Ethan activated [True Sight] and did a thorough sweep of the forest around them.
What he saw made his gut twist—both with anticipation and a flicker of unease.
There were others in this forest. Moving figures. Lots of them.
And they weren’t human.
His first reaction was interest, almost excitent—because yeah, powerful mutant beasts ant powerful EXP. With the right approach, they could absolutely use this place as a goldmine for leveling up fast.
But then the other thought hit.
What if sothing in here is way beyond them?
That would an a fast track to a full squad wipe.
This place wasn’t Earth. On Earth, humans, zombies, mutant beasts—they all started from the sa point. Even if so enemies were stronger, the difference could be managed.
But here?
Here, he had no idea how long this ecosystem had been around. No clue how the native creatures evolved or ranked up. And the first thing they ran into when entering was a Tier 10 Titan Ape.
That alone made it painfully clear—there was worse out there.
Probably much worse.
Ethan’s eyes narrowed as uncertainty clouded his thoughts.
Should they keep exploring the forest?
...Or take the win and get out while everyone was still breathing?
He stood there for a long mont, weighing it.
Eventually, he sighed and made his decision.
Screw it.
Fortune favors the bold.
He had [True Sight] on his side. As long as he used it wisely, they could minimize the danger. And if he really wanted to pull ahead and stay stronger than anyone else, he had to take risks.
Teleporting down from the treetop, Ethan rejoined the others.
By now, most of them had recovered under Henry’s rapid-fire healing. The group gathered as he landed.
"Ethan—find anything?" Chris asked, curious.
Ethan shook his head. "Just thick forest. Dense to the point even [True Sight] couldn’t see the end of it. It’s huge."
He paused. "I’m planning to scout around a bit. See what else is out here. What do you think?"
Big Mike raised a hand instantly. "Hell yeah. No way we’re leaving without poking around first. What if there’s another spatial storage ring just lying around?"
Clearly, Mike still hadn’t let go of his obsession with loot—especially space rings.
Sean cut in, serious now. "Ethan... did you sense any other mutant beasts nearby?"
Ethan nodded. "Plenty. I only did a quick scan, and just in that there were quite a few moving around. So yeah—danger’s guaranteed."
Everyone went quiet.
That alone changed the mood.
Still, no one backed out.
"Captain, whatever you decide, we’re with you," soone said.
Everyone else echoed the sa sentint.
Ethan nodded. "Alright. Then let’s move—first, we get away from here. The blood from the fight is going to attract trouble. Lots of it."
Even though he hadn’t spotted anything incoming yet, he knew better than to bet on that. So mutant beasts might have sharp senses or great noses.
No point waiting here to find out.
He turned to Skinny Pete. "Can you summon Nugget back now that we’re in the sa space?"
Skinny Pete’s expression froze. Then he frowned, shaking his head.
"I already tried. Nugget’s still badly injured—and worse, it looks like he’s in hiding. Like sothing’s hunting him down. He hasn’t moved in a while."
The group quieted again—but this ti, no one seed surprised.
Back on Earth, their Tier 9 Golden Eagle Nugget was basically unstoppable in the skies. But here?
Different story.
If it couldn’t fly, it was just lunch for sothing bigger.
"How far is he from here?" Ethan asked.
"I can sense the direction," Pete replied, "but he’s far. Maybe six or seven miles out."
Ethan’s brow creased.
That was far. And in a place like this—too far.
He hadn’t intended to leave the area. Exploration was fine, but miles off-course just invited disaster. And if anything hit them hard out there, retreat might not even be an option.
He hesitated.
Logically, it made more sense to let the eagle go. Chalk it up as a loss. Nugget dies? Then next ti, Pete just tas a new flying beast. Simple as that.
And yet...
Ethan frowned.
He couldn’t quite bring himself to give that order.
He and Nugget had fought together in too many tight spots for that. There was a bond there—years’ worth of danger and survival.
And judging from the looks in everyone else’s eyes...
Yeah.
They wanted to go save him.
Ethan let out a quiet sigh.
