"Is this the Ice Crystal Swamp?"
Ye Zhongming looked at the expanse of glistening white ice crystals ahead and asked Old Man next to him.
After annihilating the Stink Nest, the group traveled for two more days, passing through the territory of an eighth-level lifeform, which the young warriors of Cloud Peak collectively hunted down, before arriving at one of the most dangerous stretches on the way to Yakutsk.
"Yes," Old Man replied, staring blankly at the scenery aheadâhe had never been here before.
As the saying goes, "If you take from others, your hands are tied; if you eat from others, your mouth is tied." Old Man was determined to complete this mission flawlessly to justify the resources Cloud Peak had given them.
Now, every member of his squad had upgraded their gear. Not only had they all become five-star evolved, but their equipment had also shifted from gray and white to mostly silver, with each person even receiving a green-grade item.
These were things they had long dreamed of.
Having taken the payment, Old Man was eager to escort Ye Zhongming and the others to their destination as quickly as possible.
But halfway through the journey, they arrived at the Ice Crystal Swamp.
Old Man knew this place was treacherousâhe even had a rough idea of what lurked insideâbut he truly didnât know how to navigate it.
After contemplating, he decided to share everything he knew with Ye Zhongming. What they chose to do with the information was up to them.
"The Ice Crystal Swamp wasnât originally this big, but over the past two years, its area has expanded dramatically," Old Man said, pointing at the jagged, crystalline forest-like terrain ahead.
"This is a death zone. Iâm not sure about other factions, but at the very least, no one from the Stink Nest dared to hunt here." Old Man continued, "There are three main dangers here. First, itâs called a swamp because many areas of the ground are hollowed out. One misstep, and youâll fall through. This isnât naturalâitâs the work of a mutated insect called the White Tiger Beetle. They leave only a thin layer of ice, not fully connecting it to the ground. When a living creature steps on it and falls through, they become prey."
"Because this place is constantly covered in snow, every inch of ground looks the same, making it impossible to guard against."
"White Tiger Beetles?" Ye Zhongming repeated the name.
"Yeah. Rumor has it theyâre a variant of the Tiger Beetle. Donât laugh, but when I first heard the name 'Tiger Beetle,' I thought it was related to actual tigers. Later, I learned itâs just a type of beetle similar to a longhorn."
Old Man chuckled, rubbing his hands togetherânot because he was cold, but out of habit.
"These little things have grown bigger now, each about the size of a house cat. Their front pincers and the claws on their sides are razor-sharp. Whatâs worse is that their entire bodies are covered in white armor, incredibly tough. Attacks from evolved even one level higher than them are basically useless."
Ye Zhongmingâs expression shifted slightly.
Old Man had just said these creatures were generally around levels four or five, with the occasional level six. Did that mean he'd have to step in if they encountered a White Tiger Beetle king?
"Also, these beetles are communal. The traps they dig house entire familiesâsome as small as a dozen, others as large as fifty or sixty."
The others nodded. Given the beetlesâ size, the ice pits they dug probably werenât very spacious. A human falling in would have little room to maneuver, making survival unlikely once attacked.
"Strangely, though, these White Tiger Beetles never leave the Ice Crystal Swamp." Old Man shook his head, unsure why. If these insects werenât confined here and spread across the entire ice plains, human casualties during hunts would be devastating.
"The second danger is the Ghost Mist. The Ice Crystal Swamp doesnât have ice storms, but it does have this eerie mist. People say it appears and vanishes mysteriously, silently sweeping through and causing both evolved and other lifeforms to disappear without a trace. Very few escape once caught."
Old Man had some authority on this matter. A few years ago, a fellow countryman led his squad to explore the Ice Crystal Swamp. Before even encountering the White Tiger Beetles, they ran into this Ghost Mist.
Dozens of squad members vanished in an instant. The rest fled in panic, but only five or six made it out alive.
Later, the trauma from the Ghost Mist caused the leaderâs combat ability to decline. Soon after, he was killed during a hunt due to his distracted state.
"Ghost Mist?"
Ye Zhongming stroked his chin. This place really had all sorts of bizarre phenomena. Without experiencing it firsthand, he couldnât even begin to imagine what the Ghost Mist looked like.
"And the third danger?"
Ye Zhongmingâs curiosity about this place had grown, and he asked with genuine interest.
"Blowdart Dolls."
This time, even members of the female guards and the young warriors turned to look at Old Man.
"Thereâs a unique lifeform here that somewhat resembles humans, but theyâre only about fifty centimeters tall, with pure white skin that blends into the environment. Theyâd be nearly impossible to spot if not for their black eyes."
Old Man had seen the corpse of a Blowdart Doll before. Placed in the snowy wilderness, it was truly hard to distinguish.
"Theyâre very frail. Individually, their combat ability isnât particularly strong, but theyâre incredibly fast, light, and agile. You could say they move like ghosts through this swamp."
Old Man drew a small, imp-like figure in the snow, saying, "They look roughly like this. These little things are born with a kind of bone tube. As they grow, parts of their bones protrude through their skin. When they fight, they break off these bone needles, load them into the tube, and blow them out with their mouths. The darts fly extremely fast and can even slightly change direction midair, making them nearly impossible to dodge."
"Another annoying trait is that these bone needles are highly toxic. So far, aside from a few individuals rumored to have resisted the poison through sheer physical strength, every evolved struck by these darts has diedâand their deaths were gruesome."
Fast, agile, deadly accurate attacks, and poisonous, combined with their natural camouflage in this environment, these long-range specialists were a nightmare.
"Are there many of them?" Ye Zhongming asked.
"Iâm not sure, but thereâs no shortage," Old Man replied.
Nodding, Ye Zhongming asked another question that left him stunned by the answer.
He asked, "Whatâs the evolution level of these Blowdart Dolls?"
Old Manâs response: "They donât have one."