The terrifying roar and collapse lasted for nearly half an hour, the rising smoke and dust obscuring almost half the sky, nearly extinguishing the morning sun’s light before finally dissipating.

Looking at the astonishing display of destruction, Fang Senyan was certain that this explosion had been caused by that group of Contractors. However, such immense power didn't make much of an impression on him, as it was obvious this was no display of conventional force. If such power were easily wielded, what would be the point for the other Contractors to even bother participating?

Therefore, it was easy to deduce that unleashing such power required either a single-use, potent artifact, or the user had to pay an extremely heavy price, or perhaps both.

This made it even simpler to infer that whoever used this power must have encountered immense trouble; otherwise, why would they expend such a trump card right at the beginning of the engagement?

"What the hell kind of intel is this?"

Fang Senyan couldn't help but curse. Given the current situation, choosing Mushroom Rock as the rendezvous point was clearly a mistake; there must be tremendous danger lurking nearby. If everyone rushed there now, it would amount to the most dreaded tactic: feeding into an ambush, one by one.

To put it simply, if there were about a hundred Basilisk-like creatures around Mushroom Rock, Fang Senyan would have absolutely no recourse other than immediate flight upon encountering them.

For intelligent Contractors unfamiliar with the Basilisk, being surrounded would lead to a swift and certain death, and even Zi Lai wouldn't be an exception!

The core issue was that the creature’s damned biological abilities were simply too potent. Once they achieved numerical superiority, a qualitative change often followed the quantitative one.

Time passed quickly, and soon the Sunwheel Flowers began to bear fruit and wither. The condition for Fang Senyan’s departure had matured.

Just as Fang Senyan hesitated about heading toward Mushroom Rock, he suddenly noticed thick plumes of brownish-red smoke churning into the sky to the west, soaring upwards and lingering stubbornly—a clear signal fire made by burning damp leaves mixed with specialized smoke agents.

Fang Senyan estimated the smoke's origin was only about seven or eight kilometers away in a straight line, a distance easily manageable for escape given the terrain. He immediately set a course, moving rapidly toward the source of the smoke.

At Fang Senyan’s current pace, this distance shouldn't take long, but after advancing about two or three kilometers, the massive Ramtas suddenly crouched low, sniffing the air intently with its nostrils. It then raised its crude staff high and slammed it forcefully into the ground.

A wave of light, tinged faintly green, rapidly expanded outward in a circle from the impact point. Where the wave passed, grasses and shrubs within seven or eight meters were neatly flattened against the ground, reminiscent of meticulously combed hair, exposing the damp earth beneath, which revealed several large, bizarre footprints.

From these prints, it was evident that the creature that left them was an absolute behemoth, moving on four limbs while cleverly concealing itself to tail its prey. Ramtas then plucked a thick, curled strand of hair from a nearby bush—the hair was grayish-green and possessed a metallic sheen on its surface.

Android Unit One approached upon seeing the hair, studied it closely for a moment, and then reported, "Master, this should be a Ravager Beast."

It paused, then added, "A very powerful Ravager Beast."

To speak of Ravager Beasts, one must mention invasive species. Back when humanity first began interstellar colonization, technology experienced an explosive surge. Billions of humans, like a plague, madly occupied the Solar System and then spread outward at an astonishing speed, mirroring the fervor of the Age of Discovery when new continents were found.

In this process, native species from Earth were inevitably spread to every corner of the cosmos. Because it was hard to immediately find natural predators to restrain them, this spread occurred in surprising and unpredictable ways. Take, for instance, some controlled invasive incidents on Earth: The carnivorous Rapana thomasiana migrated from the Sea of Japan to the Black Sea in 1947, and within a decade, it had almost completely wiped out the oysters on the Ukrainian beaches of the Black Sea.

The massive proliferation of Chinese mitten crabs in Germany caused hundreds of millions of dollars in losses, and the population of feral rabbits in Australia exceeded six hundred million, destroying grasslands and severely constricting the living space for over forty million goats and sheep, resulting in crippling economic losses for the government.

When terrestrial organisms migrated to the vast expanse of the universe, they first had to confront radiation from cosmic rays and solar winds, and then adapt and evolve to the local environments.

