Global Survival: I Have Endless Skeletons

Thoren walked slowly toward the exit, the broken window. Just then, he noticed a figure also approaching the window from the other side.

He halted in his tracks and stared intently at the figure for a long moment. After a second, he exhaled deeply through his nose and continued moving forward.

The sound of his boots echoed on the ancient wooden floor, loud enough for the figure outside to hear clearly.

And truly, the figure heard the incoming footsteps.

Creasing his brow, the figure raised his head and stared at the window, narrowing his eyes as he tried to see deep into the oppressive darkness.

Slowly, he reached out for the hilt of his weapon, his knuckles turning white.

"Who is there?" he asked, taking a couple of cautious steps backward.

The tension rose slowly, thick and suffocating.

He held his breath and looked around wildly, ready to flee if the situation turned for the worst.

"Who is there?" he shouted one more time, his voice cracking with fear.

"Neville, is that you?" Thoren asked as he emerged from the shadow.

Hmm?

Neville froze for a single second and stared at the figure that walked out of the darkness.

’How is this possible?’ he exclaimed in his mind, his heart racing.

Of everyone he had expected to find in this deadly ruin, Thoren was not one of them.

Even though he was confused, with many troubling questions swirling in his mind, he recovered quickly and showed an expression of shock and relief.

"Thoren, you are alive," he replied with a bright smile full of forced relief.

"I can say the same about you," Thoren responded calmly, his expression did not change.

He stared intently at Neville, and his suspicion deepened with each passing second. He could still remember the words of the Berserker clearly.

There was a mole among their temporary party. And it was only Neville and Cressida who knew his full name at that time.

Thus, it was either Neville was the mole or Cressida was the traitor. Either way, he would soon find out the truth.

Looking at Thoren’s piercing, unblinking gaze, Neville could not help but forcefully swallow the lump in his throat.

"Emm. Emmm," he stuttered for a second before he managed to form a coherent word.

"Have you seen the others?" he asked, trying to sound casual.

’Why am I trembling?’ he cried in his heart, his palms growing sweaty.

"No," Thoren shook his head slowly. "I do not know. Have you seen anyone?"

"No. After I returned to the hall, I realized everyone had already gone. Since then, I have been exploring the ruin alone."

"Alas, my luck is bad today. I have not been lucky enough to find any rare treasure. I only found powerful beasts that would not hesitate to tear me into pieces."

"If I had not escaped right on time, perhaps you would not have had the chance to see me standing here," he added with a shaky laugh.

Thoren did not comment on his statement. He turned to look at the deeper part of the ruin with cold calculation.

"I am going that way," he said casually and began to move forward.

His undead servant walked behind him like a silent shadow.

Cold and mechanical, devoid of any emotion.

"Ah, yes. Let us go together," Neville said quickly and rushed to keep up with him.

From the corner of his eyes, he looked at Thoren and noticed he was completely clean without any injuries or dirt.

’How is this possible,’ he thought, deeply confused.

This ruin was far more deadly than they had previously thought. In every corner, powerful beasts guarded every passage and chamber.

He himself had been close to death many times, and it was only by pure luck that he had managed to escape with his life.

Still, he had sustained many serious injuries along the way.

Without the hidden armor underneath his robe, he would have long been killed by the creatures.

Still, his outer robe was torn in many places. His hair was disheveled, and dried blood hung on his face like a mask.

But compared to the person walking beside him, he did not know how to feel.

It was as if Thoren had been going on a pleasant vacation, not exploring some life and death ruin.

’Is it possible he had been hiding in that safe place from the very beginning?’ Neville creased his brow and became lost in thought.

’That must be the answer.’

’With only a single summon, there is no way he could have battled those terrifying beasts and escaped completely unscathed.’

He nodded subconsciously, believing that must be the case. While Thoren was focused on the deeper part of the ruin, Neville’s every action did not escape from his keen perception.

The various changes in his expression were all seen by Thoren, and the corner of his lips could not help but curl upward.

Without even asking, he could already guess what was going on in Neville’s troubled mind.

’You can continue your charade for the time being. Enjoy it while it lasts,’ Thoren thought coldly.

With that thought, he completely ignored Neville’s presence. His eyes locked on the clusters of booths in the distance.

Merely looking at them, he could tell something was deeply wrong. This place was far from ordinary.

Slowly, he pushed his perception further, trying to probe what lay hidden inside the booths.

However, no matter how hard he tried to perceive what was inside the clusters of booths, he found nothing at all.

It was as if the clusters of wooden booths were completely empty.

But he knew better than to believe that.

Such a deadly place could never be truly empty. Something was hiding there, waiting for the right moment to strike.

When they arrived at the edge of the cluster of small wooden booths, he noticed the desert sand was completely gone from the floor.

However, Thoren did not care about the missing sand.

He stepped forward into the narrow path between the dozens of wooden booths without any hesitation.

Beside him, Neville had come out of his troubled thoughts and was now staring at the scene around him with high vigilance.

"Did you hear that?" he asked with a tense, trembling voice.

"Hear what?" Thoren asked, creasing his brow with genuine confusion.

Since they had stepped into the narrow booths path, everything had been strangely, unnaturally quiet.

But looking at the solemn, fearful expression on Neville’s face, he knew the man was not lying.

"I heard the captain’s voice," Neville responded, pointing to the third booth on their right.

Without waiting for Thoren’s response, he dashed forward with reckless speed.

****

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