Wizard: I Can Refine Everything

Chapter 149: Chapter 49: The City of Insects

After listening to Lawrence’s words, Richard also had some hesitations in his heart.

If this Puppet Wizard was truly as Lawrence described, then this operation was likely nothing more than a smokescreen, definitely serving as a cover for the Puppet Wizard’s real intentions.

But then again, issuing an Emergency Summon Order was not without significant cost, and if it led to major losses, the Puppet Wizard would face severe punishment.

Judging by the standards of the wizards in the settlement, if anything went wrong with this emergency summon, the Puppet Wizard would surely meet his death.

“Just be a bit more cautious, you know the cost of an Emergency Summon Order,” Richard replied, “Even if this is just a cover for him, we definitely won’t be cannon fodder.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t get past command.”

Lawrence sighed upon hearing this, knowing the logic was sound, but still feeling somewhat uneasy about being summoned by such a wizard.

After announcing the mission, the Puppet Wizard began to distribute intelligence to the other wizards.

It was an extremely detailed three-dimensional tunnel map, with a large settlement at its center. On the map, the Puppet Wizard marked four passages with magic power, and the wizards present were to enter the large settlement through these four passages.

In addition, the Puppet Wizard also shared the patrol routes of the bugs, their patrol schedules, the number of bugs in the settlement, and their defensive arrangements. The intelligence was so thorough it was as if the Puppet Wizard had been present when the bugs were planning these specifics.

With such intelligence, any wizard present, if not a fool, could infiltrate the settlement.

Looking at the intelligence received, doubts began to surface in Richard’s mind.

The intelligence was too detailed, so much so that it seemed unreal. However, upon receiving the intelligence, Lawrence actually breathed a sigh of relief.

“Our mission this time is surely to provide cover for Declan, but that doesn’t matter; with this intelligence, we can accomplish our task.”

Richard looked at Lawrence with surprise. What did he mean by that?

Had his heart finally given out?

“Don’t look at me like that,” Lawrence laughed, “I know this intelligence is too detailed, but I’ve seen Declan’s Puppet Witchcraft firsthand. He can easily control those Physique Evolved natives, so detailed intelligence like this suggests his Puppets may have infiltrated the bug’s decision-making layer.”

Richard’s doubts lessened upon hearing this, but a thread of unease still lingered. He quietly sent a Spiritual Message to Ali:

“Ali, be careful on this mission. Stay back if you can, and escape quickly if something doesn’t seem right.”

Among the three, Lawrence was crafty with experience and proficient in Shadow Magic, Richard had Ulysses, but only Ali was somewhat lacking when it came to escaping.

As a turret wizard, her stage should be on the frontlines.

Ali received the message and gave him a slight smile.

“I’m not new to the battlefield, don’t worry.”

After the sharing of intelligence was complete, specific action plans were laid out.

The Puppet Wizard selected the Second Ring Wizards among them and formed a small team to lead the rescue effort.

The remaining One Ring Wizards, under his arrangement, were mainly responsible for providing support, harassing the enemy, and confusing the enemy’s line of sight.

…

Departing from the settlement, the wizards naturally divided into four groups, heading towards the Mother Goddess Temple where the priest resided through four different tunnels.

Richard and his two companions took the same tunnel, and amazingly, the Puppet Wizard’s intelligence was incredibly precise, allowing them to perfectly avoid all bug patrols.

These patrol teams, on a fixed schedule within the Insect Nest, would be immediately noticed by the bug command center if they vanished in battle, which could lead them to infer the infiltrating wizards. Without the precise intelligence of the Puppet Wizard, most of them would have been discovered on the outer periphery of the Mother Goddess Temple’s defense circle.

Following the markers from the Puppet Wizard, Richard and his party soon arrived at the designated location—an abandoned and filled Earth Cave.

The location of this Earth Cave was very clever; there was one path that connected directly to the large Earth Cave where the Mother Goddess Temple was situated, and because it was abandoned and filled in, there were no patrolling bugs assigned to it.

How the Puppet Wizard had come to discover such a concealed place was anyone’s guess.

Upon arrival, the wizards displayed their Divine Skills and cleared out the Earth Cave in a matter of minutes, all the while maintaining a disguise that ensured the bugs on the outside would never know the Earth Cave was concealing a group of Wizard Monsters.

Peering through the cracks between the fungi in the tunnel, Richard silently observed the large insect city.

In the past, Richard always prioritized attacking smaller settlements for safety, as these settlements did not contain much of value but also had comparably weaker garrisons, which were friendly to the strength of a One Ring Wizard like Richard.

These small settlements were like human villages—sparse populations, rudimentary buildings, and they seemed very backward.

The medium-sized settlements were better. Richard had once infiltrated one such medium-sized settlement, which resembled a county town where the bugs did not just live in rooms hollowed out from giant fungi but in various buildings made of sandstone and fungi, inhabited by Priest Insects or Warrior Worms.

Richard had seen a few of these medium-sized settlements on his bug-killing ventures, but those he saw were all dead, vastly different from when they were alive.

Now, however, Richard was witnessing a completely different scene.

