After upgrading their Personal Armor, the combat prowess of the Fire Lizard Battle Group was now on par with that of Wizards.
In fact, compared to many Wizards who had never participated in a Plane War or had only fought in one or two, these Fire Lizard soldiers were even superior.
Therefore, Richard had no intention of keeping them confined to the Secret Realm.
The Green Forest World was vast, and with just over a hundred Third Circle Black Wizards, scouring it thoroughly would take decades at the very least.
And that was assuming they focused solely on the search. If the Wizards engaged in battles, conducted research, or encountered overlapping search zones, the time required would more than double.
By deploying the Fire Lizard Legion, Richard aimed to expand his search range and increase the likelihood of locating the World Tree Sub-body.
The strength of a single individual was ultimately limited.
Of course, Richard was well aware that the search for the World Tree Sub-body couldn't rely solely on the Black Wizards.
As the White Wizard Legion cleared the carnivorous plants from the forests, the Wizards' controlled territory would gradually expand, allowing them to eradicate every last World Tree Sub-body.
The Black Wizards were merely accelerating this process, making the cleanup more efficient.
Once outside the Secret Realm, the Fire Lizard Battle Group split into twenty-five combat squads, fanning out from Richard's position to scout the surrounding areas.
To minimize losses and facilitate communication, each Fire Lizard squad was equipped with a one-time-use teleportation scroll.
When activated, the scroll would create a Fissure leading back to the Secret Realm.
Richard had given this item an affectionate name—the "Town Portal Scroll."
In case of emergencies, the Fire Lizards could use the Town Portal Scroll to return to the Secret Realm.
As for what would happen if enemies pursued them into the Secret Realm… Richard actually hoped the creatures the Fire Lizards found troublesome would follow.
Beneath the World Master, anything entering the Secret Realm would only become a plaything for the World Mushroom.
With the Fire Lizards dispersed for reconnaissance, Richard didn't remain idle either.
He gathered a pile of Alchemy Materials and quickly assembled a rudimentary radar.
Each Fire Lizard carried a specially crafted Communication Crystal Ball from Richard. The radar could emit Magic Power waves at specific frequencies, resonating with these crystal balls and prompting them to emit waves of their own, allowing Richard to track the squads' locations.
The enhanced version of this device was the special crystal balls issued by the command center to numerous Third Circle Wizards.
Richard's radar could only cover a radius of twenty kilometers, while the one in the Floating City could span most of the world.
Still, crude as it was, Richard's radar was more than sufficient for the current situation.
The radar he built featured a half-meter-diameter crystal ball as its receiver, mounted atop a metal base with sides twice as long as the ball's diameter.
Moving this contraption around was no easy task.
Being a simplified version, its components were fragile. A single mishap would require Richard to repair it.
As Richard studied the radar, an idea struck him. Soon, he found the perfect candidate for the job.
"Hogg, you're carrying this thing."
As a dragon—and the offspring of the Dragon King at that—Hogg's strength far surpassed that of ordinary dragons.
Though Richard's radar was heavy, it was nothing for her.
Moreover, Hogg could fly and move unimpeded by terrain, making her extremely radar-friendly.
Upon hearing Richard's command, Hogg—who had been discussing with Ulysses how to toy with the Seeding Hawk later—immediately grew dejected.
She trudged over to Richard's side, shoulders slumped, and said reluctantly:
"Yes, Master."
Seeing her like this, Richard couldn't help but glare at Ulysses behind her.
Over the years, Richard had been preoccupied with experiments, leaving Hogg practically raised by Ulysses. Ulysses adored Hogg and often indulged her in all sorts of mischief. He had even added her to Richard's scriptures, bestowing upon her the title of the Supreme God's steed and Lord of All Dragons.
"Why are you glaring at me?" Ulysses retorted defiantly. "Hogg followed your orders, didn't she?
She may love to play around, but she's never neglected her duties."
Richard waved a hand dismissively. "Alright, alright, it was just a look. Don't be so sensitive."
Though Ulysses' upbringing methods deviated from Richard's goals, Hogg had never disobeyed an order.
This was why Richard allowed her free rein.
Richard was a pragmatist. As long as something worked and worked well, he didn't care who made it or what it had been through.
After deploying the Fire Lizard Battle Group, Richard's search efficiency improved dramatically.
In just one day, they covered areas that would normally take five days to search.
The only downside was that the Fire Lizard Battle Group suffered casualties.
Squad 1-2 encountered one of those Biological weapons Richard had seen before during their search.
Though the squad leader promptly used a recall scroll, two unlucky members were impaled by scorpion tails, their reinforced armor pierced instantly.
Against a Level 3 creature, even the Fire Lizards' thickened armor might as well have been folded paper.
But war inevitably brought death. Richard had given them excellent equipment—whether they survived depended on their own luck.
As days passed, the Fire Lizard Battle Group gradually adapted to the jungles of the Green Forest World.
