It was almost night when Lucien returned to the shelter.

His shirt was torn beyond use, and he threw it aside. Now that he thought about it, he barely had any clothes left in his wardrobe.

Items like these had become valuable. Most industries that produced them had already been destroyed. Unless humanity reached that stage again, the remaining intact clothes were scarce and precious.

Now, Lucien could control his power more easily and no longer destroyed things unintentionally.

Standing in his room, he looked down at the people working hard to rebuild the shelter.

His eyes stayed fixed...

But his mind drifted.

Scenes from a month ago, when the apocalypse first began overlapped with the present, showing just how far they had come.

Lucien took a deep breath and turned away.

He stepped outside and headed toward the council hall. Even from a distance, he could hear excited voices.

The guards at the entrance greeted him before he walked in.

Inside, the voices became clearer. Jeff and Daemon were already there.

Daemon had returned with some resources and would likely head out again tomorrow.

As for Jeff, he was simply happy. They now had an entire city to build upon, and his people were safe.

"Boss."

"Leader."

The council members stood and greeted him with smiles.

Lucien smiled back and nodded.

"Everyone, thank you for your hard work," he said.

The group of men and women smiled even brighter.

The fact that they had been chosen to lead humanity in this new age was proof of their capability.

The world had become a terrifying puzzle—one that had to be solved before anything else.

"This battle was long prepared for, and we won. That is a cause for celebration... but we cannot relax," Lucien continued.

Everyone nodded.

"I assume the organizational structure has been set up?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good."

Lucien clapped his hands once.

"Over the next week, I want you all to expand quickly and take full control of the city. Redesign it as much as possible. I’m not expecting completion, but I want a solid layout in place.

Daemon, you and your team should focus on gathering resources, monitoring our first batch of crops, and researching the bodies of elite and higher-level zombies."

He paused briefly before continuing.

"As for me, I’ll be refining my strength. In one week, we will officially leave the city and explore the outside world."

The room grew quiet as everyone absorbed his words.

They discussed a few more details, mainly reporting on the previous day before Lucien dismissed them and left.

"Time to refine my strength..."

"I need to be at my peak when next week comes," Lucien thought as he headed toward the ruined area from his previous training session.

And he began.

Over the course of the week, the people in the shelter would hear thunder-like sounds echoing from the back of the city every single day.

--- 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

Time passed quickly, and before they knew it, a week had gone by.

Having superhumans made a massive difference. Tasks that once required four or five people could now be handled by one.

The city had been fully reclaimed.

Smaller houses were rebuilt, and the remaining structures were cleared out and restored.

The layout of both residential and central districts had begun taking shape and would likely be completed in the coming weeks.

Everyone had been working tirelessly for this moment.

The soldiers had been preparing.

And Lucien...

He didn’t know what awaited them outside the city.

So the only thing he could do was conserve his SP—all 40,000 of it.

SP wasn’t just for purchases. It was his second life.

And now that he was a One-Star Awakener, he had the strength to protect others, at least to some extent.

Still...

Lucien felt uneasy.

His heartbeat quickened, and a strange discomfort filled his body.

It was as if...

His instincts were warning him not to leave the city.

But staying wasn’t an option.

Remaining confined in one place, cut off from the outside world, would only weaken them.

He wouldn’t grow.

They wouldn’t evolve.

And Lucien needed more—more power, more strong Awakeners...

More strong female Awakeners.

Even better if they were heroines.

So, he had to go.

Today, around a hundred people had gathered.

Lucien and Jeff led the group.

Ten Awakeners.

And over eighty Semi-Awakeners.

It wasn’t a bad lineup.

If they encountered a Half-Step One-Star Zombie or even a One-Star Zombie, Lucien was confident they could handle it.

His only concern...

Was something beyond that.

"Alright... let’s begin," Lucien said as he stepped forward.

Everyone followed.

This mission wasn’t publicly announced like the previous battle. Only a few knew the truth, most believed it was just a resource expedition.

Once they left the populated area, they began accelerating.

Faster...

And faster...

In less than an hour, they reached the edge of their city.

Beyond the long hill that surrounded it...

Was the outside world.

Lucien stepped over first.

The others followed.

And then

Everyone froze.

The strength drained from their legs as they struggled to breathe.

What they saw...

Changed everything.

The trees...

They were back.

But enormous.

The smallest stood nearly ten meters tall.

Others towered far beyond that, their trunks wider than a human’s entire body length.

It was a forest.

A massive, overwhelming forest.

And that feeling...

It grew stronger within Lucien.

A deep, instinctual fear gripped his heart.

His body was warning him.

Something...

Or many things...

Inside that forest were dangerous.

Lucien looked back at Jeff and the others, who were still stunned by the sight, and spoke.

"That forest isn’t normal. I want the Semi-Awakeners to observe from here. Jeff, the Awakeners, and I will move forward," Lucien commanded, snapping everyone out of their daze.

"Yes, Leader," they responded.

They had developed deep respect and awe for Lucien, and they held onto it firmly.

Of course, they obeyed—it was for their own safety.

Without hesitation, Lucien, Jeff, and the ten Awakeners advanced, crossing a few hundred meters until they finally reached the forest’s edge.

Just standing a few meters away, they could already feel the difference.

The oxygen here...

It was far denser than what they were used to, several times richer.

Silently, one question had been answered.

The trees hadn’t disappeared.

They were here.

And they had grown far beyond anything normal.

But this...

This felt like a warning.

A silent alarm rang within Lucien.

He didn’t know why... perhaps it was because he was now a One-Star Awakener but his body tensed instinctively.

Still...

His eyes remained firm.

"Let’s go in."