Skinwalker Belle – Chapter 464 – Strategic Materials? They’ll be mine soon-

The stench in the passage grew thicker with every step, nearly turning solid.

Lin Fan carried a standard-issue black iron staff, moving steadily along the edge of the main corridor.

Two hundred meters ahead, Long Cang led her people into the guard room. The heavy stone door dropped shut, cutting off most of the view.

This was her first patrol round.

The cavern ceiling was extremely high, and the white crystal lamps only illuminated a small area above—below stretched an endless expanse of iron cages.

Long Cang had said the cages were reinforced just yesterday.

That was true.

The freshly carved runes on the cage surfaces still flickered with faint spiritual light.

The mutated beasts inside occasionally let out low growls or scraped the ground with their claws, but none dared to actually ram the bars laced with backlash energy.

Lin Fan kept walking, her gaze sweeping both sides with seeming casualness.

In truth, the Omniscient Domain was already active, precisely controlled to a radius of one hundred meters.

Everything she passed—cage structures, mutated beast species, ranks, quantities, even the underground energy flow—converted into streams of data and filed away in her mind at lightning speed.

First-rank Earth-walking Lizards: three thousand.

Second-rank Wind-blade Wolves: fifteen thousand.

Third-rank Iron-clad Rhinos: eight hundred.

The deeper she went into the cavern, the higher the ranks of the mutated beasts, and the larger their bodies.

The entire western sector formed a loop route, and before she knew it, she had returned to the western entrance.

Lin Fan stopped.

Ahead was the massive platform she had seen on her way in.

On the ground, an extremely complex circular array was painted in dark red pigment.

The color and texture of that paint resembled the blood of some high-tier creature.

The array spanned over five hundred meters in diameter, with one hundred and three thick bone pillars standing along its edge.

Dense energy circuits coiled around the bone pillars, all converging toward a single recessed slot at the center of the array.

A space teleportation array.

Ninety-three of the pillars had already gone dim. The remaining ten still radiated light.

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Those should correspond to the ten rifts on Blue Star that had yet to be conquered.

Two black-armored guards stood beside the array—the same two seventh-rank early-stage fighters who had followed behind Long Cang earlier.

Seeing Lin Fan approach, their eyes instantly turned wary.

“Stop.”

The guard on the left raised a hand to block her.

“The teleportation array is a restricted zone. The patrol route doesn’t cover this area.”

Lin Fan stopped ten meters from the array’s edge.

“New guard on duty.”

Her tone was calm, carrying just the right amount of deference a Collateral Dragonkin should show toward a Pureblood.

“Just familiarizing myself with the surroundings.”

“One look is enough.”

The guard on the right let out a cold laugh.

“Don’t come any closer. This array connects to the rifts on Blue Star. If the energy balance shifts and sucks you in, there won’t be even ashes left of you.”

Lin Fan nodded, offering no rebuttal.

Her gaze passed over the two men, landing on the recessed slot at the array’s center and the circuits on the ground.

This array used massive amounts of spirit energy to forcibly tear open a space channel, then dumped mutated beasts through it like trash.

The coordinates of the remaining ten rifts corresponded to those ten bone pillars.

All she needed to do was tamper with the energy nodes of those coordinates, redirecting all ten exits to Azurewood City…

Lin Fan withdrew her gaze and turned back.

“Collateral kin really haven’t seen the world.”

The guard’s deliberately unlowered sneer came from behind.

The corner of Lin Fan’s mouth twitched.

No need to argue with dead men.

She walked over to a relatively secluded cage.

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Inside was a fourth-rank peak Shadow Leopard, lying prone and pretending to doze.

Lin Fan leaned against the iron pillar and closed her eyes.

Mental strength traversed space through the Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox’s bloodline imprint, connecting instantly to Azurewood City.

…

Blue Star, Azurewood City.

Top-floor office of the City Lord’s Mansion.

