170: Fortune and misfortune are interdependent

Hearing Lin Xingyu's inquiry, the Silver Nightmare Tiger concentrated in thought.

A moment later, as if it had thought of something, it turned its head and ran towards the depths of the forest.

"Let's go, we'll take a look."

Lin Xingyu called out and followed closely behind.

"Haha, it seems there really is treasure!"

Wang Ledian and the others, seeing this, immediately perked up and quickly chased after him.

"Hurry up, don't lose them."

...Outside the Goblin Secret Realm, at the Wave-Chasing Battle Group camp.

Inside the command room, Commander Hong Lie looked at the intelligence handed to him by his subordinate, a look of surprise on his face.

"It seems the other side intends to go all out..."

The intelligence showed that all soldiers of the Garrison Legion had withdrawn to city defenses and had not set up ambushes along the way.

The two newly formed main battle legions, however, were dispatched to the Central Mountain Range.

Their mission was to assist the main force in capturing the legendary "heart of the earth."

Hong Lie had long heard the legends about the "heart of the earth."

He speculated that it was very likely the "secret realm core."

Once obtained, the goblin clan could indeed use it to become invincible.

As early as when this news broke, various major powers had secretly dispatched elite squads to infiltrate the Secret Realm.

For them, goblin mecha blueprints, while valuable, were far from comparable to the "secret realm core."

Even if the blueprints were obtained, the bounty offered by the Federation was only twenty million units of spirit crystal.

If one wished to keep the mecha blueprints for themselves and profit alone, that was even more impossible.

Such a thing, capable of enhancing the overall combat power of the Human Race, no force dared to monopolize privately.

Otherwise, it would surely face a joint crusade from all of humanity.

But the "secret realm core" was different; it could be claimed for oneself.

For a single power, its value far exceeded that of mecha blueprints.

Hong Lie pondered for a moment, then connected to the communications of the other battle groups.

He intended to discuss the advance into the Goblin Secret Realm with the various battle groups.

Now that there were no goblins guarding the rift, it was the best time to strike...

Outside Zhu Lang City, deep within the dense forest.

Members of the World Purifying Society were busily working in a tense and orderly manner.

A massive Formation had begun to take shape, with dark red light subtly flowing.

Some carefully prepared Materials, while others meticulously carved runes.

Still others stood guard, their gazes vigilant.

But they did not notice—

A skylark stood silently on a nearby treetop.

Its eyes were bright and nimble, watching every move in front of it without blinking...

At the same time.

Several kilometers from this location, a Federal reconnaissance squad was lying in ambush.

One team member, with eyes tightly closed, was observing the distant movements through the skylark.

That was his spirit seed; due to its small size, it was very suitable for reconnaissance.

"Captain, they are carving a Formation..."

He described everything he saw in detail.

"Continue monitoring."

The captain nodded, then picked up his communicator and quickly reported the intelligence...

Vast Sea City, Federal Army garrison.

"The World Purifying Society is carving a Formation outside Zhu Lang City..."

Marquis Ningshuang looked at the intelligence in her hand, her brow slightly furrowed.

Not long ago, orders came from above, requiring all areas to closely monitor surrounding anomalies.

It was said that the World Purifying Society might launch large-scale operations soon.

Currently, the Wave-Chasing Battle Group was stationed outside the Goblin Secret Realm, leaving the city's defenses vulnerable.

This allowed the World Purifying Society to seize an opportunity.

She pondered for a moment, then gave the order:

"Dispatch more reconnaissance squads to thoroughly search the areas surrounding Zhu Lang City!"

"Order the Raging Waves Battle Group to enter standby, ready to deploy at any moment!"

The Raging Waves Battle Group was her only mobile force at hand, reserved specifically for responding to emergencies.

"Yes, My Lady!"

Her subordinate took the order and left.

Watching her subordinate's retreating figure, Marquis Ningshuang's expression was solemn.

In fact, Zhu Lang City was not the only place with stretched military resources; Vast Sea City was also feeling the pinch.

The successive emergence of the space stone ore vein and the Goblin Secret Realm tied up a large portion of her forces.

Whenever she thought of the space stone ore vein, she couldn't help but feel irritated.

The Gu Family, in order to evade taxes to the Federation, had gone so far as to stage the disappearance of Family members.

To prevent space stone from being smuggled out, she had no choice but to dispatch several battle groups to guard the Secret Realm exit.

Coupled with the battle groups sent to the Goblin Secret Realm, Vast Sea City's defensive strength was already clearly insufficient.

The emergence of the Goblin Secret Realm was beyond human control, so that was understandable.

But for the Gu Family, who were also of the Human Race, to cause trouble at this critical juncture was truly hateful.

Not just the Gu Family; the Star Pavilion behind them was likely also involved.

The Gu Family alone would never have been able to disappear quietly under the noses of various powers.

There must have been support from the Star Pavilion behind this!

The Star Pavilion was too greedy; already possessing one space stone ore vein, they still wanted to monopolize this one as well.

To maintain their monopoly on space equipment, they would truly do anything.

"Hmph, these parasites, one day..."

...Goblin Secret Realm, Central Mountain Range, halfway up the main peak.

Ice shards crisscrossed all around, and leaves were covered in frost.

"The strength of the mutated beasts is getting stronger and stronger!"

Wang Ledian shivered, shaking off the ice shards covering him.

At his feet lay the corpse of a giant frost wolf.

This ice-attributed mutated beast was extremely powerful, capable of even changing its surrounding environment.

To deal with this fellow, he had suffered greatly.

"Old Dian, you're not doing so well. Your hair turned white just from fighting a frost wolf?"

Wang Chiyao looked at his "head full of white hair" and couldn't help but pat him.

With a "crack," a large clump of hair broke off, scattering to the ground.

"Hey! Auntie, stop!"

Wang Ledian's face changed drastically, and he suddenly darted several meters backward.

He hastily pulled out a mirror, examined himself carefully, and immediately wailed:

"Ah! My hair..."

A large patch of hair was conspicuously missing from the top of his head, as if gnawed by a dog.

It was Wang Chiyao's "masterpiece" from just now.

If she had patted him a few more times, he would probably have gone completely bald!

"Haha, what's wrong with that? Most strong people are bald!"

Wang Chiyao had no intention of letting him go, and with a wicked smile, she moved to approach him again.

Just then, the corner of her eye suddenly caught a glimpse of a black shadow flashing in the nearby grass.

"Old Dian! Watch out!"

Before her words finished, a bolt of lightning tore through the air, striking directly at Wang Le's body.

"Sizzle—"

He instantly froze in place, his hair standing on end, and thick smoke rising from his body.

Immediately after, all his hair began to fall out like snowflakes...

"Ah ah ah, my hair!"

Wang Ledian looked at the hair scattered on the ground, almost collapsing.

"Damn it, it's all you!"

He roared, picked up his shield, and charged towards the mutated beast in the grass.

It was a giant python with a single horn on its head, currently coiling on the ground and twitching.

While attacking Wang Ledian, it had also suffered reflected damage.

"Bang bang bang—"

The heavy shield struck the python's head again and again.

Until it was completely beaten to death.

Streaks of light emerged from the python's corpse, converging in the air into a spherical object with a strange, flowing halo.

"S-rank Spirit Seed!"

Lin Xingyu was slightly stunned.

It had to be said, Wang Ledian's luck was truly good.

He actually dropped an S-rank Spirit Seed so easily; now he could advance in rank.