Lovak began to get concerned. He received the reports of the scouts he sent to the groups that disappeared. Sure enough, they had all been wiped out. However, the scouts he sent to warn the remaining slive small groups didn't return.
Not only him, but all the bandits in his main camp also noticed the problem. Later, Lovak sent more scouts to check the conditions of the other four small camps. Sure enough, those camps were also cleaned. Not only did the things that were stolen taken away, but not a single survivor was found.
"Boss, could it be the Jailin Country Army? Otherwise, how could they wipe out 10 small camps without alarming anyone?"
Lovak shook his head.
"That's not possible. I'm more inclined to think that an expert is behind this. Perhaps, a Late Core Formation Realm or even a Core and Soul Fusion one. If it was an army, we definitely would have noticed their movement. They have way too many people to conceal their presence from us. Not to mention that we know these roads and forest better than anyone else."
The mood in the camp got even havier. It would be hard to deal with such an expert with just their main group. However...
*Whistle*
Everyone heard a whistle. Immediately, Lovak's face showed a smile when he heard that.
"Good, Laxin and Reabar are here. Seems like their camps didn't get assaulted last night, either."
Laxin and Reabar are the two other leaders, being only under Lovak in the chain of command. They were the ones commanding the other two big groups of bandits. Both of them are at the peak of the Foundation Establishment Realm as well.
The two of them organized their groups and then joined in the meeting with Lovak.
"Boss, we received your message. How's the situation?"
Lovak nodded.
"All the 10 small camps that we use as outer scouts have been wiped out, no survivors remained. The enemy is several times harder to deal with this time. Fortunately, I had made the rule that the small camps must report once every day. Otherwise, we would still be in the dark about their fate."
Reabar and Laxin nodded.
"In that case, what do we do now? Should we close ourselves and wait for the enemy to appear?"
Lovak shook his head.
"The defenses in this place are a lot laxer than back in our nest. If we stay here, I'm afraid that we will be eaten little by little. We have many brothers with us at the moment, so it is way too many mouths to feed. Sooner or later, we will run out of water too. We should take this chance to return to our fort and stay out of sight for a few months to a year. We have enough provisions there to stay put during this time without worrying too."
Reabar couldn't help but ask.
"What if our fort has been attacked?"
Lovak snorted after hearing that.
"Unless the enemy is a Core and Soul Fusion Realm or higher, I refuse to believe they can pass through our fort's protection formation. After all, it can both defend and attack at the same time. Don't forget that I paid a very high price for that. However, if it really is such an expert that is acting, he won't allow us to reach our fort to start with."
Reabar and Laxin felt a chill on their backs.
"What if it really is someone so strong?"
Lovak calmed everyone.
"You are thinking too highly of our enemy. Even though I'm in the Initial Stage, I'm also a Core Formation Expert. Besides, we have many brothers here at the Foundation Establishment Realm. Although there is a possibility of it being someone at the Core and Soul Fusion Realm, I highly doubt it. An expert of this caliber wouldn't waste his time hunting bandits in the middle of a forest."
"Also, the fact that we haven't been attacked so far is another reason for me to believe that Core Formation Realm is the highest power that our enemy can muster. Otherwise, our opponent would only need to carry a King's Head Decapitation strategy on his own, and I would be powerless against him."
"That being said, as long as I hold whoever it is back, and our Foundation Establishment brothers support me, we can totally defeat this opponent. Who knows, we might even find a few high-value treasures from this guy."
Everyone's expression eased a little after hearing that.
Lovak then raised his hand and delivered an order.
"All Foundation Establishment Realm brothers will stay together with me from now on. The rest will immediately start to dismantle the encampment. I want everyone ready to depart in two hours."
"Yes, Boss!"
At the same time, somewhere far away from where Lovak's group was staying, Rean's group was looking at a place that looked like a fort. As one can imagine, this is none other than the Gold Hands Bandit Group's main base, their nest!
Luina also looked at that from a distance and couldn't help but feel a hint of fear.
"I don't know much about formations, but I'm sure that it isn't something we can fight against. Shouldn't we go back and attack Lovak's group while he and the bandits are out? Once they arrive in this place, we will be powerless to do anything to them. Wasn't that our initial plan?"
Roan shook his head.
"At first, I was planning to wipe out the small camps and then shift to the big ones. However, Lovak left behind a rule where the ten small camps must do daily reports. After we wiped out the first six camps on the first day, there was no one alive to report it back to him. Without another choice, I could only use this information to intercept the scouts he sent to warn the remaining four small camps. Fortunately, it went well, and we got one more day to finish them."
Roan continued.
"However, considering this Lovak guy's character, he definitely gathered the other two Big Camps together with his one. Their total number now should be around the same as all the ten small camps together. Not to mention that they have a Core Formation Realm expert, Lovak himself. We simply have no chance of taking them down like that. At most, we could get rid of a few flys who wander away from their group, but we wouldn't be able to stop him from coming to this place."
Luina couldn't help but ask.
"In that case, what will we do? We need at least one of the three leaders' heads, Lovak, Reabar, or Laxin. Otherwise, our mission will be considered a failure."
Roan smiled as he looked behind him. There, one could see Rean, Oritis, and Rolim holding down three Stage One Demon Beasts. At their Foundation Establishment Realm, those beasts simply had no way of escaping.
Luina's group was obviously confused as to why Roan asked them to capture those. The only one who seemed to know what was happening was Rean.
Ignoring Luina's group confusion, Roan came behind the demon beasts and touched them. Dark Element immediately began to enter their body, which obviously caused excruciating pain to the demon beasts.
"Release them."
Rean and the others did as he asked. Sure enough, the demon beast fled as fast as they could. Anywhere would be better than this place. It's just that they charged directly in the bandit's fort direction.
The Gold Hands' Nest definitely had a few bandits taking care of it. Soon, they noticed those three demon beasts charging at the fort. However, they only snorted at that sight and didn't move a single muscle. Suddenly, the formation under the fort activated. After that, several Spiritual Energy Swords appeared in mid-air and slashed at those demon beasts.
Those Spiritual Energy Swords weren't too strong. Anyone in Rean's group would definitely be able to fend a few off. However, the formation flashed once more, and a weak, faint gray light appeared around the Demon Beasts. That was a suppression formation. The demon beasts lost speed and couldn't move very well.
Sure enough, the Spiritual Energy Swords hit the demon beasts all at once, and they fell on the group, dead.
From afar, Luina's group felt a chill on their back. Let alone Stage One Demon Beasts, even Stage Two would be powerless against it. Stage Two demon beasts are equivalent to Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators. Sure enough, that formation would make them helpless too. Even a Core Formation Realm cultivator would have a hard time inside it. Escaping would be his or her only option.
'With that, even these twins should have understood that it will be pointless to stay here any further. We will need to think about another way to attack Lovak's group on their way back.'
Luina then sighed and looked a Roan, expecting to finally see a dejected expression on the 'ice block' face. However, what she saw went against her expectations. Roan was showing a faint, cold smile. Not only him, but it also seemed that Rean was quite happy with what he saw too.
Roan then turned to Luina's group and Rean before saying.
"I reckon that Lovak's group will take at least two days to move their entire group back to this place, so we need to act during this time."
Roan continued.
"I know this place doesn't have many demon beasts since we are in human territory. However, I still need you all to capture as many demon beasts as possible and bring them here for me. Of course, I will also help."
Luina's group obviously got confused at that. Nevertheless, they had seen what Roan was capable of doing, so this time, they didn't ask why. It was evident that he had a plan. Besides, it's not like they had another choice anyway.
"Alright, let's go!"