Just as the three were puzzled by the Brain Worm's whereabouts, Liu Chengfeng suddenly noticed that all the Magic Beasts on the East City Wall were rapidly retreating.
“The Magic Beasts are retreating. Let’s go back first to avoid being surrounded.”
Liu Chengfeng made a decisive decision and led the two to break through.
They were like fish swimming against the current, pushing forward against the retreating Magic Beast army.
At first, Liu Chengfeng thought it was because the three of them had made the Brain Worm feel threatened, so the Brain Worm controlled the Magic Beast army to retreat, wanting to surround and eliminate them.
However, during their “breakthrough,” they discovered that not a single Magic Beast that rushed past them attacked them.
The three even returned to the city wall safely without much effort.
Liu Chengfeng looked back, and countless Magic Beasts remained five li away, appearing to be regrouping.
A few minutes later, he learned the reason for the Magic Beast army’s temporary retreat from the people of the Unyielding Hall.
At this moment, Alek was sitting not far away, most of his body charred and bloody from the flames, receiving treatment in a sorry state.
But Alek was smiling.
His smile was confident and mad, completely devoid of his usual elegance.
Because he and the Naga leader had jointly killed a Nine-Star Magic Beast!
Alek was a Black Iron Eight-Star peak, and while it seemed like only a fine line separated him from a Black Iron Nine-Star, in reality, the gap between the two was immense.
Although Alek and the Naga leader could restrain a Nine-Star Magic Beast with the advantage of their weapons, equipment, and unique abilities, completing a counter-kill was almost another concept.
Liu Chengfeng suddenly realized that he seemed to have underestimated Alek.
Outside the East City Wall, two of the three Nine-Star Magic Beasts had died so far.
The last Nine-Star Magic Beast, seeing this, no longer wished to fight and turned to flee.
It was understandable for the Brain Worm to choose to temporarily retreat and regroup under such circumstances.
However, Liu Chengfeng was still somewhat puzzled; he and Hong Ziyu had repeatedly searched with the monitors, even monitoring on the city wall, but had never found the Brain Worm. Why was this?
Could it be that the Brain Worm wasn't in the East City Wall battlefield at all?
This thought instantly made Liu Chengfeng break out in a cold sweat.
The Magic Beast army gathered at the East City Wall was the largest and strongest, and everyone subconsciously believed that the Brain Worm must be hiding there.
But, if, from the very beginning, the Brain Worm wasn't there…
The more Liu Chengfeng thought about it, the more alarmed he became. He quickly called a few Hall members and ordered them to immediately inquire about the battle situation on the other three city walls.
At the same time, at the South City Wall.
Chen Bugu and Han Badou also sought out Elder Zhou.
“Elder Zhou, this junior has something unclear and would like to ask for your guidance,” Chen Bugu said as he walked up to Elder Zhou.
Whether it was in his previous life or the moment he was pulled back on the battlefield just now, this elder had left a very good impression on Chen Bugu.
“Oh, Chen Bugu, at least Seven-Star, right? Were you pretending to be a pig all this time with me here?”
As soon as Elder Zhou blurted out the words, he felt a bit inappropriate. After all, upon careful thought, Chen Bugu had always been straightforward before, and it was his own oversight regarding his strength, as he had never asked.
Instead, it was he himself who had been investigating the other person’s identity, which made him a little more sensitive.
Thinking of this, Elder Zhou quickly spoke again, changing the subject.
“What do you want to ask? If it’s about your friend, he should be with the main force at the East City Wall.”
Chen Bugu was actually relieved about Old Liu and the others.
In his previous life, he had also fought on the East City Wall, and the defenses there were far stronger than here.
Moreover, he heard that the main forces of various major powers were almost all at the East City Wall. In this situation, Old Liu and the others being there was not necessarily more dangerous than Chen Bugu and his group.
“It’s not about my friend, it’s about something else.”
“Don’t you find it strange? The movements of the Magic Beast army seem to be directed.”
“Whether it’s the initial charge or their current retreat to five li away, their reactions are too uniform, as if there’s a commander.”
“However, I’ve observed for a long time and haven’t found any high-level intelligent Magic Beasts among them.”
“This junior doesn’t understand, so I specifically came to ask you, Elder Zhou. Do you know what’s going on?”
When Chen Bugu raised his doubts, Han Badou secretly observed Elder Zhou from the side.
He clearly felt that when Chen Bugu raised his question, Elder Zhou showed surprise, which indicated that he had known about this matter all along.
So, Han Badou promptly informed Chen Bugu of this information via “sound transmission.”
If Elder Zhou continued to conceal or avoid the topic, then they would have to reconsider their next actions.
Chen Bugu didn’t want to be kept in the dark.
“Young man, you are more meticulous than I imagined. I can only share the intelligence I learned from the Hall Master with you. The rest you will have to judge for yourself.”
Next, Elder Zhou told Chen Bugu and Han Badou everything he knew about the “Heart-Hidden Brain Worm.”
When Han Badou heard the term “Heart-Hidden Brain Worm,” he didn’t feel anything, but Chen Bugu’s expression visibly changed.
Brain Worm? And most likely an Eight-Star?
In his previous life, he wasn’t at a high enough level to understand the inside story of this battle.
“Elder Zhou, may I ask you, currently, how many Awakeneds are permanently residing in Obsidian Town, including all the races?”
At this, not only was Elder Zhou stunned, but even Han Badou didn’t understand Chen Bugu’s line of reasoning.
“About 20,000 or so. Recently, there have been many new people among humans, but it shouldn't exceed 25,000.”
Chen Bugu understood upon hearing this.
In his previous life, when he entered Obsidian Town, this battle had already ended, and he didn’t know the exact number of people in the entire Obsidian Town at that time.
However, half a year after he arrived in Obsidian Town, the total population of Obsidian Town at its peak was only a little over 10,000.
“If the Brain Worm doesn't die, the beast tide won't retreat, and more people will die in this battle.”
“Where are your Hall Masters? Since they knew early on, they should have a solution, right?”
Chen Bugu found that things had suddenly become tricky. He looked at Elder Zhou, wanting to know what solution the leaders of the major powers had come up with.
“The main battlefield is at the East City Wall. A suicide squad has been formed at Cross Street to carry out a beheading operation. They will enter the beast tide to find and kill the Brain Worm.”
Chen Bugu was stunned after hearing this and immediately had a bad premonition.
The heavy casualties in his previous life indicated that the beheading operation had not succeeded at all.
The East City Wall gathered the most advanced combat power of Obsidian Town. Even if the suicide squad’s beheading operation failed, others would certainly continue to step in, but in his previous life, it still resulted in such heavy casualties.
If that was the case, then the greatest possibility was that the Brain Worm was not in the main battlefield of the East City Wall at all!
The Heart-Hidden Brain Worm is an intelligent Magic Beast whose intelligence is no less than that of humans. If one were to think like a human, which battlefield would it most likely be hiding in?
Chen Bugu turned his head and looked far at the Magic Beast army five li outside the city wall. His eyelids twitched violently, and his expression grew even uglier.
At that moment, he suddenly remembered something Master Fran had said earlier.
“Our South City Wall is the only city wall that doesn’t have to face Nine-Star Magic Beasts…”