Beep, beep!
At the leader's residence in Greenridge Base, Ethan carefully measured his crystal points with a crystal meter in hand. Finally, the numbers flickered for a moment before settling at a single value: 400.
"Well, not bad. After over three years, my crystal points have finally reached 400. That makes me a mid-level third-level Awakener, right?" Ethan nodded to himself, satisfied.
Each level of an Awakener is fixed, but with each breakthrough, many gain new abilities — sometimes entirely new techniques.
The divisions of "beginner, middle, and advanced" are informal markers created by Awakeners themselves, to help gauge relative strength.
For instance, among third-level Awakeners, one with 100 crystal points is still considered third-level, while another with 999 points is also third-level — the difference in raw power is staggering.
To make classification easier, those with crystal points above 400 are considered early-stage, above 700 are mid-stage, and beyond that, late-stage.
Naturally, Ethan felt pleased that he had crossed the 400-point mark.
But thinking of the recent chaos in the base, his mood darkened.
Many Awakened had died recently, including a third-level councilor. The rising death toll weighed heavily on him.
About two weeks had passed, and the entire base was in a state of panic. Ethan felt drained.
Fortunately, most of the news had been suppressed. If the residents had known the full truth, the outcome might have been catastrophic.
"Could this really be revenge from that leader-type zombie?" Ethan muttered to himself, sinking into a chair.
Ever since the base launched an all-out operation to clear the zombies in Ashen City last month, a large portion of the undead there had indeed been eliminated. The leader-type zombies had also retreated, regrouping in Ashen City.
But who could have imagined that a zombie would hide right inside Greenridge Base?
"Chief, there's new news just in from the gate. Alex is back…"
Just as Ethan was quietly fretting over the situation at Greenridge Base, someone walked in and reported to him.
"Alex? He's still alive?" Ethan blinked, surprised.
With the team carried out the mission and the zombies returned to Ashen City, Alex should have been trapped there, almost certainly dead. No news had come for about half a month, and Ethan had assumed the worst.
Yet here he was — alive. Truly fortunate.
"He's back. That's good. The base needs manpower right now, so his return is timely," Ethan said, both surprised and relieved given the current state of affairs.
"But I heard that when Alex returned, he was riding on an Evolved Beast. It seems he tamed one as his mount," the messenger added, eyes wide with astonishment.
"It's just an Evolved Beast. Nothing unusual about that," Ethan said calmly.
For a Level 3 Awakener, capturing and taming Evolved Beasts wasn't particularly shocking. They were just wild beasts, differing mainly in strength and intelligence.
"But… that Evolved Beast he tamed seems to be a Level 3 Black Cloud Leopard…"
Ethan's calm expression didn't falter, but the messenger's voice wavered, tinged with uncertainty — perhaps even fear.
"A Black Cloud Leopard!?" Ethan suddenly rose to his feet, shock spreading across his face.
Two months ago, the Black Cloud Leopard's crystal points had been measured at 700 — and surely even higher now.
Wild beasts were slightly easier to deal with than humans, yet even Ethan himself wouldn't be confident facing a late-stage third-level Evolved Beast. And Alex had actually tamed it? How could that be possible?
"That's impossible! You must be mistaken…"
Ethan paused, then waved his hand. "Two months ago, when Alex became a councilor, his crystal points barely topped 100. How could he possibly match a Black Cloud Leopard, let alone tame one?"
Though his rational mind told him it was impossible, the news about the Black Cloud Leopard gnawed at Ethan like a thorn. He waved the messenger away, his thoughts heavy. After a moment, Ethan stood and strode toward Alex's location.
s the sky gradually darkened, Claire and Max returned, looking somewhat exhausted.
The two were naturally overjoyed to see Alex back.
They immediately asked how he had spent the past two weeks. Alex replied that he had been hiding in Silverlight Tower.
He was telling the truth. From the perspective of the real world, he had indeed been hidden in Silverlight Tower for over half a month. His journey to the Marvel Universe had lasted only a day in real-world time.
Of course, Alex also asked about the zombies hiding in their base.
Claire's expression grew heavy. She knew that these zombies attacked the Awakened every night, but everyone who had seen them had died, leaving no one to describe their true appearance.
"By the way," Alex said, recalling his previous fight, "do you think this hidden zombie could be the plant-evolved form we encountered underground?"
"I've suspected that as well," Claire admitted. "However, the zombie is hiding beneath the base. We can't exactly dig the entire foundation up, can we?" She nodded at Alex's words but still looked troubled.
Alex was speechless. Indeed, a creature hidden underground would be like searching for a needle in a haystack.
"Wait — are you saying the hidden zombie is underground? Maybe I can help with this…"
Just then, Daniel, who had been silent the entire time, finally spoke up.
"Huh? Yes, Daniel's awakened ability seems tied to the land…"
Alex recalled the time he had been chased by the Leopard. Daniel had pressed his hand to the ground, and a wall of earth had risen up. His eyes lit with recognition.
"Alex? Who is…" After Daniel spoke, Claire had the chance to ask Alex about his identity.