In this chain of evolution, the Ravager Beasts emerged.

They inherited the characteristics of their Earthly Blueprints but became fiercer, more tenacious, larger, and possessed far greater offensive power. The most distinct feature of Ravager Beasts is that, unless killed, their combat strength continuously increases as they sustain injuries!

The group continued forward. As more evidence was uncovered, Android Unit One provided precise data: "This is a Ravager Wolverine. It has grown to twenty feet long and weighs three thousand five hundred pounds."

"According to the offline database, the teeth of a Ravager Wolverine are as sharp as razor blades; there are recorded incidents where they effortlessly chewed through Marine Corps armor. Therefore, we can confidently assume it possesses a biological ability that ignores defense."

"If a Ravager Beast sustains injuries during combat, it will not retreat but enter a state of berserk frenzy, gaining a 25% boost to all attributes. If, in this state, it is unable to attack any enemy (such as being trapped in an iron cage), it will self-mutilate to death."

"This creature’s initial attack often carries immense collision force; there is at least one recorded instance of it knocking over a medium-sized mecha. Its impact force is no less than that of a standard tank. Thus, any creature ambushed by it often faces being knocked off balance and falling, only to then confront its fangs and claws."

"The Ravager Wolverine’s terrifying sense of smell allows it to track prey easily from two kilometers away, often operating within the prey's visual blind spot."

"..."

Reading this series of data sent a chill down Fang Senyan’s spine. He vigilantly scanned his surroundings, searching for any signs of a Ravager Beast following them. This creature’s attack style was brutally efficient, simple, effective, and instantly lethal! And its perverse biological ability: ignoring defense!

Don't assume this is only the ability hated most by Main Tanks; other Contractors despise it even more. At least Main Tanks have significant Health Points to safeguard their lives even when their defenses are bypassed, but when defenses are ignored, what else is there to do but leave fate to chance?

Soon, the group discovered a campfire still emitting smoke. This fire pit spanned at least ten square meters, apparently requiring the surrounding trees to be cleared to fuel it. It was confirmed that the Alliance's specialized smoke agent had been added to the fire, meaning it could not have been made by local natives trying to mimic them. Around the fire pit were numerous scattered footprints, suggesting a hurried and frantic departure.

At this moment, Ramtas’s nostrils twitched, emitting an intensely sharp snorting sound. It raised its staff again, tapping the ground. The dense vegetation immediately flattened obediently once more, parting to form a straight line pointing toward a nearby thicket, where half a severed limb was exposed.

The exposed limb was clearly that of an android; the section was jaggedly broken, revealing sparse wires, and milky white nutrient fluid was dripping steadily, soaking into the soil where a cluster of large red ants had gathered, seemingly very interested in this novel 'meat.'

Android Unit One walked over, glanced briefly at the arm, and stated, "Broken in a single strike, Master. It appears this android got in the way of the Ravager Wolverine."

Fang Senyan nodded. This batch of androids assigned to them was labeled 'Special Purpose,' with limb strength manufactured to the highest standard. Yet, even this was severed in one blow, indicating the Ravager Wolverine's defense-ignoring ability was exceptionally formidable.

Android Unit One then held the severed limb toward Fang Senyan and said, "Master, I have no intention of appropriating your lawful assets, but the probability of you carrying this piece of wreckage back as a trophy is 1.14%, with a salvage value of 214 Universal Points if you do. If you were to award this trophy to us, it could save you four thousand in repair costs and ensure adequate manpower for critical moments. Could you bestow it upon us?"

Looking at Unit One’s rigidly straight posture, and the other two androids already cautiously collecting the dripping nutrient fluid, Fang Senyan felt a strange, cold sensation rising within him. Although the androids were clearly calculating in his best interest, their behavior felt profoundly unsettling, as if he were facing pitiless ghouls.

Fortunately, Fang Senyan quickly suppressed this emotion. He couldn't allow a fleeting wave of negative feeling over an ordinary android remnant to affect his calm judgment. He nodded: "Your request is approved."

Soon after, Fang Senyan and his party discovered a corpse nearby—more accurately, the skeletal remains of the owner of that severed hand.