Su Yue was buried in reviewing an engineering fund application for the expansion of the new district’s sewer system when her pen suddenly paused mid-stroke.

A cold, clear voice sounded deep within her mind.

“Su Yue.”

Su Yue shot to her feet, her gaze instantly turning fervent and reverent.

“My Lord! What are your orders?”

“Find Zhou Ming.”

Lin Fan’s voice was flat, issuing instructions rapidly.

“Tell him to bring all the Space Stones and head immediately to the previously located coordinate point.”

Su Yue grabbed the memo pad from her desk and jotted down notes quickly.

“Tell him the Teleportation Array will activate three days ahead of schedule. Have him hurry to pinpoint my location without alerting anyone.”

“I’m going to teleport all one million Mutated Beasts from White Bone Pass to Azurewood City.”

Su Yue’s hand holding the pen jerked violently, the nib dragging a long ink streak across the paper.

One million?

“My Lord…”

Su Yue swallowed hard.

“A million Mutated Beasts—Azurewood City’s defenses…”

“Have Long Teng, Long Yi, and Long Yan lead their people to receive them.”

Lin Fan cut her off directly.

“These are Crystals delivered to our doorstep. Isn’t the weapons factory short on energy? Once this batch is consumed, it’ll be enough to arm every warrior you have now. Tell the three of them—if a single one gets away, I’ll hold them accountable.”

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“Understood!”

Su Yue took a deep breath, forcing down the shock in her heart.

“I’ll handle it immediately!”

The connection severed.

Lin Fan opened her eyes and let out a long breath.

The setup was complete.

Now all that remained was to wait.

“Roar—”

In the iron cage beside her, a peak Tier-4 Shadow Leopard seemed to sense the fluctuation in Lin Fan’s aura and suddenly lunged.

It transformed into a streak of shadow, slamming viciously against the iron bars.

Sharp claws extended through the gaps, aiming straight for Lin Fan’s throat.

“Bang!”

A dull thud.

Lin Fan didn’t dodge.

She raised her left hand, fingers spread wide, and precisely clamped down on the leopard’s paw that had thrust through the bars.

No Spirit Energy was used.

Pure physical strength.

Fifty thousand points of physical constitution unleashed a terrifying crushing force in that instant.

“Crack!”

The sound of bones shattering was crisp and piercing.

The Shadow Leopard let out a miserable shriek as its massive body was yanked bodily into the bars. The entire iron cage shook violently, runes flickering wildly.

Lin Fan released her grip.

The Shadow Leopard collapsed in the cage, its right foreleg completely twisted and deformed. The look it gave Lin Fan was filled with primal terror—it didn’t even dare whimper.

The Mutated Beasts in dozens of surrounding cages fell silent instantly, all crouching low and trembling.

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“What’s going on!”

A furious shout came from the direction of the guard room.

Long Cang strode over quickly, his expression dark.

He glanced at the pitiful Shadow Leopard in the cage, then at Lin Fan, who stood there without even a wrinkle in her clothes.

“You did this?”

“It tried to grab me.”

Lin Fan turned around, looking innocent.

Long Cang narrowed his eyes.

A peak Tier-4 Mutated Beast, and she’d crushed its bones so easily.

This branch family member had formidable physical strength.

“I warned you not to cause trouble.”

Long Cang spoke coldly.

“These Mutated Beasts are strategic resources. If your actions trigger a large-scale riot and the Fourth Elder holds you responsible, you won’t be able to bear the consequences.”

“It’s not dead.”

Lin Fan pointed at the cage.

“It can still run. It won’t affect its use as cannon fodder on Blue Star.”

Long Cang stared at her for a few seconds.

“It better be that way.”

He withdrew his gaze.

“Once the inspection is done, head back. Come again at this time tomorrow.”

He turned and left.

Lin Fan watched his retreating figure, a fleeting cold smile curling at the corner of his mouth.

Strategic supplies?

Soon, they’ll be mine.