Chapter 341: Intel
Following the success of the trailblazers, more squads were sent out to the Lost Continent to create and man the outposts. By now, there are at least six federal outposts on the Lost Continent; each one was created without alarming the demons roaming the lands.
Of course, this operation wasn't completely silent. There had been times when some squads were unlucky and were met with aggression from the demons who sensed their movement. The way they solved this issue was simple, though: kill all witnesses. It doesn't matter whether they're stray animals or not; as long as they see humans on the Lost Continent, they must die.
And the soldiers gave them thorough deaths too. After all, they couldn't risk allowing the demons they killed to be reincarnated, only to inform the entire demon race about this operation.
The plan was to have at least ten of these outposts out here first, and they're very close to achieving this. Once their target number was reached, they could move on to the next plan, which would dictate the advantages they could get once they started liberating the Lost Continent.
Obviously, the soldiers didn't remain idle once they were done building the outpost. They have orders to survey their surroundings and compile the information for future use.
What humans learned from the spies isn't enough. Moreover, demons see things differently than humans do. There's bound to be inconsistencies in the information the Night Stalkers sent, and the soldiers were here to confirm this.
And this turns out to be a wise decision because the first batch of soldiers immediately noticed an undisclosed threat that the spies didn't include in their reports.
They discovered that the level of demonic corruption here was insane, so much so that it could reduce a strong Planar Traveler into a walking puppet in mere seconds after exposure.
If it weren't for the specialized armor suits the soldiers wore before arriving here, they would've instantly turned into strays as soon as they arrived. Upon learning this, the soldiers universally agreed to never remove their armor, especially when going out.
The Night Stalkers failure to point this out made sense because, to them, this kind of environment wasn't harmful at all. If anything, this could be considered a holy land for them. The soldiers didn't raise too much ruckus about this either because they were already expecting it.
It's also because of this that they decided to carefully study the environment. Just to make sure that there wouldn't be any accidents that would jeopardize the entire operation.
Of course, they couldn't risk going too far right now. They're all aware that the sin demons were actively roaming these lands. Even if all of the soldiers that were sent here worked together in perfect coordination, they wouldn't be able to take down any of these demon kings. Not to mention that doing so will defeat the purpose of them sneaking their way in here to begin with.
This is why they had to be extra careful when going out. Whenever they do, they will always check their equipment a total of five times just to be safe, making sure that they're prepared for anything that might happen while they're out.
Aside from the extremely dangerous level of corruption in this land, the soldiers also listed the nearest demon lairs on each outpost. They noted sprawling forests filled with shadowy creatures, nests of insect-type demons, underground tunnels that lead to who knows where, and so on.
A handful of the soldiers who came here were old. The times when Azure Terra looked relatively the same on this continent are something that's still fresh in their memories, but even these people could tell that these lands are way worse than what they've seen before. Just from the sheer number of demons lurking around, this continent has already won.
The fact that they'd have to liberate this entire continent made them feel intimidated since they knew just how much effort it would take to do just that.
On another note, the soldiers have already seen the sin demons and have already compiled all the types of information they learned about them.
The most obvious were their physical appearances. Lady Envy was a humanoid demon with moth-like wings. She leaves a trail of dark golden dust whenever she's flying, and these dusts, when inhaled by demons, act like some sort of triggering drug, making their victims mad with a false sense of power.
Big Sloth was a giant ape. It's almost as tall as a hill when standing upright, but since he's too lazy, one could easily mistake him for a massive road bump instead. It's fairly easy to know where he is; you only need to listen to his loud and thunderous snoring. If you can hear it nearby, it means that the ape was close.
Fat Glutonny is a demon slime with a bottomless stomach. Just like Big Sloth, it's pretty easy to tell when he's close because he leaves a trail of pitch-black fluid behind whenever he moves. This trial remains noticeable even with the blackened soil of the Lost Continent.
Furthermore, this trail lasts for hours before dissipating, and those unfortunate creatures that make contact with it will find themselves drained of their energy. A sign that Gluttony was feeding on them despite not being anywhere near.
Sir Greed is a monstrosity with many faces and figures. Without that ridiculously oversized and overstuffed knapsack of his, which he is extremely protective of, nobody would've been able to know that it's him because he changes his appearance like humans change clothes. But despite carrying so many things on his back, Sir Greed was surprisingly quick.
He's probably the most agile, flexible, and swiftest of his fellow sin demons. If there's one rule that everyone must know about him, it's the fact that any form of physical contact with his knapsack will turn Sir Greed mad as if somebody touched his reverse scale.
Mistress Lust could be said to be weaker than Lady Envy herself. Hell, if the ape wasn't so lazy, she'd be the weakest amongst the sin demons, really. That said, this doesn't mean that this female demon with bat-like wings wasn't formidable. If anything, she might be the scariest demon humans will face once the liberation war begins, simply due to her effect on them.
There's this one soldier who nearly succumbed to her charm. He only looked at her from miles away, yet her enchanting and venereal features nearly drove him mad. Fortunately, his comrades slapped him back to reality.
And then there was King Pride, who took on the form of a demon lion standing on its hind legs.
He's probably the strongest demon around on this continent. The moment the soldiers saw him, all of them immediately felt their lives were being threatened. He wasn't anywhere as large as the lazy ape; he isn't as mysterious as either Gluttony or Greed; and he also isn't as pretty or sexy as Lust and Envy. However, he's strong. Very strong.
The soldiers knew that if they wanted to liberate this land, he would be their biggest obstacle, and it would take someone who reached the planetary realm of life evolution to take him down.
King Pride is actually the one they're most wary of right now, simply because his senses were a little too sharp. He could feel and hear things at vast distances, making it more difficult for the following squads to do their jobs in peace.
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Fortunately, though, he's kind of stupid. To make sure that he wouldn't be able to interfere too much, the soldiers decided to lure him away from the outposts that were under construction using a drone. They were taking advantage of his sharp senses, right under his nose.
If he were to learn of this, he would surely cause a ruckus all over the continent. One that not even Lust could prevent. This would've been nice since it's already certain that at least several hundred, if not thousands, of demons will die on his paws. Sadly, they can't use this plan because he might accidentally wander a little too close to the outpost. That will be bad for humans.
These Sin Demon Kings were the biggest threat that they'd have to eliminate if they wanted to liberate this continent from demonic influence. What makes this even harder is that these demons have been a team for many years by now. It's almost certain that they won't play fair during the war, so humans will have to be creative when facing them.
Obviously, there's more to learn about them. These were just things that the soldiers could learn for now by spying at them from a distance. It's nowhere near enough to help in taking them down, but it's better than nothing.
The progress of humans on this land was slow but steady. They care more about not making a mistake than the speed of achieving their goals.
However, the preparations are nearly over. Once they're done with this, the true fight for the liberation of the Lost Continent will begin, and this battle will be far more difficult compared to what they faced when they liberated Azure Terra.