I can evolve everything

Renn crouched beside the long-frozen corpse of the White Frost Spider, reaching out to gently brush away the snow covering its surface, seemingly lost in thought.

Seeing this, Ella didn't bother Rein any longer and went to look for other clues around.

The wind and snow howled overhead, whipping up gusts of white swirling wind, but this did not disturb Renn's thoughts.

"Hey, Captain Renn, come take a look at this."

Ella's voice came from a few steps away.

She was crouching behind a protruding rock, holding the short sword she never parted with, carefully lifting the legs of another spider.

Hearing Ella's call, Ryan snapped out of his thoughts, got up, and went over.

The half-elf girl narrowed her crimson eyes slightly as she carefully examined the frost spider before her.

"Here." Ella pointed with the tip of her short sword to a crack where the spider's head and thorax connected. "Look, there's a similar one here. This thing wasn't bitten to death by other of its kind, nor was it burned to death."

Raine looked in the direction she pointed.

He looked closer and examined it carefully, and then he realized that the spider had died from an extremely fine wound.

If Ella hadn't used another longsword to clean the snow off the spider, the wounds would have been almost invisible.

Renn stared silently at the Frost Spider. The wound extended from below the spider's compound eyes all the way to its abdomen. The cut was smooth and clean, and even the surrounding white hairs were neatly cut off without a trace of tearing.

"I'm certain, absolutely certain, that it was a sharp weapon, and it must be a longsword," Ella said confidently, extending her finger and making a slashing motion in the air. "And it's an extremely sharp weapon. Either the longsword is made of fine steel and has been enchanted with sharpness, or the person who used that longsword to kill this spider is extremely skilled to be able to ignore the Frost Spider's carapace and leave such a wound."

She looked up at Ryan, her eyes serious:

"This spider's carapace is as hard as a piece of cheap iron. Even my short sword might not be able to cut through it so smoothly."

Renn nodded without refuting.

His gaze passed over the wound and landed on the spider's curled-up leg joints.

There seemed to be a grayish-brown thing hanging there.

Ryan reached out and picked up the lump of stuff with two fingers.

It was a tuft of hair.

It is silvery-gray, as hard as a steel needle, and gleams with a steel-like luster in the dim light.

Without even needing to use his cheat code to deduce and identify it, his muscle memory and previous experiences instantly allowed him to recognize what it was.

The fur of the dire wolf king.

It should be the same one that drove away the jackals.

Renn's heart skipped a beat, but his face remained calm.

He clutched the hair in his palm, feeling the sharp texture against his skin.

"Hank."

Raine stood up and turned to look at the sergeant who was directing the soldiers to collect the poison sacs.

"Sir Knight, what are your orders?" Hank slung his heavy crossbow back over his shoulder and strode over.

"During the time you were stationed in Shattered Tooth Canyon, or in the days before we arrived, did you organize any cleanup operations for these Frost Spiders?" Raine held up the spider carcass in his hand:

"Or perhaps, have other patrols, or even lost adventurers, passed through this area?"

Hank paused for a moment, then shook his head firmly.

"Absolutely not, sir. In this awful weather, who but us soldiers would come here to suffer? As for the cleanup operation... to be honest, we usually don't bother with these spiders unless they crawl near our encampment. After all, it would be troublesome if things went wrong while we were cleaning up these frost spiders. Our main task here is to protect the beacon tower and transmit information in case of a major incident."

He glanced at the corpse again and added, "Besides, our soldiers' swordsmanship is just so-so. Most of us use simple weapons like warhammers, heavy crossbows, and spears that don't require much practice to master. This kind of precise cut... even the best swordsmen in our garrison aren't this skillful."

Renn remained silent for a moment.

The factor of the location of the base has been ruled out.

Therefore, Raine naturally came to the conclusion that a week ago, or even more recently, someone, including the Wolf King, had come into contact with these Frost Spiders. They, or it, not only slaughtered some of the spiders but also drove away the rest.

But how could a dire wolf king appear at the same time as a human?

Is someone keeping a warg as a pet? Or is someone hunting it? Or perhaps, this warg actually knows how to use a sword?

Raine tried to imagine the image of a wolf carrying a sword, quickly ruling out the possibility of this guess as the least likely.

In either case, it means that there are variables hidden in this canyon that Renn doesn't want to see but must figure out.

"Hank," Ryan's voice was deep, "do you know where the White Frost Spiders' lair is?"

"Their lair?" Hank frowned, looking into the depths of the rocky forest. "These beasts usually live in underground rock crevices. However, this rocky forest connects to the Broken Soul Cliff to the west, where there are many natural caves. If they were driven out, then their lair is most likely in that direction."

At this moment, the skinny soldier named Pete, who had been following at the end of the line, stepped forward.

"Sir Knight, if you wish to find their lair, I think I can give it a try."

Old Pete sniffed his red, frostbitten nose, his eyes scanning the corpses of frost spiders on the snow. "This heavy snow may have covered the footprints, but it can't cover the smell, nor can it cover the habits of these monsters."

"Lead the way," Raine said briefly.

Upon hearing this, Old Pete pulled a leather bag from his pocket, grabbed a handful of yellowish-brown powder, and scattered it into the wind.

