Chapter 182 Dispersion and Exposure

Moreover, it is an agricultural activity that combines plant cultivation and livestock breeding, and artificially changes the environment for intensive cultivation. This is undoubtedly evidence of the high level of their civilization.

You know, even in Jemin's previous life, on the eve of the Industrial Revolution, the only country that could be considered to have intensive farming was a certain Eastern country.

"But... the problem is quite serious." Benjamin looked at the scene in front of him, his expression becoming serious.

When searching the soul of the lava giant before, there was no memory of "plantations" and "livestock breeding" at this gathering point.

And judging from the traces of soil, the growth status of plants and the newness of artificial light sources, it seems that it was indeed built not long ago!

This shows that their intelligence source is lagging behind, and the lava giant group at this gathering place has undergone unknown changes.

The other three wizards except Benjamin were also stunned.

They thought this would be a barracks, a mine, or some kind of weapons research facility. No one expected it to be a "farm"!

These people are obviously combat wizards.

Most of the analysis reports related to the Lava Giant only focus on those related to combat. This is common sense that logistics wizards are accustomed to, but it is a rather shocking fact to them.

"Are we... in the wrong place?" a first-level wizard asked subconsciously.

The other first-level wizard, who was good at reconnaissance, shook his head and denied it. "No, my navigation is correct. This is indeed the stronghold."

"Then what are these? Does the lava giant need to eat?"

"Yeah, don't these elemental creatures survive by absorbing elemental power?"

Benjamin couldn't help but give them some scientific knowledge. After learning that the lava giant actually had such a special body structure, the remaining three wizards couldn't help but show expressions of amazement.

After a brief moment of astonishment, the wizards subconsciously dispersed and began to collect plant and soil samples from the surrounding area for research.

They carefully pick up plant samples with pliers or mental power and place them in special sample bags, or use portable analyzers to analyze their elemental composition, energy fluctuations and toxicity.

Benjamin also walked over to a plant with fiery red leaves, but he didn't bother like the other wizards.

After carefully examining it with his "Universal Eye", Benjamin reached out and quickly grabbed a few plant roots and put them in his mouth to chew!

When the wizards saw this scene, they all gasped!

Even if a plant can survive in high temperatures, it does not mean it is non-toxic, and it is a taboo for wizards to rashly eat plants from other worlds!

If they were not still in the enemy camp, the wizards present would probably have let out a sharp explosion.

However, the reason why Benjamin dared to do this was not because he was blindly careless.

He has absolute confidence in himself.

The body-building method he had been adhering to for a long time not only made his physical fitness far superior to that of wizards of the same level, but also made him have a strong resistance to various injuries.

Ordinary alien plant toxins, even if they are deadly, can only make him feel a little uncomfortable but cannot harm his essence.

Moreover, he also has the ultimate analytical ability of the "Universal Eye", which can instantly understand the basic structure of plants. Combined with the high resistance unique to physical cultivation, he is almost not afraid of any known plant toxins.

"Hmm...it tastes very strange, less watery than expected, a bit like roasted sweet potato." Benjamin commented vaguely while chewing, with even a hint of enjoyment on his face.

While speaking nonsense, Benjamin was quickly summarizing his conclusions about the plant in his mind:

"Based on its morphology, I initially thought it was more like a succulent plant, but its structure is closer to a fungus. No wonder it grew so large so quickly."

"It looks like it's rich in juice, but it's actually surprisingly dry... However, it contains some irritating ingredients. Long-term consumption may increase a creature's resistance to fire. However, the upper limit is not high..."

The other wizards looked at each other, then ran to Jemin with flattering faces, wanting to exchange information.

We briefly exchanged our preliminary analysis of these plants.

Although Benjamin did not tell all his conclusions, it was obvious that Benjamin's direct experiment was much more efficient than theirs.

Then, the four of them gathered again and began to discuss their next steps.

"The situation has changed." The second-level wizard said solemnly, "This change means that the intelligence we previously obtained about this place is no longer reliable. The combat effectiveness and number of troops of the lava giants stranded here are also likely to increase."

