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The man’s eyes sharpened slightly. "Did your god also get permission... to save you from death?"

A brief silence followed.

"You are going against our god," Split King warned, but this time there was fear hidden beneath his voice.

The man didn’t hesitate. "From the moment I stepped into Verdara... I was already against your god."

While the two stood there, clashing with their presence and killing intent.

The Healer Sprout moved, quietly without making a noise.

It didn’t hesitate. Its vines stretched out, gently but quickly gathering the fallen Sprouts, Warrior, Guardian, Assassin, Phantom, Fire, Water, Light, pulling them together. Then it reached Vikram, carefully lifting his broken body.

Without making a sound, it started moving fast, toward the place they had first arrived in this world.

Split King, still locked in the standoff, suddenly glanced sideways, feeling something has just happened. His eyes widened slightly. "...Where is he?"

The spot where Vikram had been was empty.

"WHERE DID HE GO?!" Split King roared in anger, after not finding him.

When he looked below the wall, he saw that Healing Sprouts was running with his short legs, carrying Vikram and other Sprouts.

"You little punk, how dare you run away from here?" Without hesitation, he attacked, his arm split and shot forward like a missile.

"DON’T YOU DARE." The mist man moved instantly, rushing to intercept, but before the attack could be stopped, a gate appeared there suddenly and unnaturally.

The Healer Sprout didn’t hesitate. It jumped through, taking Vikram and all the Plant Team with it.

At the same moment, Split King’s hand also crossed the gate, but before the Split King brought back his hand, the gate was closed.

Split King froze in shock, then his expression twisted in anger. "WHERE HAS HE GONE?!"

He clenched his fist. "...Why did I lose connection with my hand?"

The mist man’s expression darkened, because he understood immediately. That attack had followed.

"You..." His killing intent exploded.

"YOU ARE GOING TO DIE TODAY."

But Split King immediately replied back, "Not today."

And the moment he confirmed that Vikram had vanished, his body split apart into multiple pieces, each fragment shooting back toward the portal he had come from. As soon as the last piece crossed it, the portal snapped shut instantly, like it was fleeing along with him.

"Damn it," the mist-cloaked man growled, his voice filled with restrained anger.

Without wasting another second, he turned, lifted both Isha and Carol effortlessly, and returned to the wall in a blur of mist.

On the wall, Sana, Kavya, and Ayesha had already gathered everyone together. Sana was working nonstop, her healing abilities flowing continuously as one by one the injured began to recover.

They also feel grateful for that man, if that man hadn’t arrived, they all would be dead. Slowly, people began regaining consciousness.

"Captain..." Carol said softly, looking at the man who had brought them back. She understood clearly, without him, none of them would have survived.

The man looked at her, his expression softening. "Don’t call me captain today."

There was a pause for a few seconds, then Carol stepped forward and hugged him tightly, breaking down into tears.

"Dad..."

At the same time, Isha stood there, frozen. Her expression was complicated, shock, disbelief, hesitation. She had never expected to see him again.

"...You’re still angry with me?" the man asked gently.

Isha didn’t answer him, her eyes moved around frantically, searching for Vikram.

Suddenly she panicked, after not finding him, "...Vikram?"

He wasn’t there, her heartbeat spiked, her fear turned into panic, before turning back into anger.

Before anyone could react, she grabbed the man by his collar, her aura flaring wildly.

"WHERE IS VIKRAM?!" she shouted. "Where is my nephew?! WHERE IS HE?!"

Her voice trembled in anger.

"Don’t you dare take him from me... he is my everything... he is my sister’s last memory!"

Carol moved forward instantly. "Isha, what are you—"

But the man raised his hand slightly, signaling her to stop.

Carol hesitated... then stepped back.

Isha continued shaking him, her emotions completely out of control.

At that moment, Sana rushed forward, and explained, "Captain! Vikram... he went somewhere through a portal type gate... his Healer Sprout carried him and entered it!"

Isha froze hearing this, her grip loosened on him, her breathing slowed and she realised that man has not his hands on this.

"...A gate...?" Her anger faded, replaced by worry... and guilt. She stepped back slightly, embarrassed by what she had just done.

The man adjusted his collar calmly, then looked at her again. "Are you still angry with me... your dad?"

The people around them were stunned.

Dad? The man who even Split King feared, was their captain’s father?

No one spoke, but they understood immediately, this was some family issue.

Isha stayed silent for a moment. Then suddenly, she stepped forward and hugged him tightly.

"Dad...!!" she cried. "Where has Vikram gone...? He’s my everything... how am I supposed to live without him...?"

Her voice broke, and tears started flowing freely.

For the first time, her team saw her like this. Their Captain was broken and vulnerable.

They exchanged glances silently... and stepped away. Leaving only Carol, the man, and Isha.

The man gently placed his hand on her head, patting it softly.

"Don’t worry," he said calmly. "My baby... my Kara..."

"I will search everywhere. I will find my grandson. And I will bring him back."

There was a pause.

"...After all, he is the grandson of Marcus Danvers." From here we found the man’s name was Marcus Danvers.