If one were to make a comparison, while the medium-sized settlements were like county towns, the large settlement in front of him was like a bustling city like the Magic Capital.

Structures as large as small hills, resembling Mayan Pyramids, stood at the center of the settlement, with the Temple at the top glistening with gold.

At its feet, the tall buildings of various colors were neatly divided into four areas. Between them, four broad avenues stretch from the tunnel entrance directly to the Pyramid. An uninterrupted stream of Transport Worms carried food from each settlement, tirelessly transporting it into the Pyramid to provide nourishment for the Mother Worm.

Above ground, Richard had once seen squads of Mother Worm Guards patrolling the city. In the skies, the Moth Army, capable of bringing down War Airships, continuously circled, not allowing any suspicious creature to enter the settlements.

Faced with such a tightly defended city, Richard swallowed hard.

If something went wrong, all the Wizards here would likely be trapped inside.

However, Richard soon noticed something amiss.

Most of the patrolling insects were First Level, with hardly any Second Level insects to be seen.

Richard relayed this information to Lawrence, and the seasoned Wizard pondered for a moment before reaching a conclusion.

“They are probably amassing strength for a counterattack.”

As a veteran of three Plane Wars, Lawrence had his own instincts about the situation on the battlefield.

In past wars, whenever the command decided to have a major showdown with the natives, they would either ask the Black Wizards to hibernate or withdraw. And if the natives were preparing for a grand battle, the defensive forces in their cities would often be weakened.

Lawrence’s conclusion sent a shock through Richard’s heart. It had only been a few years, and the insects were already planning a counterattack.

According to the norms of Plane Wars, conquering a minor Plane usually took about sixty years, with the decisive battle occurring around the forty-year mark. The remaining twenty years were generally for mopping up, a privilege time for the Wizards.

But right now, they had been at war for only eight years. By conventional standards, this should have been garbage time.

Meaning that both sides would only engage in small-scale battles, with the Wizards solidifying their foothold and developing resources in this New World, while the natives worked on internal disputes and developed their war potential.

“The situation is likely a result of the insects’ societal structure,” Ali suddenly interjected between the two men.

“Oh?” Lawrence expressed some surprise, as Ali didn’t seem like the kind of Wizard to study native societies.

“It’s what my teacher told me,” Ali communicated using a Spiritual Message, “She said the Black Crystal Worm Clan is completely different from any native Race she’s encountered before. Those native Races often have significant internal strife and even under the World Master’s leadership, they suffer from a lot of infighting.

Sometimes, natives would even use the Wizards’ hand to eliminate their own enemies.

The resolution of these conflicts often requires decades, plus the external pressure from Wizards, so the decisive battles tend to occur around the forty-year mark.

But the Black Crystal Worm Clan is different.

Though they have thirty-six Insect Countries that go to war against each other to fight over Insect Nest territories, their mode of reproduction through the Mother Worm laying eggs means these insects bear no deep-seated grudges against each other.

So once the Mother Worm God, as the World Master, issues even a slight summons, these insects can quickly unite, rapidly formulate strategies, and develop their war potential.

This could also place their decisive battle earlier than previous Plane Wars and make it much more dangerous.”

After hearing Ali’s message, Richard couldn’t help but remark privately that having connections really pays off.

“It looks like our mission here will be ending soon. Then it’ll be a choice between retreat and hibernation,” Richard stated.

But after hearing the news, Lawrence sighed.

“Don’t bother thinking about hibernating. We’ll definitely retreat. Since the war is dangerous, the command won’t want to waste any strength.”

After spending some time in the Earth Cave, a leading Second Ring Wizard suddenly took out a Crystal Ball.

The orders of a Puppet Wizard came from the Crystal Ball:

“All personnel are accounted for, begin infiltration.”

Seeing the Sound Transmission Crystal Ball, Richard seemed to remember something, suddenly taking out two Black Crystals from his Magic Pocket and handing them to Ali and Lawrence.

“What’s this?” Ali asked, puzzled.

The more knowledgeable Lawrence frowned, “The Magic Fluctuation from the Communication Crystal Ball is too strong; it’s not suitable for use here.”

Richard smiled slightly and took out an identical Crystal Ball and spoke:

“How’s the Magic Fluctuation?”

The next instant, the voices of Richard came through the Crystal Balls held by Lawrence and Ali, and the Magic Fluctuation was almost zero.

“This… where did you get such a great item!” Lawrence exclaimed in astonishment, immediately bombarding with a series of questions, “What’s the maximum distance it can cover, is the Magic Fluctuation this minimal at every range? How strong is the information transmission? How thick does a lead box have to be to block it…”

Richard gestured with his hand, signaling him to stop.

“This is a little gadget my senior sister made. The communication range is about two kilometers, and the Magic Fluctuation increases slightly at the limit of range. The transmission strength can manage information transfer on low-intensity battlefields; high-intensity battlefields can disrupt the transfer due to energy fluctuation.”

Even so, Lawrence still gave a thumbs up.

“Good stuff.”

The two of them secured their Crystal Balls, and the three joined the main force in infiltrating toward the Mother Goddess Temple.

COMMENT
0 comment

Vote
3 left

SEND GIFT