After a warm meal together, everyone finally got in their vehicles and started the journey back.

Once they’d relaxed, they were finally in the mood to talk about what happened after they got separated.

As it turned out, Martin Warren and the others had some seriously bad luck.

Back then, after the shock of seeing Paige and Marcus fall into the chasm, they’d scrambled to find a solution. They had just managed to fashion an extra-long vine and were about to descend to investigate. But they had only gone down a dozen or so meters when the chasm walls began to crumble.

They were nearly buried alive!

They barely managed to climb back up, and when they looked again, half of the tunnel had caved in.

Unable to find another entrance, they had no choice but to start digging.

After painstakingly clearing away a huge amount of rock and dirt, another cave-in struck before they could even feel a sense of accomplishment!

This time, it collapsed completely...

Worried and anxious, they prepared to start all over again.

Then the Blazefire Hunters showed up...

When they saw the ground littered with the corpses of Mutant Beasts and that terrifying monster, their eyes went red with greed. ’How many Crystal Cores must be here! You can’t just hog it all for yourselves, can you? Now that we’re here, we get half!’

Of course, Martin Warren and his team refused.

Even if they had gotten all the Crystal Cores—let alone the fact they’d only managed to get the monster’s—why should they just hand them over?

When negotiations failed, a fight broke out.

They were outnumbered, so they could only fight and fall back, eventually retreating into the forest.

"You saw the rest. Without the boss and you, Paige—our super sharpshooter—fighting a tactical battle has been tough!"

Paige Summers chuckled but was still a little confused. "They were only after the Crystal Cores? Then why were they digging at the tunnel?"

Martin Warren pursed his lips. "They had gotten word about the monster and came to deal with it, but it seems something delayed them, so they arrived late. Then they saw us digging at the tunnel and figured there was something good inside, so they shamelessly decided to butt in."

"Oh." ’The delay must have been because Cedric Howell’s ring was stolen... I guess Gordon Howell couldn’t wait, so he left a few men with Cedric and took the rest to the chasm first. Speaking of Gordon, he kind of got what he deserved. It probably would have been easy for Marcus Monroe to kill him back then, to finish the job for good, but he didn’t. Was it simply because he didn’t want to kill, or was there another reason?’

Paige Summers couldn’t figure it out, so she pushed the thought aside and sincerely thanked Martin Warren and the others.

"Thank us? We should be thanking you! Haha, you’re really something. We’re gone for just two days, and you actually managed to Promote. Speaking of which, you should really be thanking the boss! Though, this is the first time I’ve ever seen him try to help someone and end up getting dragged into the mess himself. HAHAHA!"

Marcus Monroe’s face darkened at the laughter.

’So I miscalculated once, is it really that big of a deal? I’m only human! Besides, didn’t it turn out to be a blessing in disguise?’ Marcus Monroe squinted at Martin Warren, deciding that once they got back, he would hand out the Earth Immortal Fruits to everyone else right in front of him. As for Martin’s share... he’d make him wait a few days for it!

Paige Summers glanced between the two men, blinked, and wisely stayed out of the conversation.

She could thank him properly later.

She had gained a lot from this trip. She already had a complete plan in mind for redesigning her Crossbow.

She was confident the finished product would satisfy Marcus Monroe!

The group alternated between talking and resting, with Martin Warren, of course, leading most of the conversation. He seemed quite interested in Levi Young and would try to chat with him from time to time. But unlike Paige Summers, Levi was extremely introverted. Half the time, his replies were a simple "Yeah" or "Okay," and the other half, he was completely silent.

Even Martin Warren was at a loss.

Regardless, his medicine had saved Isaiah Langley, so everyone treated him with a fair amount of courtesy.

Not that he seemed to care.

Paige Summers soon discovered that while he would talk a bit more with her, he was as reserved as possible with everyone else. He would just put on a docile front; his strategy seemed to be ’no matter what anyone says, I’ll just keep quiet.’ But if you watched him closely, you’d see that when he acted this way, his eyes were completely blank...

’Considering he’s only sixteen—three years younger than this body of mine—and after all he’s been through, it’s no wonder his personality turned out this way.’

As they neared the Dead City, she told Marcus Monroe she planned to have Levi Young come back with her.

Marcus Monroe didn’t say anything. He just stared at her for a long moment before finally agreeing. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

Paige Summers could sense that he didn’t seem to approve of her decision.

But after some thought, she remained silent.

’If he’s worried about me bringing an outsider into his territory, well, I’ll be leaving as soon as the Crossbow is finished anyway, and Levi Young will naturally leave with me. If he’s just concerned for my safety... I can only appreciate the sentiment. In my past life and in this one, I’m an adult. I can take responsibility for my own decisions.’

’I value my life. I won’t be so easily tricked.’

’Besides, right now, I need to work with Levi Young.’