Chapter 5337, A Little Strange
Translator: Silavin & Ashish

Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun

Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys

At a certain moment, Great Evolution Pass’ barriers parted and a gap was opened.

“Let’s go!” Yang Kai shouted as the Dawn’s members, who had been waiting for a long time, rushed out.

Following closely behind them were the Old Turtles, followed by the Profound Wind and Snow Wolves Squads.

After exiting Great Evolution Pass, the four Squad Leaders immediately summoned their respective Warships as their Squad members boarded and took their respective positions.

The Warships’ Arrays started humming before the four Warships shot straight ahead, rapidly flying away from Great Evolution Pass, leaving dazzling trails of light in their wake.

Although Great Evolution Pass’ current speed was fast, comparable to a Mid-Rank Open Heaven Realm Master, it was still a colossal entity so it had reached its limit.

A Warship, on the other hand, was different. No matter how slow a Warship was, it would still be much faster than the current speed of Great Evolution Pass.

The four Warships did not immediately scatter. There was still some distance to the Royal City, so this location was safe. Since they would not run into any Black Ink Clansman yet, there was no need to disperse.

To carry out this mission, each Warship had undergone a certain degree of modification, which greatly enhanced their stealth and mobility. Many offensive Arrays were sacrificed for this.

Yang Kai was standing on the deck of the Dawning Light with a Universe Chart in his hand, checking the direction and leading the other three Warships.

Originally, the Human Race Universe Charts didn’t include the topography of Great Evolution Theatre; after all, the Black Ink Clan had occupied Great Evolution Pass for 30,000 years, so no one knew about the exact situation of Great Evolution Theatre.

But as a matter of course, as the Great Evolution East-West Army invaded the Black Ink Clan’s territory on their way to the Royal City, and then on their way back to Great Evolution Pass, the Chart Masters accompanying the Army were able to create a new Universe Chart that would be of great use in the upcoming crusade.

At maximum speed, it wouldn’t take long for the Warships to reach the Royal City, but they were not aiming solely for speed as their job was to maintain a certain lead on the Great Pass to provide reconnaissance information.

The Black Ink Clan was currently terrified of the sudden and elusive intrusion of the Old Ancestor, so no Territory Lord dared to wander outside the Royal City. At the same time, the defences of the Royal City had become extremely tight because of the Old Ancestor’s constant harassment.

The Black Ink Clan’s surveillance range should be half a month’s distance away from the Royal City at the Great Pass’ current speed.

In other words, the four scouting Squads should encounter the Black Ink Clan soldiers monitoring the vicinity of the Royal City within a month and a half if they maintained a two-month lead on Great Evolution Pass.

After sending a Divine Sense transmission to Chai Fang and the other two Squad Leaders, informing the three about the situation, all three of them nodded in response.

The following journey remained uneventful. During this time, all the members of the Squad, except those who were responsible for maintaining the ship’s systems, were quietly cultivating.

A month and a half later, Chai Fang’s voice suddenly rang in Yang Kai’s ears, “Brother Yang, it’s time.”

The meditating Yang Kai immediately opened his eyes and stared deep into the void before slightly nodding.

“Everyone, just shout if you run into trouble, don’t try to be a hero, the Old Ancestor is right behind us. If we win this battle, we won’t have to worry about anything. I hope that I will see all of you at the celebration banquet where we will drink till we pass out!” Ma Gao laughed.

Yao Kang Cheng added, “I have a few jars of fine wine that have been fermenting for 1,000 years. We’ll drink them together at the celebration banquet!”

“You’re making me thirsty,” Chai Fang smacked his lips.

Everyone broke into laughter.

“Disperse!” Yang Kai shouted as the four Warships quickly scattered. At the same time, the Illusion Arrays on each Warship were activated.

If they wanted to hide themselves, Illusion Arrays were the easiest and the most convenient method. Illusion Arrays personally set up by the Array Great Grandmasters of the Great Pass were more than enough to hoodwink the eyes and ears of the Black Ink Clan patrols.

Although nothing had physically changed about the current Dawning Light, if one wasn’t close and didn’t look carefully enough, they would only see an asteroid floating in the void.

