"How do you plan to do that?" Asaeya asked, now even more confused than before.
"There are some ways, but we need more information first." Inala then tapped his head, "I also need to comprehend all the memories I received from the previous Gannala."
"For the time being, we'll accumulate more resources and cultivate." He continued, "We'll set 200 Prana as the goal. Only after that will we take action. Until then, you look around for more clues in the female settlement while I'll do the same in the male settlement."
"We have no idea how many Pranic Beasts are in this scheme and which human Kingdom they have been targeting all along. Let's map out everything first before taking action." He stared at the egg containing the new Gannala to conclude, "We're reaching the limit to how long I can store her in the egg. So, our first priority is to determine if we're far away from Dieng Canyon."
"Got it," Asaeya nodded and got out of the cave, "As all Pranic Beasts in this region are nocturnal, it's the safest to move around during the day. As the Rooster Clan is asleep at this time, I'll look for more clues."
Once it was afternoon time, Asaeya entered the settlement and began to look around for more clues, conveniently using her powers to ensure everyone was asleep.
In the meantime, Inala sent his three Empyrean Zinger Scouts to glide around different parts of the region. As they slowly lose their altitude while gliding, they'll travel in a circle and arrive at the foot of the mountain.
Following that, they would scale up the mountain and arrive before Inala. Once they were in range, he would be able to use their connection to access memories in their bodies like a Bone Slip, hence obtaining all the knowledge they had gained from surveying the region.
Immediately after that, the scouts would leap and glide away to another area. The three Empyrean Zinger Scouts made repeated trips.
Among them, a scout approached the river and dived in, varying its body's density to head deeper underwater. But after reaching a certain depth, there was just darkness. Until this point, the Empyrean Zinger Scout hadn't managed to spot a single Pranic Beast.
After floating around the river, failing to find anything, it approached the region where Asaeya said another settlement existed. The marked region was a rock forest filled with cactus-like plants.
While the Empyrean Zinger Scout flew in its miniature form, discrete, it spotted a human carrying a trident made from a material resembling coral. But, it was many times tougher.
The human was a male, in his early twenties, carrying a bag of tree sap as he approached an average-sized cactus in the region. With a tug of his Prana, the cactus's stem opened like a door to reveal a flight of stairs inside.
Two people stood guard inside, calmly staring at him. The Empyrean Zinger Scout stealthily landed on his bag and hid amidst its creases, watching as he descended through the flight of stairs. The path was two metres wide while the steps resembled glass.
It had been created by melting and pouring sand over a rocky layer, creating a decently smooth surface to walk upon. It was also easier to carve stairs this way instead of having to carve on stone.
Even though such a task was nothing much to comment on for a cultivator, judging by the way they used molten sand that was brittle and had already cracked at a lot of places, the one in charge of it simply didn't seem to care.
Cracking sounds resounded as the man stepped on the steps, walking through the long stretch of stairs, the path illuminated by luminescent crystals embedded in the walls. After almost ten minutes of nonstop walking, the man entered a large underground dome, spanning at least an area of 10 square kilometres.
Large coral reefs filled the region and strewn across them, forming thick sheets of moss were the mattresses where the humans slept. Judging by the lack of walls, the concept of privacy seemed non-existent.
The humans wore minimal fabric to cover their bodies, focusing solely on the nether regions. The fabric was pretty much dried moss that was flattened to resemble fabric. It didn't have life and usually tore off after a few days.
The Empyrean Zinger Scout jumped off from the bag and scaled up the dome, staring from the safety of the ceiling, observing a group of women seated on a large coral reef platform. They were making thinly compressed plasters of moss, intending to turn them into clothes later.
A group of men entered and left a large coral reef that served as a room. Stored in them to the brim were eggs. A man entered it and came out with a dozen eggs. He found a corner and sat there, using his prana to ignite some dried moss, treating it as fuel.
Using his Prana, he wrapped each egg with a thick layer of wet moss and made them hover in the fire, turning them slowly. A few minutes later, the moss had been burnt off. The eggshell now had a bluish-green colour, vibrant just like the moss.
He cracked open the shell and ate the boiled egg that was inside, relishing the taste. Upon inhaling the smell, the Empyrean Zinger Scout drooled due to hunger. But it wasn't distracted and instead focused on its mission, staring at a group of people walking towards one corner of the dome that sported a massive hole.
On the other side of the hole was the river water, its only indicator being the sounds generated by its undercurrents. Due to the depth, sunlight couldn't reach here, making everything dark.
For a moment, the Empyrean Zinger Scout wondered why the river water didn't gush inside the dome. Only then did it notice something stir up in the hole. No, the entire hole was being blocked by a shelled being that was almost transparent in nature.
It corked the hole, with the upper half of its body submerged in the river. And taking advantage of the river currents, it was consuming the soil at the river bed.
The upper half was a fleshly entity while the lower part was a thick shell. It seemed the creature could also change the shape and size of the shell as it pleases, covering its entire body with it if it so pleases.
It was a strange Pranic beast. The Empyrean Zinger Scout had no idea of what it was. Hence, it began to look around the dome, scouring for any information, spending the entire day in response. Finally, it found out about its name.
Advance Silver Grade Pranic Beast—Carcass Snail!
A transparent Pranic Beast that could only survive in the depths of the river where light couldn't reach. Its sensory organs wouldn't be able to handle an exposure to light that would overwhelm it. Carcass Snails were one of the few mobility-lacking Pranic Beasts in Sumatra Continent.
Hence, they would set up home at an advantageous location on the river bed where multiple undercurrents merge. These undercurrents transport the soil at the river bed, the primary food of the Carcass Snail.
Upon consuming the soil, the Carcass Snail generates moss on its shell, termed Shell Moss, its Primary Nature.
The Shell Moss generated on its lower back was consumed by humans while the content generated on its upper body was taken adrift by the undercurrents, later feasted upon by the Slump Lizards that made home at a shallower depth, alternating between the depths where sunlight reached and where it didn't.
And despite their ferocious nature, not once did the Slump Lizards try to target the Carcass Snail. Soon, night approached as suddenly, the body of the Carcass Snail turned opaque, taking on a shade of black.
It opened its mouth and shot out streams of Shell Moss that jutted out of the river, dancing overhead like leeches did at the scent of blood. As it danced, large pieces of Shell Moss fell off from it and rained on the river.
The Slump Lizards went into a frenzy as they consumed the Shell Moss and then charged out, spreading everywhere on the shore like a wave.
