"You guys look like you've been through the mines."

Adia decided to exit the Portal to calm and better prepare themselves for whatever was still out there. They have probably already killed more than a hundred lamias, so there shouldn't be too many left. But still, seeing as how they already lost all of their Silver-ranked Explorers in just a single Portal, continuing with the Portal was not the wisest decision.

​​

"Where… is the rest?" Charlotte slightly leaned over her chair as she noticed that the Royal team were losing members.

"They… they're dead," Adia lightly bit her lips as she heard Charlotte's words. Out of all the people to see her failure, it was her idol that first noticed it. "The lamias ambushed us deep into the Portal and…"

While Adia continued to tell her story, the Standby Unit leader was recording everything she was saying into his device. Finally, after a few minutes of her shifting between stutters and wry chuckles, she finished her story.he

"So the monsters inside were aggressive?" The Standby Unit leader placed his hand on his chin, before looking at the person who checked the Portal before the Explorer team went inside, "You said the monsters were docile?"

"Y… yes. There was already a lamia a few steps from the Portal, and it didn't even move an inch when I got near to it. The monsters outside the Portals are also still not hostile."

"Could it be they were threatened by the numbers that went inside the Portal?"

The Standby Unit were trying to figure out what could have triggered the sudden change of the monsters inside the Portal.

Van, on the other hand, remained quiet as the group was discussing their opinions. He was deliberating whether or not he should say the contents of the windows that popped out in front of him, but in the end, chose not to do so.

'Never tell them anything,' and as if in queue to his thoughts, he suddenly heard Angela's words in his mind, 'Do not tell them anything involving your unique System.'

'Is this why Evangeline asked you to follow me?' Van let out a slight breath as he turned his head towards Evangeline.

'Maybe,' Evangeline replied, not looking towards Van, 'I do not really know what Master Evangeline is thinking.'

"Do you have their licenses?"

Their internal conversation was interrupted when one of the members of the Standby unit approached Van.

"Licenses?" Van could not help but slightly tilt his head from the man's words, "What do you—"

"Ah, I have it."

Before Van could say any more, the Gold-rank Explorer, Kamia, approached the two of them and handed 3 cards to the member of the standby unit. Van curiously looked as the man checked the cards, putting two holes on them before putting them gently inside a black box.

So once an Explorer dies, a member of his guild or team has to retrieve their Explorer card? What if there was no one to retrieve it anymore?

Come to think of it, he was not even aware of the name of the 3. Now Van was starting to think that perhaps if they have introduced themselves to the group, maybe they would still be alive.

"…" Van let out a light chuckle from the thought. So as to not let the others hear his misplaced chuckle, he looked towards Adia and said, "Should we go back inside now?" with a slight clearing of his throat.

"Let's rest for a while," Adia shook her head, "We need to refresh our team since we can't enter the Portal with just the three of us."

Adia then glanced towards Angela, as if insinuating that she should fill the spot. Angela, however, just let out a small sigh, "Just let the boy clear it by himself, I am sure he could do it."

"That's…" Adia's expression was starting to get complicated. If Van were to clear the Portal by himself, then what would the White Imvubu think? 3 have already died in her leadership, if she wasn't able to redeem herself, then Charlotte might no longer approve of her.

"I'd rather have a team with me," luckily, Van just shook his head as he made his way towards Angela, sitting on the ground beside her.

"Ho…" Charlotte let out a slight breath as she heard Van's words, "Following procedure now, are you boy? That's quite unlike you to do so."

"…Embrace other people's cultures," Van nonchalantly said as he waved his hand.

"…"

The others could only look at each other as they pondered his words. Culture? What does that even have to do with what was happening now? 4-man teams were one of the universal laws of Explorers. Adia wanted to rebuke, but she just had no more energy to spare anymore.

***

"Are we sure Harvey and the others will be alright?"

"They're pretty strong."

Back in America, the New Wall that Van had left almost a month ago now looked completely different. Besides almost a thousand tents being set up, there were now also houses and even a plaza where people could sell their things.

