Chapter 1616 - 1616: Damn It, I Forgot About Them

After leaving the Beast Sovereign and the others, Ethan headed straight for the enclosure housing the white-furred apes and the Glacial Bear.

When he arrived, he found that two of the five white-furred apes had already broken through to Stage SS. Judging by the other three's energy, they weren't far behind.

Ethan had always thought highly of these apes. There seemed to be something unusual about their bloodline, allowing them to absorb energy from corpses much faster than other Beasts.

At first, Ethan had treated all his Beasts equally. Whatever corpses they needed, he provided.

But over time, the white-furred apes were the only ones that managed to keep pace. The others had gradually fallen behind.

Pumpkin, Goldie, Nugget, and the rest of his earliest Beasts had eaten plenty, but the strongest among them had only reached Stage A. Most were still at Stage B.

Even the Flamebirds, who had started out stronger than the white-furred apes, were only at Stage S now. The apes had already pulled ahead.

That was the difference a superior bloodline made.

As a result, Ethan had gradually shifted his focus to the white-furred apes.

He had far too many Outland Beasts to develop all of them at once. He had no choice but to concentrate his resources on a select few, and the white-furred apes were clearly the best candidates.

They were also very attached to him. The moment they saw him, they crowded around.

Ethan gave them several Stage SS corpses, along with one Stage SSS corpse for each ape. He instructed them to wait until they reached Stage SS before eating those.

He gave the Glacial Bear a Stage SSS corpse as well, instantly turning the proud beast into one very humble teddy bear.

Then again, the Glacial Bear wasn't nearly as arrogant as it used to be. Two of the white-furred apes had already reached Stage SS, and it couldn't even beat them anymore. It had no reason left to act proud.

It had also sensed the terrifying presences living nearby and knew that far more powerful Outland Beasts had moved in. These days, the Glacial Bear behaved itself.

"Where's the roc?" Ethan asked.

"Roar..."

The Glacial Bear pointed toward a massive tree in the distance.

Ethan followed its paw and spotted the roc lying inside an enormous nest. It appeared to be in the middle of a breakthrough.

"Oh? Looks like the roc is about to advance too. Good. Once it's done, all of you will be ready to fight."

They could barely hold their own in a Stage SSS battle now, but they were still sorely lacking Stage SS fighters. Seeing his Beasts reach Stage SS one after another put Ethan in a good mood.

Next came Fallen Star's second echelon. The three hundred Awakened needed to reach Stage SS as soon as possible. Once they did, New Atlas would have enough strength to fight on both the high-Tier and low-Tier battlefields.

Unfortunately, they didn't have many Stage SS crystal cores. Even after pooling everything together, they could only push three Fallen Star Squad members to peak Tier 41.

They had collected a great many corpses from the recent battle, but those were useless for this purpose. What the squad needed were crystal cores.

Looks like I need to go hunting for crystal cores as soon as possible. New Atlas should be safe with the Beast Sovereign and the others here. Even if something does happen, I can make it back in time.

Ethan returned to the Commander's Residence and called the Fallen Star Squad together.

The Void Realm passage had opened before they had a chance to use the crystal cores Ethan brought back from the sea. With things temporarily calm, he wanted them to absorb the cores and increase their strength as quickly as possible.

This time, they needed to pool all their crystal cores and produce three Stage SSS fighters first.

Ethan just had to decide which three.

Chris was already Tier 41, so he was an obvious choice.

Ethan had originally intended to give the remaining cores to Sean and Henry, but after thinking it over, he realized that even if both reached Stage SSS, it wouldn't fundamentally change the strength of the group.

In the end, he chose Mia and Emily instead.

If Mia reached Stage SSS, her Power Transfer would provide Ethan with a much greater boost.

The same logic applied to Emily. Her support abilities were extremely powerful, but the difference between their Tiers was so great that they could barely enhance him at his current level.

Once she reached Stage SSS, however, their effects would improve dramatically.

Advancing the two of them would give the squad far more room for error. In practical terms, it would also strengthen Ethan himself.

Once he had made his decision, Ethan distributed all the crystal cores among Chris, Mia, and Emily, then told them to go into seclusion and reach peak Tier 41 as quickly as possible.

No one in the Fallen Star Squad ever objected to his decisions. The three accepted the crystal cores and returned to their rooms to absorb them.

Ethan then went to Miles's office, where he found Miles in a meeting with Maxwell and several others.

"Miles, have the Satellite Operations Control Center send us live feeds from across the Atlas Federation."

"All right."

Miles nodded and had Maxwell make the arrangements, then turned on the office's large display.

Soon, one feed after another appeared across the screen.

Void Realm creatures of every imaginable shape could be seen everywhere. Fighting had broken out in many places, and some of the battles were enormous.

One feed even showed millions of Void Realm creatures locked in combat.

The sheer numbers made everyone's scalp prickle.

"There are this many Void Realm creatures inside the Atlas Federation?" Maxwell and the others frowned.

"They're all small fry. They can't even break through the warding circles, so they aren't much of a threat. What you need to watch for are the Stage SSS Void Realm fighters flying through the air."

"Have the Satellite Operations Control Center catalog every one they spot. I want to know exactly how many fighters at that level are inside the Atlas Federation."

"Understood."

"Also, pay close attention to the Beasts. Find out where any powerful ones are active. We need crystal cores."

"Most Beasts hide deep in the mountains," Maxwell said. "They'll be difficult to locate by satellite."

"That's fine. They'll come out eventually. Powerful Beasts usually aren't content to stay hidden forever, and with so many Void Realm creatures roaming around, there's no way they won't come out to eat a few."

"All right. I'll have the Control Center prioritize them. The moment they spot a powerful Beast, we'll notify you."

"Good."

"Wait, Captain. Look at Fallen Star City." Miles suddenly pointed at one of the feeds. "Aren't those the Azure Nereids?"

The image showed the former site of Fallen Star City.

Ethan looked closely and saw a large group of blue-haired women standing outside the city, along with another group of white-clad beings. All of them were staring blankly at the abandoned settlement.

The moment he saw them, Ethan slapped his forehead.

"Damn it! I completely forgot about them."

They were, of course, the Azure Nereids and the Aurelians.

Back on the Eldoria Continent, Ethan had told them to come find him on Earth once the Void Realm passage opened.

But New Atlas had been attacked soon after the passage appeared. With everything that had happened since, the matter had completely slipped his mind.

"I didn't expect them to get here so quickly." Ethan smiled. "Stay here. I'll go pick them up."