Chapter 79: Understanding The Enemy
It wasn’t just about the level differences, but rather the way their outpost itself looked. This simple territory was leagues ahead of anything on the human side.
There was an established order here that modern humans simply hadn’t had the time to build yet.
Among the structures that these ancient variants had built, there were lots of buildings and tools in use that were obviously gotten from the multiversal store.
Uhtred could see spell circles, arrays, and dense areas for cultivation where even more talented Neanderthals and Homo erectus sat, drawing in cosmic essence attuned to their affinities.
Earth Essence Attuned variants were the most plentiful, and it was reflected in the amount of cultivation pavilions that filled the territory.
Only a few of these pavilions had arrays that were geared towards different attunements.
Uhtred could see one of these unique pavilions with a few Neanderthal warriors sitting at Level 15. He was very cautious not to linger his gaze on them as they sat in concentration, drawing in essence from what looked to be some sort of "essence gathering array" on the ground beneath them.
Uhtred hadn’t seen any of these things before. Everything he saw here was new to him, but because of his Formless core, he could sense with deep detail the uniqueness of each of the arrays.
He could tell what the array’s purpose was. He could feel the cosmic essence being drawn towards the area and filtered to amplify only specific aspects of cosmic essence within that area.
The ambient energy felt thick and structured, swirling into separate elemental streams.
Everywhere Uhtred turned his head, he saw something new, something from the System, and the grim feeling he had only deepened further.
He could now understand fully why the ancient variants had been so bold with their move to enter into the human territory at the beginning.
This wasn’t just about confidence. These guys were way ahead of them when it came to System integration into their society.
The whole thing was extremely eye-opening.
Uhtred was still very vigilant, making sure to remain very close to the edges of the territory so he would be able to escape at a moment’s notice.
At this point, he had begun to harbor some doubts about whether the territory owner was even present here. It had been more than two minutes now, and no one had still come for him.
Are they simply watching me the way I watched the two scouts that entered my territory?
If so, for what reason?
He was literally getting inside knowledge about their base and everything they were capable of. Allowing him to roam around freely served no benefit to them whatsoever.
It didn’t make any sense.
Still, Uhtred was not about to let such an opportunity go to waste. So long as they had not come for him, he would learn as much as possible about them before they did.
He continued to venture around the territory, observing more details, and he was able to learn something else about their hierarchy.
For the low-level Neanderthals and Homo erectus that took care of the grunt work, it seemed they were more susceptible to their basal biological urges.
Compared to the higher-leveled enforcers overlooking their work, they were much more aggressive and prone to barbaric behavior. Uhtred saw two grunts nearly come to blows over a scrap of raw meat before an enforcer stepped in.
Intelligence seemed a very vital aspect of this hierarchy. It was something that paraded itself as a sign of higher class.
It was very obvious because despite the low-level grunts’ basal urges, they tried to act refined, mimicking the more intelligent, stoic air of the enforcers monitoring them.
They straightened their postures and tried to walk with measured steps whenever an elite passed by.
Uhtred noted that fact and filed it to the back of his mind. It was a psychological weakness, something that could be useful against lower-level grunts to cause chaos if the situation ever demanded it.
Uhtred left the area of the low-leveled Neanderthals and Homo erectus, instead moving towards the pavilions he could see closer to the edges of the territory. He still didn’t venture deep into the territory, as he wanted to remain cautious.
Close to these pavilions, the higher-level Homo erectus and Neanderthals engaged in deeper discussions, from which he learned some real information.
Apparently, these ancient variants were well aware of the 3-month buffer period the System had given to modern humans.
Uhtred had wondered exactly how the information blackout would be for the ancient variants, but from their discussions, he came to understand that it was even much deeper than he initially thought.
Among the many things Uhtred had seen in this territory, he had also spotted some arrays that seemed to serve no purpose but were placed in locations that were public spaces.
They looked like large, flat stone platforms etched with deep geometric grooves.
From the discussions he had heard now, it seemed those arrays were teleportation arrays. There were other outposts like this one within Zone 1 across the planet.
Those arrays served as teleportation points between this outpost and those.
Not just that. They also served as direct teleportation points to the further zones, that is, Zone 2 and Zone 3, where the true strongholds of the ancient variants were located.
But since the moment the System placed the information blackout on them, every single one of those teleportation arrays had become non-functional.
They could not travel between outposts in Zone 1, and neither could they travel to the deeper zones in the north, where their main bases were.
It wasn’t just transportation alone, but even communication itself. There were arrays that allowed communication between outposts and between zones, and even those had been entirely shut off.
They were completely dead lines, not functional until the three-month period was over.
Uhtred had not known that humans had this level of advantage, but now that he knew, he was going to capitalize on it furiously.
These outposts were essentially isolated islands now. If he attacked one base, the others wouldn’t know until it was too late.
Seven minutes had passed now, and no one had still come for him. At this point, Uhtred was not as hasty to leave anymore.
The information he just found out made him even more curious about what more he could learn that would give humans an advantage...
