The moment Marcus Monroe opened his eyes, he was already wide awake.

He felt the soft, shallow breathing beside him in the darkness, and the turbulent emotions within him finally, slowly, settled. He realized that most of the superpower in his body was gone, and a wry smile touched his lips. ’As expected of a legendary treasure. Not only does it grow in a place like this, but it even has its own defense mechanism. If Paige Summers hadn’t been here today, I’m afraid I really would have been done for.’

Remembering the dream he just had, which replayed a past experience, his gaze grew even darker.

’The time... is almost here...’

"You’re awake?" 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

"Yeah," Marcus Monroe responded, sitting up. His eyes looked forward, only to find everything dim and without light. A thought struck him. "Did the Earth Immortal Fruit wither?"

"Yeah, the fruit fell."

"Did you get it?" His voice held a trace of imperceptible tension.

"Got it. It’s in the bag."

Hearing this answer, Marcus Monroe breathed a sigh of relief.

’Thank goodness.’

"Is that really the Earth Immortal Fruit?" Paige Summers asked cautiously.

"That’s right. And it’s a good thing you collected it. Ten minutes after falling, it will dissolve if it touches the soil." ’So, even if she’d kept it a secret, I wouldn’t have known. I doubt she failed to sense the abundant energy within the fruit when she picked it up. So... will she regret this?’

But Paige Summers just chuckled. "Dissolve? Does this thing think it’s a Ginsengfruit? Hmph, I’d say it’s more like a Spider Spirit!"

The analogy was a bit strange, but... luring people in with light, making them lose their way with illusions, and absorbing their energy to ripen itself... ’Come to think of it, she has a point.’

Marcus Monroe couldn’t help but chuckle, amused by her mischievousness and by his own suspicion.

"Let’s get out of here, quick!" Seeing he was fine, Paige Summers urged him.

But Marcus Monroe shook his head. "For now, this is the safest place. We both need to recover." ’It’s highly likely the previous tremor was man-made. It probably wasn’t our people, which means someone else is nearby. Their goal is undoubtedly the Earth Immortal Fruit. We might run into them on our way out, and neither of us is in good shape right now.’

With that in mind, he took out a few Crystal Cores from a hidden pocket. But when he held them in his hand, he realized that aside from one Fourth-stage Crystal Core he hadn’t put away yet, the rest were all Sixth Rank. "I don’t have any Third-stage Crystal Cores that you can use; I left them all with Vince. You’ll... just have to wait. We’ll leave after I recover."

When using Crystal Cores, it’s not a case of the higher the rank, the better; they need to be compatible. Even with a one-rank difference, the energy contained in a High-level Crystal Core is difficult for a low-level superpower user to handle. If things go wrong, their body could explode. With him around, he didn’t think she needed to take such a risk.

However, Paige Summers asked, "Well, do you have any Fourth Rank ones?"

Marcus Monroe frowned. He knew she didn’t want to be a burden, but this wasn’t something you could just "try." On second thought, a better idea came to him. "No. Hand me one of the Earth Immortal Fruits."

Paige Summers thought for a moment, then handed him all the Earth Immortal Fruits from her bag.

"I don’t need this many. One is enough."

"They’re safer with you." Paige Summers genuinely thought so. Besides, she trusted the man’s character.

Marcus Monroe didn’t realize his mood had suddenly improved immensely. Still, he only took one and said decisively, "Put the rest away." He held the Earth Immortal Fruit in his palm, felt it carefully for a moment to confirm it was genuine, then handed it back. "Eat it!"

"Huh?" Paige Summers was a bit surprised. She thought he was going to eat it himself, she didn’t expect... ’But, it’s not a big deal. A share of it was mine anyway, so I’ll just consider this collecting my share early.’

Seeing her pause for a moment before calmly taking it and eating it, Marcus Monroe also smiled, sat down cross-legged, and began to absorb a Crystal Core.

’This girl’s temperament really suits my taste. Although I share the same doubts as Grant Yardley, feeling that her background doesn’t match her actions and knowledge, I can now be sure that it has nothing to do with being a spy or anything of the sort. So, I don’t plan on prying. In an era like this, who doesn’t have secrets? As long as I believe she’s someone worth befriending, I’ll dare to trust her!’

This was his confidence, and it was his way of life.

In the dark depths of the valley, with no way to tell time, Paige Summers had no spare energy to think about how long had passed. The Earth Immortal Fruit was truly a magical thing. After swallowing it, she felt a continuous stream of warmth flowing from her stomach. The energy was both immense and gentle, a completely different feeling from absorbing a Crystal Core. She gradually entered a state of self-forgetfulness until she had fused all the energy into her body, and that barrier broke with a tangible "SNAP"...

"Did you Promote?"

Paige Summers had just opened her eyes when she heard Marcus Monroe’s question. She grinned and nodded vigorously. ’I’ve not only reached the Fourth Rank, but I feel like I still have room to grow. This feeling of being full of energy is amazing!’

"Yeah, I did it!"

Marcus Monroe’s voice also held a hint of a smile. "Very good. Let’s go, then."

The two of them quickly returned to the fork in the path by the way they came. With a bit more light now, Paige Summers easily discovered the reason no one had come to rescue them. Peering through the collapsed opening, she saw that the cavern they had fallen into was piled high with rocks, which had almost spilled over to their side.

"This is..."

"There was another tremor when you were Promoting, and it wasn’t a small one. It must have happened then."

Paige Summers pressed her lips together and quickly followed Marcus Monroe down the other path.

The path was long, winding, and difficult to walk. More than once, she spotted collapsed walls along the way. Connecting the dots, she suddenly had a realization.

’What else could that monster have been guarding besides the Earth Immortal Fruit?’

’It’s very likely that it created the cavern we fell into itself. No wonder the smell of earth was so strong there! It even built a wall to hide it. If that flimsy wall hadn’t collapsed, Marcus Monroe and I might never have discovered it, and we wouldn’t have gotten the Earth Immortal Fruit.’

’As for the obstacles on this side, they must have been here before. Perhaps it found them to be sturdy enough, so it left them untouched. This suggests that the Earth Immortal Fruit might not have grown naturally; it’s highly possible it was planted by someone.’

’Unfortunately, the plant withered after all the fruit fell. I searched, but I couldn’t find any seeds. The idea of growing another one is probably a lost cause.’

Paige Summers patted her head. ’Don’t be so greedy. You should be content with getting even one!’ She had a feeling that, based on the state of the energy in her body, she might even be able to advance to become a Fifth-rank Superpower User very soon!

With that thought, that faint bit of regret seemed insignificant and was quickly forgotten.

After walking for nearly an hour and passing an unknown number of forks in the path, they suddenly felt the light grow much stronger. Based on the direction of the cavern, they seemed to be heading upward. ’We must be close to the surface now!’

It turned out she was right.

When Marcus Monroe, who was walking in front, pushed aside a massive boulder blocking the path, sunlight suddenly flooded their eyes...