Isha slowly calmed down, though worry still lingered in her eyes. "...Okay, Dad," she said softly.

Marcus then looked at her. "Will you stay here... or come with us?"

Carol stepped forward. "Come with us, sis. Vikram isn’t here anymore... you don’t need to stay."

Isha looked around, at the wall, at her team. At the place she had protected for so long.

After looking over she nodded, she walked toward her teammates and informed them of her decision. They all understood and nodded, though their expressions were heavy.

But Sana, Kavya, and Ayesha stepped forward.

"We’re coming with you," Sana said.

Isha looked at them for a moment... then nodded again. "Alright."

She didn’t stop them, there was no reason to.

As for Cameron Town, it was not defenseless.

After this battle, they would receive massive rewards. The survivors would grow stronger. And Isha could always send support if needed.

Before today, they had barely managed to kill thousands of zombies, so they grew slowly slowly.

But now, they have wiped out nearly around a hundred thousand. They had crossed a different level entirely.

---

Soon after, Isha aka Kara Danvers, along with Sana, Kavya, Ayesha, and Bushra, joined Carol and Marcus.

Without looking back, they left Cameron Town behind. And began their journey, toward Singapore City.

---

"Aahh—!" Vikram groaned in pain as his body twitched slightly, the Healer Sprout’s soft green energy flowing into him. The pain was unbearable, sharp and deep, like every bone inside him had been shattered and forced back together.

His breathing was uneven. His body barely responded.

"Damn it..." he muttered, forcing his eyes open. "That idiot... he broke half my bones..."

He tried to lift his hand. It didn’t move. "...Shit."

But slowly, very slowly, sensation began returning. The Healer Sprout worked tirelessly, its vines glowing as they continued restoring his body. Around him, the other Sprouts and Druids had also started recovering. Some were cracked, some damaged, but none of them were destroyed. They were alive, just like him.

Vikram’s gaze shifted forward, toward that hand.

Split King’s severed hand lay not far away, still and silent. But the ground around it told a different story. A small crater had formed where it had landed, cracks spreading outward. Even the nearby walls were damaged just from its impact. And yet, it wasn’t dead.

"...Even after being cut off from consciousness..." Vikram muttered under his breath. "...it still has this much power...That monster was on a completely different level."

He exhaled slowly. Then, a faint smile appeared on his face. "...Well... good thing I’m still alive."

Despite the pain, despite the situation, he wasn’t panicking anymore. As long as his Plant Team was with him, he still had a chance.

He leaned his head back slightly, staring upward. "...Now then..."

His tone changed, slightly annoyed, slightly irritated. "You useless system... where the hell are my rewards?"

His voice was weak, but his frustration was real. "Because of you... I almost got killed..."

He let out a slow breath. "...I came here too early..."

There was a hint of regret in his voice now. Tonight he has plans of doing foursome after the tenth wave was cleared, he only sees foursome action in some special movies, but never done it.

And tonight after the wave was over, he was going to taste Kavya, Sana and Ayesha, filling in how the Foursome thing is in reality. But that stupid Split King has ruined his chance.

At the same time, as soon as he finished speaking, a huge tremor came from inside the Ruins.

It was exactly like the commotion inside the Wolf Spirit Ruins, also coming from deep within the Ruins, accompanied by a buzzing sound, and the surrounding air began to solidify somewhat.

Streams of light and color suddenly appeared all over the walls, gradually converging towards one spot from all directions of the Ruins.

However, this time the converging location was not the center of the Ruins, but where the Zombie Leader had appeared and the gate was.

The originally dark passage was now illuminated by the light appearing on the walls. The color revealed was still a cold gray-white, but it dispelled much of the gloom in the passage.

Vikram’s gaze shifted to the center of the ground. At that moment, the light within the ruins began gathering there, converging into a single point. Slowly, an item started to form before his eyes.

A chest.

Golden light radiated from its surface, and the intricate decorations carved across it made it clear, this was no ordinary chest.

"Only Legendary quality... so much worse than I expected," Vikram murmured.

For the first time, the Wasteland System responded.

[User has failed the task. The Zombie Leader has reached both the wall and the town.]

[You have achieved D Rank.]

"What the fuck? I killed so many zombies, cleared up to the tenth wave, and just because the Zombie Lord appeared, my points were demoted?" Vikram shouted in anger.

But the Wasteland System didn’t reply.

Vikram cursed under his breath, hoping at least his Plant Life System buddy would compensate him.

And soon, it did. But not in the way he expected.

[User, you are truly useless. Even with such a strong team, you still lost the battle.]

[In my entire existence, I have never seen such a useless host.]

[It would have been better if I had chosen a monkey. It would be far more intelligent than you.]

"Will you stop mocking me?!" Vikram shouted in anger, his frustration boiling over after the constant insults from the Plants Life System.

He had thought the rewards would ease his mood, and his broken heart would recover. But instead, the Plant Life System shattered whatever was left of his broken heart.

If this had been a cultivation world, and he was some cultivator, his cultivation dao would be shattered by the mocking of the Plant Life System.