Chapter 1313 — The Rear

He paused there, then shifted the subject: "The situation is what it is—we must look forward. How are things underground in the wasteland now? Can you keep advancing?"

"I've already begun encountering resistance," Beiyila said at once. "Just as I expected, the Embershadow cultists also rely on neural and root networks constructed underground to establish their command system. This is a unique technical method of the Ten Thousand Deaths Society, and now that they have realized I exist, this root network... is shifting into an active defense posture."

She narrowed her eyes slightly, as if sensing the state of certain neural nodes far away, and only after a moment did she open them and continue: "The enemy has now concentrated the strength of their root network toward the northern region. My roots have met stubborn resistance during their growth—now I can only break through head-on. Going around is no longer really possible."

Gao Yang looked gravely at this former Dark Hierarch, who was now assaulting the wasteland alone on a battlefield invisible to ordinary people: "Do you have the advantage at present?"

At this, a trace of pride surfaced in Beiyila's expression: "You can rest assured on that count. Though their root network resists stubbornly, it is no match for me—they never imagined they would face an assault spreading from underground, and I have long prepared for this. It will simply take some time. I must first find the flaw in their 'subterranean immune barrier'..."

Listening to Beiyila's description, Gao Heng could not help imagining what a sight it must be—the Thorin Tree's roots growing and attacking ceaselessly at the wasteland's edge, while another hostile dark root network raised a vast counter-wall. Deep in soil and rock where ordinary eyes could not see, living roots tangled with one another, attacking, using toxins and parasitic spores as weapons, using underground caverns and dark rivers as camps and ramparts, day and night without rest, yet utterly silent...

This was already a "battle" beyond the understanding of the world. Even the most outstanding strategists of the age could probably find no place for themselves in this contest, and even Gao Yang himself... could offer no advice at this moment.

"Be careful," was all he could say. "Do not underestimate the enemy—though your existence is beyond their expectations, those dark cultists have been developing in the wasteland for many years, and no one knows what kind of traps and hidden cards they have set deep within the Old Empire. Your 'offensive' underground is a lone campaign; our ground forces will find it very difficult to provide you with effective support, so you must be especially cautious as you push deeper into enemy territory."

"Yes, I understand," Beiyila said gravely.

After a brief moment of thought, Gao Yang spoke again: "Next, let us discuss the... discipline those aberration monsters displayed during their attack."

"Yes, obvious discipline. There is a command structure behind those monsters," Beiyila responded at once. "During my brief contact with the enemy vanguard... I mean, during the 'feeding' process, I also touched the mental connections behind them. The monsters themselves have limited intelligence, but their minds are linked together and receive commands from some higher-level nodes. I also recognized one of the most obvious nodes—his name is Bertram, one of the 'Hierarchs' of the wasteland branch of the Ten Thousand Deaths Society..."

"It sounds like a 'mental command network' architecture similar to the old Crystal Cluster Legion," Gao Yang said thoughtfully, rubbing his chin. "But larger in scale and clearly higher in efficiency—the Crystal Cluster Legion back then never had such astonishing numbers, and there were not so many bizarre mutant individuals in it either..."

"The mental command technology we... used back then was itself of the same lineage as the branch in the wasteland," Beiyila said, her tone somewhat odd at that point, though she quickly continued with her expression as usual. "Part of it came from the Eternal Sleepers, and part belonged to the dark druids' neural pulse technology. But clearly, the wasteland branch of the Ten Thousand Deaths Society did not share all their materials with us 'kinsfolk' on the outside. They kept some key materials and improved upon them over the years... and this improvement was very likely completed only recently."

No sooner had she finished speaking than Hedy, unable to contain her curiosity, asked: "Completed only recently? How can you tell?"

"I briefly invaded Bertram's mental world—he only thought I was torturing his will at the time and never noticed the intrusion," Beiyila explained. "During the invasion, I glimpsed part of the flow of consciousness within their vast command system. Though I could not interfere at the time, I could still tell that it was something newly born, still slowly growing and refining."

Hedy nodded slightly after hearing this: "That makes sense. If those cultists had established this system long ago and successfully controlled all the aberrations in the wasteland, they would not have waited until now to act. With an army like that, they could have swept the world years ago."

Gao Yang then asked at once: "This is important intelligence—are there any vulnerabilities in their command system that we can exploit?"

"Hard to say yet. I need more intelligence," Beiyila shook her head. "It would be best if I could capture a few high-level nodes and have a taste... let me analyze them. Perhaps I can find a way to further invade or sabotage that command system through their now-mutated neural systems."

"...As the war situation develops, we will find opportunities," Gao Yi said with a slight nod, then looked at Beiyila with a rather strange expression. "But speaking of which, this time, in your urgency... you 'ate' a great many monsters that came pouring out of the wasteland. Is that really all right?"

"...Frankly speaking, they were not very tasty, not even as good as the stones in the Dark Mountains," Beiyila said, her expression turning even stranger than Gao Yang's. "But there was truly no other way at the time. Those monsters were foul and poisonous, and I had to clear away the contamination left behind after their deaths as quickly as possible—throwing them into the biomass fission pools was the fastest and most effective method. But you need not worry about me. Those monsters' foul bodies have been thoroughly digested in the fission pools, and their toxins are something I can convert and absorb as well. It's just that..."

Beiyila paused, as if striving to suppress the urge to retch, and only after a good while continued: "It's just that... they really were awful to eat. Truly awful. I would rather eat dirt."

The resentment in Beiyila's words was almost tangible, yet everyone present could not decide what expression to wear. This Tree Lady's life form and way of viewing the world had always been refreshingly unconventional, and there was no place for others to begin if they wished to console her or echo her feelings. As for Gao Yang... a strange notion actually popped into Gao Yang's mind unbidden. He could not help feeling that before long, a new book would surely begin circulating within the Empire—"The Gastronomic Encyclopedia: How to Eat Dirt Within the Empire," compiled by Beiyila...

Fortunately, he did not let this strange notion linger in his head for too long, because very soon, an urgent piece of intelligence from the front lines was delivered before him.

The Sentinel Towers on the wasteland's border, which had once gone dark... had restarted.