Everyone packed up the crystal cores and handed them to Ethan.

Right now, only Ethan could actually make use of Tier 16 cores. The rest of them still had a long way to go.

Ethan didn’t bother being polite about it. He used the two Tier 16 crystal cores on the spot, and set the Tier 17 one aside for later.

"One more and I’ll hit the peak of Tier 16." Ethan clenched his fist, excitement buzzing under his skin.

Back when he’d cleared the Celestial Stairway trial, his strength had already pushed past mid–Tier 16. He’d only needed three more crystal cores to reach Tier 16 peak. Now he’d used two.

Just one left.

And once he reached Tier 16 peak, he could pop that Tier 17 core and jump straight into Tier 17.

Ethan’s mouth curled into a grin when he thought about the hundreds of red-skinned monsters still out there.

This run... might actually push him all the way into Stage B (Tier 18).

Even he couldn’t quite believe how fast his Tier was climbing.

So yeah. Hard work really didn’t mean a damn thing in the face of a real opportunity.

They’d fought like hell for more than half a year just to reach Stage C—only for the last few days to shove them within touching distance of Stage B.

But then again, "opportunity" only counted if you were strong enough to take it.

These red-skinned monsters were a jackpot to them.

To anyone else, they’d be a straight-up disaster.

Ethan glanced at the three corpses on the ground. He stored two of them in his spatial storage ring, then waved up at Flint and the others circling overhead.

A moment later, five flying mutant beasts swooped down.

"You can split this one between you," Ethan said, nodding at the remaining corpse. "Don’t eat too much. This thing’s way above your Tier."

"Chirp-chirp-chirp!"

The birds practically vibrated with excitement as they rushed in, pecking into the red-skinned monster’s body.

It didn’t take long.

Peregrine Falcon Flint, Golden Eagle Nugget, and Dire Eagle Pebble all broke through to Tier 11. Owl Hoot and vulture Scav stepped into Tier 10 as well.

A Tier 16 red-skinned monster corpse was basically a super-tonic for them.

Still, they couldn’t gorge all at once. After a meal like this, they’d probably need four or five days before they could handle another.

Once that was taken care of, the group kept moving, continuing their search for more red-skinned monsters...

Atlas City, the compound.

Maxwell set the phone down, but the shock on his face didn’t fade.

"What is it, General Kane?" Arthur asked, frowning.

"Rowan just called," Maxwell said slowly. "Fallen Star Squad made it to Nova City. They’re chasing that pack of red-skinned monsters down and slaughtering them."

"I told you we shouldn’t have let them go," Charles snapped. "Now look—getting hunted down—"

"Whitaker, you heard it backward," Maxwell cut in. "It’s Fallen Star Squad chasing the red-skinned monsters."

"!!!"

"How is that even possible?" Charles blurted. "Didn’t they say those red-skinned monsters were at least Tier 15?"

"They did."

"Then how the hell are they getting hunted by Fallen Star Squad?"

"How would I know?" Maxwell shot back. "But that’s what’s happening."

The room went quiet for a beat, everyone staring like their brains had stalled.

"...Rowan isn’t messing with us, is he?" someone muttered.

"No," Maxwell said immediately. "He wouldn’t joke about something like this."

"Then what does that mean?" Arthur pressed. "Don’t tell me Fallen Star Squad is Tier 15-plus too."

"As insane as it sounds..." Maxwell’s eyes were still wide. "That’s the only explanation."

Even he couldn’t wrap his head around it.

Right then, a soldier hurried into the conference room, breathing hard.

"General—news from Silverlake City!"

Every head snapped toward him.

"Talk," Maxwell said. "Now."

"According to the investigation, several unbelievably powerful... ’people’ suddenly charged into the compound, killed all the top brass, and then Garrett led Riverton City’s compound forces in and took over Silverlake City’s compound in one push."

"Unbelievably powerful?" Arthur demanded. "How powerful are we talking?"

"We can’t estimate it," the soldier said, voice tight. "Witnesses said one of them casually slapped his hand once, and an entire group of Tier 9 Enhanced inside the compound just... died on the spot. And several Tier 10 Enhanced were shredded into minced meat by a skill he tossed out like it was nothing."

"!!!"

The entire room’s expressions changed at once—faces draining, jaws tightening.