He looked at the other two first-level wizards and Jemin. "Therefore, I suggest that we conduct a risk assessment first. This is not a simple military base as we previously thought. The existence of this 'plantation' means that the lava giants here intend to operate here for the long term."

In the end, after weighing the pros and cons, three people decided to stay and continue to explore in depth, and one person chose to leave.

However, this person also promised that after leaving, he would establish stable long-distance communication with the camp, transmit the latest intelligence here back to the command center, and request support.

The others also agreed with his approach. No one was willing to rashly venture into the unknown and dangerous situation that had already changed.

Benjamin was the one who decided to stay.

Benjamin had good reasons.

First of all, he was carrying a bunch of level 4 defensive talismanic magical weapons with him. After making preparations in advance, they were enough to allow him to withstand high-intensity attacks and not fall into desperate situations easily.

Secondly, he also has the hidden "Five Elements Transforming into Rainbow Mirror" as his trump card. As long as he uses his "transformation into light" ability, he will truly transform into light and escape. Almost no living creature can intercept him, which gives him a perfect retreat.

What's more, Benjamin's original purpose was not to kill.

His core goal is to collect as much mortal energy as possible, and these living lava giants who are "running society" are the mortal producers he most desires.

Therefore, he does not need to really go deep into the danger. As long as he stays here for a certain period of time and checks the effect of collecting the red dust energy, it will be his greatest success.

One of the other two wizards who chose to stay was the second-level wizard.

He was bold and careful, and wanted to rely on his own strength to see if he could use this unexpected opportunity to collect more in-depth important intelligence in advance and lay the groundwork for the subsequent military invasion.

After all, the rarer and more in-depth the intelligence, the higher the merit it can be exchanged for.

The other first-level wizard was a relatively cautious young man. He agreed to stay, mainly to follow the arrangements of the second-level wizard.

At the same time, he was also intended to serve as an outpost. In case the communication wizard who left outside could not contact the camp, he could at least continue to send support signals to the camp from the outermost perimeter.

The three of them reached a consensus, exchanged glances, and then restrained all unnecessary breath.

The three of them dispersed tacitly, like three shadows, sneaking towards the depths of this hemispherical space.

Unlike the other two wizards, Benjamin did not use concealment runes and phantom magic to conduct a slow investigation.

After all, his purpose in coming here was not to investigate, but to conduct experiments.

So from the beginning, Benjamin had no intention of going deeper.

With a flash of his body, he came to the root of a huge red tree, stretched out his palm towards the ground, and his mental power spread out like mercury pouring out.

The ground was silently shaped by the power of alchemy, and in just a few breaths, a narrow hole large enough to accommodate his body was dug out.

Like a leech slipping into a quagmire, he swiftly and efficiently crawled into the hole he had dug, and then controlled the soft soil to completely bury himself.

From the outside, the ground is still flat, without any signs of excavation, perfectly hidden.

Inside the crypt, the surrounding thick rock layers and alchemically reinforced soil blocked out most sounds and energy fluctuations.

He only retained the faint perception of the "Eye of Glimmer of Light", like a ghost lurking in the depths of the shadows.

He did not rush into action, but instead focused all his attention on his dantian.

He stared carefully at the talisman deep in his dantian that collected the energy of the mortal world.

The talisman is ancient in appearance and emits a faint blood-red glow. Every time it collects the energy of the mortal world, it will vibrate slightly.

Benjamin's mood at the moment was a little complicated, with a hint of anticipation mixed with a vague uneasiness.

Time passes by every second.

Five minutes... ten minutes... half an hour...

As time went on, the expression on Jiemin's face became uglier and uglier.

There were clearly thousands of lava giants all around, with noisy sounds of work, low roars, the noise of rocks colliding, and even the sounds of some lava giants communicating with each other.

All this shows that this gathering point is full of "active signs of life."

However, his talisman never sensed even a trace of the earthly aura coming from the lava giant!

