Chapter 222: infiltration and gathering information

The 5 soldiers were perceptive enough to see that engaging now was practically a sure-death move, so they all obeyed Clark’s order without any objections.

As they hid in the snow, their already activated armor kept on expending energy to keep them warm from the infectious cold.

The animals walked randomly in various directions, doing different things without any idea that a group of intruders just infiltrated their territory.

As the soldiers observed through their drones, one thing that came out glaringly to them was the weird manner in which some of the animals behaved and treated others.

“They have a hierarchy? Are they that intelligent?” Clark was surprised.

“Did you think that we got trashed for nothing?” Dickson’s cold voice quickly rose in reply.

They could see that some of the animals were relegated to slave roles, as the other higher ones in the hierarchy seemed to be giving them orders aggressively.

It seemed that this was a real kingdom Afterall. If they were not wrong, then these animals had rules that governed them and they were not living purposeless life like other normal animals.

They clearly had a purpose, evident from the lesser beasts that were working tirelessly to bring foodstuffs and other random things to a hidden location under the cliffs.

The ones that stood even more glaringly from the others were the Wild Yaks among them, they acted exactly like prince and princesses.

Despite the far distance where the transmission was coming from, they could see and hear these wild cattle growling and hissing at other animals that were supposed to be the predators to work harder.

“What a weird ecosystem this is!” Diana exclaimed, surprised.

It felt weird to see animals like snow leopards and Himalayan black bears cowering before wild Yaks, it was simply ridiculous.

Despite their thoughts, the might of these wild Yaks could not be ignored as most of them stood as tall as 2m, with some even crossing the 3m boundary. Their size made them look just like mini-armored vehicles.

Their wild Viking-like horns gleamed coldly, as their sharp edges screamed warning signs to anyone that dared cross them.

The hair growing from their sides was so bushy that it even raised their intimidating grandeur a little. Despite all these, it was still weird for a leopard or bear to fear these animals.

“Having a strong big brother is really nice”. Clark lamented while smacking his lips together.

It was the truth. These guy’s big brother being the alpha of this large animal kingdom was the only reason why they could act so domineeringly, it probably felt like heavenly treatment to them.

“Where does the alpha even stay?” Clark suddenly asked again.

“There”. Dickson indicated at a specific direction, as all the soldiers’ eyes turned there simultaneously.

The palace of this alpha Wild Yak was built grandly in the walls of the mountain cliff, standing domineeringly above all other settlements to display its identity as the home of the leader.

Though they could not see much from their location, the structure of the settlement there verified Dickson’s claim.

It was clearly better constructed than the rest, the mountain-sized Himalayan black bears that stood at both sides of its entrance as guards sealed it, this was the palace.

After seeing this, the soldiers finally withdrew their drones a little to reduce the risk of one being discovered.

After this, they did their own thing as they waited for all the activity to lessen and for the animals to sleep.

…

It took a few hours, but the soldiers hardly felt it as most of the animals finally fell asleep. They did different things to pass the time, for Clark, he was playing an online virtual strategy game through his implant.

“Ok, it’s time. Most of these ugly fellows are already asleep”. Clark finally spoke out.

“What plan do you have?” Dickson asked.

“Hmm, I think it’s the normal plan but I suddenly decided to go in”.

“What, you’re going in? No, that’s not an acceptable plan at all”. Diana suddenly spoke out hurriedly, as she tried to stop her Major.

“Diana, don’t worry, I can do something as simple as this. Don’t forget that I have high-grade stealth armor, I can completely go in without being discovered by any animal”.

“Tell me your reason”. Unlike Diana, Dickson was calmer as he knew that this guy had a reason for everything.

“To be sincere, I think that the peripheral surveillance that we agreed on when coming would hardly help when we really start crossing this dangerous region”.

“Unless someone goes in, we would not be able to get a specific route to take that can lead directly to the opening between the cliffs and is also the least dangerous”.

“If I go in alone, I think I can get all the useful information that we need to ensure our success”.

“Can’t we all go in?”

“Diana, as I said, I am the only one here who has a high-grade stealth armor, except Dickson of course. So, that explains why you all can’t follow me in”.

“Ok…” Though she felt deeply reluctant, she could see the reasoning in his words.

“Please, just don’t let curiosity take over you. Go with a purpose, stick to only searching for a safe route for us. Don’t try anything adventurous, and most especially do not even think of getting near the alpha’s palace”.

She quickly listed out with a fearsomely serious face, as Clark kept on nodding to appease her like a chicken pecking on grains.

