Queen and King

The Two-Winged Golden Searcher was definitely stronger than its younger fellows. Winged One was determined to destroy the intruders with its own strength, and the monster had a full arsenal.

Whoooooooooooooosh.

With a flap of his wings, Golden Searcher unleashed a hail of multiple blades on Adam and Oren.

In theory, thanks to his lightning-fast reflexes, Adam could have tried to fend off each blade, but they had a plan of action for situations like this, and Adam was going to follow it.

He stood behind Oren, who had already crossed his swords at right angles. His eyes shone brightly as hundreds of bloody droplets appeared around them, hanging in the air as if defying gravity.

Then, Oren clenched his teeth, and each drop became flat, a crimson barrier covering them, protecting them from the blades. Only tips passed through the barrier. 

'When I got my Nexus, I solved one of my shortcomings, but here's the defense I may still lack in critical situations. It looks like Oren and I make a pretty good team.' Adam pondered with a deep gaze.

The barrier opened in the middle, and, at the same moment, Adam's legs were covered with electricity. He forward at his top speed, hurriedly plunging the needle straight into the Winged Golden Searcher's chest.

"What...?" Oren's eyes went wide, watching the needle slowly enter the monster's flesh without any resistance.

'Adam has a somewhat special Order.' Zola's voice boomed in the earbud, 'There is a limit, but his needle has an increased penetration ability, as the thrust concentrates all the power into one point. Like a spear, but the effect is stronger, so impenetrable armor for your swords is not the same for Adam's needle.'

Oren nodded before dramatically throwing his swords forward.

Crackle.

The swords slammed into the monster's shoulders, shallowly, but enough to make Golden Searcher lose its balance for a moment.

"Good job!"

Adam pulled out a needle, piercing the monster's head from bottom to top. One precise attack was enough to make Golden Searcher stop flapping its wings forever.

"Who's going to take Gene?" Adam asked.

Even though they both participated in killing the monster, only one of them could get the gene. Genes couldn't be separated into parts, only whole ones.

"How about I take this one? You take the next one, then I'll take the third one again." Oren suggested.

Adam shrugged.

Oren smirked, summoned Revolve, took the gene, and followed Adam.

Like all Phantoms, Adam needed genes, and the more of them the better. He wasn't going to chase that goal or get himself in trouble for it.

After all, a few strong, high-threat monsters could replace hundreds of regular ones, what he needed to focus on was experience.

Phantoms differed not only in strength, or whether their Lock was open and how many Keys were inserted, but also in combat experience. All factors were needed at once to get to the top.

As they continued to move further into the depths of the Nest, Adam and Oren killed over forty Golden Searchers and ten Winged Ones along the way. They divided the genes equally, leaving a path of corpses behind them.

Gradually, they came to one of the most important rooms for Golden Searchers - the egg incubator.

"Damn... Each of these eggs is worth quite a lot, if we clear the entire Nest, you can make a pretty good profit!" Oren exclaimed happily, looking at the dozens of white eggs lying in cells of flesh and golden hair.

There was serious security in front of this room, but Adam and Oren jointly managed to make it through. After all, the Golden Searchers had nothing to oppose them.

"Hm? Why would anyone buy eggs anyway? I mean, you can hardly make weapons or build anything with them." Adam asked with a confused expression.

'There's a lot of energy in them.' Silvana replied, 'You might find this strange, but over the years, mankind has figured out how to get energy from just about anything. Monster eggs with concentrated energy are excellent biofuel. They're unusable for anything else, I wouldn't recommend trying scrambled eggs from them.'

Adam shook his head.

"Obviously, it's going to take me a long time to get used to this."

Oren checked the entire room and making sure the place was safe and the eggs were intact, he placed a landmine in the center.

"What?" Adam tilted his head in confusion, looking at the flashing black explosive device.

Oren waved his hand, looking at the eggs with a slight smile.

"This is just in case the new Golden Searchers decide to be born at the worst possible time for us. They only need a few hours to reach adulthood, but the mine won't let them. If nothing happens, Felix and Verna will easily defuse the mine. Don't worry, they're trained for that like so many other things."

Adam nodded deeply.

He wouldn't have done something like that himself, but he knew it was smart, and extra caution was never a bad thing. 

No one was safe in the Dead Lands, so any action that increased the chances of survival had to be done. Adam was fully confident that Oren had acted correctly and was making notes to himself.

After another hour and a mountain of corpses, Adam and Oren reached the last room. They had killed over a hundred monsters and were tired, but as soon as they saw the goal of their mission a surge of energy ran through their bodies. 

"Damn... Not that I prioritize money, but why do I feel like this is worth a fortune?"

Adam muttered, looking at the huge egg in the center, in the very depths of the Nest.

Next to the Golden Egg were many Golden Searchers, especially the Double-Winged Ones. They already knew that there were intruders in their Nest, so they focused on the most important thing, the Egg of their future king.

"What happens if someone hatches from the egg?" Adam asked, staring intently at the monsters.

The Golden Searchers stared at them angrily but did not attack because their goal was to protect the egg, everything else was unimportant.

'The mission will be failed.' Silvana said coldly, 'However, that's the least of the problem. The King of the Golden Searchers is the rarest and strongest of their entire species unless you count the Prime ones.

'King of the Golden Searchers is a Blue Threat Level monster and stronger than most monsters of the same threat level. In comparison, the Prime Lizard that killed part of the Fire Fox Squad wouldn't last even a minute against the King. The King would have torn the Lizard apart and then devoured it, skin and bones.'

Adam gulped.

He had gotten much stronger since that day, but not strong enough to even think about fighting such a monster.

Oren realized this as well. He wasn't worried as he knew the chances were minimal, after all, the egg couldn't just hatch.

"Queen. Only the Queen can awaken the King and make him come out of the egg. She can do it anytime after three months, but usually, the Queen waits for the maximum time limit of six months." Oren explained.

At the same moment, a tall creature with a slender torso flew out of the gorge. It was the Queen.

The Queen's physique was different, it was built for speed and agility rather than strength, covered in golden scales. The Queen had three curved horns and four wings studded with blades that struck against each other, creating a clanging sound like a hundred bells.

Glaring at Adam, the Queen unleashed two pairs of blades from her elbows and pointed at the intruders. 

Then, dozens of Golden Searchers rushed forward, changing their objective from protecting the egg to destroying the intruders.

'Fine, there's a lot of you, and that's what I need.' Adam muttered inwardly, clenching his fists tightly and bringing the strained threads of his gloves closer together, about to plunge the entire space into a terrifying howl that pierced every creature's soul with boundless fear.