Chapter 242: There Is A Queen
"So, you finally showed up?" Philip looked at the two of them and said with a hint of amusement.
They had been gone for more than twenty minutes, and their important meeting—which was basically about saving the city—had come to a halt while they were away.
"Apologies, we ran into a small problem," August said as he sat down and gestured for Daniel to sit beside him.
"This young friend of mine is named Daniel Noir. I’m sure most of you have heard of him due to his achievements. He recently cleared the second floor of the Tower and reached B-rank. If there’s no issue, I’d like him to stay for the meeting."
The officials glanced at one another. They had already heard about this young man from Philip, and even they had seen his name in the media a few times.
But none of them expected he’d already reached B-rank. According to Philip, this boy had only awakened two or three months ago.
How exactly did he reach B-rank in such a short amount of time? The closest record belonged to the country’s number-one prodigy, Diana.
Her record for reaching B-rank was about six months, and she had even managed to reach peak B-rank in eleven months and twenty days.
With how terrifyingly fast this boy was growing, wouldn’t he easily reach peak B-rank within the next three months? They swallowed nervously.
If they knew that Daniel had already killed a peak A-rank Noble Demon and could fight on equal ground with A-rank Awakened, who knows how they would react?
"It’s fine, he can stay... Anyway, let’s get back to the meeting. We were looking for a way to contain the dimensional break," the mayor said, looking at them.
"No other suggestions? Are all our ideas hitting dead ends?" he added.
"Our only option is to find the Boss and kill it. The number of Corruption Beasts is increasing rapidly, and our forces can’t hold them off much longer," August said.
The mayor went silent. They all knew that killing the Boss was the only solution, but where were they supposed to find it? That bastard wasn’t showing itself.
"This kid wants to enter the church that’s currently being protected by the Corruption Beasts," the President of the Awakened Association added, using the opportunity.
"He wants to enter that church? Why, kid—are you trying to get yourself killed?" the mayor frowned.
"I have my reasons," Daniel said. He didn’t feel the need to explain in detail.
"What I’m saying is that we could use this chance to figure out what exactly is so valuable to the Corruption Beasts inside that church."
"Mr. August, this is an extremely reckless move. We can’t send a child into a place being guarded by hundreds of Corruption Beasts—especially not a promising talent like him," the deputy mayor spoke up.
"This kid’s life is very important to me. So if I’m allowing him to go, it means I trust him," August said calmly.
"Are you sure, August?" Philip asked, looking at his friend with hesitation.
August nodded. He had full confidence in Daniel’s current strength.
"If he’s willing, I also think it’s the right move," Philip sighed and agreed.
"You’re all insane," the deputy mayor grumbled and went quiet.
"Well, if you say so, I don’t have a problem with it. We can send him and see what’s hidden in that place. Who knows? Maybe we’ll get lucky and find the Boss," the mayor finally agreed.
August and Daniel smiled. Then August waved his hand, and a holographic screen appeared in front of them. On it was the image of a disgusting, grotesque creature.
"This is one of the Corruption Beasts that emerged from the dimensional break. We don’t know what species it is. We contacted the capital’s experts, but even they said they don’t have any specific information. We’ll need to study one of the creatures directly to know more," the old man explained to the white-haired boy beside him.
Daniel looked at the holographic screen. The creature was bizarre.
It had the body of a mantis but clearly had the head of a wasp. Its body was completely black and seemed to be covered in some kind of scales—yes, like fish scales.
Two butterfly-like wings also protruded from its back.
"You have no idea about their traits?" he asked.
"We’ve fought them for the past three days, so we’ve learned a few things. First of all, their strength ranges from C-rank to B-rank," August explained.
"They have extremely tough outer skin that acts like armor. They’re skilled fighters and hit hard. They can fly and fight in the air."
"However, their wings are fragile and can be broken easily."
"They’re also much stronger during the day than at night. We’ve observed that during the day, some of them even reach mid B-rank strength."
Daniel paused and processed what he’d just heard.
If their maximum strength was mid B-rank, then there was no need to worry. With his current power, he could easily slaughter them—and he had his Fallen as well.
"You said they reproduce using light. Why did you come to that conclusion?" he then asked, pointing out something that had been bothering him.
"Three days ago, when they first attacked, our surveillance showed that their numbers were in the dozens. Now, three days later, their numbers haven’t just stayed the same—they’ve increased to thousands."
"The reason we say they reproduce with light is that their numbers keep increasing during the day. At night, we haven’t seen any increase—their numbers always remain stable," August explained.
Daniel gave them a look like they were idiots. They believed the beasts reproduced using light just because their numbers increased during the day?
What kind of foolish logic was that? He activated his mind and began analyzing it.
The first question: why do their numbers stay the same at night but increase during the day? One possibility was that reproduction happens at night, and the new Corruption Beasts only enter the battlefield during the day.
"Have you ever actually seen them reproduce?"
August shook his head. They had never witnessed anything like that.
Daniel frowned. If they hadn’t seen any reproduction, then it was possible that reproduction was only done by one of them. Right now, these old men believed that every member of the species could reproduce.
But what if only one of them—the queen—was responsible for reproduction? Like a queen bee?
’Actually, it makes sense. Bosses are always the first to emerge during a dimensional break and usually cause the most destruction.’
’But this time, the Boss never appeared. And if my theory is correct, then the Boss of this Corruption Beast species isn’t a fighter at all—it’s a reproductive queen. That’s why it’s hiding—because it can’t fight.’
He looked at these fools. Should he tell them his theory?