Under the blazing sun, in the shadow, Pei Yan stood beside the tall mother worm, covering his nose with a handkerchief. Enduring the pungent stench, he poked the unmoving mother worm with his finger, frowning, and asked, "Is this thing still alive?"

"Alive! But the warlock has hypnotized it into a state of suspended animation!" Jena, one of Leohard's right-hand responsible for the captives, introduced respectfully while leading Pei Yan and others to continue touring the prisoners.

"This mother worm is quite badly injured!" Pei Yan observed up and down, noticing the mother worm's body slightly trembling with its breathing, confirming that it was indeed still alive. He then glanced at the wounds covering its entire body and the demon race members using buckets to continuously pour water over the mother worm, and couldn't help but ask, "How long can this thing survive?"

"Ah, it's hard to say!" Jena rubbed her hands somewhat awkwardly and continued, "These two mother worms were captured in the Bull Territory. After the disappearance of the virtual pillar, we attacked the Bull Territory. Without the protection and command of the Red Armored Warriors, we captured these two big ones, while the mother worms at Napas Valley self-detonated under the enemy's command at the last moment."

At this point, Jena took a bucket of water from a demon race member beside her and splashed it over herself as she continued, "Transporting this thing was a hassle. Not only did we have to subdue it to prevent it from producing more slavers, but we also had to clear its bodily fluids to ensure the enemy wouldn't track us by scent. This thing actually has strong vitality. If we left them alone, they would recover under the Red Disaster in no time. Now, due to the change of environment and our warlocks' control, they've become so sluggish. The problem now is that this thing likes shade, not sun. If we don't keep pouring water to keep its surface moist under such severe injuries, it might really die."

Listening to Jena's introduction, Pei Yan nodded thoughtfully and turned to whisper to Ye Ruozai, "Looks like we need to hurry and send this thing back. I did mention to Old Gu about possibly sending a batch of captives back for research."

"Yeah, but back home only two days have passed in the two months here. I wonder if they're prepared for it?" Looking at the towering body of the mother worm, Ye Ruozai seemed troubled.

"We'll talk about it then. Let's check on other prisoners first." After saying that, Pei Yan waved to Jena, who understood and led the way; soon they were in a temporary cell.

Through the bars, Pei Yan gazed at the fifteen Red Armored Warriors shackled heavily, their limbs broken, life and death unknown, and turned his head to glance at Jena, waiting for her introduction.

"To meet Mr. Shitang's requirements, we paid a heavy price and put a lot of thought into capturing these individuals alive!" Jena hastened to take credit when she saw Pei Yan looking at her, "These were the garrison in Napas Valley. Originally we could have easily crushed them, but to capture them alive, we had to use attrition warfare, exhausting this group of people. In the end, we could only subdue them under the warlocks' control when they were weak. Even so, six people self-detonated during the capture, turning against us and injuring our companions."

"They won't self-detonate now, will they?" Pei Yan asked with a slight frown.

"No!" Jena pointed to the black lumps on the chains across the prisoners' chests, saying, "After dealing with them for so long, we have some understanding of them. These magic stones can inhibit the flow of energy within their bodies, and once subdued, they can't act out."

Pei Yan nodded in satisfaction and, under Jena's guidance, moved to another room where a few wardens were held, and the next room stored numerous corpses of various Demon Race creatures, preserved simply at Pei Yan's request.

"Ugh, ugh!" Unable to bear the nauseating stench, Pei Yan rushed to a corner and retched, then took the bottled water Zhao Yuanhu handed him, drinking it to suppress his nausea. He then turned to Jena and said, "These corpses don't need to be displayed for me. Our storage devices are limited, so go find your lord, say I need a few storage devices, and have someone categorize these corpses and pack them up."

"Sifuer has instructed us long ago. They are displayed here just for Mr. Shitang to review. We will have someone pack them for you now."

Upon hearing the word "pack," Pei Yan felt another surge of sourness in his stomach, waving his hand repeatedly, "Alright, handle it this way. I'll rest and inform your lord I'll attend the celebration she's arranging tomorrow."

"Yes, sir, this way please!"

Escorted by Jena, Pei Yan and the others left the captives' area. As they approached their residence, the scene at the front slowed their steps.

"What's this setup?" Pei Yan turned his head and smiled at his companions.

"Apologizing with a birch branch!" Xia Yu chuckled, holding a Coke bottle.

"Indeed, it seems like that!" Zhao Yuanhu nodded in agreement from the side.

Before them was an elderly man, tied up tightly and kneeling shirtless on the ground, with Leohard, holding a Longsword and in full gear, standing behind him. From a distance, Pei Yan recognized the elderly man as Kodwen, whom he had reprimanded.

"What's going on here!" Approaching the door, Pei Yan sat on the lounge chair in the yard, took out a large fan, fanned himself, and looked up at Leohard to ask.

"This person concealed information, causing Lord Sifuer to narrowly escape danger, and Mr. Shitang to be severely injured! Multiple offenses warrant death by law; related to Mr. Shitang, he was brought here. Lord Sifuer asked me to convey if Mr. Shitang finds him useful, spare him, otherwise, execute him on the spot."

"Ah!" Listening to Leohard's words, Pei Yan smirked, looking at Ye Ruozai and said in Mandarin, "See, he's using us as a knife now, making us the villain."

"It suits your image," Ye Ruozai snickered in reply.

"Look at the mess I'm in." Pei Yan patted his stomach with the fan, understanding over the past couple of days that Kodwen couldn't be fully blamed for this. During the long years of war between the Demon Race and the Disaster Legion, forcing the opposition to employ such retaliatory tactics was rare. Most battles either resulted in a one-sided victory for the Disaster Legion or drawn-out struggles between evenly matched forces.

Only when facing high-ranking demon races could such an occurrence of wiping out a troop with a powerful attack happen. Throughout a series of battles, this kind of event has only occurred once or twice, almost becoming a battlefield legend, so Kodwen naturally didn't consider such a rare event.