There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL) novel Chapter 585

Chapter 585: Chapter 579. Territory

When Zein and Bassena arrived at the new base, a pair of watchtowers had stood proudly on the field between the canyon and the camp.

The watchtowers completed the base, which had changed a lot since the first temporary one Radia’s summoned secretaries made. The auditorium where the corrupted shard used to be--and had become where the cliff shard hung out--had become a meeting plaza, and the camp’s facility was built around that.

While there weren’t many people yet, many residential tents had been erected in preparation for the big rally. The mess hall, aid stations, and guide clinics were bigger than the other bases. The logistic team had even successfully dug the ground and made several wells across the base.

"Now it feels like a proper base," Bassena nodded in approval at the logistic team’s report.

"Right?" Tian Yu, who felt more and more like a part of their community as days went by, laughed in satisfaction.

The others had stopped being jittery around the old man, and some were even comfortable enough to converse with him. It reminded Tian Yu of the old days when he was still actively raiding dungeon with good comrades, and he looked considerably more relaxed.

"Ah, the team you sent to snoop around the lake came back," the old man told Bassena while they were walking toward one of the watchtowers.

"That’s fast," Bassena frowned in alarm, recalling what happened to Jock and Eleanor before. "Are they hurt?"

"No," Tian Yu smiled and patted Bassena’s back before pointing at an approaching group with his chin.

It was the three-man squad Bassena sent to scout the condition around the lake as stealthily and safely as they could. They were jogging lightly while approaching him, and while they looked tired, they didn’t seem to be hurt.

"Commander!" the espers stopped in front of Bassena and managed their breath.

Bassena quickly scanned each one of them for any injury, but their clothes were fine--just dirty. "What happened, Kaf?"

The scout, who was designated as the squad leader, replied immediately while pulling off his commlink’s map. "We placed all the markers in the canyon as ordered, and then went to this point--the small hill after the meadow. But..." he glanced at the defender, Sen, who was crucial for their survival earlier.

"There are enemies on the hill," the defender reported briefly.

Bassena frowned. "Guards?"

"We didn’t know if they were guards or scouting squad too since we immediately retreated," the scout shook his head.

"Did you fight them?"

"No, Sir!" the three of them shook their head and the gunner added. "We just focused on running away while Sen shielded us from behind."

They talked carefully, worried that their decision would look too cowardly. But Bassena gave approval for their action. "Good job," the Saint class said. In the first place, he wanted them to do it ’safely’, so the moment their position became compromised, they should abort their mission immediately.

Which they did; and they came back safely because of that, so Bassena was satisfied. It might look like the mission had failed, but it told them that their enemies put patrols around the lake’s vicinity, which was still something.

"But..." the scout spoke again with intrigue in his eyes. "Once we reached the canyon, strangely, they stopped chasing us."

Bassena and Tian Yu raised their brows.

"We looked back and saw their silhouettes on top of the cliff, but none of them went into the canyon," Kaf continued. "We stopped in the middle to check for any tracker, but we found none. There was nothing in the sky or beneath the ground too."

"Hmm..." Bassena tapped on his arm in pondering.

"So they admit to territorial zone," Tian Yu chuckled.

"I guess so..."

Zein tugged Bassena’s arm. "What do you mean?"

"They considered the canyon as our territory and the lake as theirs," Bassena explained simply. Most of the corrupted beasts were territorial, which probably came from their natural instinct before they were infested with miasma. That was why inside a dungeon with multi-species in it, seldom would they find several types of beasts attacked simultaneously--which was why they were surprised about it inside the Deathzone. "If they crossed it, it would mean total war."

"Ah," Zein nodded before curling his lips. "So they avoid total war too?"

"Well, it’s only reconnaissance after all, so they wouldn’t think it’s worth moving the whole force," Bassena shrugged. "We wouldn’t do it too if we found some beasts sneaking around to spy on us. But did you see the lake?"

"Yes, Sir," the scout tapped on his commlink and sent a file to Bassena’s address. "We recorded it too."

Bassena was pleasantly surprised and checked the recording immediately. It was taken from behind a field of black grass before they were forced to retreat, so the view was framed with spiky black fences on both sides. But there was enough vision for them to see a huge lake...not filled with water.