Global Beast Mastery: Only I Can See the Hints

Rainbow did not fly directly to the frontline. Instead, it landed on the ground halfway to the frontline.

"Why did we stop? Did you sense some kind of danger?" Charles asked, a bit curious.

Rainbow had never disobeyed Charles' commands before.

"There is an invisible barrier ahead. I can't fly through it," Rainbow responded quickly.

Charles looked in the direction Rainbow pointed to.

In that moment, he received a hidden hint.

[Invisible Barrier: A barrier constructed by the Serpent People using ancient magic. It can effectively block all flying objects in the sky. The only way to pass through it is by using the underground passage in the desert.]

"Since that's the case, let's move quickly. We should still be able to find a way through the invisible barrier before nightfall," Charles said, still feeling optimistic.

Although they couldn't reach the frontline directly, they were now close enough. What pleased Charles most was that Aldany and the scheming high priests of Serpent's Eye Lake Oasis could no longer monitor him.

After about half an hour of searching, Charles finally found the entrance to the underground passage beneath the desert.

The entrance was disguised by tumbleweeds.

Only by removing the tumbleweeds could they access the passage.

As Charles cleared away the tumbleweeds, a young man suddenly rushed out from the passage.

The moment Charles saw him, he immediately recognized that the young man was also a Beast Master. Furthermore, his level was the same as Charles'—level five.

The young Beast Master quickly distanced himself from Charles as soon as he emerged from the passage. But when he saw Charles' face, he suddenly relaxed his guard.

"Liam Chen, Vice-Captain of the Third Squad of the Imperial Beast Master Division! My mission is to infiltrate the depths of the Atacama Desert and continue gathering intelligence on the Serpent Empire," Liam Chen said casually to Charles.

Charles was stunned.

He hadn't expected the young man to so openly state both his identity and mission.

After a moment of surprise, Charles quickly came to a realization.

Liam Chen must have been sent by the Stellar Empire.

He probably mistook Charles for another spy sent by the Stellar Empire, which is why he so easily revealed all his true information.

Charles decided to go along with it and nodded.

"Charles Liu, a member of the secret squad of the Imperial Beast Master Division. I've been in the desert for ten days now, but I haven't found any useful intelligence, and I've even gotten a bit lost," Charles casually fabricated a false identity.

Liam Chen put on a disappointed expression.

"Infiltrating the desert is indeed very difficult! But no matter what, we can't give up. We must gather enough intelligence," he said with determination.

He decided to team up with Charles.

Although Charles wanted to obtain more intelligence from him, if he teamed up with Liam, he would no longer be able to continue heading to the frontline.

Should he hand Liam Chen over to the Serpent people?

At first, Charles thought this might be the best option. But after a moment, he decided he should reconsider.

"Where should we go to gather intelligence? In the past few days, I've already explored most of the environment here. This is just a desolate desert. The only things left, apart from the sand, are these almost completely dead tumbleweeds. If we want to find any intelligence, we might need to venture deeper into the desert. But it will likely be even more dangerous there."

Hearing Charles' words, Liam Chen's expression grew more serious.

"What should we do then? I have to complete this mission! If I fail, my family will be executed!" Liam Chen said in a panic, revealing information that Charles found quite concerning.

"Why would your family be executed? You're a level five Beast Master. You should have a relatively high status," Charles asked, intrigued.

Liam Chen, facing Charles' inquiry, didn't hold back any longer.

After all, there were only two humans here, and Liam Chen could only trust Charles.

"I am indeed a level five Beast Master, but I haven't performed very well up to this point. My family is from the Empire's military, and not long ago, during the Battle of the Withered Tree Fortress, my father and brother made a huge mistake. The army they commanded was completely wiped out by the Serpent Empire's forces! His Royal Highness, the crown prince, was furious and ordered that my father and brother be executed. I had no choice but to take on this mission to buy them some time. If I succeed in my mission, His Royal Highness will surely pardon them."

As Liam Chen spoke, his eyes glistened with tears.

Charles fell silent.