A lot of the Locals have traveled outside, with, of course, the permission of their current acting President, President Nisha. If it wasn't for Gil and Cynthia assisting him, she would have probably already gone crazy. It didn't help that Latanya still wasn't waking up.

They all thought that once Victoria woke up, it won't be long until Latanya does too… but they were wrong. Evangeline also was refusing to talk to anyone and was just keeping to herself inside the Pit.

The Locals had their eyes opened up to the world as all the new things kept popping out in front of them. But alas, since they gained their freedom when a silent war was going on between the Circle and the Resistance, it was as if their freedom had become an illusion itself.

They could return back inside the Pit, but surprisingly, none of them chose to do so.

Andrea and Sarah were near a Portal talking to each other, along with the other surviving members of their floating base around a bonfire.

"That brat Gerald is with them, so they should be fine," Sarah said as she added more wood to the fire.

Hearing Gerald's name being uttered, Andrea's eyebrows quickly furrowed, "That's Harvey's brother, right?" Andrea muttered, "The one that beat Evans almost to death?"

"Hm," Sarah nodded, "He might not be right in the head, but the kid is strong, abnormally strong. I fought him once when I… visited the Lauder's mansion."

"Oh?"

"I won, of course. It was a mismatch of skills."

"Is he stronger than Evans?" Andrea then asked as she looked Sarah straight in the eyes.

"Hmm," Sarah placed her hand on her chin as she stared at the fire, "Maybe not. You're not fully aware of what your adopted brother is capable of, are you?"

"…" Andrea remained quiet for a while before leaning her head on Sarah's shoulder, "No, I suppose not anymore," she then let out a long and deep breath, causing a thick vapor to come out of her mouth.

"But he has always been strong," she then said, "When everyone was going towards a dark path, he managed to keep a small light within him."

"…You know he has killed a lot of people, right?" Sarah quietly replied, "He is completely different from when you two were in the Relic Graveyard."

"And he will kill more," Andrea quickly replied, "Life is treated differently back there. If anything, death is an escape from all that is bad. Dying is not the worse thing that could happen to you there."

"You think he sees it like that whenever he takes another's life?"

"Perhaps," Andrea shrugged her shoulders before snuggling closer towards Sarah, "Even I look at life differently."

As soon as Andrea heard those words, she could not help but let out a slight chuckle.

"What? What so funny?"

"Nothing," Sarah cleared her throat as she rested her head on Andrea's. Andrea kept mentioning how Van kept a small light inside of him… when Andrea herself managed to keep all of it.

Sarah already knew of Andrea's dark past. Although Van still had it harder, it didn't take away that Andrea had to do things to demean herself just go live another day…

…and yet she was still able to help people in her limited capacity. That's what brought Sarah towards her in the first place. To have come for nothing, and was willing to sacrifice everything to a person not even related to her by blood.

One could not help but wonder what Andrea would be capable of if she had power, "Yo—"

"…You are Andrea?"

Before Sarah could say anything more, a soothing voice whispered into their ears. Sarah and Andrea turned around to see who it was, only for Andrea to furrow her eyebrows as soon as their eyes met.

"…Evangeline," Andrea said as she stood up from the bench they were sitting, "What do you want from—"

Andrea's tone was cold, but as soon as she saw the expression in Evangeline's eyes, her words completely stopped. Evangeline's overall demeanor was also different. Instead of her just floating around, her feet were touching the ground as she approached them.

"You've… grown into a beautiful lady," Evangeline let out a small smile as she sat on the bench beside them, pointing her palms towards the fire and rubbing them together, "I regret not having been there for the both of you. It must have been hard on Greg, raising a child on his own."

"…" Andrea could not help but blink a couple of times as she heard Evangeline's words. She already knew that there was a side of Evangeline that was completely different from her usual cold personality. Could this be… her?

"You… knew my father?"

"Hm," Evangeline nodded her head, "Him, as well as your mother."

"You… knew my mother?"

"Of course…

…we grew up together."