselves.

They used branches and vines to encase the magic array and then draped thick branches over it. The amount of work was immense, and even though everyone was working, it wasn’t until late at night that they were barely able to cover up the magic array.

"When will they arrive?" In the middle of the night, Nightingale picked up a magic crystal, murmured a few spells, and the runes engraved on the magic crystal lit up.

The magic crystals were semi-transparent, so some mages would engrave glowing runes directly on the magic crystal and use it as a glow stick.

"Midnight!" Luo’er, gazing at the eerie glow emitted by the magic crystal in her hand, answered truthfully.

"I’ll meditate here. Wake me up when they arrive!" Nightingale said as she placed the magic crystal next to her and pulled her hood over her head, leaning against a tree and beginning to meditate.

Luo’er noticed Luoya nervously sitting on the ground, her body shivering uncontrollably. He walked over and greeted her, "Luoya!"

"What is it?" Luoya turned her head and looked at him with wide eyes. From the depths of her eyes, Luo’er could see profound unease.

Luo’er sighed, sat down next to her, and casually flipped the safety on her tightly-held rifle. After all, Luoya was a novice -- in extreme fear, she might open fire carelessly, and that could be a problem: revealing their location would be bad, but injuring their own would be worse.

"Are you scared?" Luo’er asked her gently.

"Yeah." Luoya lowered her head and, after a moment of silence, made a grievance-filled hum.

"It’s okay, I’m with you!" Luo’er said after a smile.

Luoya looked up at him with an unusual expression in her eyes. After another long moment of silence, she leaned over to him without a word.

Seeing the harmonious interaction between the two, Cheng Ziang breathed a sigh of relief and shook his head. For some reason, he always felt a sense of emptiness.

"Tsk, tsk, someone cut in front of you again," Hu Daoke drew near and said with a grin.

"What are you babbling about!" Cheng Ziang could not help but smile at his mischievously naughty expression.

"Oh, just making an observation," Hu Daoke said.

"Go keep watch, don’t crowd around here," Cheng Ziang gave him a kick and said disdainfully.

"You want me to keep watch alone in this place?" Hu Daoke asked fearfully.

"What’s a big fellow like you scared of?" Cheng Ziang asked contemptuously.

"Who says a big fellow can’t be scared?" Hu Daoke rebutted.

"Alright, alright, go stand over there and keep watch, I’ll back you up," Cheng Ziang relented.

"Why am I always the one on watch?" Hu Daoke muttered resentfully, clutching his rifle.

Soon it was late into the night. Unlike before, there was a bright moon hanging in the sky, providing plenty of light even in the forest.

The temperature also gradually fell. It seemed that wherever the moonlight shone, it turned cold. On watch, Hu Daoke could not resist a shiver, although he comforted himself that it was just because of the cold.

Just as Hu Daoke prepared to yawn to keep alert, suddenly he heard a tinkling laughter from far away. It was a girl’s laugh, very clear despite the distance. His mouth fell open, and he almost forgot to breathe.

"O-Old Cheng..." Hu Daoke stuttered, his body rigid as he turned slowly around. His wide eyes were begging Cheng Ziang for help.

Cheng Ziang stood up from the ground and asked him, his face full of fright, "Who’s behind you?"