They thought they would find a bandit hiding or something like that. However, there was nothing inside apart from a giant egg. It was packed in the middle of few chests that seemed to have been the spoils of the bandits' attacks at the merchant caravans. The faint life force that Rean felt was coming from inside it.
"An egg? Judging by the size, it's probably a demon beast's one."
Luina and the others also got close to take a look. But it was quite unimpressive, so none of them showed much interest.
He then brought it where the bandit leader was being interrogated by Roan. The guy only said that he got it from one of their victims, who was a foundation establishment cultivator. He confessed he found it during a training session in the middle of a mountain range before dying. The bandits didn't ask where that mountain range was located, though. The guy thought that if he nurtured it well, he would have a loyal helper in the future. Without any better choice, the bandits simply took it together with the rest of the stolen items. Perhaps, they could sell it for a good price or nurture it themselves later.
That being said, Rean looked around and asked.
"Does anyone want it?"
He didn't have much interest either. After all, Dalamu Sect already had a beast taming hall. If he needs a demon beast, he can simply borrow one there. Besides, he doesn't feel like he would have time to take care of it. Roan, of course, would be even more unwilling to do so.
Luina's group also had little interest in it for the same reasons. It would be quite annoying to carry it around too. In the end, they just decided to leave it here. If it is luck, it might come out at some point and survive.
However...
[You should bring it with you.]
Rean and Roan were taken aback by those words. Obviously, it was Sister Orb who said that.
Rean then examined it with his Spiritual Sense and used his Light Element to take a deeper look inside. Still, aside from the fact that it would be born soon, there was nothing impressive about the egg. Rean had seen other eggs back in the Beast Taming Hall, and they had much stronger Life Energies. So he couldn't help feel like this demon beast is a very common and weak one.
'I can't see anything good about it. Is there something wrong with the egg, Sister Orb?'
[Hum... It does indeed seem very weak compared to the eggs of the other beasts you saw in the Beast Taming Hall. The amount of power I can feel from it is quite below average too. But what caught my attention was not its strength, but the purity of its energy. If you compare it with the other eggs we saw, this guy is like a crystalline lake, while the others are just mud water.]
Roan didn't understand much about demon beasts, so he only looked at Rean.
Rean then took a deep breath and checked this guy's life force once more. However, he didn't pay attention to the amount of energy, but the quality of it.
'Sister Orb is right. His life force is weak but very pure. The other eggs can't compare at all.'
Rean pondered a bit before saying.
'Oh well, let's bring it back with us. It might give us a surprise later. If not, we can set it free or leave it with the Beast Taming Hall if they want it.'
Rean then looked at the others.
"Since no one wants it, I'll take with me."
Roan and Luina's group didn't object. None of them wanted that anyway, so they might as well leave it for Rean.
With that out of the way, they finished their business in this last camp and departed before demon beasts appeared. At some point, they stopped and set up camp to rest. After all, it was already too bright, and the rest of the small bandit groups would have fully woken up by now. If they were found, they might let someone escape.
As always, Rean and Roan threw all the spoils into the Soul Gem Dimensional Realm when Luina's group wasn't looking. Half of the day had passed after that, and the sun began to set down again.
Somewhere else, a man in leather clothes looked at the subordinates in front of him with a dark expression.
"What do you mean we haven't received any reports from the other six groups? Are you messing with me? I would understand if one of them was caught off guard and was wiped out, but I refuse to believe it happened with all six of them. Send someone to take a look. I want to know what they are doing or what happened. Also, send a few others to alert the remaining small groups. Tell them to immediately pack everything and join us. Another thing, double the number of scouts around our camp."
This man's name was Lovak Cenkrol, an Initial Stage Core Formation Realm cultivator. He was also the leader of the Gold Hands Bandit Group. Just as Roan predicted, he was quite a careful person. He made a rule where the other camps must send daily reports of their activities. However, six of the ten outer camps didn't send anyone today. Obviously, he thought that something big was happening.
His subordinates quickly left after receiving the order. After that, he took out a map and looked at it.
'All six camps were selected at random, so I can't see a pattern of attack. Whoever is doing this knows how to not leave clues behind. By now, the other side should already know that I usually receive daily reports from those camps. However, if they were really wiped out without leaving anyone alive, I have to say that it's very impressive. Should I go out and wait at one of the remaining small groups?'
However, Lovak immediately shook his head.
'No. I know nothing about the enemy's numbers. There is a chance that there is a spy in my camp too. If I disappear, the other side might attack the ones who remained. If that happens, my bandit group will really take a massive blow. The best to do is to consolidate my forces and retreat for the time being. We already got quite a harvest during the weeks we stayed here. It won't matter if we retreat a few days earlier than scheduled.'
Without Lovak knowing, Roan's group had already moved out. However, they didn't move to the next target. Instead, Roan gave everyone some specific orders before they all went into separated directions.
At this moment, Roan was hidden somewhere between the main bandit camp and one of the small bandit groups. It wasn't dark yet, so he had a good view of his surroundings. Suddenly, he noticed three shadows in the distance, moving at full speed.
'Hehe! There they come.'
Those shadows were none other than the bandits tasked to warn the small bandit group in Roan's direction. Too bad, though. They wouldn't get there anymore.
At the same time, in another three different places, the same scene was playing out. That was Roan's orders. Intercept the scouts before they warned the remaining four small bandit groups of what was happening. Roan, Rean, and Luina waited in a place on the way between three small bandit groups and the main one. The last one was taken by Oritis and Rolim together. Those two were the weakest ones of their group, so Roam left them together to make sure they would kill all scouts. Rean and Luina were much stronger, so they should have no problem doing it alone. After all, there shouldn't be more than two or three scouts at once.
It was also Roan who pointed in the map where they should stay. Sure enough, those scouts appeared where he told precisely. Luina's group couldn't help but feel even more admiration for those kids. No, they already gave up treating Rean and Roan as kids a long time ago.
Poor Lovak didn't know that he had been playing on Roan's hands all this time. It was as if Roan was reading his mind.
After getting rid of the scouts, their group once again gathered at a previously arranged spot.
Roan then looked at Rean and the rest before giving a faint smile.
"Alright. With this, we can finish off the rest of the small groups with easy. Let's go."
Everyone nodded and departed. By the end of this second night, there would be only the three main groups remaining.