Chapter 326: Chapter 296: Outpost Nine

Hearing that Li Qian and his two companions were here to see one of his direct superiors, the on-duty guard asked respectfully, "May I ask for your names?"

"My name is Li Qian, a junior of Elder Tie’s. This is Irina, Elder Tie’s student. And this last person..." Li Qian paused, a faint smile gracing his lips. "Let’s just say she’s an old acquaintance of Elder Tie’s!"

He didn’t directly reveal Teacher Han Ke’s identity. Besides wanting to give Elder Tie a surprise, he also wanted to see his reaction.

The guard noted their identities, mainly Li Qian’s and Irina’s, then returned to the guardhouse to make a call.

Before long, he returned to the main gate. "I’m sorry, but Vice Envoy Tie is not in the Garrison Mansion."

"Then where did he go?" Li Qian immediately asked.

The guard replied, "He went to patrol Outpost Nine."

Li Qian had heard of outposts. They were observation stations set up by the major cities within the Dimension Plane to monitor specific, sensitive areas.

They could also be called security posts.

For example, some places had extremely powerful Extraordinary Creatures lurking within. Although they didn’t show much aggression, they still had to be guarded against.

In other cases, some areas had weak spatial nodes where Unstable Rifts frequently appeared, which also required vigilance.

These special situations all fell under the purview of the outposts.

"Excuse me, Outpost Nine..."

Li Qian was about to ask for more details when Irina suddenly interjected, "Let’s go. I know where it is."

Since Elder Tie wasn’t in the Garrison Mansion, Li Qian’s group had no reason to go inside. They turned and headed back the way they came.

At the very moment they turned to leave, inside the Garrison Mansion’s Beast Taming Tower, a square-faced, middle-aged man of about forty suddenly murmured, "Old Tie, you can’t hide from this."

"Besides, some things are useless to hide from. They have to be faced, and they have to be resolved..."

After muttering this, he closed his eyes again and resumed his cross-legged meditation, becoming as still as a wooden statue.

Meanwhile, in a simple town about a hundred kilometers from Feihua City, Elder Tie stood atop the defensive wall, his brow deeply furrowed.

Ahead of him, clouds of dust billowed, shrouding the entire area. His eyesight was astonishing; he could clearly see the silhouettes of beasts running back and forth within the dust, as if they were tireless.

Elder Tie stared intently at the beastly silhouettes in the dust. It was a herd of One-horned Rhinoceroses. He didn’t know what they were doing; they had been occupying that area for several days now.

For the past few days, this had kept his nerves stretched taut. He feared that these agitated, abnormally behaving One-horned Rhinoceroses would suddenly go berserk and attack Outpost Nine.

Although it was called an outpost, its scale was more akin to a small town than a mere station. Not only were there human Beast Masters who lived here year-round, but it was also a crucial supply point for all Beast Masters entering and leaving the Despair Swamp.

If this herd of One-horned Rhinoceroses were to charge, the outpost could very well be destroyed.

For human Beast Masters, this would be an immense loss. The very reason he had been standing guard here these past few days was to prevent such a thing from happening.

Moreover, the number of One-horned Rhinoceroses in the dust was not small. There were even Unihorn Tyrannosauruses that had reached the Dominator Level. If they truly attacked the outpost, Elder Tie didn’t think he could hold them off on his own.

Just as Elder Tie was watching with growing anxiety, the situation suddenly took a turn for the worse. From within the dust, a group of One-horned Rhinoceroses charged out as if they had gone mad.

Their target was none other than Outpost Nine.

’Just what I was afraid of,’ Elder Tie grumbled to himself as he watched the scene from afar.

Without hesitation, he summoned one of his Pet Beasts—the Wind Thunder Lion.

This kind of situation was perfect for a Strong Attack type Pet Beast like the Wind Thunder Lion to show its strength.

His Golden Pearl Bud wasn’t with him, and besides, its role was fundamentally support-oriented. Even if he summoned it, its usefulness would be limited.

As for the Purgatory Viper, it was too small. It was suited for surprise attacks, not large-scale battles, which weren’t its forte.

Lastly, there was the Four-Winged Mantis. That was Elder Tie’s trump card, and he had no intention of playing it just yet.

He frowned in thought, his eyes filled with confusion as he watched his Wind Thunder Lion engage the herd of One-horned Rhinoceroses.

’I just can’t figure it out. Why would this herd of One-horned Rhinoceroses suddenly go mad and attack Outpost Nine?’

Just as the Wind Thunder Lion and the One-horned Rhinoceros herd were locked in a stalemate, another lion’s roar echoed from the sky!

"ROOOOAR..."

"That’s... a Thunderous Griffin!" Watching the Pet Beast appear on the horizon and rapidly approach, Elder Tie recognized it instantly.

Then, a look of profound astonishment appeared on his face.

The Thunderous Griffin, like the Wind Thunder Lion, evolved from the Lightning Lion; they just followed different evolutionary paths.

Their potential was more or less equal, so one couldn’t be said to be superior to the other. Therefore, his shock didn’t stem from the appearance of the Thunderous Griffin itself, but from the people riding on its back.

It was three people, a sight that left him utterly astonished.

Li Qian, Irina, and the one person he both longed to see and dreaded meeting... Han Ke!

"ROOOOAR..."

The Thunderous Griffin landed directly on the walls of Outpost Nine. Then, on Irina’s command, it joined the fray, assisting the Wind Thunder Lion against the herd of peculiar One-horned Rhinoceroses.

"Elder Tie, what’s the situation?" After landing, Li Qian immediately walked over to Elder Tie’s side. With no time for pleasantries, he asked directly.

Elder Tie looked at Li Qian, a wry smile appearing on his face. "I don’t know either."

If he knew the reason, he wouldn’t be in such a passive position.

Right now, his only hope was that the few Unihorn Tyrannosauruses farther away wouldn’t get involved. Otherwise, the situation would spiral completely out of control.

The fall of Outpost Nine would only be a matter of time.

"These One-horned Rhinoceroses... something’s not right with them..." Irina’s perception was astonishingly sharp; she noticed the anomaly with a single glance.

"Actually, this herd of One-horned Rhinoceroses has always lived not far from Outpost Nine," Elder Tie explained. "But with their usually gentle temperament, they would never actively attack human Beast Masters, let alone charge the outpost itself."

Hearing this explanation, Li Qian was also quite puzzled.

He knew a bit about One-horned Rhinoceroses; they were a relatively docile type of Pet Beast. Logically, a situation like this should be impossible.

Puzzled, he could no longer be bothered with surprising Elder Tie and began to think deeply about the situation.

Both Teacher Han Ke and Irina also set aside their other thoughts for the moment, focusing all their attention on the crisis at hand.

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