The Green Forest World was no longer the fortress world it had been after modification. After decades of abandonment, nearly all traces left by the Precursors had been erased.
Their Biological weapons, too, had become part of the ecosystem under nature's relentless force.
Thus, as long as they found their niche in this ecosystem, survival—and even leveraging the environment—was entirely possible.
...
"Free formation!"
With a roar from the Fire Lizard captain, massive vines erupted from the ground.
Colorful, highly toxic spores sprayed from nozzles along the vines, painting the surroundings in a hallucinogenic haze.
Faced with this seemingly sudden ambush, the Fire Lizard Warriors in the forest showed no panic.
Their orderly ranks instantly dispersed into two-person combat units.
Within each unit, one Fire Lizard calmly launched fireballs toward the nearby Guardian Forest with one hand to sustain the Fire Elemental Storm, while the other wielded a short, trumpet-barreled gun.
BOOM! The gun unleashed a burst of flame, incinerating the toxic spores in midair like a dragon's breath.
The other member of the combat unit drew the curved blade at his waist, deftly severing the encroaching vines before finishing them off with a Dragon Breath Gun.
Meanwhile, the massive vines spewing toxic spores collapsed in a flash of golden blade light.
Not a single mistake—every strike precise, every shot lethal!
As the severed vines fell, multiple Dragon Breath Guns unleashed precise volleys, incinerating every segment before the toxic spores could burst forth.
In their last operation against a World Tree Sub-body, this very tactic had wiped out an entire Fire Lizard squad.
The venomous spores melted through their armor in an instant, reducing the Fire Lizards inside into pools of multicolored sludge.
The battlefield was the harshest teacher—those who failed to learn, or learned too slowly, paid the price in blood.
Soon, the company commander barked, "Mission complete! Fall back!"
With that, he tore open a scroll, summoning a Mystic Realm Rift.
At the command, the Fire Lizards holstered their Fireball Guns, drawing curved blades as they retreated toward the nearest rifts.
Thirty seconds later, the once-chaotic battlefield fell silent.
Only the faint rustling of an approaching Insect tide echoed through the woods.
Back in the Secret Realm, the returning Fire Lizard Battle Group shed their Personal Armor with the aid of Holy Tree Sprites. The severely wounded were tended by the World Tree itself, while the lightly injured received treatment from the Sprites.
No relief colored the Fire Lizards' faces—no exhilaration from survival or battle. Only numbness remained.
War reshaped people profoundly.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the World Mushroom, Richard was examining a newly acquired World Tree Sub-body.
After completing his inspection, he recorded the findings in his research notes.
"Type-4 World Tree Sub-body."
The World Tree of this realm was so formidable that its traits couldn't be fully replicated in its Sub-bodies, resulting in stark variations between specimens.
Over the years, Richard had encountered four types—this one was a Type-4 Toxic Spore variant.
Inspection done, he flicked a hand, and the Sub-body was absorbed by the World Mushroom.
To the Mushroom, no amount of Sub-bodies was enough—each held fragments of the World Tree's evolutionary secrets. Grasping even a sliver could propel the Mushroom forward.
Yet, at Richard's insistence, one specimen of each Sub-body type was preserved for his research.
"Another Type-4… Recent acquisitions have all been Type-4s. I must be near a unique zone," Richard murmured, studying his notes.
The traits of World Tree Sub-bodies were influenced by their environment. Three consecutive Type-4 captures suggested he was skirting the edges of an exceptionally large and distinct region.
"Time to adjust the search vector."
Pulling a map from his pocket, he scanned its mostly blank expanse—only a single wavy line marked with detailed records.
This was the trail of his decade-long search.
His gaze lingered on the starting point.
"Ten years… Wonder how far Command has advanced by now."
After recalibrating his search route, Richard waited three days in the Secret Realm to avoid the Insect tide before stepping back into the wilds.
But this time, he didn't summon the Fire Lizard Battle Group.
Richard cared about his subordinates. Having just gone through a major battle, the Fire Lizard Battle Group would have a two-week break.
So during this period, Richard had to conduct the investigation himself.
Entering the jungle, Richard casually swatted a Poisonous insect charging at him, reducing it to pulp.
The Berserk substance in the jungle lingered in the air for one to two weeks, making the entire jungle extremely dangerous during this time.
This was also the standard Richard used when giving Fire Lizard their leave.
After confirming his direction, Richard flew northeast.
As Richard ventured deeper, the humidity around him increased, and a faint rotting odor permeated the air, growing stronger by the moment.
This only reinforced Richard's belief—there must be a massive, unique environment nearby.
Three days later, a figure in a black robe passed through the thick fog and stopped beside a large tree.
At his feet, a dark swamp bubbled incessantly, releasing waves of suffocating rot into the air.
Looking at the scene before him, Richard muttered to himself, "What a vast Poisonous swamp."
(End of chapter)