Although he wasn't too familiar with the exact decrees of the Stellar Empire, he didn't believe for a second that the crown prince would spare the lives of those he intended to execute.

Liam Chen was most likely deceiving himself.

The crown prince of the Stellar Empire had probably already executed his entire family by the time Liam set out on his mission.

Charles sighed as he thought about it.

"You're very naive. Your family has probably already been executed."

Liam Chen didn't show much change in his expression when he heard this. He just kept shaking his head and muttering to himself.

"It's impossible! His Royal Highness the crown prince promised me. A person of such high status could never go back on their word! As long as I complete the mission, my family will definitely be pardoned."

Liam Chen seemed to doubt his own words, but this was his last hope. He kept trying to convince himself to believe what he was saying.

Charles didn't continue to provoke him. He simply changed the topic.

"What kind of intelligence would allow the crown prince to pardon your family? If we just record the desert environment here, that could count as intelligence, right?"

Liam Chen shook his head with a bitter smile.

"That would definitely be useless! His Royal Highness the crown prince asked me to bring back crucial intelligence. I think the troop distribution at the Serpent Empire's frontline could be considered crucial intelligence."

"You'll never get that intelligence," Charles replied. "You just came from the passage, which means you also know there is an invisible barrier above our heads. The defenses here are so tight, and the defense of the Serpent Empire's frontline walls will be even stricter. So, we can't even get close to it."

Liam Chen's mood sank again after hearing this.

"Then what are we supposed to do? Are we going to be stuck here in this desert? My family is still waiting for me to rescue them!" Liam Chen's emotions were growing more intense.

At this point, Charles finally spoke the plan that he had been thinking about.

"I have a shape-shifting device. If we disguise ourselves as Serpents, we might be able to sneak into the Serpent Empire's frontline. As long as we don't draw attention, we can secretly gather intelligence."

"You're right! Let's do that! Please take out the shape-shifting device!" Liam Chen said, his excitement growing.

He saw Charles' plan as his last chance to complete the mission, and he was determined not to let this opportunity slip away. It was like a drowning person desperately trying to grab onto the last straw.

Charles took out the shape-shifting mask.

"It's not time to use the device yet. Let's first go through the passage and get to the other side of the invisible barrier," Charles said as he started walking toward the passage.

Liam Chen appeared to hesitate slightly.

"Could we take a different passage? I encountered a group of Desert Goblins in this one! They're incredibly vicious. If I hadn't reacted quickly, I would have ended up like my other companions—eaten by them," he said.

Liam Chen wasn't lying.

Of course, he had no reason to lie about this matter.

Desert Goblins were indeed a savage, intelligent species. They would almost always treat any creature they encountered as food.

Charles nodded.

"Alright, then! Let's find another passage."

The two of them continued their journey through the vast desert. After about a quarter of an hour, they finally found another passage.

This passage was also covered by tumbleweeds.

"The sun is about to set. We don't have time to look for another passage! Whatever is in this one, we have no choice but to go through with it," Charles reminded Liam Chen.

Liam Chen nodded in agreement.

Once they entered the passage, they were suddenly hit by a strong, foul smell.

Liam Chen immediately shouted.

"This is the smell of Desert Goblins! There are a lot of them in this passage! We need to move quickly. If the Desert Goblins gather together, we won't even have a chance to escape."

Upon hearing Liam Chen's warning, Charles immediately sped up and moved deeper into the passage at an incredible pace.

Liam Chen followed closely behind him.

The foul stench in the passage grew stronger, and at the same time, they began to hear a chattering sound.

These irritating, high-pitched noises were clearly made by the Desert Goblins.

The massive number of Desert Goblins began to converge on the direction of Charles and Liam Chen.

"It seems we're not moving fast enough!" Charles quickly warned Liam Chen. "Get ready for battle. We might have to fight a huge battle with the Desert Goblins right here!"

Although he didn't want to waste time fighting the Desert Goblins, Charles knew there was no way to negotiate with them. When facing Desert Goblins, the only language they understood was force.

Force was the only way to communicate with Desert Goblins.