It was the last day of the contest. The majority of the teams began to return, carrying with them their game. The expressions of the team members varied.
Some teams were brimming with joy, having had a successful harvest. There were teams brimming with envy and jealousy, for thanks to their misjudgement, they were countered by the Centingers and had to flee instead.
There were also teams with saddened expressions, having had casualties. They either targeted strong colonies or a colony with a Millinger.
The expressions of the teams filled exclusively with the Settlement Leaders were twisted, having had brutal battles with the Millingers. The eggs were close to hatching. And hence, they couldn't go for another round into the Red-Draft River.
'Hmm, good.' Raaha observed the exploits of the various teams and watched as they submitted their haul. Raaha personally inspected their conditions and only accepted eggs where the hatchling within was alive.
Stealing the eggs wasn't an issue. Transporting them back in intact conditions was the issue. Oftentimes, the eggs were damaged during the return trip under the artillery strikes of angered Centingers.
As the teams hurried, they were rough in their treatment. Since the eggs couldn't be stored in a Storage Lantern, it was obvious many would get damaged.
"Four points," Raaha announced after checking the batch of eggs submitted by a team. In response to his words, the team groaned in exhaustion and walked away.
One point was awarded for every intact Centinger egg. Hence, the number of points was a direct indicator of their success. The team that had just submitted eggs had bad luck, as out of over thirty eggs, only four were intact.
Rest all were damaged, as the entity growing within had already died.
"Come here, Grehha," Raaha spoke softly, watching a boy scurry towards him in response. Pointing at the batch of successful Centinger eggs, he said, "Store them."
"Yes, Chief." Grehha nodded and enveloped each Centinger egg with an Empyrean Incubator. He stored them individually as that was more economical.
If an egg had to be used for a Mammoth Clansman's Body Stage fusion, then only one Empyrean Incubator had to be shattered. Otherwise, if more than one egg were to be stored in an Empyrean Incubator, then the moment it is shattered, all the eggs within would begin hatching.
After enveloping the eggs in an Empyrean Incubator, they could be placed in any of the Empyrean Tusk biomes. The Prana necessary for upkeeping their function would be automatically supplied by the respective Empyrean Tusk.
That was how convenient the Empyrean Incubator was. As a result, Grehha was strategically valued by the Mammoth Clan.
One after another, the teams began to submit their haul as Grehha stored them. Soon, the teams with the Settlement Leaders began to arrive.
"This is ours," Yahard Tusk said and placed three Millinger eggs on the table.
Raaha observed them and let out a smile in contentment, "All three are in optimal condition. Three Thousand Points!"
A Millinger Egg went for a thousand points. Well, it needn't be said, since it wasn't just a Gold Grade Pranic Beast egg but a Mutated one. Currently in the entire Mammoth Clan, the only one that had fused with a Gold Grade Pranic Beast egg was Raaha.
Now, they could have more Clansmen with Gold Grade power. But of course, whether or not a Mammoth Clansman could fuse with the Millinger egg was entirely up to Raaha.
It shouldn't be looked at as a Gold Grade Pranic Beast from a strength perspective alone. The Millinger's body was massive, exceeding a length of hundred metres, and weighing dozens of tonnes.
If a Mammoth Clansman were to fuse with it, he would need an exorbitant quantity of Empyrean Tusk's tusk bone powder to build his body. And this was merely for the Body Stage.
Since he had Gold Grade strength, he would obviously be valued. Which meant that resources would have to be dedicated for his journey into the Life Stage.
In Sumatra Chronicles, the then Mammoth Clan, comprising 44 Empyrean Tusks almost went bankrupt to make Resha reach the 2-Life Stage.
Even though there were 104 Empyrean Tusks now, with two more—Gannala and Harrala—queuing up for maturity later, it would still place their resources in the red to support a Mammoth Clansman in building a Gold Grade Pranic Beast's body.
It was already a known secret that Resha had become an Empyrean Tusk. Everyone in the Mammoth Clan knew about it after the Boar King's proclamation.
Therefore, the Mammoth Clan was already straining itself to support his growth. There were also the reincarnates, all having an exorbitant need for resources, especially the tusk bone powder. Hence, Raaha had no plans to nurture a Clansman with the egg of a Millinger.
'Well, let's see how much resources Orakha and Inala gather from the Brimgan Empire.' Raaha thought. Based on that, he planned to calculate, and if it seemed possible, only then would he nurture Mammoth Clansmen with Millingers.
Anyways, with Grehha's Empyrean Incubator, storing the eggs safely wasn't an issue. And this was an opportunity that only came once a century. So, Raaha went for it.
"Heh!" Bora Tusk smirked proudly upon seeing his team rank at the top of the scoreboard. He glanced at the possession of other teams formed by Settlement Leaders, "Despite having stronger battle strength overall, their gains are inferior to ours."
'Well, it's not a surprise considering their lineup.' Raaha thought upon Bora Tusk's boast, eyeing Yahard Tusk, 'Especially since they have this guy with them.'
Yahard Tusk had the power of the Silver Empyrean Tentacle. Hence, he was special. With his power, capturing three Millinger eggs wasn't surprising.
While the teams were submitting their gains, an injured Centinger rushed out of the Red-Draft River and sprinted into a cave, the same one where Virala lured in children from three Settlements.
It was bleeding from head to toe, having suffered a lot of injuries. Due to the influence of its Secondary Nature, it came to this cave to hide and recuperate. Unfortunately for it, that signed its death sentence.
Right after it vomited all the eggs from its biome, it suddenly lost its Secondary Nature, along with all the power that the Nature brought. The figure of Virala appeared beside it and infused Prana into its body.
It was severely weakened, not having enough strength to resist. And since the conditions were cleared long ago, its resistance became futile.
"Whoa!" Virala exclaimed in shock as he evaded a blow from its centipede upper body and continued to infuse Prana into it. Slowly, its resistance weakened as its body continued to shrink, until eventually, it became a fist-sized sphere.
Gold Nature Weapon—Artillery!
Virala finished making an imprint on the Nature Weapon and pocketed it. He then used Mystic Bone Art to transform the Centinger's bones into a large trolley, creating tiny containers in it, with their bottoms cushioned using its soft flesh.
He loaded all the eggs onto the containers in the trolley, securely closed them all, and began to push the trolley forward, making his way to the tent. He stared at the scoreboard upon entering, observing the top scorer was Bora Tusk's team at three thousand points.
His arrival caused waves of shock through the Mammoth Clansmen as the trolley was massive, containing hundreds of eggs.
'He singlehandedly surpassed multiple teams of elites.' Raaha formed a subtle smile and brought out the eggs one after another, commenting upon inspecting them, "Not a single one is damaged. All are in perfect condition."
He announced, causing waves of gasps to resound from the Clansmen, "Virala's team!"
"1118 Points!"