Beast Taming Universe Survival Guide

Chapter 46: Actions of All Parties, Deception and Treachery

A moment later, Zhang Zhan casually tossed aside the unconscious prisoner, picked up the communicator, and whispered, "I just took care of an informant. The interrogation revealed he was acting alone and hadn't yet relayed his findings. However, this means someone may have already noticed our movements. Everyone, what's the situation on your end?"

Several hissing sounds soon rang out on the channel.

"We've already made contact with Dark Raven and are helping him refine his disguise."

"(Buzz—) The underground support team has arrived at the designated location, is ready, and can move out at any time."

"All vehicles in the convoy are in good condition and are ready to go."

"This is the field reconnaissance team. No suspicious activity has been found on the roads leading out of town."

Listening to his teammates' reports, Zhang Zhan nodded slowly, a look of joy on his face.

"Very good, it seems we haven't been completely exposed. However, after I deal with that spy, Tiandu City will definitely discover the problem soon, so time is running out. Everyone, act quickly!"

"clear!"

"yes!"

"receive!"

After hanging up the call, Zhang Zhan pulled up his collar to cover his face, his body seemed to stretch out a bit as he relaxed, and then he continued walking in the direction he had been heading.

This same scene was simultaneously playing out among a group of members scattered throughout Munger Town.

—The communications just now were all from Group One. Their internal communications weren't specially encrypted by Group Three, and after Group Three sent back a notification that they'd been discovered, the content of those communications was bound to be intercepted by Tiandu City.

"A tough battle is about to begin; hopefully, I won't encounter a master-level opponent..."

This was a shared thought among almost all members of the group at that moment.

……

Inside a spacious house in Munger town.

"...So, they've already started evacuating?"

A man with messy red hair, a rugged face, and a noticeable scar on his face slightly raised his eyelids as he listened to his subordinate's report.

"Yes, Lord Nott."

Before them were several agents from Tiandu City operating a huge and sophisticated radio, one of whom turned to report respectfully.

"snort."

Nott snorted coldly: "They've been exposed so quickly; they must have set up a trap. As planned, send nine expert-level fighters to pursue them. The fighting style should focus on weakening and delaying them, so they don't become reinforcements for the actual receivers."

"clear."

The Tiandu City agent responded and began typing away, sending a message.

"Have you found any leads about the real contact?" Nott continued to ask.

"No...no, sir."

Another agent, a bead of sweat on his forehead, said, "We haven't detected any unusual radio signals from the beginning. The Yunqi City support team should really only consist of those people who were just discovered... Are you sure they're just bait, and haven't actually taken Dark Raven away?"

Instead of wasting time asking questions, you should focus on doing your job well.

Nott glanced at the man, said nothing more, but continued to recall the anomaly that had occurred in the report on the battle to blockade Yunqi City some time ago.

A small team responsible for sealing off the southern border claims that a faulty signal that shouldn't exist suddenly appeared within their ranks, causing an expert guarding the radio station to misjudge the situation and be ambushed by a powerful figure with bandages wrapped around his face...

From that moment on, Nott already felt a growing unease about Tiandu City's dominant position in communications. He preferred to trust his own judgment rather than the data transmitted through the radio.

After all, "Dark Raven" and what he possessed could not be allowed to circulate under any circumstances. The city lord had temporarily lost contact, and now only he could handle this emergency; he could not allow himself to make any mistakes.

"I absolutely cannot let the adults down..."

Nott stared at his palm, slowly clenching his fist. A wisp of unusually shimmering golden-red flame flashed between his fingers.

……

In a dense forest not far from Munger Town, Jiang Yong's modified car lay quietly nestled among the bushes, its fly-swatter-like antenna already erected. Layers upon layers of bushes completely enveloped the vehicle, almost entirely blending it into the forest. This feat was accomplished by a woman named Su Ling from Group Three, whose main Pokémon was a Grass/Psychic dual-type Pokémon, skilled in covert operations and creating illusions.

Jiang Yong sat in the carriage wearing a headset, pretending to be seriously adjusting the radio, but in reality, he was secretly watching the interstellar terminal.

"Group One is about to engage in an encounter."

Looking at the constantly transmitted messages, Jiang Yong turned to his teammates with a serious expression and said, "At least nine targets are approaching a pre-arranged evacuation point. This number of people is far too few for Tiandu City. It seems they haven't taken the bait completely."

"Chen Yue, send your Cloud Bee to scout there and see if there are any hidden pursuers who aren't carrying radio equipment."

"Understood."

Chen Yue was sitting cross-legged at the back of the carriage when he couldn't help but glance at Jiang Yong again, a hint of astonishment in his expression.

In previous operations, this man named Jiang Yong had repeatedly and easily uncovered the whereabouts of the Tiandu City members, making Chen Yue somewhat doubt whether he was just spouting nonsense. But when Groups One and Two actually acted according to his intelligence and successfully achieved preliminary results, Chen Yue was dumbfounded—there was only one explanation for this situation: Jiang Yong had silently hacked into Tiandu City's internal channel!

Tian Du City's communication technology is unparalleled in the Confederacy. How did he manage to do that? Could it really be, as rumored, that this person comes from the upper echelons of Tian Du City?

Then, he cleared his mind, calmed himself, closed his eyes slightly, and a faint blue aura rose from his body, but there was no elf beside him.

—The Pokémon he's currently fused with, "Cloudy Bee," is extremely small and semi-transparent, yet it can climb to considerable heights and fly. It also possesses excellent eyesight, easily discerning even the slightest movement on the ground, making it an excellent scout-type Pokémon. Chen Yue's cultivation technique offers almost no boost to combat power, but it significantly extends the range of Pokémon control, making it a perfect match for Cloudy Bee's characteristics.

"...There are indeed only nine people."

A moment later, Chen Yue, who shared the same senses with the Cloud Bee, spoke seriously: "If none of the other side is burrowing underground, then this should be the number. But those who burrow underground need wireless communication more, so you should have been able to detect them."

"...That's not necessarily true."

Jiang Yong's eyes flickered. He had deliberately left hints when he raided the siege of Tiandu City a few days ago, which should be enough to make them suspicious of his communication technology and thus avoid using radio in certain important operations.

This action, while seemingly weakening Jiang Yong's advantage, was actually buying time for the overall situation. Without the radio, the efficiency of many operations would plummet, thus significantly slowing down the progress of the Tiandu City core plan in places Jiang Yong couldn't see. This was far more important than dealing with one or two expert or master-level opponents.

Furthermore, there is another thing that proves that Tiandu City is definitely using radio silence to cover something up—that is, until now, Jiang Yongdu has not detected a single clue about "Flame Soul" Nott from Tiandu City's channels.

But he should be right here.