Countless asteroids were floating about in the void, so why would the Black Ink Clan pay attention to one more?

Dawning Light kept moving forward at a steady pace.

After 10 days, a slight furrow appeared on Yang Kai’s brow as he stared into the dark void ahead.

The situation was indeed as the Old Ancestor had stated. For the past 200 years, the Black Ink Clan had been trying their best to create a defensive line, fearing that the Humans would once again invade the Royal City.

The Black Ink Clan had suffered heavy losses in the last war, and even the Royal Lord had suffered serious injuries which had yet to heal. Thus, the Black Ink Clan did not want to fight the Humans again.

If it was possible, they would rather give up the Royal City and seek refuge in another Theatre. At the very least, it would not be so vexing.

But that was impossible. The Royal Lord’s Black Ink Nest was at the Royal City; giving up the Royal City was equivalent to giving up the High-Rank Black Ink Nest.

As far as the Black Ink Clan was concerned, the High-Rank Black Ink Nests were their very root and foundation. How could they give one up so easily?

So, they had elected to establish a defensive perimeter in order to block any Human offensive, and the way they did so was extremely simple. By spending an inordinate amount of resources, they had spawned many Black Ink Nests and then used those nests to produce a massive amount of Black Ink Strength to fill the space around the Royal City.

Regardless of what method the Humans could use to deal with the corruption of Black Ink Strength, so long as the Humans were within the range of Black Ink Strength, the Black Ink Clan would always have an advantage.

One had to admit that although this method was expensive and time-consuming, it was quite effective.

At the very least, after over two centuries of hard work, the distance which would need ten days to reach the Royal City had been filled with the Black Ink Strength. Furthermore, the Black Ink Strength was denser, the closer it was to the Royal City.

The Black Ink Clan was like a fish in the water in such an environment, whereas it was anything but easy for the Humans.

The Dawning Light was about a month’s journey from the Royal City, but they were still able to see the billowing pitch-black darkness in the Void ahead. This was the result of the Black Ink Clan’s efforts over the last two centuries.

Because the Old Ancestor often came to the Black Ink Clan territory to harass them, she was well aware of this situation. She had also killed a few Black Ink Clansmen who had left the Royal City to arrange things, but her killing had not produced much effect.

Even if the Old Ancestor killed a group of Black Ink Clansmen, the Black Ink Clan would just send another team, and the Old Ancestor couldn’t just remain here.

Yang Kai furrowed his brow at the sight before him. This environment was extremely unfavourable for the Human Race. Although the Humans would not fear the corruption of Black Ink Strength as long as they were inside a Warship, High-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters still needed to go out to fight effectively.

Even if they took Purifying Black Ink Pills in advance, the effects would be greatly reduced if they remained in such an environment for an extended period. Once the effects of the Purifying Black Ink Pill expired, things would turn dangerous for the Humans.

Be that as it may, the Humans didn’t have much of a choice in the face of such a situation. The only option they had left was to use Great Evolution Pass to launch a lightning-fast attack and eliminate the Black Ink Clan as rapidly as possible.

How many Human Masters would die in such a reckless battle?

Yang Kai had no idea, nor did he want to think about it. Any sacrifice was worth it to destroy the Black Ink Clan once and for all, but the fewer the sacrifices necessary, the better.

Silently, Dawning Light sailed through the void and entered the region filled with Black Ink Strength.

This was the outermost ring of the Black Ink Clan’s defensive perimeter. Black Ink Strength here wasn’t very rich, but so long as the Black Ink Clan had sufficient time and invested enough resources, this outer ring would become the inner ring.

Yang Kai secretly rejoiced that Great Evolution Pass had only been preparing for two centuries before setting off for the crusade. If they had delayed a few more hundred years or even 1,000 years, the upcoming war would surely be multiple times more difficult.

The moment Dawning Light entered the region covered in Black Ink Strength, a pair of eyes from over 10 million kilometres away looked over.

They belonged to a Feudal Lord, and after gazing in the Dawning Light’s direction for a moment, he waved his hand.

