The sound of footsteps grew louder. Up in the tree, Silverfox Squad members carefully parted the leaves, peeking down.
The moment they got a clear look, their eyes went wide.
"What the hellâ
them
?"
"The Fallen Star Squad? Why are
they
here?!"
"Thatâs great, right?" one younger guy blurted out, unable to hide his excitement. "I heard the Fallen Star Squadâs seriously strong. Maybe they can get us out of here!"
"You stupid or something?" Rachel shot back. "I donât care how strong they areâtheyâre still just people. You think they can take on those mutant beasts? If they get swarmed, theyâll end up just like usâmonster chow."
"And besides," she added sharply, "we
left
because of them. Iâd bet anything they came in here chasing
us
."
"Wait... seriously?" The young man looked panicked. "Then what do we do?"
"Shut up. Stay down and donât make a sound."
But it was too late.
Down below, Ethan and the others had arrived.
"Come on down," Ethan called out, casually.
The squad up in the tree exchanged worried glances.
Did he spot us? No way. Thereâs no way they noticed usâwe picked the perfect spot, even the Titan Apes didnât catch us. Could they be bluffing?
Just as they were holding out hope, Big Mike tilted his head up and barked, "You hear the man. Climb your asses down now, or Iâll set this whole damn tree on fire."
That killed the last of their disbelief.
Somehow, the Fallen Star Squad had
actually
found them.
Whatever gave them away, there was no time to figure it out now.
And looking down at the groupâjust nine peopleâthey still felt utterly outmatched.
Because trailing behind those nine were massive mutant beasts: a tiger, a jaguar, even a golden-feathered eagle with eyes that looked smarter than some humans.
How? How were these beasts following orders like tame pets?
There wasnât a single member of Silverfox Squad who dared resist anymore. One by one, they climbed down in silence.
And thenâ
"Rachel?!" Emily caught sight of the familiar face and lit up.
"Emily!" Rachel stepped forward, clearly stunned. "You really
did
join the Fallen Star Squad."
"Mhm. My brotherâs here, so I stayed."
"Well... thatâs your blessing, honestly. Being with Fallen Star Squadâs way better than staying with us. The Silverfox Squadâs basically finished." There was a bitter emotion in Rachelâs voice now, a quiet grief.
"Howâd you guys even survive?" Emily asked gently.
Rachel sighed. Her face hardened as she remembered.
"After we entered this place, we ran into a group of mutant beasts that looked like giant gorillas. Their strength was way beyond anything we could handle. Out of the two thousand of us, only a few hundred made it through the first assault. The rest were ripped to shreds."
"The survivors were capturedâtaken to a valley and kept as stored food. Like livestock."
"We were sure it was over for us. But this morning, the lead ape seemed to snap. Something set it off, and it left the valley with most of the higher-tier beasts. Only a few were left behind to guard us."
"We didnât wait. Those of us who could move just ranâscattered in every direction. I ended up here with Xiao Du and the others."
"What about your captain? Is she alive?" Emily tried to keep her tone even.
"She was the strongest of us," Rachel said slowly. "So she probably made it out."
"But?" Emily pressed.
"She..." Rachel hesitated, then shook her head. "Itâs nothing. I just mean... she escaped, Iâm sure. I donât know where she ended up. Thatâs all."
Emily gave a faint nod, the light in her eyes flickering with a quiet hope.
As long as sheâs alive...
Then she asked, "Rachel, youâre not far from the exit here. Why havenât you guys already gone?"
Rachel let out a tired, defeated laugh. "We tried. But the exitâs blocked. Titan Apes are camping out there, like guards. Thereâs no getting through right now."
"Damn..."
Emily turned toward Ethan. "Captain, Rachel looked after me back when I was with the Silverfox Squad. If weâre heading out... can we take them with us?"
Ethan glanced at Emily.
Guess kindness really does run in the family.
Both siblings had good heartsâthat much was clear.
If Rachel had looked after Emily before, well... bringing them along was nothing. Just a favor repaid on Emilyâs behalf.
He was about to speak when someone else cut in first.
"Uh... no need to trouble yourselves," a man from Silverfox Squad said quickly, his voice polite but edged with caution. "Weâre fine staying right here."
Yeah, no mistaking that look on his face: he didnât believe for a second that Ethanâs team could protect anyone. In his eyes, tagging along meant turning themselves into bait.
After all, word had already spread in the compoundâFallen Star Squad was powerful, sure. Most of them were Tier 8, the captain apparently Tier 9. Solid lineup.
But to that guy?
Still just tougher meat on the food chain.
He and the others
knew
what was out there. The Titan Apes werenât just strongâsome of them were Tier 9, even Tier 10. And their leader? No one even dared guess.
"Even if they donât find us here," the guy was clearly thinking, "weâll starve, yeahâbut at least itâs quiet. Safer."
Emily tried again, her voice calm. "Look, if you stay holed up here, youâll starve eventually. I get that itâs scary, but wouldnât it be better to take your chances with us?"
"Emily, I appreciate you trying," Rachel said, giving her a small smile. "But I agree. Itâs too risky. The exitâs locked down tight. Those Titan Apes are camping there now. If they spot us... thereâs no second try."
Ethan finally stepped in, his voice light but sharp. "You know how many Titan Apes are blocking the exit?"
Rachel shook her head. "No. Just that whoever tried got chased off. A lot of people tried to make it out... didnât come back. So we figured most of the Apes must be guarding the exit."
Ethan frowned.
That complicated things.
"All right." He turned to address his squad. "You guys stay put for a bit. Iâll go check it out."
"Got it," everyone responded in unison.
"Be careful, Cap."
Without wasting another second, Ethan slipped away, heading toward the exit of the world-fragment.
He moved fast. Within minutes, the answer started to take shape.
Titan Apes.
Tons of them. Patrol units pacing the area in staggered formationsâbig ones, small ones, all heavy with muscle and attitude.
Ethan stopped in the shadows and let out a quiet sigh.
So thatâs why we didnât bump into any on the wayâevery last one of themâs guarding the door.
Made sense. They hadnât been able to sniff out the intruders, so theyâd switched to stage two: block the only way out and let the prey come to them.
Effective. And annoying as hell.
Teleporting with surgical precision, Ethan flickered through patrol routes, skirting detection until he finally got a vantage point close to the actual exit.
Then he activated [True Sight]â
âand felt a chill climb down his spine.
There werenât just a few Apes here. The place was
stacked
.
Dozens just lounging on the ground, more perched in the treetops, all stationed like siege soldiers around a bottleneck.
Close inspection painted a grimmer picture.
Twelve Tier 10 Titan Apes, each of them rippling with power and twitchy alertness.
Tier 9? Way more than he could count at a glance.
And then...
There it was.
One Titan Ape sitting right in the center, not moving, not posturingâjust radiating pressure.
Tier 11.
And judging by the way the others all kept their distance... that was the alpha. The commander of the whole troop.
Ethan rubbed the bridge of his nose, quietly swearing under his breath.
This was bad.
Really
bad.
He was goodâbut this?
This setup didnât care how good anyone was.
How the hell are we supposed to get out through that?