Even though Yvonne said it was fine to rest, nobody truly relaxed. They gathered together and discussed what to do next.
A message came from the hub-zone staff: at the foot of a mountain near the Originium Research Institute, a camp had already been established. Refugees were gathering there.
If they could develop that camp, it might actually become a good thing.
"…The diagnostics are back. Overall, there's no major problem… but the logs show… your usage style is a bit too brutal, isn't it?!"
Yvonne stared at the extracted records and data, then turned to look at them with a complicated expression.
"The prototype detecting erosion cores is basically just an Originium Art! You're forcing large-area output like that—if it were a person, they'd have blown up! Who came up with this idea?!"
"…Uh…"
Perlica, Chen Qianyu, and the little penguin exchanged glances. No one spoke first.
Off to the side, the two lamb girls standing with Bai Ling tilted their heads, watching.
Seeing she couldn't squeeze an answer out of them, Yvonne stopped asking and simply turned her head away.
"I'm going to do some targeted upgrades and updates. It'll take some time—and I may need your cooperation."
The little penguin nodded obediently and waited by the side of the room.
But Bai Ling's mind wasn't here.
He could feel the summons on the back of his hand growing more and more obvious.
Especially after that "intimate" contact with the little dragon girl, a strange impulse had begun pushing him toward the Power-Supply Highlands—more precisely, the Hyperdomain Proving Grounds.
That hyperdomain rift felt like it had a kind of gravity to it.
And combined with the earlier pop-up…
If Bai Ling remembered right, in Terra there were three "dragon" lines:
True dragons, Dracos, and Wyverns.
If that was correct… then Yvonne should be a Wyvern, right?
So why had he suddenly gained the ability to summon a Draco… when in Terra, Dracos were practically an extinct race?
Then another possibility occurred to him.
Dracos were a legendary bloodline capable of triggering world-changing events. If he summoned a Draco, would it create a similar kind of effect here?
With that thought, Bai Ling stepped into the elevator and left.
Yvonne didn't say anything about his sudden departure—but when she turned her head, she realized the two lamb girls had slipped out at some point as well.
Erosion often involved geology. She still had data she wanted to extract directly through Eldera.
Since Eldera was gone, simulating it for a few minutes wouldn't hurt.
It was just…
For some reason, Yvonne felt like she'd missed something important.
But there was too much on her hands. Once she finished this, she could always go find them.
After leaving the institute, Bai Ling found his way quickly.
Or rather—wherever there was Erosion, he walked toward it. That method never failed.
Using that approach, the three of them advanced at a remarkable pace.
Soon, they reached a mountain road.
From there, looking toward the Power-Supply Highlands, the hyperdomain rift was crystal clear—like a hole torn open in the sky, with the world around it warped into something that felt fundamentally different.
That was when Eldera sensed something was off.
There wasn't much Erosion on this mountain road—if anything, it was sparse.
But there were barely any animals, either.
Everything about it felt wrong.
"Senior Bai Ling."
"Hm?"
Bai Ling turned his head slightly.
In the next instant, a sharp arrow scraped past the side of his skull and slammed into the ground.
Immediately after, countless masked, bare-chested Riftbreakers appeared around them, closing in until the three were completely surrounded.
"…Didn't think there'd still be prey out here. 'Guhm.'"
They'd received orders from their leader: something here could threaten the "lord's" plan, and they were to come destroy it.
And before they'd even reached their destination, they'd run into someone who could break down Erosion phenomena.
Even if he wasn't the original target, he became a target the moment they saw him.
He needed to die.
As the Riftbreaker spat a thick wad of phlegm, his blade started to swing.
But Bai Ling didn't panic at all—like he'd already predicted this.
Even with a blade right in his face, he didn't care.
"Eyjafjalla."
"Yes, Senpai."
With that answer—
A massive wall of flame erupted from the ground and expanded outward at high speed!
The heat wave forced the closest Riftbreakers to stagger back, and in an instant, the encirclement became a fiery prison surrounding them instead.
"Bad—! 'Guhw'—we fell for it!!!"
"I'm most afraid of ambushes and sneak attacks," Bai Ling said calmly. "So before we moved out, I checked whether anyone was around."
Once he knew they were being tailed, he'd already coordinated with Eyjafjalla.
Eldera could protect herself, and her synchronization with Eyjafjalla was almost uncanny—so Bai Ling wasn't worried about Eldera getting caught wrong-footed.
And as for these Riftbreakers trapped in flame…
Bai Ling had no intention of interrogating them.
They wouldn't know anything useful. They were just expendable pawns.
If they succeeded, good. But most likely they wouldn't.
If these "materials" were wasted, then they were wasted.
As the firelight tightened inward, nearly all the exposed Riftbreakers were already down—only two or three particularly burly ones were still struggling.
But the energy fluctuations inside them were weak, nearly empty.
They had grievances they couldn't even express.
Logically, even if Bai Ling had prepared, the "proper" sequence should've been:
Let them posture, talk big, get beaten, surrender, get interrogated, spill intel.
But this guy went straight to extermination.
Who does that?!
It was like swallowing bitter herbs with no way to complain.
"Eyjafjalla. Send them off."
Seeing survivors, Bai Ling was briefly surprised—but his face went blank again as he issued the final disposal order.
"Understood, Senpai."
Eyjafjalla lifted her staff with a gentle smile.
There was no pity in her eyes—only coldness.
What she'd seen in the hub zone over these days hadn't been for nothing.
These Riftbreakers were a plague on this world.
Bandits. Thugs. A swarm of lawless filth.
Only a microscopic few among them even deserved to live.
So when she cleaned them up, she carried no burden at all.
Just as she raised her staff to cast again, the leader—finally realizing something was wrong—shouted in a hurry:
"'Guhm'—stop! Stop hitting us! We'll tell you everything!"
At that, Bai Ling waved his hand—almost like a signal.
The surviving Riftbreakers thought, for a heartbeat, that maybe they could negotiate.
Then the flames surged again.
Bai Ling didn't even look up. His voice was flat, merciless.
"What's there to talk about."
....
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