The powder was swept up by the wind and did not immediately dissipate, but rather adhered to the leeward side of some rocks.

"Where the white frost spiders crawl, they leave behind a special kind of slime." Old Pete pointed to the area beneath a rock where yellowish-brown powder adhered, vaguely revealing a band. "Even if this stuff is buried in snow, it will change color when it comes into contact with this special sulfur powder. Follow this line, and you'll find the hole they burrowed out of."

"Walk."

Raine waved his hand, signaling the soldiers to follow.

The team set off again.

The atmosphere along the way was actually more oppressive than when we went to clear out the Frost Spider.

Everyone noticed that the knight at the head of the procession had a furrowed brow and was deep in thought.

Seeing this, the soldiers silently checked the crossbow bolt slots and raised their shields even higher.

Following the intermittent trail, they crossed the rocky forest to the west, where the terrain began to steepen.

The snowstorm, which had stopped for half a day, started howling again, which further reduced their visibility.

After walking for about half an hour, the terrain ahead suddenly broke off.

It was a recessed platform located below a cliff.

Old Pete stopped, turned around and gestured to Ryan, then pointed ahead.

At the base of the cliff, there is a small cave entrance, probably only big enough for one person to enter.

The snow around the cave entrance was stained reddish-brown by the blood of the frost spiders.

Dozens of white frost spider corpses were piled up near the cave entrance. Some were half-buried by the wind and snow, while others were incomplete, like garbage that had been roughly torn apart and thrown out.

What made Renn most nervous was that deep inside the cave, he could see a faint orange-red light shining through.

Clearly, someone must be inside the cave at this very moment.

Without any orders from Rein, the soldiers of the 22nd Patrol behind him displayed an astonishing level of professionalism.

Without any verbal commands from Ryan, and without even turning around to make eye contact with them.

Ten soldiers armed with crossbows quickly spread out, using the surrounding rocks as cover and fulcrums to set up their crossbows.

The arrows, in unison, locked onto the not-so-wide opening amidst the wind and snow.

Renn lay crouching behind a giant rock, his eyes fixed on the flickering fire.

His brain was working at lightning speed.

Someone was starting a fire inside. And the entrance was piled high with spider carcasses.

This indicates that the people inside cleared out the frost spiders and used this place as a temporary camp.

Combining the previously discovered sword marks and dire wolf fur...

An absurd yet quite logical conjecture came to Ryan's mind: someone had taken over the den with the Warg King, or at least something related to the Warg King.

But how is that possible?

The entrance to the cave was less than two meters high and even narrower. An ordinary dire wolf might be able to squeeze in, but a massive dire wolf king definitely couldn't.

Raine glanced at Ella beside him.

The half-elf girl was pressed against the rock wall, her pointed ears twitching slightly, as if filtering the wind and trying to catch any sounds from inside the cave.

A moment later, she turned her head and held up one finger to Ryan. Then she pointed to her ear.

Ella meant that she heard only one person making noise inside the cave.

Or rather, there was only one upright-walking creature. And there was no panting from wild beasts, nor the distinctive stench of large monsters wafting out.

Renn weighed the pros and cons in his mind.

The best option now is to retreat immediately, seal the cave entrance, and then report the matter to the Northern Fortress.

While this approach is prudent, time doesn't allow him to do it.

This place is quite a distance from the northern fortress; even riding at full speed, regardless of the weather, it would take almost a day, and a round trip would take nearly two days. Moreover, with such heavy snow, by the time the knights send reinforcements here, the people inside will probably have already vanished.

Moreover, if they are indeed people who can command the Warg King, or if they contain key clues related to the Warg King, letting them leave would be the biggest dereliction of duty for Raine.

"Shall we go in?" Ella whispered in Raine's ear, her face close to his.

Renn shook his head.

The cave was too narrow, clearly a typical example of terrain that was easy to defend and difficult to attack. Because of the terrain, if they wanted to rush in, they could only enter one by one, which completely gave up their numerical advantage.

He moved a few steps to the side and whispered to Hank on his flank:

"Prepare to tighten the encirclement. Prepare the kerosene and smoke."

The squad still had some kerosene left.

As long as you pour smoke into the cave to force them out, in an open area, ten crossbows would be enough to turn any normal person into a pincushion.

Hank nodded and reached for the oil pouch at his waist.

Just then.

The firelight deep inside the cave suddenly flickered.

Immediately afterwards, a clear sound of footsteps came from inside the cave.

The footsteps were unhurried, as if they were unaware that he was surrounded by fifteen people.

Raine's pupils instantly shrank to pinpoints.

Discovered?

Although these veterans' stealth skills weren't top-notch, under the cover of the wind and snow, even monsters with a keen sense of smell would have a hard time detecting them from fifty meters away.

Unless the other party has exceptionally strong perception abilities.

Or was it just a coincidence? Did the people inside just happen to be getting ready to come out?

Regardless, Renn needs to make a decision immediately.

[Prepare for battle!]

Renn made a gesture, and the longsword in his hand was drawn.

At the same time, the winches of the ten heavy crossbows made a soft sound, on the verge of firing.

The footsteps grew closer and closer.

The wind and snow seemed to hold their breath at that moment.

In Renn's sight, a tall figure slowly emerged from the orange-red flames.