CHAPTER 74: INTO THE WOODS

Lukas got off the armored truck with the other team members except for Harianto.

They fanned out and stood on high alert.

The surroundings where they stood were sparse with vegetation as they hadn’t traveled far into the woods.

Harianto got to the back of the armored truck, held his hands up, and a white glow appeared in his hands.

The white glow then darted at the drones that were loaded onto the back of the truck.

Buzz.

Beep.

The drones started to beep and moved.

First, the drones shaped like hunting dogs ran out of the back of the armored truck, landed onto the ground and held their mechanical heads up high.

The drones with wings followed next and they ascended slowly into the sky, flapping their mechanical wings.

Beads of sweat appeared on Harianto’s forehead as he controlled the drones to do their job.

In his mind, he could see and feel the sensations the drones relayed to him through their sensors.

The hunting dog drones separated onto their own paths and started scanning the ground for electronic devices.

Some stopped and dug with their mechanical feet but could only uncover coins or empty bullet shells.

The drones in the air took images of the paths that the demonic beasts took.

Finally, Harianto had to stop as he got too tired.

"Nothing much on the ground. Maybe we can figure out something from the air imagery," Harianto said as he sat down onto the ground.

Lukas gave Harianto an energy bar and said, "That sounds like an idea."

Immediately, he received a message from Harianto with the aerial images.

The other team members also received it, and they started to look at the images.

Lukas inspected the paths left behind by the demonic beasts carefully.

However, he couldn’t figure out much as they were too numerous and the paths didn’t exhibit any noticeable patterns.

He zoomed in and saw the footprints in the paths.

In each of the paths, footprints trampled over each other and headed in the direction of the wall.

It was a dead end.

Lukas zoomed out of the image and tried to see if he could discern something with a big picture view.

All the paths converged from within the woods, and they disappeared under the cover of the thick vegetation of the trees.

"If we go in deeper and see where the paths fully converged, it would be where the demonic beasts started gathering.

"We might be able to find some of the devices there."

Lukas traced the path where they started to converge with the built-in image editing tool, and he showed the image to the other team members.

"I think you are right," Harianto nodded at what he saw.

Rex and Emma also nodded.

Riley patted Lukas on the shoulder and said, "If everyone is all right with the plan, we venture in, see what we can find out. But we stop if we get near the red zone."

With no one objecting to the plan, Lukas and the team members got to work immediately.

They got onto the armored truck and drove into the woods as far into it as they could.

The woods were eerily dead silent compared to what they were a week ago.

Lukas helped Harianto unload a flying drone and carried it on his back.

"Let me know if you need to rest." Harianto tried to help carry the flying drone, but Lukas shook his head.

Even though all awakened were much stronger and more powerful than normal human beings, Lukas with his SSS Level Physiques was still much more powerful than other awakened like Harianto.

Carrying a half a ton will take up some effort for Harianto.

They followed one of the paths and traveled on foot for two hours.

Lukas noticed that the woods were very much different than the areas he had hunted in.

The trees had leaves and trunks that were red.

Vegetation was thick and harsh.

There were spikes and thorns growing out from all the plants.

"We are deep inside the amber zone. Harianto, make use of the flying drone and see how far you can go," Riley stopped the team and said.

Harianto set up the flying drone with his ability and it flew deeper in the woods, maneuvering among the red tree trunks.

From the drone’s imagery, Harianto saw that there weren’t any demonic beasts around.

They must have all perished in the beast horde attack, he thought.

Following the path, the flying drone finally reached a spot where the paths converged.

Footsteps of the demonic beasts went in a circle near a spot.

Harianto took an image with the flying drone and flew it back.

"Yes! Lukas was right. I think we found it," Harianto exclaimed in excitement as he showed the image taken by the flying drone.

Lukas leaned in and took a closer look at the image.

At the center of the footsteps circling around, there was a shimmer of silver.

Something metallic was lying there.

"Well done. Thank you so much for that sweet $100,000 reward," Rex said as he rubbed his hands together, while he envisioned how to use the reward money.

Lukas frowned, pointed to the insignia and said, "We are teammates, remember."

"Yes, teammates," Rex gave out a laugh and slapped himself on the back of his head.

"Let’s get going," Riley interjected and they continued on their way.

They followed the path that the flying drone had flown in.

Soon, it got darker and darker in the woods.

The canopy was now so thick that it blocked out most of the sunlight.

Everyone drew out their weapons and advanced with high alert.

Lukas could hear the breathing sounds and heartbeats of his teammates in the eerily silent woods.

Finally, the path began to clear with fewer trees and vegetation.

There were fallen trees where the demonic beasts had gathered, and they slowly approached towards the center of the encircling footsteps left behind.

"There!" Harianto pointed at a metallic device that pointed up into the sky, looking like a mini version of a satellite radio.

He took a step forward.

Beep.

The device stuck into the ground started beeping.