“Yes, yes, yes, I heard Diana. I’ll definitely listen to your advice; I give you my word”.

“Do your jobs well, get good valuable information that can help”. After appeasing her, Clark finally turned to face the others. He whispered to them, smiled, and winked at them before quickly turning invisible, he was gone.

Seeing this, Dickson inhaled a mouthful of cold air before turning to face the others. “You heard him, let’s do our jobs well and not let him down, that will be deeply embarrassing”.

With that, they quickly brought out their detection and surveillance equipment, activated them, and went to work.

…

Clark felt in tune with the world around him as the cool breeze of the forest night blew at his invisible figure, bringing some much-needed relaxation to his muscles and nerves.

Though he spoke confidently to his companions just a moment ago, he was actually quite nervous.

This was not like the usual enemies that he faced; this was a full-fledged animal kingdom full of dangerous animals that were led by an even more dangerous alpha beast.

He felt apprehensive. Something that could topple a force of over 50 soldiers that included Dickson without the alpha even showing up was a force to reckon with.

Though his armor’s activated stealth function made him invisible, he still didn’t feel safe as he tiptoed closer to the enemy’s territory.

The snow settlements that the mountain animals resided on were separated and arranged in distinct angles. He easily guessed that they were built and arranged according to the hierarchy, he felt weird.

Some of the lesser animals in the hierarchy that did most of the labor during the evening didn’t even have any settlement shelters, as they slept outside carelessly in the open.

The location where he hid under the snow with his companions originally was an elevated platform from the animal’s settlement, so he was currently descending down the slope.

5 minutes later, he finally arrived silently among the sleeping animals. He stopped a bit to regulate his rapid breath, the sight of so many animals still intimidated him a bit.

He felt like he was just dropped in a lion den, as animals of different species surrounded him, sleeping in various interesting positions while completely naked. It was normal, but he still felt bummed.

“What a bunch of indecent bastards”.

Ignoring the impulse to sigh at this carefreeness, he remained motionless, blending with the night as he looked out perceptively to detect if any animal discovered his movements.

2 minutes later, after repeatedly confirming that he was safe and still hidden, he finally heaved a deep sigh of relief before going to work.

He carefully brought down his bag, opened it before bringing a bunch of small devices out. He brought out the bean-sized drones, small-scale detection devices, a scanning device, and a map layering device.

The map layering device was one of the main reasons why he insisted on infiltrating this deep, as through it if used properly he could draw a complete layout of the animals’ territory.

If he could do this, then it could increase their escape chances by as much as 10%. This was a considerable increase, and not even including the lives that would be saved through it.

The bean-sized drones were another reason, as the map layering device could not work properly without them.

He and his companions could decide to use the drones from their hidden position, but this would increase the chance of getting discovered.

Despite their A. I’s enormous processing power, there were still things that a human’s instinct sense could perceive that a computer A. I could not, so his coming here was not led by impulse.

After letting the bean-sized drones out, he took some minutes to meticulously guide them remotely to the locations he discovered where they could transmit footage more optimally.

He was extremely careful when doing this to prevent mishaps, making him spend almost 30 minutes on it. After doing it, he finally saw a complete aerial view of the animals’ territory.

No longer lingering, he went to work immediately.

He carried the map layering device and scanning device on himself, cleverly placed the small-scale detection devices on strategic locations before starting his detective Conan work.

He spent hours carefully going around the enemy camp, as through the camouflaged drones, he finally drew a complete map of this territory. After doing this, he heaved a sigh of relief.

“That was easier than I thought”. He muttered silently.

From this, he noticed that due to Dickson’s squad’s defeat under these beast’s tyrannical hooves, he already started seeing them as a fearsome opponent despite not trying them out yet.

They were fearsome indeed, but they did not have intelligence equaling humans yet. Humans were called higher animals for a reason; this realization made his tense nerves calm down a bit.

He already completed what he came for after over 2 hours, but his sudden burst of confidence didn’t allow him to leave immediately.

“Let me just use this opportunity to check out the opening between the 2 cliffs, that’s strategic information gathering too”.

He followed his heart as he used the firm foundation that he already laid down to easily bypass all the animals. 10 minutes later, he finally arrived at the location of the 2 cliffs.

Seeing the majesty of these 2 cliffs who looked like knights charging aggressively to battle up close, he felt even more awed.

He recorded other things about the opening and the cliff, this was useful as it could give them more options when they start deciding on the route to take to get here.

After doing all these, he finally turned to go but he could not help but stop again and lookup.

“I’m already here, the alpha Wild Yak’s palace is just up there, should I…?”

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