"Is that report reliable?" Maxwell asked, every word clipped.

"Absolutely," the soldier said. "A lot of people in Silverlake City compound saw it with their own eyes."

"..."

The room went dead quiet.

First, Nova City—hundreds of terrifying red-skinned monsters.

Then, Silverlake City—some kind of monster-level powerhouse.

One blow after another, and it landed squarely on the shoulders of the Atlas Federation’s top brass. The pressure was suffocating.

They could all feel it now.

The sky over the apocalypse... was about to change again.

"General Kane," Gabriel said grimly, "those few... they came out of the Void Realm too, right?"

Maxwell nodded, his expression just as heavy. "With strength like that, they can only be creatures from the Void Realm."

"So that means Void Realm beings are starting to appear on Earth inside Atlas Federation territory too."

"Yeah."

Arthur’s voice dropped. "If Void Realm beings are this strong... do we really still have any chance of surviving?"

The mood in the room sank like a stone.

Yeah.

When the gap in power was that outrageous... did humanity even have a future?

"We do." Maxwell’s eyes sharpened, and his voice turned rock-solid. "We have a squad that can create miracles."

"Right!" Charles blurted, suddenly energized. "We still have Fallen Star Squad. If they can kill the red-skinned monsters in Nova City, then they can kill those people too!"

Gabriel chuckled. "Charles, weren’t you the one always saying Fallen Star Squad was too overbearing?"

"Hmph." Charles lifted his chin, righteous as anything. "If you’ve got the strength, what’s wrong with being a little overbearing?"

"Enough," Maxwell said, cutting them off—then took the opening to steer the conversation where he wanted it. "What happened before is in the past. From here on out, watch your attitudes. Ethan and his people are genuinely decent. I mentioned Nova City once, and the next day they were already there. That tells you something—they actually care about the bigger picture. In a world like this, how many people like that do you think we’re going to get?"

"Yeah." Charles nodded, serious now. "We really did misunderstand them. But we can’t rely on them for everything either. Our own strength has to rise fast. Send the order down—spread the advancement methods recorded in the translated Energy Absorption Technique. Let everyone cultivate it. We need to raise overall power as quickly as possible."

"Yes, sir!"

Fallen Star City...

With the major compound in Harrison City under construction, almost everyone from Fallen Star City had moved over.

Construction crews from Stonebridge City compound and Deepwater City compound had come too, along with the builders from Grace’s compound.

Hundreds of thousands of people were working at full throttle, throwing up the compound like their lives depended on it—because they did.

Fallen Star Guard was stationed in Harrison City as well, handling security.

Meanwhile, Fallen Star City itself felt like a ghost town.

Aside from Miles, a pack of mutant beasts, and a handful of people left behind to build the Celestial Stairway, you could walk whole stretches without seeing a single person.

And that was exactly when a force tens of thousands strong quietly arrived on the outskirts of the city.

Garrett stared at the massive compound in the distance, a cold smile flickering across his face.

"So this is Fallen Star City? Big, I’ll give them that. Doesn’t matter. It’s all going to be mine."

Next to him, a figure wrapped head to toe in a black robe spoke, voice flat and unsettling. "You... why would you come to a place like this?"

"Marek, sir," Garrett said quickly, respectful to the point of stiffness, "this compound is the largest one anywhere nearby. That’s why I picked it first."

Truth was, Garrett didn’t feel completely sure about taking Fallen Star City.

Fallen Star Squad had always given him this sense of something hidden—mysterious, dangerous, like there was more under the surface than anyone could see.

So he’d brought in one of "those lords."

With Marek here, it would be airtight.

Marek let out a cold snort. "There’s barely anyone inside. What’s the point of taking it?"

"Huh?" Garrett blinked, thrown off. "Barely anyone? That... that can’t be right. A compound this big—how could it not have people?"

"Hmph." Marek didn’t bother explaining. He just turned silent again, like Garrett wasn’t worth the effort.

Garrett didn’t dare press him.

He was confused, sure—but it didn’t really change anything. He gathered his people and started forward, marching straight toward Fallen Star City.

This time, he was going to crush those arrogant bastards under his heel.

He’d make them understand one thing for sure—

They didn’t have the right to look down on him.