Immediately after, a High-Rank Black Ink Clansman stepped forward, “Sir Feudal Lord.”

“There’s something strange over there. Something entered the defence perimeter. Go investigate.”

An aggrieved look immediately appeared on the High-Rank Clansman’s face as his heart started rapidly pounding in fear.

This wasn’t surprising though, as the Human Old Ancestor had been coming over quite frequently as of late. Would death not be certain if they were to run into her while checking out the situation?

Nonetheless, as a subordinate of the Feudal Lord, he didn’t dare refuse the latter’s orders.

However, he didn’t go alone to investigate. Although it would not matter how many went if they really encountered the Old Ancestor, it was still better than going alone.

After a while, the High-Rank Black Ink Clansman led a dozen or so others and flew in the direction pointed out by the Feudal Lord.

The team led by the High-Rank Black Ink Clansman travelled a few million kilometres.

Yang Kai had already noticed them rushing over a few moments ago. It was not that Yang Kai was trying to investigate, but rather he could feel the energy fluctuations coming towards them, and they were getting stronger and stronger as more time passed.

Since Yang Kai and the others were here to act as scouts, they would naturally conceal themselves and keep a sharp lookout. On top of that, no one in Dawn was actively using their Divine Sense to scan their surroundings to prevent revealing themselves.

Everyone on Dawning Light held their breaths.

The team of a dozen or so Black Ink Clansmen stopped a few thousand kilometres away from the Dawning Light, and the leading Black Ink Clansman carefully observed them for a moment before the tension left his face.

To his relief, it was just an asteroid, and not the Old Ancestor.

After confirming the situation, he had no intention of approaching to investigate further; after all, this had happened quite frequently over the years. The asteroids and universe fragments drifting through the void had no set pattern and would cross the defensive line every now and then.

After having confirmed that there were no problems, the High-Rank Black Ink Clansman waved his hand and led his team back.

The members of the Dawn immediately breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of their departure.

The High-Rank Black Ink Clansman might not be that strong, and his eyesight might not be that sharp, so if they stayed calm, it was possible he wouldn’t see through the Illusion Array’s disguise. As long as he attacked Dawning Light though, they would have been immediately exposed.

Fortunately, the High-Rank Black Ink Clansman didn’t seem to be the diligent type, which allowed Dawning Light to avoid detection.

Shen Ao stated via transmission, “Squad Leader, there’s something strange about this!”

Yang Kai nodded in agreement.

It was indeed a little strange.

Dawning Light had just crossed the Black Ink Clan’s defence perimeter, but the Black Ink Clan had immediately set out to investigate. There was no way this was just a coincidence.

If it wasn’t a coincidence though, could it be that the defensive perimeter made up of the Black Ink Strength also served as a detection net? Was the Black Ink Clan able to sense anything that entered a specific range?

The Old Ancestor had never mentioned anything about this, so Yang Kai could not say for certain.

Of course, this wasn’t the Old Ancestor’s fault. Every time she came here, she would head straight for the Royal City, so how could she have the time to pay attention to such minor details? What’s more, even if the Black Ink Clan patrols detected the Old Ancestor, the first thing they would do is run, not come to investigate.

Since the Black Ink Clan had arrived as soon as the Dawning Light crossed the Black Ink Clan’s defensive line, it would not hurt to be extra careful.

Dawning Light’s Arrays were already operating at their lowest strength to prevent exposing themselves.

Their original plan was to dive deeper into the Black Ink Clan’s territory and spy on their movements, but after this event, Yang Kai promptly ordered to change the Dawning Light’s direction and continue moving forward at a reduced speed.

He wanted to know if everything that had happened was just a coincidence or if the Black Ink Clan had detected their intrusion. If it was just a coincidence, then it would be a one-off instance, but if they did detect their intrusion… then the four scouting Squads would only be able to play a limited role.

After all, so long as they entered a certain range, the Black Ink Clan would be able to detect them. Dawn was already lucky enough to avoid exposure once, so Yang Kai didn’t dare bet the life and death of his Squad members on something as uncontrollable as luck.