Beast Taming Universe Survival Guide

Chapter 8 The Chase After the Plane Crash Arrives

Deep in the dense forest.

A silver-white, tiger-shaped mechanical beast nimbly darted through the mountains and forests. Its massive size meant that each time it landed, its mechanical claws sank deeply into the soil, yet eerily, without making a sound. This was true even with three people riding on its back.

Stop.

The short-haired woman sitting at the front, who looked to be in her thirties, raised her hand. After the mechanical beast came to a stop, a blue aura flashed across her body, and a silver-gray bat-shaped elf appeared from it.

"Did that person turn another corner?"

The man in black sitting behind her, with his legs crossed, asked absentmindedly. A faint silver aura flickered around him, and his energy was faintly connected to the mechanical beast beneath him. He was clearly the contractor of this mechanical beast.

"Keep your voice down. His scent is very close; we should be able to pinpoint his location."

After the short-haired woman finished speaking, she held her breath and remained silent. Seeing this, the man in black also fell silent. The silver-gray bat stood atop the mechanical beast's head, and suddenly a ring of membrane around its neck sprang up, forming a shape resembling a radar dome.

(Have you all seen frilled lizards? They look pretty much like that.)

Then, invisible high-frequency sound waves were emitted from its mouth, and after being reflected by the surrounding objects, they all converged on the skin on its neck, gradually forming a detailed three-dimensional map in the woman's mind, and she then examined each target displayed in it one by one.

—The Umbrella-Winged Hunter Bat, a Flying-type Pokémon, a rare lower-ranking species. It possesses the ability to emit ultrasonic waves and a sensitive collar membrane capable of sensing them. When the membrane expands, it forms a radar-like structure, greatly increasing the detection range and accuracy. It also possesses a powerful sense of smell several times more acute than a hound, making it extremely adept at detection and tracking. It is an important military Pokémon on Planet Carlo.

"...Found it."

A moment later, the short-haired woman opened her eyes, her gaze filled with surprise and sarcasm: "He's on the hillside ahead, hiding in the bushes, as if he's planning to ambush us."

"Ambush us? On what grounds? Just because of that Bug-type Pokémon that can't kill the Water-Eroding Mushroom?"

The man in black chuckled, turning to glance at the thin man sitting at the back who hadn't yet spoken: "Now that we've found the location, let's proceed according to plan. You sneak over and scout first; if everything's alright, trap him while we surround him."

"He might know how to use that fragment. We must not give him a chance to gather power. Report any developments immediately," the short-haired woman warned.

The gaunt man nodded, displaying a taciturn and aloof demeanor. Then, with a flip, he jumped off the mechanical beast, his body sinking into the ground as if into water, disappearing into the cliff face.

After he left, the two of them stopped talking, their auras subtly shifting, ready to unleash their power, awaiting the next signal.

Just a short while later, a voice came from the communicator on the collar.

"It's fake."

The gaunt man's voice crackled with annoyance, "That guy made a wooden dummy and put it here, probably carved from that Bug-type Pokémon. He's stalling for time..."

"(Buzz—) Hmm? Wait a minute, he placed that fragment next to the dummy. Is he begging for mercy?"

"what?"

Both the short-haired woman and the man in black were taken aback, not expecting the other party to be so sensible.

"...That saved us a lot of trouble. But we can't let the witnesses get away, especially since he killed one of our men," the man in black said, shaking his head.

"I know."

The thin man responded and asked, "Should we (sizzle—) move the fragments first?"

The short-haired woman thought for a moment, then shook her head: "No need. The fragments are safest with the three of us."

In her view, if the escapee knew how to use the fragments, they wouldn't have returned them willingly. But the two employees who died in the cave earlier clearly died from the power of the fragments, and even the Water-Eroded Mushroom, despite having a wound caused by a Bug-type move, was still truly killed by the power of the fragments.

This leaves only one explanation: the escapee only used the lingering miasma to carry out the kill, and his actual strength was much weaker than initially estimated, and he might not even be an expert!

With that in mind, she summoned the Umbrella-Winged Hunter Bat again, intending to activate the sonic radar to locate the guy.

"(Buzz—) This is the radio station. Please bring the fragments back first; that's the top priority."

At that moment, the voice from the rear communications station came through the communicator, interrupting her actions—this was tantamount to an order from her superiors.

"Then I'll take the fragments back from underground. (Buzz—) Come to this location. This dummy should have his scent. You can track him from here." The thin man said into the communicator.

"……All right."

The short-haired woman thought it made sense, so she put away the elf, jumped onto the mechanical beast, and ran with the man in black towards the location they had discovered earlier.

……

at the same time.

"(Sizzle—) His speed is increasing, and he continues to head south."

The short-haired woman's voice came through the communicator in her collar, while the gaunt man was already sweating profusely. An elf, whose body resembled mud but possessed a beast-like rock head, was enveloping him. Meanwhile, the grayish-brown aura emanating from him continuously flowed into his own elf's body, and together they swiftly traversed the underground.

"The ground here is all rock, the resistance is huge. Are you sure we can catch up with him like this?"

"(Sizzle—) This is already the fastest route. And he's spotted us, but not you... Stop talking nonsense, go another fifty meters, then immediately release the swamp to trap him!"

"good!"

The gaunt man's aura surged, and he suddenly accelerated, breaking through layers of rocks and reaching his destination in just a few seconds.

"I'm exhausted... 'Whirlpool Swamp'!"

The elf beside him let out a low growl, sending out a yellowish-brown wave that swept across the ground above. The ground then suddenly softened and collapsed, transforming into a massive vortex with terrifying suction, pulverizing and engulfing trees and rocks within a radius of several meters, resembling a small but far more deadly flash flood.

"(Sizzle—) He's trapped! Well done!"

Upon hearing the reply from the communicator, he no longer hesitated. With a burst of energy, he leaped out of the ground like a cannonball, his contracted spirits circling around him, ready to deliver a petrifying ray to the trapped guy.

However, apart from the still roaring swamp, there was nothing else in sight!

"How is that possible?!"

The thin man's pupils contracted. He looked down at the communicator in his collar, intending to ask a question, but found that the communicator was completely silent, even the buzzing noise had disappeared.

"What's going on? Could they have misread it...?"

"Wait, the umbrella-winged hunter bats use high-frequency sound waves for location tracking, how could they pinpoint my location underground?"

A terrible thought flashed through his mind, causing his expression to change drastically. He was about to shout to warn his companions to be careful.

"Too late!"

The instant he opened his mouth, a thread carrying the howling sound of a vengeful ghost and glowing with an eerie blue light shot out from his blind spot, instantly sealing off all his movements!