There are occasional sporadic fluctuations, but they are the faint remnants produced by the wizards on the battlefield, not by these indigenous creatures.

"There's definitely something wrong!" Benjamin couldn't help but clench his fists.

He was certain that his talisman was not damaged and he was still keenly aware of the earthly energy in other situations.

The problem lies with the lava giant itself.

Judging from the plantations encountered previously, this stronghold was by no means a simple mine or barracks, as it had demonstrated a clear social nature.

The lava giants here engage in animal husbandry in an organized manner, with clear division of labor, and even have an "artificial sun" to maintain ecological balance.

All this indicates that they have reached a conceptual level sufficient to generate social interaction and, in turn, give birth to the spirit of the world.

No matter what happens, there is no reason why it cannot belong to the concept of "society"!

"Why on earth?" Benjamin frowned, puzzled.

He reviewed over and over in his mind the theory of the creation of the Red Dust Qi, as well as the unique physiological structure and elemental composition of the lava giant.

Is it because of their life form?

Were they semi-elemental creatures, or rather, the way they expressed their "emotions" was completely different from the life forms he knew?

He tried to analyze it from various angles, but could never find conclusive evidence to explain the anomaly.

Theoretically, he could go deeper to find a larger, more complex, and possibly more civilized lava giant stronghold to conduct experiments again.

Perhaps the "cities" or "royal courts" at the core of the Lava Giant Empire can produce the earthly energy he needs.

However, Jermyn's control of danger is extremely rational.

If we go deeper, it will mean facing a higher-level Lava Giant Lord, perhaps even a level five or six existence.

The danger level of a stronghold of that level is far beyond what his current strength can withstand.

What's more, his primary goal now is just to collect the mortal energy, rather than to engage in a head-on confrontation with the entire Lava Giant Plane Empire.

It is obviously unwise to risk your life by going to an area with unknown outcomes.

After considering for a long time, Jemin had no choice but to give up the idea of ​​continuing to study the red dust energy of the lava giant.

A wave of regret and unwillingness surged in his heart - his core goal had encountered such a strange failure in the place where it was most likely to be achieved.

"It seems that we can only turn to the Frost Dark Realm." Benjamin thought silently in his heart.

Since the lava giant route is blocked, he will try the snow monster.

Although he has not yet conducted detailed research on snow monsters, he is not sure whether this problem will also exist in their life forms.

But right now, this is his only choice.

He quickly outlined the next action plan in his mind: just like coming to the Yanyang Realm, he would find the settlement of snow monsters in the Frost Dark Realm, collect samples, conduct in-depth research, observe their "sociality", and try to collect the red dust energy.

"However, my research on snow monsters is not that in-depth. It seems that I need to go back to the camp to look for relevant information..."

Just as Jieming was thinking about the specific action plan to go to the Frost Dark Realm...

Boom!

A violent explosion shook the entire underground cavity, almost shaking the dungeon where Benjamin was hiding!

Immediately afterwards, the angry roar of the lava giants swept over like a tsunami. It was the violent roar of countless lava giants at the same time, accompanied by dense energy light and the sound of magma gushing out.

Jie Ming's face suddenly tightened! He knew that the wizard outside had been discovered!

He did not need the precise detection of the "Eye of Reconnaissance". The intensity of the energy fluctuations and the roars of the lava giants were enough to tell that it was not a simple encounter, but the wizard's infiltration was completely exposed, triggering a fierce counterattack from the entire stronghold!

He quickly activated the runes that had been arranged in advance around the crypt, making the view under the soil covering the cave entrance slightly clearer, enough for him to glimpse the movements outside, but not to expose himself.

His eyes passed through the narrow gap and locked onto the direction where the sound came from.

But before he could take a closer look, the same energy fluctuation erupted on the other side.

"Damn it!" Benjamin cursed in his heart.

He didn't expect the two wizards to be discovered so quickly.

(Please give me a monthly ticket!)

(End of this chapter)