Biological Supercomputer System

Erik and June looked at the surroundings. The jungle was thick, stretching as far as they could see. Tall rocks poked out above the trees and small streams flowed through the forest like thin silver lines.

Thaids had kept humans from living outside the few human cities for a long time. But now, thanks to Etrium's technology, humans had built small settlements, albeit military ones.

As Erik and June kept looking around for any signs of life or danger, the clone spotted something unusual in the distance.

"Master," he said, "I've spotted something in the northwest."

Erik looked in the same direction as June, narrowing his eyes because of the sun. Far from their position, he saw something that looked like a fortification.

<It must be big since we could see it from this distance.>

"Good eye," Erik said to the clone. "Any suggestion on how to proceed?"

June thought for a moment. "We could attack it, Master. Take them by surprise and wipe them out."

Erik shook his head. "That's too risky. A direct assault would alert Hin to our presence, and we don't have enough Chimaeric Demons yet for a full-scale takeover."

June's idea wasn't inherently bad. They did this kind of thing many times, after all. But they needed to keep the outpost hidden and his presence in Hin a secret.

"What if we lure some thaids to the outpost?" June said. "It would keep them occupied and reduce the chance of them stumbling upon our camp."

Erik pondered this idea but saw its flaws not long after. "That would likely have the same result as attacking the base ourselves. If they can't handle the thaids, they'll call for

reinforcements. Plus, any significant change in thaid behavior might alert them to an outside influence."

Erik wasn't so naïve as to think the blackguards didn't understand it was he who stole the ship back in Frant. Sure, it was still possible all the chaos he created resulted from Frant's troop, but how many chances there were after months spent in stalemate?

While Frant showed them they weren't so weak as to be bullied, it was also true they weren't powerful enough to pull that off, at least until Erik gave them a way to access their

information network.

Thanks to the backdoor Erik left for Frant's army, who could now access the Blackguards communication system, the war was bound to be won by Frant unless the Blackguards asked for the other country's help, which was likely to happen if things went too bad.

The two fell into a thoughtful silence. After a few moments, Erik spoke again.

"Before we decide on any course of action, we need more information. Let's scout the outpost and see what we're dealing with. That will give us a better idea of our options and might add new ones."

June nodded. "A wise choice, Master. Shall we proceed?"

Erik nodded. June then changed his shape. He grew larger and turned into an Erendu once again. Erik got on the clone's back, and they started moving through the forest, headed towards the outpost.

The journey was laborious. Even with June's strength and stamina, the undergrowth and uneven terrain made progress slow.

Hours passed.

At some point, the two started hearing noises.

<Did you hear it, Master?>

<No, I'm not in a thaid form, remember? I don't have your hearing. What was that?>

<I heard...>

Voices.

There were voices up ahead, coming from another clearing. The two went toward the area. <Human presence is weird here. They are too far from the outpost, and only soldiers and military personnel would be here to begin with. >

In the end, they got there. Ahead, they spotted a group of soldiers moving in formation.

Erik told June to stop. They hid behind some bushes and watched the soldiers. The group looked well-prepared, with full armor Erik was sure came from Etrium, and that gave them multiple brain crystal powers.

They moved like they were searching for something. <Or someone.>

<Master,> June said, <Why are there guards so far from the outpost?>

Erik furrowed his brow. <That was what I was trying to understand. They shouldn't have a

reason.>

<Could they be here for some kind of thaid?>

The soldiers had really good equipment, which made it easy for them to move around in this area full of thaids.

But Erik and June were confused about why these well-armed soldiers were so far from their base. It didn't make sense unless they had a specific reason to be there.

Erik thought about it more. Being in such a risky place without a good reason seemed like a waste of people and equipment. The chance of running into thaids made it even stranger that the soldiers were here.

As Erik kept thinking, he realized this wasn't a normal patrol. The soldiers seemed to look for something important or expecting something big to happen. Whatever brought them here, it wasn't just a routine check.

The more Erik thought, the more things became suspicious.

His thoughts went back to the attack on the dock, which resulted in him stealing the ship. Erik knew there were infinite potential reasons for the patrols to be here, but he wanted to think about the worst options there were.

<Hin must have alerted the blackguards by now.> They would know someone from Frant was headed their way. What could be the reason to steal a ship, after all?

But why station patrols in this specific area? When Erik decided to come to Hin through the corridor between the two sea thaids' territories, he assumed Hin and the blackguards would consider that route too dangerous for any sane person to attempt.

<Unless...>

Suddenly, Erik understood why the guards were in this remote jungle. Everything made sense.

The guards weren't here by chance - they were probably searching for someone. Be it Frant's soldiers, or someone else. However, as he thought it became clear, they were not searching for anyone, and for a simple reason, at that.

<No ordinary person would have traveled through that dangerous sea route. Only someone very confident in their abilities would try such a risky journey. How many people could

actually survive such a trip?>

There was just one answer based on what Erik knew. Just one. Him.

Erik turned to his clone. <June, I think I know why these patrols are here. The blackguards know we are here. They are searching for us.>

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