Athanasia: My Hacker System-Chapter 244: I Just Have Bad Feeling About All This!

John paused, looking around at the expectant faces of the Bulltors and his friends before adding:

"We’ll have to go there and see for ourselves. Speculation won’t stop a disaster if one is coming. Luckily, the southern territory to our west holds one of these groups. It’s the closest anomaly to our current position."

"And the Hiveminds?" Lilith suddenly cut in, with a fierce look on her face that told everyone she would take no as an answer. "We can’t just leave them off the hook for this long! It’s been far too long since they retreated. They must be scheming something foul behind those walls while we’re distracted by these human clusters!"

"Sure, we’ll target them as well, at the same time," John said, pivoting back to his earlier strategic thoughts. "You are allowed to move in and eliminate the majority of their forces. However, I have a specific requirement: leave a few of their units alive so I can handle them personally. Is that clear?"

"Your meaning is..." Blakar started as he raised a hand to stop Lilith from voicing any further objections. He saw the flicker of a plan in John’s eyes, a plan that involved more than just simple execution. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

"We’ll divide ourselves into three parts," John finally declared, his voice ringing with the demeanour of a commander.

"One group will be stationed here. Your job is to protect this base at all costs and handle any unforeseen dangers or lingering threats from anywhere.

The second group will be led by the Twelve; you will head straight for the Hiveminds’ stronghold. Kill most of them, and then retreat back here to defensive positions. Do not get overexcited, don’t overpush your luck."

He took a breath, his gaze shifting to Luke, Ricky, Cissel, and Elena. "And the third group will be led by me. I only need my friends in that group. That way, the rest of the Bulltors are fully available to bolster the first two teams."

Everyone looked at the two of them, John and Blakar. The former seemed to place his complete trust in the latter to handle the Hiveminds, which was a significant gesture for the Bulltors.

They were a race built on honour and martial prowess, and they had been itching for a chance at true revenge. Seeing John delegate this mission to them without needing one of his human friends to lead the charge made them feel respected. Yet, despite the honour, Blakar was troubled by the specifics.

"How many do you think we shall leave here to guard the base?" he asked, his voice low and serious. "And more importantly, how many do you want us to leave alive of those bastards? It’s hard to stay on our blades once the blood starts flowing."

"I’d say around two hundred Bulltors is enough to hold this position," John replied after a brief pause. "It would be better if they were led by one of the Twelve to ensure discipline, one who has vast experience at defensive battles. As for the Hiveminds, leave less than a hundred, but more than fifty."

"That means we’ll get to exterminate almost all of those bastards." Lilith couldn’t restrain herself any longer and let out a sharp, loud laugh. "Great, just great! I’ve been waiting to vent off this anger and frustration since our humiliating defeat against them. Let’s move out now before they have a chance to dig in any deeper!"

"One moment," John said, stepping forward to stop her before she could take a single step. His expression was dead serious.

"I want to highly stress this: if they use some hidden methods, or if it proves too costly to kill them, if you risk losing the bulk of your warriors to some desperate trap, then you instantly retreat. You fall back and wait for my return. Do not throw away lives for a grudge we can easily secure in our pockets."

"No need for such worry," Blakar calmly said, his chest swelling with a pride that seemed to radiate from his very bones.

"We are the Bulltors. We are warriors by birth and by choice. We have a deep enmity with those bastards, and we know their tactics like the back of our own hands. Leave this task to us; we’ll handle it better than you even imagine."

John watched the Bulltors march away, their faces set in masks of determination. The ground vibrated under the stomp of their massive feet and many others of their kin whom they started calling over. Once the area was finally cleared of the giants and a heavy silence settled over the small group of friends, Ricky let out a long, weary sigh.

"Now, can you tell us what you’re really afraid of?" Ricky asked, turning a meaningful, searching look toward John. "I know having those groups out there is suspicious, and the number three hundred is obviously a bad sign, but it’s not normally like you to set off so urgently without a full analysis."

"We need to know what type of dangers we’re actually walking into down there," Cissel joined in. She gave John the same piercing look Ricky had, and both Elena and Luke nodded in silent agreement. They knew him well enough to spot when he was holding back something important.

"I... Honestly don’t know," John admitted, his eyes drifting back toward the southern horizon.

"All I know is that I have a bad feeling about the intersection of all these events. The retreated Hiveminds, these stationary human groups, the timing of their move to happen after we cleared this territory... All of it sounds off to me. It feels like a coordinated sequence, but I can’t pinpoint the why yet."

He was telling the truth, and his friends could feel the weight of his uncertainty. They shared silent, knowing gazes with each other. If the man who was always the source of their confidence, the one who used to represent answers even in the direst situations, was worried, then they had every reason to be on high alert.

"If that’s the case, then let’s just move out," Luke said, breaking the tension by waving his massive club through the air a few times, the weapon whistling.

"No matter what we face there, we’ll crush it together. At the end of the day, they are humans, just like us. I highly doubt they’re anywhere close to our level of strength after what we’ve been through."

Everyone nodded in agreement before they started to follow John, heading towards the unknown.