"T-T-This is impossible!" Geugeu muttered in disbelief as he double, triple, quadruple checked Wittral's heart, failing to detect a Spirit Container all four times. He stared in silence for a good two seconds before intense bloodlust exploded out of his being.
A thundercloud formed overhead Leh Island and continued to grow in size, becoming massive enough to dwarf the island. A staircase of clouds trailed down from the thundercloud to the mine as Geugeu landed on it, not expressing anything.
He slowly entered the thundercloud and caused it to move in the Boar King's direction. No one else accompanied him, for the intense bloodlust emanating from him terrified even the Empyrean Snappers.
In terms of individual strength, he surpassed an Empyrean Snapper. After all, he was at the 10-Life Stage and cultivated a fluid that only the strongest Empyrean Snapper could produce, that too in limited quantities, a power created by the Cooter Clan exclusively for its Chief.
Similar to the Mammoth Clan, the Cooter Clan Chief passed down this exclusive power from one generation to the next through a Major Treasure.
The group of Empyrean Snappers watched as the thundercloud slowly moved towards the casually swimming figure of the Boar King as the two reached the horizon. Immediately after that, intense flashes of light enveloped the region, causing bulldozing sounds of thunder to echo many minutes later.
Eventually, Geugeu returned, beaten and battered. Surprisingly, he hadn't lost a life even after fighting against the Boar King. Of course, it was apparent that the Boar King hadn't activated any Gold Grade Natures. Had he done so, Geugeu wouldn't have returned alive.
"Even if I vented a little, what's the use?" Geugeu landed before Wittral and sighed as he held the latter's hands, "This is…hopeless."
"As long as even a single unit of Prana remains in your body, there are thousands of methods to help you recover. But going from zero to one is unprecedented." He expressed in despair, "It's not possible anymore."
"Does that mean…" Wittral's eyes widened in shock as he lost all hope, "I'm a cripple?"
"C-Can't I transform into an Empyrean Snapper and recover?" Wittral muttered and tried it, only to see nothing happen in response. Without any Prana, he was stuck in his human form until the end of his lifespan.
Unfortunately for him, as an Expert Gold Grade Pranic Beast, his natural lifespan was two millennia. It meant he had to endure such a long life as a cripple. "T-This is absurd!"
"What am I supposed to do now?" Wittral shouted in a fluster, "Am I even worth keeping alive in such a blasted state?"
"We…" Geugeu sighed and patted Wittral on the shoulder, "Let's return to the headquarters first. We'll try to figure out something."
His eyes then shot towards Inala and asked, "Free Human kid, do you have any ideas in regards to this situation?"
"You don't seem as flustered as Wittral even after losing your Spirit Container."
"Y-Yes," Inala nodded meekly, "My teacher is capable of solving that. Though,"
"Your teacher can?" Geugeu grabbed Inala with enough force that he almost crushed his bones. He quickly controlled himself and asked, "How? Who and where is your teacher?"
"My teacher's the Mudropper," Inala replied, his expression worsening in response, "The Boar King captured teacher. I don't know whether teacher is alive or not."
"Fucking boar!" Geugeu raged in response. He then stared at Inala with bloodshot eyes, "Are you telling the truth? Does the Mudropper have such capabilities?"
"If you're lying just to save yourself, then…"
"I think we can trust this information a bit," Wittral said, barely managing to calm down once he realised the situation wasn't as hopeless as it seemed before. Immediately in response, he began to analyse the details, "Everything has been damn confusing. But somehow,"
"It seemed as if there were…two Boar Kings?"
Wittral's words caused everyone present at the scene to ponder in response. Indeed, there were some inconsistencies in the Boar King's actions based on what Wittral had witnessed.
The Boar King had kidnapped Wittral. But he then returned him. The Boar King expressed a desire to hunt Empyrean Snappers. But he simply fought them for a few rounds and left once he was satisfied. The Boar King trapped Wittral in the Sandy-Grey Void he had created. But he also seemed oblivious to it and instead asked for details from Wittral.
As the Cooter Clan compiled eyewitness reports from across the Dralh Sea, they noticed that at the same point in time, there existed two Boar King presences.
"Did one of his bodies go bonkers and is causing trouble?" Geugeu frowned in worry, wondering how the Cooter Clan would be impacted by all of this.
"Let's consider the one that stole my Spirit Container as the insane Boar King and the one we met just now as the sane Boar King." Wittral said, "The sane Boar King merely fought against us. We suffered zero casualties in this fight. So, we don't need to guard against him in the future. The one we need to worry about and locate immediately is the insane Boar King."
"He might strike again."
"Chief!" A Cooter Clansman arrived on a ship and landed before Geugeu, saying upon prostrating on the ground, "We have just investigated Fral Island."
"Our Clansmen there have vanished mysteriously. The Spirit Containers of all Free Humans there have disappeared too."
"Chief!" Another Cooter Clansmen arrived and announced, "Most of the Free Humans on Roit Island have also lost their Spirit Containers."
"Most?" Geugeu frowned in response and laid a command, "Gather the ones with a Spirit Container. Let me inspect their bodies."
Clues were generally present in situations with an odd one out. That was the key to figuring out this puzzle that seemed damn complex with too many mysteries involved in it.
"Search for the insane Boar King." Geugeu relayed his command to the rest of the Cooter Clan, "Scour through our region and beyond. Find the Mudropper with priority."
"The both of you will come with me." Geugeu stared at Inala and Wittral, leading them to a ship that began to sail towards the Cooter Clan headquarters situated in the core zone of the Dralh Sea.
'Okay, I survived and managed to divert their focus to the Boar King.' Inala sighed in relief. There were too many variables at play in this plan. The fact that it worked this well came as a surprise to even him.
It was seventy to eighty percent close to the most optimal situation in his plan, which means the current situation could be considered a very good success. 'I still need to work towards my goal. Since I'll be at the Cooter Clan headquarters, too many eyes will be on me. It'll be hard to do anything. But despite the risks, I have to proceed forward with my plan while remaining as discrete as possible.'
Until now, Inala used the Free Human Spirit Containers on Wittral and fed his Spirit Containers to Gannala. That was merely one step of the process. Only after Gannala consumes a large number of Spirit Containers sourced from Spirit Stage Cooter Clansmen would she finally develop the Tertiary Nature of Cultivator.
That was a necessary ingredient. So one way or another, he had to visit the Cooter Clan headquarters anyway. 'Besides, I need to fully rope this guy against the Boar King.'
He thought and stared at Wittral. A perfect Empyrean Snapper with the greatest potential in his race. If someone like that gains a Secondary Nature while harbouring intense hatred towards the Boar King, things would truly fall into place. Inala planned to nurture him into such a character—strong, and filled with hate.
The Mammoth Clan and the Cooter Clan could ally in their hatred against the Boar King. Now, that truly was a force to be reckoned with, even for the Boar King.