Fang Chen's body was surrounded by constantly rotating drill bits as he moved steadily underground in a certain direction.
The entire underground echoed with the loud whirring sounds. Fang Chen's eyes were protected by a special glass covering.
It looked like he was wearing goggles as he kept advancing forward.
"Crack!" With a sound of breaking, Fang Chen's movement paused briefly as he noticed a drill bit on his arm had snapped. He stopped momentarily.
"Eh~!" He sighed helplessly, then picked up the broken drill bit and bit into it with a few crunches, chewing it up.
After slightly shaking his arm, a new drill bit slowly grew back. For a human, such regeneration would be incredible, but for Fang Chen, it still didn't meet his own standards.
The newly grown drill bit rotated a couple of times before Fang Chen resumed moving forward.
"Crack!" With one last sound, the pitch-black scene before him suddenly vanished, and the air ahead cleared.
Emerging from the tunnel he had dug, Fang Chen exhaled softly as he looked at the mountain in front of him.
After spending a year in the human world, his entire skeleton had stiffened. After shaking his body, he walked toward the forest, returning to the wild beast forest.
But after walking a bit, Fang Chen suddenly stopped, his face growing serious as he looked at the forest ahead.
It was too quiet! There was no sign of life, as if the entire forest had died—completely silent.
Not even the slightest sound of wind could be heard. Fang Chen lowered his body slightly, cautiously observing the surroundings.
This was different from the Beast Mountain Range last year. Though dangerous back then, he could still feel the breath of nature. Now, any sensation only brought a nauseating stench.
That smell... was it from that Curse Species? Fang Chen squinted his eyes.
Why would a Curse Species from the central area of the three great empires appear here?
"Ugh—!" Unlike the usual roar, this time it was a vomiting-like howl.
A pitch-black tiger leapt out, but there was no tiger roar—only a retching-like yell—as it charged at Fang Chen.
Its entire body emitted a disgusting pitch-black substance, exactly like the monster.
Fang Chen's eyes suddenly narrowed, and he quickly turned his head. The drills on his tail started spinning rapidly.
He swung his tail, striking the black tiger away, then frowned as he noticed black residue stuck to his tail. He shook it off, letting it fall to the ground.
Looking at the forest faintly emitting black aura, Fang Chen frowned. The darkness was too thick; this was no ordinary pollution.
It seemed that more than one tiger-like monster existed here.
At least half the forest was polluted. Thinking of this, Fang Chen's heart sank heavily.
If that monster's pollution was so strong... then if the Beast Kings got corrupted, it would be truly troublesome! His pupils shrank sharply.
One monster wasn't scary, but if there were three Beast Kings involved, even his true form would have to fight desperately.
"Zi~!" The drills on his body slowly retracted. Fang Chen twisted his neck and sprinted into the forest.
Not long after he left, the elder princess hurried out, her face falling as she looked at the empty forest.
In the end, she had failed. She suddenly felt very defeated—she hadn't even taken down one beast.
"Sigh~!" She sighed helplessly, then suddenly turned around as she heard running footsteps behind her.
"Hi~~~! Your Highness the elder princess~~~!" Feng Xuanya appeared from behind, bowed, then began searching everywhere, clearly looking for Fang Chen.
"What are you doing here?" Yun Ying frowned instinctively, always sensing some inexplicable intent from Fang Chen.
Moreover, there was strong hostility, making her suspect Fang Chen meant harm to her.
But gradually, she realized it was Feng Xuanya herself who was causing trouble.
"Ah la~! Actually, I'm just looking for an Earth Lizard~! Your Highness, don't mind me~! I'm just passing by! Uh huh!"
Feng Xuanya looked awkwardly at Yun Ying's exploring gaze, unsure what to say.
Strictly speaking, it was indeed her always causing trouble, but how could she admit that?
"Ahahaha~~~!" After a bout of awkward laughter, Feng Xuanya noticed a dark shadow at the corner of her eye.
"Hm? What's this?" Being the intelligence captain, her observational skills were very sharp.
Her eyes immediately turned serious as she approached and saw the corpse on the ground.
The pitch-black substance was still continuously corroding the living creature below. The possessed tiger-like beast, even in death, was being devoured by the black matter consuming its flesh and blood.
Yun Ying came over as well. The moment she saw the black substance, her pupils constricted slightly as realization dawned.
"That monster!!! It's come into the Beast Forest!!!!" She couldn't help but shout.
Then noticing the black aura permeating the entire forest, she understood exactly where Fang Chen had gone.
Her worry suddenly became uncontrollable.
"Feng Xuanya! Report back immediately! That monster is in the Beast Forest, and the beasts there might be corrupted! Hurry!"
As Yun Ying slowly stood, staring at the forest ahead, her expression was grim.
Judging by her demeanor, she clearly intended to enter the forest, but Feng Xuanya blocked her at once.
"Your Highness, you should return! My level is higher, and I'm used to hiding. I'm more suitable for this!" Feng Xuanya said calmly.
But only a close friend could say such things; any ordinary person would have been cut down already.
Yun Ying was quite displeased at being stopped, but had to admit Feng Xuanya was right.
She herself was from the intelligence department, with a higher rank and more experience.
But how could she save face? Being spoken to so directly! Seeing Yun Ying's resentful face, Feng Xuanya smiled awkwardly.
"Direction, Your Highness. I will definitely find it!" Without further words, Feng Xuanya bowed slightly and dashed into the forest, leaving Yun Ying speechless.
Looking at the forest emitting the black aura, Yun Ying sighed helplessly and hurried back to fill the hole.
Otherwise, if enemies or beasts entered here later, it would be the elder princess's demise!
Meanwhile, Fang Chen ran through the forest, continuously scanning the once peaceful Beast Forest, now completely disturbed.
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