"Alright... let’s move. Head in Nugget’s direction. Hopefully he can hold out until we get there."
"Got it."
Skinny Pete gave a firm nod, then took the lead guiding them, sensing Nugget’s location. Ethan moved up front, activating [True Sight] as they went, scanning constantly as they advanced, every step cautious.
They hadn’t gone far before they ran into sothing that made everyone stop short.
Blood.
A lot of it.
Spattered all over the forest floor. Mixed in were scraps of shredded clothing, torn like sothing—or soone—had been violently ripped apart.
Everyone rushed forward.
Chris bent down and picked up one of the larger scraps.
Big Mike frowned, rubbing the fabric between his fingers. "Wait... why does this look like Earth-made?"
Chris rolled his eyes. "Seriously? This is obviously from soone in the Silverfox Squad. Of course it looks Earth-made."
"...Oh." Big Mike scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Yeah. True. That makes way more sense."
"So they really did co in here," Mia said, her voice low with surprise. "But if they were in this area, how the hell didn’t they run into those five Titan Apes?"
Ethan snorted, an edge of irritation in his voice. "You ever think—maybe they’re the reason we ran into them?"
He crossed his arms and looked back in the direction they’d fought.
"I was wondering why we got ambushed the mont we arrived. Now it’s obvious: the Titan Apes had already spotted the Silverfox Squad entering from that spot. They probably set up camp there hoping for a second round of at."
"And we walked right into it."
"Great," Garrick muttered, eyeing the blood-soaked ground. "So what, the whole Silverfox Squad got eaten?"
The suggestion wasn’t too wild. There were only bloodstains and clothes here—no bodies anywhere.
Clearly... the corpses had already been devoured.
"Maybe a few escaped," Ethan said, though his voice didn’t sound especially hopeful. "But in a forest like this? No way they made it far."
At that mont, Emily stepped forward, her face tense as she crouched to take a closer look at one of the torn garnts. Her brows drew together, subtle pain flickering in her eyes.
She recognized the clothes. So of them.
She’d lived around the Silverfox Squad for a long ti. So of the people in that group... had been friends. People she’d shared als with. Talked with. Trusted. From so of the scraps, she could even guess which ones belonged to whom.
Yes, they’d lied to her. Yes, they were tied to the murder of her parents.
But not all of them had known the truth.
Most of them probably hadn’t known anything at all.
And despite everything, she couldn’t bring herself to hate every last one of them. Not completely.
These had been the people who gave her a sense of ho after the world ended.
Now, all that blood... ant they were gone too.
Henry took a step forward, wanting to comfort his sister—
—but Chris beat him to it.
"Hey," Chris said gently, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Don’t feel guilty. You didn’t kill ’em yourself, sure... but this? This still counts. You got revenge for your parents, even if you didn’t swing the blade."
He flashed her a half-grin. "Tell you what—if we run into anyone who’s still alive, I’ll catch ’em for you. Hand-deliver ’em straight to you so you can finish the job yourself. Sound good?"
Emily gave him a blank look.
"...Maybe try not ’comforting’ when you have no idea what the situation actually is?"
Chris looked montarily sheepish.
But still, his words got her to pull herself together. She took a deep breath and began quietly examining the clothing scraps more closely, trying to find one piece in particular.
The woman responsible.
She knew exactly what that woman wore. If her clothes were among these... then Emily could put that Chapter to rest.
The team continued deeper into the forest.
The further they walked, the more signs of carnage they found. Blood kept showing up—sotis fresh, sotis dried black—and the scatter of ruined clothing never stopped.
Emily kept looking.
But she never found that clothing.
At so point, silence fell over the group. The tension weighed on them. Even Big Mike didn’t crack jokes—not when every few steps brought another splash of blood.
Ethan’s face had gone cold and serious.
There was sothing off here.
This much blood... this much killing...
Why weren’t any predator mutant beasts showing up to scavenge?
A massacre like this should’ve drawn in blood-hungry creatures from miles around. Every animal with a nose should be circling this trail.
Unless...
They weren’t coming.
Not because they didn’t exist.
But because they were afraid.
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