Dayan was still about half a month away, so there was still some time. Yang Kai wasn't in any rush to deal with the two nearby Demon Nests.
What he was more curious about was whether the line of defense the Demon Race had constructed with their Demon Force actually functioned as an early warning system, as they had previously theorized.
With the Demon Nest now in their possession, verifying this wouldn't be difficult.
Without delay, Yang Kai quickly made his way to the chamber housing the Demon Pool. He opened the gates of his Small World, allowing the Demon Nest to devour the cosmic power within, using it as a bridge to establish a connection.
At first, nothing seemed unusual. But when Yang Kai immersed his consciousness and carefully probed, he was startled to find that his awareness seemed to expand outward—not only did the Demon Nest become a part of him, but the surrounding void did as well.
The area his consciousness could reach corresponded to the region enveloped by the Demon Force generated by the Demon Nest. The farther away, the more blurred his perception became.
However, if any foreign entity intruded, he would still be able to detect it.
Sure enough, the line of defense constructed from Demon Force truly did serve as an early warning. This was also why Daybreak had been rapidly discovered on both occasions they had infiltrated the range of different Demon Nests.
Although Dayan Pass had captured a Domain Lord-level Demon Nest and had conducted extensive research on Demon Nests over the years, they had been completely unaware that they possessed this function.
It wasn't that the researchers had been careless—the Demon Nest in humanity's possession had all of its energy channeled into incubating subsidiary nests. Why would anyone bother generating Demon Force? For humans, Demon Force was hardly a good thing.
Even the Lord-level Demon Nest within Yang Kai's Small World was used solely for incubating Demon Race creatures, not for generating Demon Force.
As such, this particular function had naturally gone undiscovered.
After probing for a while longer and confirming nothing had been overlooked, Yang Kai finally relaxed.
From what he could tell, the Demon Race's defensive line served two purposes. First, it functioned as an early warning system—whenever humans infiltrated, they would know immediately. Second, it likely created a more favorable combat environment for the Demon Race themselves.
The Lord-level Demon Nests had been continuously generating Demon Force over the years, enveloping the space around the Royal City. Human warriors entering this area to fight would inevitably find themselves severely hampered.
This was the Demon Race's self-preservation strategy.
Correspondingly, if the Demon Nest's early warning capability was limited to this degree, then his earlier plan was viable. By taking the neighboring Demon Nests, a gap would appear in the defensive line, and Dayan Pass could charge through that opening straight into the Demon Race's defenses, launching a direct assault on the Royal City.
The Demon Race probably never imagined that humanity's passes could be used for expeditionary warfare!
For countless years, humanity's passes had remained fixed in one location—sturdy, certainly, but purely defensive. Never before had anyone used a pass as an offensive weapon.
Launching a surprise offensive would definitely catch the Demon Race off guard. Moreover, with Dayan Pass serving as both shield and rear base, the Demon Force's effect on human soldiers would be minimal. If any soldier truly couldn't withstand the corrosive effects of Demon Force, they could simply retreat to Dayan Pass to recover.
This was nothing like before, when they had been forced to rely on individual warships.
Warships ran the risk of being destroyed, but for the Demon Race to destroy Dayan Pass… that would be an entirely different matter.
Hurried footsteps sounded from outside. Yang Kai withdrew his consciousness and turned to look.
Shen Ao rushed in, his expression grave as he addressed Yang Kai. "Captain, Bai Yi says Demon Race are approaching."
"How many?" Yang Kai asked, his voice tight.
This was truly unexpected. They had only just captured the Demon Nest—how were Demon Race already headed their way? Had the nearby Demon Nests detected the commotion and come to investigate?
But that shouldn't have been possible. Dawn's members had acted swiftly just now, suppressing the fluctuations of their power as much as possible. The neighboring Demon Nests weren't close, and there was a massive amount of Demon Force surging between them causing interference. Theoretically, nearby Demon Nests shouldn't have detected anything.
"Don't know." Shen Ao shook his head.
Yang Kai was already striding outside, quickly reaching the outer area.
All of Dawn's Seventh-Order members were there, each suppressing their auras as they concealed themselves near the Demon Nest's entrance.
Upon seeing him arrive, Bai Yi waved him over and pointed in a certain direction.
Yang Kai focused his gaze, and through the Annihilation Demon Eye, he could indeed see a Demon Race member hurtling toward them.
Alone.
In a place where they invariably moved in squads, a lone Demon Race member operating by itself was rather peculiar.
Judging by its aura, this was likely a Lord-level Demon Race member. And from its trajectory, its target was unmistakable—it was heading straight for this Demon Nest.
Trouble.
He had been planning to quickly deal with the two neighboring Demon Nests to prepare for Dayan's arrival, but this unexpected complication had cropped up. Still, since it had delivered itself right to their doorstep, the only option was to kill it and be done.
The Demon Nest was a massive vulnerability—the Demon Race here had been completely wiped out, and the entrance was entirely unguarded. If this newcomer became even slightly suspicious, it would very likely discover something.
However, Dawn had no good countermeasure at the moment. They couldn't have Shen Ao and the others disguise themselves—the gap in their auras was too great, and their physical builds didn't match.
The Demon Race had many humanoid types whose builds were roughly similar to humans, but the majority were tall, massive, and grotesquely shaped.
Everyone held their breath in tense silence.
The Demon Race Lord was rapidly approaching.
To everyone's relief, the newcomer didn't seem to have expected the Demon Nest to have been taken by humans. It made its way over without the slightest suspicion.
It soon arrived before the Demon Nest. The Lord glanced around, sensed something amiss, and called out. "Lord Bo Gao, why is there no one standing guard here? Where have your subordinates gone?"
Yang Kai's expression shifted slightly as he realized the Lord he had killed earlier was named Bo Gao.
And this newcomer appeared to know him.
Now he was rather curious about what had brought this visitor here.