The sound of footsteps grew louder. Up in the tree, Silverfox Squad mbers carefully parted the leaves, peeking down.
The mont they got a clear look, their eyes went wide.
"What the hell—them?"
"The Fallen Star Squad? Why are they here?!"
"That’s great, right?" one younger guy blurted out, unable to hide his excitent. "I heard the Fallen Star Squad’s seriously strong. Maybe they can get us out of here!"
"You stupid or sothing?" Rachel shot back. "I don’t care how strong they are—they’re still just people. You think they can take on those mutant beasts? If they get sward, they’ll end up just like us—monster chow."
"And besides," she added sharply, "we left because of them. I’d bet anything they ca in here chasing us."
"Wait... seriously?" The young man looked panicked. "Then what do we do?"
"Shut up. Stay down and don’t make a sound."
But it was too late.
Down below, Ethan and the others had arrived.
"Co on down," Ethan called out, casually.
The squad up in the tree exchanged worried glances.
Did he spot us? No way. There’s no way they noticed us—we picked the perfect spot, even the Titan Apes didn’t catch us. Could they be bluffing?
Just as they were holding out hope, Big Mike tilted his head up and barked, "You hear the man. Climb your asses down now, or I’ll set this whole damn tree on fire."
That killed the last of their disbelief.
Sohow, the Fallen Star Squad had actually found them.
Whatever gave them away, there was no ti to figure it out now.
And looking down at the group—just nine people—they still felt utterly outmatched.
Because trailing behind those nine were massive mutant beasts: a tiger, a jaguar, even a golden-feathered eagle with eyes that looked smarter than so humans.
How? How were these beasts following orders like ta pets?
There wasn’t a single mber of Silverfox Squad who dared resist anymore. One by one, they climbed down in silence.
And then—
"Rachel?!" Emily caught sight of the familiar face and lit up.
"Emily!" Rachel stepped forward, clearly stunned. "You really did join the Fallen Star Squad."
"Mhm. My brother’s here, so I stayed."
"Well... that’s your blessing, honestly. Being with Fallen Star Squad’s way better than staying with us. The Silverfox Squad’s basically finished." There was a bitter emotion in Rachel’s voice now, a quiet grief.
"How’d you guys even survive?" Emily asked gently.
Rachel sighed. Her face hardened as she rembered.
"After we entered this place, we ran into a group of mutant beasts that looked like giant gorillas. Their strength was way beyond anything we could handle. Out of the two thousand of us, only a few hundred made it through the first assault. The rest were ripped to shreds."
"The survivors were captured—taken to a valley and kept as stored food. Like livestock."
"We were sure it was over for us. But this morning, the lead ape seed to snap. Sothing set it off, and it left the valley with most of the higher-tier beasts. Only a few were left behind to guard us."
"We didn’t wait. Those of us who could move just ran—scattered in every direction. I ended up here with Xiao Du and the others."
"What about your captain? Is she alive?" Emily tried to keep her tone even.
"She was the strongest of us," Rachel said slowly. "So she probably made it out."
"But?" Emily pressed.
"She..." Rachel hesitated, then shook her head. "It’s nothing. I just an... she escaped, I’m sure. I don’t know where she ended up. That’s all."
Emily gave a faint nod, the light in her eyes flickering with a quiet hope. As long as she’s alive...
Then she asked, "Rachel, you’re not far from the exit here. Why haven’t you guys already gone?"
Rachel let out a tired, defeated laugh. "We tried. But the exit’s blocked. Titan Apes are camping out there, like guards. There’s no getting through right now."
"Damn..."
Emily turned toward Ethan. "Captain, Rachel looked after back when I was with the Silverfox Squad. If we’re heading out... can we take them with us?"
Ethan glanced at Emily. Guess kindness really does run in the family. Both siblings had good hearts—that much was clear.
If Rachel had looked after Emily before, well... bringing them along was nothing. Just a favor repaid on Emily’s behalf.
He was about to speak when soone else cut in first.
"Uh... no need to trouble yourselves," a man from Silverfox Squad said quickly, his voice polite but edged with caution. "We’re fine staying right here."
Yeah, no mistaking that look on his face: he didn’t believe for a second that Ethan’s team could protect anyone. In his eyes, tagging along ant turning themselves into bait.
After all, word had already spread in the compound—Fallen Star Squad was powerful, sure. Most of them were Tier 8, the captain apparently Tier 9. Solid lineup.
But to that guy?
Still just tougher at on the food chain.
He and the others knew what was out there. The Titan Apes weren’t just strong—so of them were Tier 9, even Tier 10. And their leader? No one even dared guess.
"Even if they don’t find us here," the guy was clearly thinking, "we’ll starve, yeah—but at least it’s quiet. Safer."
Emily tried again, her voice calm. "Look, if you stay holed up here, you’ll starve eventually. I get that it’s scary, but wouldn’t it be better to take your chances with us?"
"Emily, I appreciate you trying," Rachel said, giving her a small smile. "But I agree. It’s too risky. The exit’s locked down tight. Those Titan Apes are camping there now. If they spot us... there’s no second try."
Ethan finally stepped in, his voice light but sharp. "You know how many Titan Apes are blocking the exit?"
Rachel shook her head. "No. Just that whoever tried got chased off. A lot of people tried to make it out... didn’t co back. So we figured most of the Apes must be guarding the exit."
Ethan frowned.
That complicated things.
"All right." He turned to address his squad. "You guys stay put for a bit. I’ll go check it out."
"Got it," everyone responded in unison.
"Be careful, Cap."
Without wasting another second, Ethan slipped away, heading toward the exit of the world-fragnt.
He moved fast. Within minutes, the answer started to take shape.
Titan Apes.
Tons of them. Patrol units pacing the area in staggered formations—big ones, small ones, all heavy with muscle and attitude.
Ethan stopped in the shadows and let out a quiet sigh.
So that’s why we didn’t bump into any on the way—every last one of them’s guarding the door.
Made sense. They hadn’t been able to sniff out the intruders, so they’d switched to stage two: block the only way out and let the prey co to them.
Effective. And annoying as hell.
Teleporting with surgical precision, Ethan flickered through patrol routes, skirting detection until he finally got a vantage point close to the actual exit.
Then he activated [True Sight]—
—and felt a chill climb down his spine.
There weren’t just a few Apes here. The place was stacked.
Dozens just lounging on the ground, more perched in the treetops, all stationed like siege soldiers around a bottleneck.
Close inspection painted a grimr picture.
Twelve Tier 10 Titan Apes, each of them rippling with power and twitchy alertness.
Tier 9? Way more than he could count at a glance.
And then...
There it was.
One Titan Ape sitting right in the center, not moving, not posturing—just radiating pressure.
Tier 11.
And judging by the way the others all kept their distance... that was the alpha. The commander of the whole troop.
Ethan rubbed the bridge of his nose, quietly swearing under his breath.
This was bad. Really bad.
He was good—but this?
This setup didn’t care how good anyone was.
How the hell are we supposed to get out through that?
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