Chapter 280

Chapter 263: Ambush

Just as Gregor was feeling puzzled, a familiar voice sounded beside him.

“Are you Gregor from Igewent?”

Hearing this voice, Gregor turned his head and saw that the direction from which the voice came now stood two black dogs, one of whom he recognized; it was Thomas, who had greeted him before.

“Are you… Thomas from North Ilde?”

“Oh, yes! I’m Thomas. It’s nice to know you still remember my name. By the way, Gregor, would you like to team up with us? We have very experienced seniors leading our group.”

Thomas directly addressed Gregor, who looked at the black dog next to him with a puzzled gaze. The black dog courteously spoke to Gregor.

“I am Jed from Canotte. It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Gregor. I have been hunting in this area with the hunting party for several days now, so I have some experience. If you don’t mind, could we form a team? Your skills are impressive, and I believe we can achieve great results if we work together.”

“Is that so? That would be wonderful. I need someone experienced to guide me, and teaming up with you is perfect.” Gregor said gratefully, looking at Thomas and Jed in front of him. He was a new hunter who had been struggling to find a team. Hearing Gregor’s response, Jed smiled and said:

“Then let’s wish for a pleasant cooperation.”

Afterwards, Gregor, Jed, and Thomas formed a team and set off separately in the direction of other parts of the woodland.

Due to Jed’s greater experience in exploring the Dream Realm, he could identify directions within the forest, making him naturally the leader.

Under Jed’s guidance, Gregor and Thomas moved away from the others and ventured deeper into the woods. Along the way, they encountered a few small prey intermittently.

After several spiritual absorptions, Gregor felt that his gains from this trip were already quite substantial. A night’s worth of spiritual absorption was equivalent to more than a week’s worth. This filled him with joy.

‘When I return tonight and digest these spirits, I will be one step closer to accumulating enough spirituality.’

Gregor thought, then continued on with Thomas, following Jed. As the surrounding forest became increasingly dense and quiet, they felt an increasing sense of calm.

“Hmm… It seems we haven’t encountered any prey for a while… Have all the prey around here been hunted?”

Walking among the towering trees, Thomas surveyed the quiet forest and commented. Gregor echoed his thoughts with a hint of confusion.

“Yes, it’s been a long time since we’ve seen any prey. This place is so quiet. Mr. Jed, have we wandered too far in this direction? I feel like my mimicry is about to end.”

“Hehe, don’t worry. I assure you we haven’t strayed too far from the others. With more hunting, prey naturally becomes harder to find. Let’s keep searching. I’ve found some traces.”

Jed, who was leading the way, responded and quickened his pace, running ahead. Thomas immediately followed.

“Wait! Mr. Jed!”

Frowning at Jed’s words, Gregor hurriedly followed when he saw Thomas also running ahead.

The three of them ran forward, soon arriving at a relatively spacious grassland. Upon arrival, they spotted a small white figure in the center of the grassland—a little white fox.

“Found prey! There! Don’t let it escape!”

Upon seeing the white fox, Jed shouted loudly. Gregor and Thomas immediately assumed their hunting stances and charged toward it.

The white fox, startled by the approach, quickly began to evade.

The fox was agile, skillfully dodging Thomas’ lunge, but its movements were anticipated by Gregor. Gregor pounced again, pinning down the fleeing fox.

Just as Gregor prepared to finish the fox with a bite, an unexpected situation occurred: the fox under his paw actually spoke.

“Let me go! Let me go! Quickly release me! You bunch of black dogs!”

The fox’s voice was a clear female tone. Hearing this, both Gregor and Thomas were taken aback because ordinary Dream Realm Beings couldn’t speak. Those who could usually did so through mimicry.

Is this fox a mimic?

Concluding this, Gregor carefully examined the white fox under his paw, noticing that she indeed lacked the characteristic green glowing patterns of a Dream Realm Being, confirming her status as a mimic.

“Are you a mimic of an Extraordinary Being?”

“Of course I’m a mimic! Can’t you tell? You bunch of stupid dogs! Just as grandpa said, black dogs are all idiots—stupid beyond belief! Quickly let me go!”

Struggling, the fox shouted forcefully, but Gregor didn’t loosen his grip. He continued holding the fox, interrogating her sternly.

“Tell me, which Society does your Extraordinary Being belong to? What rank are you? Why are you here? Confess!”

“Who would tell you bunch of black dogs anything! What do you care where I came from! I’d rather ask you, how dare you run into this place? Even Dream Realm Tigers wouldn’t stay here. Are you black dogs seeking d*ath?”

The fox continued shouting. Hearing this, Gregor paused, then seemed to realize something and asked the fox:

“What do you mean by a place where even Dream Realm Tigers wouldn’t stay? Explain…”

“Ahh!!”

Just as Gregor was about to continue questioning the fox, a scream suddenly echoed behind him. Gregor turned to look and his eyes widened in shock.

The mimic of Thomas, the black dog, lay on the ground, with a large wound on his neck, rapidly dissolving into spiritual energy. Beside him, a dark shadow rushed toward him from behind.

Grabbing the fox under his paw, Gregor urgently dodged. Although the surprise attack from behind didn’t incapacitate or critically injure him, it left a large wound on his body. Gregor rolled on the ground in pain before standing up, facing the shadow rushing towards him. It was none other than Jed, who had been leading them all along.

“Jed! What are you doing?!”

Through gritted teeth, the injured Gregor shouted at the nearby Jed. Jed silently walked to Thomas’ side, watching as his body dissolved completely into black spiritual particles.

“What am I doing? Isn’t it obvious? Hunting, of course…

“You should know that before your mimics return to their original dreams and take the collected spiritual energy back, all of you should be hunted down. The spiritual energy one of you collects is equivalent to that of several Dream Realm Beings.”

Looking at Gregor, Jed murmured, and the spiritual particles that originally belonged to Thomas gradually floated toward Jed, absorbed into his body.